109 
of Edinburgh, Session 1862-63. 
its greenish-blue colour. The thunder was at the same time deafen- 
ingly loud, and on one occasion apparently coincident with the flash; 
shaking the house he was in (the old Observatory Tower), and 
giving the idea that either that building, or the Royal Observatory, 
must have been struck. Going out immediately to see what might 
have happened, he met the servant at the door, who spoke of the 
flash of liglitning having entered the lowest room of that tower, 
“ gone half way across the floor,” and left an overpowering smell 
of “brimstone” behind; and also called his attention to Nelson’s 
Monument, about 200 yards east-south-east of them, being appa- 
rently on Are, because sparks w^ere issuing from the roof of one of 
the low rooms at its foot, on the western side. 
Now, at the winter period of the year, it seems that the tenant 
there (Mrs ) finding the above monumental building very 
cold, prefers to live in a wooden house close by, and on the evening 
of the 4th of February she was in that house ill and in bed ; but 
when the particular flash occurred which had been so much noticed 
by Mr Wallace and the Observatory servant, it seemed close to her 
also, filled her house with the brimstone odour, and so firmly im- 
pressed her with the belief that the Monument had been struck, 
that she sent out her servant “to see if the time-ball was still at 
the top of the building;” believing that if mischief had occurred 
anywhere from lightning, it would he near the summit of the 
structure. The answer, however, brought hack was, that the time- 
ball was quite safe, but that sparks were coming out of the roof of 
the low west room. The policeman of the hill was likewise on 
the ground almost immediately after the flash, and testified both 
to the then sudden appearance of sparks issuing from the roof of the 
uninhabited room, and its accompaniment, by the traditional sul- 
phurous smell in the air of strong lightning, or “ ozone.” 
The door of the Monument was then speedily opened, access to 
the roof obtained, and the new-lit fire, caused by the burning of gas 
and wooden rafters, speedily extinguished. In this manner the gas, 
no doubt, after it was set on fire, did much mischief to both leaden 
roof and wooden rafters, especially at the place on the sketch 
marked B, which contains big and rather confused holes ; but if 
any one still asks what first set the gas on fire, I think there is 
equally little doubt that we may answer “ it was that particular 
