C 2 96 ] 
cool, it would part with its heat too fuddenly to pro- 
duce any appearance of burning. 
I was confirmed in this reafoning, by examining 
the fragments and melted particles of wire fent me by 
Mr. Mountaine. Amongd them there appeared to 
be globules of various lizes, which had undergone 
very different degrees of fufion : the larged of thefe 
had not been fluid enough to put on a fpherical 
figure ; but they approached nearer thereto, in pro- 
portion as they were lmaller : fo that in the {mailed 
granules the fufion was mod perfect, the globules 
being very round and fmooth. Their fizes continued 
diminifhing, till they became invifible to the naked 
eye; and fome of them, when viewed with a micro- 
fcope, required a third or fourth magnifier to fee them 
didinctly. 
Some of the bits of wire were rough and fcaly, like 
burnt iron, and were dwelled in thofe places where 
they were beginning to melt : others continued drait, 
and of an equable thicknefs ; but their outward fur- 
face deemed to have undergone a perfect fufion, fo 
that thene were two or more pieces adhering together, 
as if joined by a thin folder. 
In Mr. Pitfold’s account of the effects of lightning 
at Darking in Surry, published in the Philofophical 
Tranfadtions *, mention is made of a iimilar fadt. He 
fays, *'* fome fmall tacks were foldered together, fix, 
feven, eight, or ten in a clump, as if they had 
“ had fealding metal run over them.” 
It is eafy to conceive, how the heat of this fuperfi- 
cial fufion might be fo fuddenly diffufed throughout 
* Philof. Tranf. Vol. XLIX. p. 311. 
the 
