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<( Waddel, his {hip was almoft beaten to pieces by 
“ the thunder and lightning : although, as he expreffes 
<l himfelf, there were fundry large comazants over 
<c head, fome of which fettled on the fpindles on 
<c the topmaft -heads, and burnt like very large 
tc torches. When this account was written, thefe 
“ phenomena were only conlidered as the prefages 
t{ or attendants of a ftorm, and no fort of inference 
cc propofed from them.” 
But to return to our author: His work clofes with 
a feries of experiments, intended to demonftrate the 
validity of the conclulions exhibited therein. Thefe 
merit the particular attention of thofe converfant in 
thefe matters; but I muft refer you here to the work 
itfelf, and only obferve, that fome of the experi- 
ments are made in vacuo, and are of the fame kind 
with thofe which I communicated to the Royal 
Society in February 175 2 .; and which have been 
lince publifhed in the Philofophical T'ranJ’aEhons *. 
Upon the whole, I think the treatife before us a 
very valuable one, as it gives us the {till riper thoughts 
of an able writer upon a difficult, and, till very lately, 
an almoft unknown, fubject ; of one, who, befides 
his inquiries into this part of philofophy, has a great 
compafs in the knowlege of nature, and is therefore 
well qualified to inveftigate her phenomena. 
* Vol. XLVII. p. 363, et Feq. 
i 
XXXII. 
