70 
“ On the Influence of Gas and Water Pipes in determining 
the Direction of a Discharge of Lightning,” by Henry 
Wilde, Esq. 
Although the invention of the lightning conductor is one 
of the noblest applications of science to the wants of man, 
and its utility has been established in all parts of the world 
by the experience of more than a century, yet, a sufficient 
number of instances are recorded of damage done by 
lightning to buildings armed with conductors to produce, in 
the minds of some, an impression that the protective influ- 
ence of lightning conductors is of but questionable value. 
The destruction, by fire, of the beautiful church at 
Crumpsall during a thunderstorm on the morning of the 
4th inst., has induced me to bring before the Society, with 
a view to their being known as widely as possible, some 
facts connected with the electric discharge which have 
guided me for some years in the recommendation of means 
by which disasters of this kind may be averted. 
For the proper consideration of this subject it is necessary 
to make a distinction between the mechanical damage, 
which is the direct effect of the lightning stroke, and the 
damage caused indirectly by the firing of inflammable 
materials which happen to be in the line of discharge, 
Instances of mechanical injury to buildings, not provided 
with conductors, are still sufficiently numerous to illustrate 
the terrific force of the lightning stroke, and at the same 
time the ignorance and indifference which prevail in some 
quarters with respect to the means of averting such 
disasters; for wherever lofty buildings are furnished with 
conductors from the summit to the base, and thence into 
the earth, damage of the mechanical kind is now happily 
unknown. 
