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a fliort time, a fecond or two, after he found him * 
felf fruck with the lightning . Extraordinary as - 
th is circumftance may appear, it may be proper to 
take notice, that it is entirely agreeable to an ob- 
fervation of the learned and ingenious Dr. Frank- 
lin, quoted below *. 
The eifeTs of the lightning on the building and 
furniture were as follows. The north chimney 
was thrown down, the roof and cieling near it 
beat in ; large ftones were forced out of the walls, 
fome were driven to a confiderable diftance, one in 
particular to about 200 feet. The glafs of the 
windows in the north parlour and the chamber 
over it was forced outwards, except in the cafe- 
ments, which were] open, and in which not a pane 
of glafs was broken. The cafe of a clock in the 
fame parlour fell forwards, and was beaten to 
pieces ; a looking glafs over the chimney was 
thrown on the floor, and broken, fome of the 
quickfllver was melted, as was likewife fome of the 
lead belonging to the windows. A bureau, that 
was locked, was opened ; as was alfo the parlour 
door, inwards, probably by the external air ruflfing 
in to reftore the equilibrium. Some bedding in 
one of the chambers was fired, but the fire was 
extinguifhed of itfelf, or by the rain that fell 
during the ftorm, before it was difcovered. Seve- 
ral fplinters were torn out of a hogfhead full of 
* In every ftroke of lightning I am of opinion that the flream 
of the electric fluid, &c. will go confiderably out of a direct 
courfe for the fake of the afliftance of good conductors ; and 
that in this courfe it is actually moving, though fllently and im- 
perceptibly, before the expiofion , in and among the conductors, &c. 
Franklin’s Experiments and Obfervations oa EleCtricity, 
edit, 4. pag. 124, 
beef 
