by Lightning at Heckingham. 369 
mentioned are of fir, the wall-plate is of folid oak ; and the 
violence done to its extremity was fuch, that we could not 
doubt but it had been occalloned by the lightning. 
Under this end of the wall-plate there was a crack in the fouth 
face of the corner (w, fig. 8.), which went down four courfes of 
bricks, and -then terminated abruptly (w, fig* 3.). The three ex- 
ternal courfes of bricks above this crack were new, and projected 
out much farther than the others, to form the cornice of the 
wall. Whether the bricks of the old cornice had been damaged or 
thrown down by the ilroke, we could not learn with certainty ; 
but the general report among the people we confulted was, that 
they had not, and were only taken down to extinguifii the fire : 
this opinion leemed probable from the want of marks on the 
hip-pole which projected out with the cornice, and the ap- 
pearance of fuch ftrong effects of lightning on the wall-plate 
which lay within any part of the projection ; whence it might be 
concluded, that the lightning palled within the cornice, and 
no where through it. Between the bottom of the wall plate, 
and the top of the crack where it appeared to begin at the foot 
of the cornice (m, fig. 3. and 8.), lay two inner courfes of 
bricks ( 0 and f>, fig. 8.) covered by the cornice. Some damage 
had evidently been done to the bricks in this part, though we 
could not diftinClly trace the progrefs of the lightning through 
them. 
Beneath the eafi: edge of the wall- plate, and feparated from 
if. in like manner bv two courfes of bricks, a limilar crack de- 
lcended from the bottom of the cornice (/, fig. 4. and 8 ) on 
the eafi face of the corner, and went through ten courfes of 
bricks till it reached the top of the wall that fupported the 
liable. Here the three bricks next the houfe, it is laid, were 
Uiivered into pieces as fmall as nuts, but not thrown ofi (g fig. 
10. and 11.). The cracks in the bricks on both faces of the 
Vol. LXXII. C c c corner 
