2 3 0 
Mr. Read's Meteorological Journal 
Days. 
Wind. 
Barom. 
Ther. 
Sparks. 
Pos. 
Neg. 
May 9, 1790. 
May 9 
N 
Inches. 
29.I4 
O 
67 
strong 
pos. 
. 
A clear fine morning. One o’clock P.M. 
• 
IO 
NE 
29.18 
66 
0. 
neg. 
a sudden shower of rain fell ; the pith 
balls O, connected with the lower end 
of the rod, were now charged negative- 
ly, and increased in strength as the rain 
came on ; in a short time the electri- 
city changed to positive. Five o’clock, 
the electricity changed again to nega- 
tive, I then heard some distant rum- 
bling of thunder. This day there was 
some lightning at Hertford. 
A.M. sky very cloudy, and some small 
1 1 
E 
30. 5 
64 
0 
pos. 
__ _ 
rain falls. 
12 
E 
29.14 
70 
0 
pos. 
— 
1 Strong gales of wind ; and a weak 
13 
E 
29. 6 
72 
0 
pos. 
— 
| electricity. 
H 
NE 
3 °. 9 
72 
0 
DOS. 
• — 
J 
15 
N 
29. 5 
6 S 
0 
pos. 
— 
A.M. weather serene. 
l6 
NE 
29. 2 
57 
0 
pos. 
— 
A.M. a clear sky. Some lightning at 
1 7 
S 
29. 8 
58 
strong 
_pos. 
B i shop - S tor tford . 
Half after nine o’clock A.M. fell a little 
18 
sw 
2Q.go 
59 
small 
pos. 
rain ; as it increased so did the electric 
charge in the rod, insomuch that it 
streamed forth from the brass ball N for 
a short time. 
Six o’clock A.M. One o’clock P.M. a 
l 9 
s 
29.20 
6 5 
strong 
neg. 
low black sky, by which the charge in 
the rod became negative, with sparks ; 
after continuing so one hour, the elec- 
tricity changed again to positive. The 
rod has been in charge 16 hours this 
day ; how much more I cannot say. 
A.M. At four o’clock P.M. fell a mild 
20 
s 
29.14 
64 
small 
neg. 
rain, void of the electric fluid. At five 
o’clock the rain fell more copiously, and 
it was strongly charged with negative 
electricity. 
Early this morning I found the humidity 
of the air electrified negatively. At ten 
o’clock, the electricity became more in- 
tense, so as to emit small sparks : in 
half an hour’s time there were four 
beautiful gradual changes of electricity. 
Afterwards the rod remained negative 
two hours. Three o’clock P.M. the 
electricity changed, and continued near 
three hours positive. After this a low 
black cloud passed over the rod, and 
let fall a few drops of rain mixed with 
