806 Dr Tilesius on the Effects of Lightning on the Human Body. 
nephew, a young man of 20, and Mr Decker. The lightning 
Mr Decker, and his companion, the latter of whom did not sur- 
vive the accident. The horse was killed upon the spot ; the 
skin of the belly was torn in all the lower part ; the mouth left 
open; and the teeth blackened. It struck the younger Teele, 
passing through his umbrella, which was thrown to a distance of 
24 paces from the cart ; the cart itself was perforated with a hole 
of half a foot in diameter. The body, on beiim carried to the 
nearest village, was put into a tepid bath, and rubbed ; blood 
flowed from the nose, the mouth, and ears, but no sign of life 
appeared. The mouth and nose were blackened ; the skin and 
muscles of the arms and hands, which were both employed in 
holding the shaft of the umbrella, were furrowed to the bone; 
the sleeves of the coat and shirt were torn ; but the lesions of the 
skin were not of the nature of tumours or scars, such as are pro- 
duced by the application of red-hot iron : the skin looked as if 
it had been raised by a very quick rubbing. In the same man- 
ner, the clothes bore no marks of burning, but seemed as if they 
had been torn by the rapid passage of a sharp point. Mi- 
Decker, who was in the same cart, received, at the same instant, 
so violent a blow in the lower belly, that he was precipitated 
from the cart, and remained senseless for half an hour. When 
he was undressed, the place in which he had felt the shock was 
of a bright red colour, but without any open wound. He was, 
by this time, in a condition for continuing his journey. 
The two brothers Teele had suffered considerable damage 
from the lightning ; they, however, quickly recovered, as will 
presently be seen. But it will be interesting, in the first place, 
to follow the progress of the electric fluid over the different parts 
of their bodies, and to observe the nature of the wounds which 
resulted. They were sitting by the side of one another when 
struck. The lightning first hit the head of the elder ; it tore to 
pieces the velvet cap which he had on, grazed the temporal 
bone an inch above the left ear, and then behind the ear, after 
which, slightly raising the skin, it descended upon the neck, 
traversed the back part obliquely, and ascended toward the right 
ear ; here it scratched the inner part of the ear, near the tragus 
and antihelix ; it then fell upon the right shoulder, passed be« 
