Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1857-08-06
gaisrrllanrous.
CURIosITIEs OF ELECTRICITY.

The pecularities of that terrible but mys-
terious agent, lightning are made the sub
jcct Of an interesting paper in a recent num-
Der of the British Quarterly Review Two
clouds are not necessary for the production Of
lightning, which is frequently discharged
from a solitary clump of vapor. when a con-
noction can be established with the earth A
French academician, named Marcole de-
scribcs a case where q mere cloudlct. about "a
foot and a half in diameter. killed a poor wo-
man. by dropping a thundcrbolt upon her
head 1t has been shown by Faraday that
the electric fluid contained in a single flash
might perhaps be supplied by the decompo-
sition of one grain of water alone. VI. Arago
has divided the lightning into three sorts
The first includes those where the discharge
appears like long luminous GIT lines. bent
into angles and zig-zags, and varying in COM
plexion from white to blue. purple. or red
The kind IS known as forked lightning, be-
cause it occasionally divides into two branch
or. Charpcntior rslgtes n case where a flash
severed into three forks each of which struck
on points several hundred feet apart Still
more numerous furca-tons have been report
ed for it is said that during a tempest at
Landernoau and st. Pol de Leon. twenty four
churches were struck, though only three dis
tinct claps were heard This was eight
churches apiece for the three explosions
The second class Of lightning differs from
the first in the range of surface over which
it is dia'uscd, and is designated as sheet
lightning Sometimes it simply glds the
cdge of the cloud whence it leaps but at 9TH
ers it floods, with a lurid radiance, or else
sufFuses its surface with bushes of a rosy OF
violet hue.
The third class of lightnings arc remarka-
5lc for their eccentricites, and have been
made the subject of considerable attention
among mcteoroogists. many of whom have
denied their right to be treated as Legitimate
lightnings. they differ so widely from the or
dinary sort of flashes. They exhibit them
selves as balls or globular Jumps Of frc--not
momentary appartions, but meteors, which
take and travel at remarkable rate 1t is
this CELEBRITY which gives them their doubtful
character as an electrical bolt is supposed TO
be one Of the leading emblems of velocity.
Among other anecdotes related OF this kind
Of lightning is the following incident which
occurred 20 a tailor in the Rue ST. Jaques.
Val de Grace about the yesr 17i3. NJ Bab-
met was commissioned by the Academy of
Sciences % investigate the facts, and report
ed substantially as follows.
AFTER a loud thundor-clap. the tailor be-
ing finishing his m1al saw 'lhe chimney y-board
fall down as if baset by a slight gust of wind,
and globe OF fire, thos ize of child's head,
come out quietly into the room, at a small
height above the floor. The tailor said it
looked like a good sized kitten, rolled up in
to a ball. and moving without showing its
paws II was bright and shining, but he felt
no sensation OF heat. The globe came to his
Feet like Young cat that wants to rub itself
against its mastcrs legs but by moving
them aside gently, he avoided the contact.
Il appears to have played for several seconds
about his feet, he bending over it and exam
sihing It attendvcly After trying some eX-
Acursions in different directions, it rose vorti-
cally 20 the height OF his head, which he
threw back to avoid touching his face. Th,
globe elongated little, then steered toward
a hole ia the chimney, above the mantlepiece
which hole received a stove pipe in winter
but was now pasted over with paper The
thunder. he said, could not see the hole
but, nevertheless the ball went straight to
the aperture, removing the paper without
hurting it, and made its way into the chin
new Shortly afterward and when he suppos-
cd it had time to reach the top, it made a
dreadful explosion. which destroyed the up
D per nAII OF INC NntAlutN dlA ANAtM AlN nag
monts on the roofs Of the smaller buildings,
which they broke through. The tailor
lodging was on the third story the lower
ones were not visited by the thunderbolt.
Lightning, when it meets with an obstruc-
ton in its course, disperses and bursts
substances asunder in every direction, as il
they had been charged with gunpowder. Phe
stone pinnacle of a church in Cornwall, was
1 e.. .f..l,
ing three hundred pounds, was hurled siXt,
yards to the southwaad, another four hun
dred yards to ,the north, and third to tho
southwest. In 1888 the top-gallant mast o
Her Maiesty's ship Rodney was literally cut
into chips by fash Of lightning, the sea be-
/ ing strewn with the fragments as if the car
penters had been sweeping their shaying'
overheard Sometimes in striking tree oi
mast the electric fluid will slice it into lona
shreds or flaments so that it will appear
like huge broom or bundle of laths.-
Lightning bolts will occasionally dash thro
resisting objects by tearing great openings
as in a Cornish church, whore apertures were
made in the solid wall Of the betry fourteen
inches deep, and as il cut out by art. II
other instances holes are drilled which arr
surprising for their perfect circularity Of form
Window panes have been frequently pierced
in this fashion, without affecting the glass
In forming these apertures, a burr or projec
ton is left on the edges.
Juvenile electricians are in the habit o
making holes in cards by passing discharge
through them, when burr or projection vii
be observed on both sides of the or6ce.-
Sometimes single discharge viii produce
two holes in a card, each puncture marked b.
a single burr, ono in the upper and the othc
on the under side of the card In some in
stances the results are such as TO suggest tina
a flash may be split into several fiery fila
ments. before it strikes an object. In l777
woathercock Of timed copper was hurled b.
a thunderbolt from the top of a church i
Cremona and, upon inspection, was foun
to be pierced with eighteen holes in nine O
them the burr was conspicuous on one side
and in nine it was equally prominent on th
other. while the slope Of the burr was identi
cal in all.
Among the curiosities of lightning are who
is termed "fulgarities," or tubes, which tn
lightning constructs when it falls on sill
cious spot, by fusing with the sand. The
may be called casts of thunderbolts. In som
hilocks of sand in Cumberland, England
those hollow tubes have been found from on
ffteth to two inches in diameter, taperin