Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-08-15

metcors which take their own time, and travel
at remarkable rate. l. is this incclerity which
gives them their doubtful character, as an cleo
trica bolt is supposed TO be one of the leading
emblems of velocity. Among other anecdotes
related of this lind of lightning is the following
inciden: which occurred TO tailor in the Rue
St. Jaques, Val de Grace about the year 1743
NJ. Babnet was commissioned by the Academy
Of Sciences to investigate e facts, and report
cd substantially as follows:
"After loud thunder-clap, the tailor being
finishing his meal, saw the chimney bolrd fall
down as if beset by sli !ht gust of wind, and a
globe of fire, the size of child's head, come out
quietly into the room, at a small height above
the floor the tailor said it looked like good
sized kitten, rolled up into ball, and moving
without showing its paws. 1t was bright and
shining, but he felt sensation of heat The
globe came near his feet like yonng cat that
wants to rub itself against its masters legs bat
by moving them aside gently he avoided the ron
tact. 1t appears to have PLAYED for several Sec
onds about his feet, he bendinl his body over it
aud examining it atten'vely. After trying some
excursions in different directions it rose veri-
cally TO the height of his head, which he threw
back 10 avoid touching his face The globe
elongating little, then steered towards hole
in the chimney above the mantel- piece, which
now pasted over with paper The thunder he
said. could not see the hole :; but nevertheless
the hall went straight to the aperture, removing
the paper without hurting 1t, and made its way
into the chimney. Shortly afterwards. and
when he supposed it had time to reach the top,
it made dreadful explosion, which destroyed
the upper part Of the chimney, and threw the
fragments on the roof OF smaller buildings, which
they broke through. The aor's lodging vas
on the third story the lower ones were not vis-
tied at all by the thunderbolt"
Lightning, when it meets an obstruction IN its
course, frequently skaters the non-conducling
object dispensing and bursting substances asun-
der in every direction as it they had been charg-
ed with gunpowder The stone pinnacle of
church IN Cornwall was struck by Lightning, and
one fragment weighing three hundred pounds
was hurled sixty yards TO the southwark, sno,h-
cr four hundred yards to the north, and third
to the southwest. IN 1898 the topgallant mast
of Her Maiesty's ship Rodney was literally cut
into chops by a flash of lightning the sea being
strcwn with the fragments as if the carpenters
had been sweeping their shavings overheard -
Sometimes in striking tree or mast, the electric
fluid will slice il into lons shreds or fiamcnts so
that It will appear like huge broom or buh-
die Of laths. Lightning bolts will occasionally
dash through resisting objects by tearing great
openings, as in Cornish church, where apcr-
lures were made in the soil wall of the belfry
fourteen inches deep and if cut out by art
In other instances small holes are drilled which
are surprising for their perfect crcularity Of furm
Window panes have been frequently pierced in
this fashion without affecting the rest of the
glass In forming these apertures, a burr or
projection is left upon the edges.
| Juvenile electricians are in the habit of maxi
ing holes in cards by passing discharges through
them, when burr or projection will be observed
on both sides of the orifce. Sometimes a sin
gle discharge will produce two holes in card,
each puncture marked by single bnrr, one on
the upper and the other on the under side OF the
card. In some instances the results are such as
to suggest that flash may be split up into seve-
raj fiery faments before it strikes an object In
l717 weathercock of timed copper was hurled
by thunderbolt from the top Of church in
Cremonla, and upon inspection, was found to be
pierced with eighteen holes in nine of them the
burr was conspicuous on one side, and in nine it
was equally prominent on the other, while the
slope of the burr was identical in all.
Among the curiosites of lightning are what
is termed "fuigurites" or tubes, which the light
nIng constructs when it falls upon silicious spot
| by fusine the sand. They may be called casts
of thunderbois. In some hlocks of sand in
Cumberland, England, these hollow tubes have
been found from one-fftieth to Two inches in
diameter, tapering perhaps 10 mere point
The entire extent of the tubes may be thirty
feet, but they usually separate into numerous
branches and have the appearance of the skc-
eton of an inverted tiee. They are lined with
glass, as smooth and perfect as if it had been
made in gass-housc.