The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-12-23

wa are fold In books that during q nun
dcr.ssorm 1t is unsafe to he IN a crowd, since
tie human body has a strong attraction ior
lightning. Now, according TO theory, shis
ought to be true, for the human ooay - SO
~f4yorise a pathway that the lightning has
bren known to oblique from its regular
course to take it-nay, TO leap from a wall OF
q tree to a person near at hand; ana IN one
melancholy case, where two college students
were walking through the rain under the
same umbrella, il was observed TO leave un-
Touched a two-story hGise on one side oil the
road. and some moderately-siZed trees on the
other. and to prefer the umbrel!a.staf they
bore, along which II passed to them. and lett
their bodies lifeless on the ground. Bnt
wli!c this is true, who ever heard OF iiight-
ming striking q crowd of una beings,
whether assembled in a house or IN the open
air? 1t may show q decided fancy for an IN
dividual, or for two, three, or as man! as
half a dozen, assembled near a conducting
tree or wall, but toward q cro,bd it seems TO
have 4 repnISion. 4.
In this respect the reported history OF
cities Is remarkable. In Paris not a single
death by lightning is said to have occurred
from the year 1900 to the year 1891 WINE
In the rest of France the number OF deaths
reported during the same time was al the
rate of about sixty or seventy a year. In tie
city of London, out Of seven hundred ana
fifty thousand deaths in the course OF tnitt!
wears, only two were from this cause. wi'ile
in tho surrounding country the number was
as usual. Other large cities report similar
facts, so that we may safely conclude tiat,
although lightning will take very serious anu
undesirable liberties with individuals ana
with small companies, it shows great respect
for GO 3eae for large cities.
The freedom of the country It's
S$$8&34#b no means impartial; 1t has n
reference for some places rather than
HeE& E&grs. Certain fields. houses, ana mus;
Frequently struck, while other MIS-
f$R fses, and fields, equally exposed, arc I'M
&8&$Be&$ 5uched. This may be accounted for on inc
nppoSition TINT there arc attractive deposits
n OF metal in the underlying earth; but 1t has
7 been so often observed as to have caused the
remark that places once marked by ilShthlns
arc most liable to be marked again.
As 70 persons, not only are some more
keenlv sensitive than others to the lightning
flash in perceiving the phosphoric or sui.
%pi,urous odor which it leaves in passing, or
in Il tingiing or bcnuinbing effect upon The
nervous system. but some seem to he more
Liable 10 the deadly stroke. Whether from
REGULARITY of constitution or Of dress, or
from the attraction of substances carried
about the person, it has been observed that
o: those seated on the same bench or stand
ing in the same row, one or two Will he
struck down liteless or rendered temporarily
unconscious, while others will be cOmparr-
lively untouched. For the comfort OF the
more tiluid sex, it may be stated that HonaCn
are more seldom struck than men, not merely
because they arc less frequently cXi'oScd,
but because, when equally exposed, they
seem TO be for som reason less obnoxious.