The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-12-30

REPORT TO THE 6kTEOhULOEsCh
Section OF TIE 'FKANKLIE INSTITUTE, Pa1IN
DRLPHA, AT ITS MONTHLY MEETING OF DE
,cEMBER, By PROFESSOR JOHN WISE, coRREs
PONDING SECRETARY. .s,.5 al 80 ~, IA. +
ISL Reported for the Evening Bul,esinJ 81,
*'On Monday, November %, 1874, at.aboui
8 T. NJ, a thundergast passed over our city
The barometer had fallen nearly one inch ir
the previous twenty -four hours. The cloud:
were running fast and low from the west
southwest. A tornado sprung up some dis
tance southwest of the city, accompanied
by ,eyolyements of lightning. AS it passed
over the city-a thunderbolt was projected
from it, which struck the roof o.
Dougherty's neutrality-suspicious., located
in Front street near Girard avenue
The discharge was preceded by q dash
of hail,sand quickly followed by eopious
dash .ofzain. The roof of. the building is
covered with tin. There is no lightning.rod
on it, or on any other part or the buildings
of which there are cluster. The bolt
struck the tin roof about twenty feet from
the rain.spout corner of the building and or
q line running diagonally across the rooi
from that corner. !. The bolt perforatId the
tin and lett circular hole someW hat ragged
around the edges, The hole is one and one.
eighth inches in diameter, and Immediately
over rafter.tinber In which q nail-stuml
remains, and around which the, wood is
slightly siDged. The chamber underneath
the hole is plastered against the roof. .timbers
The piastering shows not the least disturb
ance; no mechanical effect whatever can be
traced in the ceiling. ,5z .g5E
Amore conclusive proof Of the protective
nature Of, metal roof against the danger
and damage incident TO thunderbolts could
not be imagined. If athunderbolt could be
attracted from its course by conditions o.
warm vapor-metai pipes out il
the open air and proXimate to the point OIL
its impact-these1 were present, but pro
duced no influence upon the projectile direc.
tion of the bolt. Like a ball from the muz
zle of the gun, it went forward In the direc
ton of least resistance, as all thunderbOlts
hare done, SO far as their traces indicate
that have examined within the past TWEEN
Persons in.the neighborhood of Dougher
tvs distilery noticed some of the attendant
phenomenal. Mr. John s. Naylor, of thf
PEOPLES Works, says: . !
aBetween and 4 O'Clock In the afternoon
of November %, 1874, my sight was directed
towards Dopgherty's distillery, the place
which was struck. The flash and the report
was simultaneous, and occupied merely q
point of time-a moment, as 1t were. The
light was not streaked, or zig-zag, or forked
as we occasionally see lightning, Hor was II
a series of flashes; nor were there any sctn.
or shooting Of flame whatever; but
the manifestation was one sudden lllumina m
ting flash, very intense and brilliant, OF the
yellow color rof fame, faintly tinged with
purple. Thereport accompanying the name
was not like thunder, crashing, reYerbera.
ting, or echoing; nor was it deep noise. Ii
was short, sharp, loud bang. The stroke
occurred as the storm was breaking away,
there being little rain at The time"
Another observer saw fire aud "smoke is.
suing from the rain water-spout." Another
saw pieces of the bolt falling into the area
of the buildings" 49,. Ill.
Had this bolt struck a wooden, gravel, or
slate roof, its mechanical effects would have
been manifest in the rending of such materi-
ais, as it has eyer been upon examination.
and in a number of instances that occurred
in this city within the past FIVE years of my
observations. <5-,t3 .E-a -
Now, a word in regard to the inherent ma.
ture of thunderbolt. Firstly, what Is il
Electricity, says the "teacher"i What is
electricity? A condition of matter, says the
sophist! What is this "condltion of mat
ter up" It Is the corpuscuiar action Of mole
eules, says the zetetic philosopher! A mo-
tion pertaining 10 all matter-a motion inhe
rent to all matter in the universal cosmogo
nv, alike infinite and indestructible as it is
universal Strictly speaking, there is nc
such thing as dead matter per Sc in nature
Organic dissolution is not death, much less
can it be annihilation. 10
d The lthunderbolt is molecular force
Whence comes this force? From the
cloud! How does it get into tht
cloud: and what makes it come ou
of the cloud? Force being universal ane
indestructlble, it can only be disturbed in its
normal equilibrium, and be transmitted from
one body to another, as it is in numberles
weil-defned instances, as in mechanlcs-ol
belt and pulley from one shaft to another
The bursting of grindstone by what i
termed centrifugal force is agood illustration
of the action Of thunderbolt. Let us trace
lp the action Of q thunderbolt! Water Il
lifted up from the sea by vaporization-l
mode of force. 1t is held suspended in tht
interstlces Of the air as invisible moisture b.
force. The more the atmosphere contain
the clearer it, is. Change the condition Q
this. air as TO its power Of holding water in it
interstices, and you release the poWe
that lifted the water up from below ant
holds its up, and! this force will seek its NOR.
general magazine, and in accordance witt
the rapidity with which 1t is re
leased. When,i in the condensation of tn,
/. water.dust," clouds are formed slowly, tn
play of the unimprisOned force reveals itsei
in force by GLOW tension,0 aud causes tn
play of 90 still lightning !" !; sometimes inyis'
b]e. ut others manifest in orange-coloret
flashes, from q clond of plus cond e
a cloud of minus. When! the condensatiol
Of the cloud-yapor to aggregated drops o
raif, IS sudden, an amount OF force is sud
denly evolved in the mode of projected
thunderbolt directly towards its prime re
seryoir. the earth; the suhstratum of al
presents an insufficient diaphragm to kee
# from darting to the earth. In It's deseen
IL fires atmospheric matter that intercept
its course, and when it comes in contac
with the earth or any solid matter project
ING from the earth that is not good con
ducting medium it produces mechanical &c
ton just, in proportion as such obstructip I
matter Is nen.eond ndnctlqe or non -correlatlV
to the metiye energy Of the bolt. I6e u
slant Is impacts an extended metal surface !
spreads out and is dissipated, not, however
without singeing an equivalent surface oi th
mesais ,s-.s :,
.Che ,iightning-rod sophfsts claim for To
efieiencys OF the ed.-the various kinds
rods. from that t,ofs strdsr ito those OF all ID
grades and forms Of meta!TW hat Mesme