Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-10-21

varying diameters, generally, however,
from one to two inches. Experiments with
artificial electricity under the most favor
able circumstances, and with the strongest
shock obtainable, succeeded in obtaining
tube in powdered glass half an inch
| long and not a tiftieth of an inch broad.
| The tubes caused by the lightning have
| been traced in some cases thirty feet into
the ground, thus showing the immeasura-
| BILE difference between the resources of
| nature and art. The fear Of lightning
which commonly prevails is not in pro-
| portion to the number OF deaths it causes,
| but their terrible character, as not one
death in every 10000 is the result of a
| lightning stroke.
As lightning usually destroys life by an
| instaneOus extinction of nervous power
the bodies of the dead often preserve the
| positions they occupied at the time of be-
| ing struck. Cardanus tells Of eight reap
ers being struck dead while eating their
dinner under an oak. They preserved the
same position as before. One had his
hand in the DISH another was putting
/ some bread in his mouth and third held
glass to his lips. The bodies of all were
turned jet black by the electricity, SO that
the unfortunate party seemed like SO many
statues carved of black marble. A we'll
| authenticated case is that Of a French
priest who was struck dead on horseback,
and the animal being unhurt carried him
home still on the saddle n anothar in
stance ten reapers were killed under a
hedge and remained immovable. One of
them had dog on his knee and was Civ
ing the animal bit of bread. The dogs
mouth was open, still begging for the
| bread, and the masters hand extended of
fering it to him. The freaks of lightning
are sometimes wonderful. At one time it
| strips a body of the clothing; at another
a man is killed, the body burned in sever
al places and the clothing unframed.
Oxen and sheep, which have been struck
by lightning, have had their bones shat
tered into thousands of minute fragments
and sometimes so mingled with the flesh
as to render the latter unfit for food. One
! curious instance of lightning stroke was
seen in Paris, when man was struck and
sustained no other injury than losing all
the metal pegs from his shoes. Lightning
has not unfrequently done little pho
| tographing, cases having been known of
flowers, shrubs and even of horse shoe
being painted in miniature on the flesh of
persons receiving the stroke.
Tho CT Flpan firac ORC duo 70
phosphorescence, being quite harmless and
without heat. They have been seen on
land as we'll as on the sea, and quite as
frequently. Persons who have had occa-
| sion to go into the open air in a highly
electrical state of the atmosphere have
noticed that the fur of their clothing, to-
gether with their hair and the ends of
their fingers, gave forth streams of light
which was akin in nature to the fires of
st. Elmo, and quite as harmless Some
times the electrical manifestation is so
strong that the hair stands erect and a
point of light on the tip of each hair. This
aureola, which was noticed by the ancients
was attributed by them to the divine favor
resting on the recipient. The agnats fatatals
is of the same character as st. Elmo's fire.
1t is called in Scotland the Elf-candle, and
is believed to portend the near approach
of death to the person who sees it. These
agnes fatu5 often illumine the ground to
distance of several yards round, some
times disappearing in current Of air, but
often remaining stationary. They emit
no heat, and appear often of changeable
colors. AS they differ SO much in charac-
ter it is tolerably certain that they cannot
all be referred to the same cause Decay
ing vegetable or animal matter may en-
gender osphorescence, and gases which
are developed in low, marshy land may
also play part, while electricity no doubt
contributes its share to the production OF
these remarkable phenomena" The
Aertal World,' bv G. Hartang.