The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-08-30
"On! father n dad z,

and sky seemed to be in o, blaze. He
alse became conscious of the most intenSe
suffering, and eaneciailv In his lover
limbs. lie says the pain was like that Of
2 hnrn, and that he could not have suf-
fered moro from what followed If he had
been held in the flames.
His wife and daughter. upon seeing
that he was still alive, desired 70 remove
him TO the house, hut he begged to be
left where be vas, and not TO be dis
turbed, as he felt That be could live but O
few minutes, and that he might as we'll
die there as TO be put 70 the needless tor.
ture of removal. As he seemed To gain
strength, however, he wes coon taken To
the house and made as comfortable as
possible, but eight or ten hours elapsed
before he was able IN move either OF his
lower limbs. The left hip and leg seemed
to be more affected than the right, aud
the symptoms for time indicated that
the bones were injured. But these soon
passed away. The mark of the lightning
was apparent from the shoulders TO me
calf Of the right leg, in the shape Of q
broad, irregular strip, from which the
scalded.
The New York Medical Journal had an
interesting paper few years ago on the
physiological effects Of lightning, fror,
which we gather some facts touching the
great and consuming heat Of this invsi-
bic agency.
"a thunderbolt has been seen," says
the writer, Ito split free without even
blackening it while it reduced TO ashes a
shepherd who had taken refuge under its
branches"
Able Richard says ofanother incident
Gone man alone was killed and almost
reduced to dust, in the midst of many
others who were under the same tree"
'"The most curious as well IA the most
recent instance is the following: "At
Viscur, Aisne, in 1888, thunderb0It
struck lime tree, under which three sol.
diers had taken shelter; they wero all
killed at the same instant; still, although
lifeless, the three remained erect, as II
the electric fluid had not reached them
their clothing also appearing uninjured
But hen they were touched they all fell
30 it is said-into heap of ashes"
These are remarkable incidents, but
the dfedicai journal regards them as suf.
ficiently we'll authenticated to illustrate
the intensity of the heat of this element
Some opinions have been advanced by
physicists touching the nature of this
heat. CUlonne says:
1.-The fire of eXbalation which forms the
thunderbolt must be 80 subtle and peDe.
trating that it kills man by drying in.
simultaneously all his humors, without In
the lenst changing his figure. We donot
pc ceive him dead until we touch him,
ard then we see him fall to dust"
Groberg says:
ut liz demonstrated that lightning 70.
duces bones to ashes, but never TO the
state Of fusion"
Able Man says:
"Lightning reduces 10 ashes ali parts
of the human body without altering the
clothes or the skin"
Besides the complete incineratlon OF
persons or of bone, a;ld of the trees struck
by lightning, it has also been found, &C.
cording to incidents cited by the Afedioal
journal, that some inorganic kodiea have
been treated in like manner under the
powerful heat of lightning, such as the
following: lady's bonnet, a mans shoe,
except the wooden sole; panes of glass
in windows; cloth covering shields
which were fused rurse, the gold end
silver which it contained not being dam.
aged the scabbard of q sword; large
beam reduced to dust in the middle of O
chamber closed and fastened on all sides,
without any injury 10 ihe ahamner, inc
wood Of cask destroyed by lightning,
etc.
Strange as it may appear, this elemen.
possesses power the reverse Of heat.
General Comte do Maistre informs DR.,
BOudin that some Sandman sailora killed
By lightning n The Med;se.saness, nre.
sented all the signs Of death by freezing.
This observation is the more remark
able," adds DR.. Boudin, "as it recalls the
congealation of wine long ago noticed by
the ancients."
Or man struck by lightning toward
The back of the head, AaEs could Is
found neither fracture nor fissure, nor vet
an alteration in any other part OF the
skull. The brain was also very sound,
there being alone at the superior pars
congeaied lymph, which had infitrateti
into tbs folds of the pia mater. The
young man thus killed remained in the
position he was at the time the thunder.
bolt struok him.
It is remarkable that this element
should produce intense heat or freezing
cold that 1t should kill in one iustauce
without leaving any mark of it's mower,
and in. another that 1t should consume
to. ashes. Will this mystery ever be
solved?
AMERICAN PGMOLOaICAL SOCIETY,"