Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1888-06-22
NO MORE ROMANCE.
Explanation of Thunderboits and tho Att
rora Doronlis.


Explain alton of Tbunderboits and tho Att
rora Borcalls.
In the course of lecture on cleo
tricity. recently delivered in London,
Dr., Marcel spoke especially on "thun-
dorbolts." Most of them arc meteor
Tics; one is only piece of sandstone
broken off by the flash, and third,
carefully preserved in museum, is n
cannon ball, "found in the bottom OF
a hole in n manure heap after n flash
of lightning had struck it." Iron
pyrites. pccuiarly-shnped piece OF
coal, and the clinkor from q Kilburn
fire engine have all figured in this ca
pacity, and. from being so carefully
preserved by their owners, are evil
IDENTIFY cherished MS specimens quite
as remarkable rs they would be were
their history less apocryphal Full
guritcs, or vitrificd tubes, formed by
the fusing of sand where current OF
electricity in the shape of q lightning
flash has penetrated tho ground. arc
also in tho exhibition. But oven
they afford little room for mys-
terv The firo-ba is only n flash
in another form. So is shoet-light-
ming, while tho remarkable tales of
escapes from death by atmospheric
electricity prove simply how narrow
Is the current and how rapid is its nc
ton, The blade of n saw has been de-
stroyed and tho handle burnt while
the sawyer renamed uninujred. A
lady had tho bracelet struck off her
hand, while she her felt no moro
than q shock; another had her bonnet
entirely burned on account of tho wire
It's frame was made Of. while sho her..
self was untouched. Even objects en-
tircly insulated from the ground are
not safe; for two sea-gulls flying over
Wtham were killed by lightning. All
these difficulties have TO DO considered
in erecting lightning-rods, some OF
which arc little better than traps to
catch the electric fluid, when tho
householder permits so important
means OF protection to fall into the
hands of IN ignorant mechanic. Hail
is not usually associated with thunder
Yet, DR. Marcel teaches tho contrary,
and though he is not certain, in spite
of NJ. Colladon's experiments, that oil
the phenomena attending a water
spout can be explained by electricity
NJ. Peltior ailirms these sudden
lifiings-up of watlr to DO the
result of nm electric attraction, rather
than OF tho action of the wind. But
whatever conflict of opinion may DO
permissible on this point. it is clear
that none is allowable in regard to the
aurora borcalis australs. Science has
deprived us of all tho pleasant con-
,eits ancnt tho "mcrry dancers or
he scarcely less pagan beliefs about
no spirits fighting in the air, or even
# the winter sun being reflected from
lome vast glaciers at the back Of tho
lorlh wind. Tho aurora is duo to
he positive electricity from tho sea
between the tropics being carried into
he upper atmospheric regions and
thence waited to the poles by the
higher currents of air. Here, Dr.
Marcot assures us, it dosconds toward
tho earth. and meets the terrestrial
negative electricity in rariiicd al
Luminous discharges
now take place, their brightness be-
ing increased by the presence of
masses of foreign particles in the air."
And thus tho electrician deprives us
of the last fragrance of romance
which chung to the most picturesque
of northern atmospheric phenomena
=. Chicago Tribune.