New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-16
LIGHTNING'S IMPRINTS.
Many Strange Pictures Have Been Imprinted
on the Skin by the Electric Current.
Newark ". u News

From The Newark On. j. News.
Notwithstanding all our knowledge Of electricity
and contrvauces for controlling and making it
serve useful purposes, there are very few people
pressed with sense of awe when Witnessing the
marvellous display OF natures forces during a
Thunderstorm IN TACT, there are many persons
both men and women, who are terrified by the
means lnfrequent In France. where accurate
persons killed by ightnng IN twenty -egGt years
From 1854 to 1864 inclusive, 9G7 persons were killed
sos being males and Z09 females
In Prussia, where registration also is compulsory
GiS 5S9 and y ISIS o
United States also show many deaths from this
1t is not surprising, therefore, that among print
tive peoples. completely ignorant of physical laws
and with only rudllndntary religion the lightning
flashes and peals of thunder were thought to be
"g@po9S s Ine s nIhIs %[ angry so od o. thunder and
goddess OF lightning; who punish when they
sumed by lightning because Of undliaI conduct The
round articles in the hands OF the goddeses the
mirrors with which she flashes the lightning. Her
ad,c with the divided skirts wipne the tears from
her face with her handkerchief. IS the victims
young wife. and the venerable dame with the long
gR f APPEARS to be Slow in doing its Work of
destruction. but it may be said in explanation that
In this part OF the world We no longer believe
that people are struck dead by lightning as
punishment for moral offences; al such phenomena
can be explained by the working out of natural
with thunderstorms which have not been fully
and satisfactorily explained, and among them are
upon the human skin.
In the middle OF the last century a book was
published in which the author collected accounts
OI manifestations non the boGes OF men ana anil
mails OF these eight We're impressions Of trees.
parts Of trees; one OF bird. one OF cow, four
of crosses three impressions Of coins carried about
the persons, two OF horseshOes. of a nail. one
of q metal comb of number or numeral.'
one Of the words Of sentence and one of the
back of armchair.
In "The London Times" Of September 10 1866 Is
account of a boy who had taken refuge under
a tree during a Thunderstorm, and ON ais body
was found "a perfect image of the tree. the 1bres
leaves and branches being represented with photo-
graphic accuracy.
without giving further examples there can be
no question that lightning does make marks upon
the human skin resembling the branches Of a tree.
nornenon? At first II was supposed the lightning
photographed the tree. 1t We're upon the SKIN.
lightning having these marks upon them were no
where near trees or vegetation of any description
Il the time or the injury. Manifesty TINS theoly
renee Then the marks were accounted for on
the supposuon That the electricity I'm its passage
through the body, forced an abnormal amount OF
blood into the blood vessels OF the arteries ana
capillaries visible But careful Investigation showed
this theory could not be held The final eXplana-
ton so far Is that the mark IL made by the hsht-
ming itself as ii travels over the skin.
If we take powerful electric machine and cause
the current Of electricity to PASS from pole 70
the other the spark which flashes between VIII
take a particular shape according the strength
Of the current ana the distance between the pot7S
If tho poles be near together the spark VIII De ~
When lightning strikes human being it moves
along the skin. meets with resistance and Is CON
tinuaIV being detected from ta course in the man
ner described, and so Produces tree-lke eHects
The marks last for some time as OF course. the
LII is more or less burned and an effusion of
blood takes place beneath the skin wherever the
lightning has been - .
other objects having been imprlDted upon the skin
such as crosses ana hoFSeshoes. that cannot DO ga