532

ELECTRICAL STORMS, ETC.

even an ornament to the spire ; and for protection against lightning I am not awareof a better. Should the spire be surmounted by a cross or any other metallic orna-ment, the system of lightning conductors ought of course to be united with it.Metallic points and sharp edges have great influence, and must always have asuperiority over blunt or rounded terminations at the upper extremity of any systemof conductors whatever, in preparing the way for a flash of lightning in their owndirection, on which account they ought to be strictly avoided.

W. S.

Royal Victoria Gallery of Practical Science ,

Manchester.

“ The storm,” says the Liverpool Standard , “ as experienced by those on board shipin the river, was at once sublime and terrific. Lieutenant Wilson, commander ofH. M. S. Etna , lying in the Sloyne, describes the storm in a most interesting manner.He states, that the first flash of lightning appeared to strike the Mersey opposite thetown, and the Etna vibrated from the mast-head to the keel, so that all on board con-ceived for a moment that she was shaken to pieces.* The parties on deck (includingCaptain Wilson, who kept his own watch) lost their sight for several seconds, but onrecovering found that no damage was done to the ship. The second flash appearedto evolve from the southern extremity of a dark cloud, and flashed from one extremityof the town to the other.”

The electric storm of the 14th September, 1841, traversed Cumberland, Westmore-land, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire, at all of which placesthe lightning and thunder were most terrific ; and it is highly probable that it visitedmany other parts of England. In Yorkshire and Lancashire the night was splendidlyilluminated by the rapid succession of lightning discharges.

At Lymm, in Cheshire, about eleven o’clock at night, the lightning fell in a gardenbelonging to J. Leaf, Esq., and the crash of thunder that attended it terrified thewhole neighbourhood for several miles round. The noise was tremendous even sixmiles distant. Thinking that considerable damage must have been done to somepart of the premises by the effect of such a formidable discharge of lightning, Mr.Leaf and some of his family were induced to go out and make the necessary exami-nation. The buildings, however, had sustained no damage, but in the garden, in therear of the house, a large hole had been broken in to the depth of a yard and a half.About a week after this occurred, I was told of the circumstance by the Rev. Mr.

* This is one of those interesting facts which are worthy of particular notice, and shows that a vessel being shaken during athunder storm is no evidence of its being struck by lightning. (See report from the Beagle, page 358.)