LIGHTNING.

Thames Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 14685, 27 November 1913, Page 6

LIGHTNING.

There are several well-attestei cases of death by lightning in which certain marks are reported to have been seen on the bodies of the victims. In one case a sailor was struck whilst taking a nap on deck near the mast of the vessel, and on his left breast was • found a wellformed impression of the number "44," which was attached in meta] letters to the mast.

On another occasion a young man was struck by lightning, and on his neck was found the image of a horseshoe, which was fixed on a wall a little way off.

In the third case a sailor, sitting at the foot of the mizen-mast, was killed by a flash of lightning, and his back exhibited the impression of a horseshoe nailed to the mast. It was not till some time after the occurrence of the most recent ol these cases that a rational explanation of the facts was supplied by the experience of a celebrated electrician.

While experimenting with a Holtz electrical machine he discovered that if a drop or tv/o of water was sprinkled on the brass ball of the negative pole, spots exactly corresponding and similar dimness appeared on the positive . pole, showing that lines of force extended from one pole to the other, through the intervening air. To explain the cases just mentioned, therefore, it is only necessary to assume that the fatal discharge of electricity from the horseshoe or the metal numbers was a "negative" one, and that the bodies struck by it were "positively" electrified.