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formed by the union of two conductors, paffed over fome lead, on the top of the building, aud formed an angle by the interfection of the weft flank with the center range. When it arrived within eight inches of the ground, it entered a narrow channel of brick-work, and terminated in a clofe drain, which did not receive much moisture. The end of it was hooked, and in contact with one of the fide bricks.

The conductors which have been defcribed were at fome diftance from the part of the building which received the injury. Circumftantial details, therefore, are unneceffary. The fourth termination was formed from the two remaining conductors, which were neareft the ftricken corner. The point where they met, was at the fixth bar of the one, and the fourth of the other. From this point of union, it paffed over fome lead, on the roof, and ran down the fide of the houfe, to which it was fastened by ring ftaples, as the others were. When it was within two or three inches of the ground, it entered an enclosed channel of brick, and was continued down to a great drain, and paffed through a hole in the haunch of an arch of it. It was then bent off from the house, and ultimately terminated in contact with the bricks at the bottom. This conductor, therefore, in its paffage downwards did not communicate with any thing better calculated to carry off electricity than timber and mafonry.

Such were the conductors and their fituation on the houfe of induftry, at Heckington, when it fuffered from the ftorm. They had been erected in June, 1777, many years after the building had been finished, and had acquired a coat of ruft, from four years expofure in the air, as might be expected.

On the 17th of June, 1781, after a fhowery forenoon, a heavy cloud, rifing from the S. W. between two and three o'clock, brought on a fevere thunder ftorm, attended with fuch heavy hail and rain, that the court before the houfe was overflowed. About three

o'clock, a fingle and very loud explofion was heard, like the report of a cannon. Three of the paupers fainted, and all of them were terrified. At the fame time, a great light feemed to come in at the doors and windows; and in a minute or two, the caft flank of the building was obferved to be on fire. A hole was inftantly dug near the burning corner of the building, to receive the water in the court: fo that by the exertions of the people the fire was foon extinguished. The rain ftill continued, but with lefs violence, and the form feemed to abate, after the explosion.

The lead on the roof was rolled up by the lightening, about the breadth of fix inches*, which is a common circumftance; and a few bricks were dif placed. Some trifling mifchief was done among the timbers and laths: a hole was likewife made in the augh tie, perhaps by a splinter being forced off. The end of an oak wall plate was rent remarkably; and near it, there was a crack in the fouth face of the corner, which went down four courfes of brick, and then terminated abruptly.

Beneath the east end of the wall plate, a fimilar crack defcended from the bottom of the cornice till it reached the top of the wall that fupported the ftable. Here three bricks were fhivered into pieces as fmall as nuts, but not diflodged; though no iron cramps or other metal had been used in the brick work.

The roof of the ftable alfo fuffered. From thefe fhivered bricks three courses of pantiles were difplaced or broken, in à direction downward, the whole way, except near the eaves, at the bottom, where, for about two feet, they remained untouched. Nearly under the last of the diflodged pantiles hung a faddle, of which a large piece of the leathern feat was ftripped off, and one of the stirrup leathers much torn and burned, and one of the ftirrup irons exhibited fome marks of fufion. No other thing in the ftable appeared to bear any veftiges of the lightening, neither the iron U u 2

nails,

*It must be remembered, that in many places the damages effected by the lightening had been repaired; but the workmen who had been employed placed every thing as nearly as poffible into the fituation which it held after the storm.

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On examining the lead on the roof of the houfe, in one place were difcovered three marks of fufion; and three others on the piece of lead which it covered, exactly correfpondent. The timber underneath was not damaged, but the two pieces of lead, in all probability, touched each other in a melted ftate. On examining the rod of the conductor which was neareft to the parts of the building affected by the lightening, they could find no mark of fufion, or other injury. At the bottom of this conductor, however, where, having joined that from another chimney, it terminated in the drain, a fmall bright fpot appeared, which the lightening was fufpected to have occafioned.

Clofe to one of the chimneys hung a dinner bell, which received no injury, and did not appear to have fuffered, in the lealt, from the lightening.

Such is the account which Dr. Blagden and Mr. Nairne laid before the Royal Society. They only ftate facts, and relate appearances, as they prefented themfelves to their view, during a very minute and accurate inveftigation. Not more fo, however, than the important bulinefs before them feemed to demand. They do not attempt to account for the damages which the torm occafioned, in defiance of fo many conductors; we fhall, therefore, be obliged to any of our ingenious readers who are converfant in thefe difquifitions, if they would favour us with their fentiments on this fubject. In order to gratify them, we have given fo long an analy fis of this paper. The accident was fingular, and the caufes demand inveftigation.

For the accurate measurements of various parts of the building at Hecking

ton, and for the plates which exhibit fo many various views of it, we muft refer to the Philofophical Transactions.

V. Account of the Organ of Hearing in Fish. By John Hunter, Efq. F. R. S.

We prefented our readers with this curious paper, at full length, in the department of the Magazine allotted to Natural Hiftory, in August last*.

VI. Account of anew Electrometer. By Mr. Abraham Brook; communicated by Sir Jofeph Banks, Bart. P. R. S.

(Read May 30, 1782.)

This inftrument feems to be a curious invention. But we must refer those, who are defirous of a particular account of it, to the original paper. Any defcription, indeed, without the plates which accompany it, must be almoft unintelligible.

Mr. Brook thinks that he is not, perhaps, fully acquainted with the advantages of his Electrometer over thofe now in ufe. He, therefore, leaves the difcuffion of them to others, left he fhould be prejudiced in favour of his own contrivance. The great merit of this invention appears to confift in its fpeaking a language univerfally intelligible.

VII. A new Method of inveftigating the Sums of infinite Series, by the Rev. S. Vince, A. M. of Cambridge, in a letter to Henry Maty, A. M. Secretary.

(Read June 6, 1782.)

The doctrine of feries is of fich infinite ufe in almoft every branch of Mathematical fcience, that we cannot be furprized it has been cultivated by the most eminent mathematicians of every age and country. But though much has been done on this fubject, there yet remains much to be done in it. The fums of numberless different kinds of feries are yet to be investigated; and in many of thofe feries which have already been fhewn to be fummible, perhaps more elegant modes of investigation, or more convenient formulæ, expreffive of their values, may yet be difcovered, or thefe formulæ may be rendered more general. In the three

* Sce London Magazine for Auguft 1783, p. 197..

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aft particulars Mr. Vince's paper merits great commendation.

The paper is divided into three parts; the first of which contains a new and general method of finding the fums of fuch feries as thofe which have been confidered by M. De Moivre Lib. VI. Cap. 3. Mifcel. Analyt. where he has found the fum in one or two particular cafes; but his method, fo far from beng general, as it appears to be, will, on trial, be found utterly impracticable In most cafes. The fecond part conains a method of inveftigating the fums of certain feries, in which the last differences of the numerators of the feveral terms become equal to nothing. And the third part is employed in pointing out and applying a correction, which is neceffary when the fums of certain feries are inveftigated, by collectng two terms into one. This part, hough very ingenious in many refpects, fets out with a lemma, that to us appears extremely paradoxical, namely, that the fum of the feries_

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ART. XXIV. L'Ami des Erfans. M. Elmfley, Libraire, dans le Strand. THIS very ingenious, and, indeed, entertaining little work, feems admirably calculated for the inftruction of children. It confifts of ftories, and dialogues, in which the difpofitions and feelings of infantine years are with great kill developed.

We should have tranflated fome of the pieces, which are contained in thefe fmall monthly volumes, if we had not been informed, that M. Berquin propofes to publish his work in English, as well as in French, in order to facilitate the progrefs of the ftudent. We

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the feries is + or -. How, then, the fum of the feries, taken ad infinitum, can be equal to L or, indeed, how the feries, taken in that manner, can be faid to be fummible, is furely fomewhat myfterious. It is true, feveral very eminent mathematicians, both at home and abroad, have thought feries, fomewhat like thefe, worthy of their confideration; and have given expreffions, fimilar to this of Mr. Vince, for the fums of them: they have also, like him, fhewn, in particular cafes, that no errors can arise from confidering thofe expreffions, as the fums of fuch feries; but as we conceive that every ufeful purpofe which has been effected, by ufing fuch doubtful and mysterious elements, may be done without them, it is rather to be wished they were ufed as feldom as poffible; and never, when the thing under confideration can be obtained by other means.

We would not, by what is here faid, be understood to have infinuated that the ufe this truly ingenious mathematician has made of the feries, mentioned above, has led him into any mistakes. On the contrary, there are fufficient reafons for believing (but thefe reasons arife from other principles) that it has not. What we have here advanced, is to be understood only as a caution to those who are lefs dexterous than he is in the handling fuch flippery materials, how they attempt to build with then.

Par M. Berquin, on foucrit a Londres, chez 12mo. Elmfley.

fhall, however, lay the profpecus before our readers, and at the fame time, we recommend thefe books very ftrongly to their attention. For there, perhaps, was never an elementary work pub lifhed, in any language, which was fo admirably adapted to the conceptions and ideas of children, and fo well calculated to promote their entertaiment and instruction.

PROSPECTUS.

"The intention of this work is twofold. It is the author's wifh to amufe his infant readers, and to lead

them

them to virtue, by difplaying it only in characters the moft amiable. Their youthful imaginations have long been led aftray, by extravagant fictions, and marvellous fables. In thefe volumes, however, they will find only fuch adventures related, as may happen every day in their own families, while the fentiments which they endeavour to infpire are not too exalted for their tender understandings.

"The perfons of the drama are their parents, and the little companions of their youthful fports; the fervants who attend them, and the animals which cuftom renders familiar to them.

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They all exprefs themfelves in their own fimple and unaffected manner. They are interested in every event, and gave way to the impulfes of their little paffions. They are punifhed for their faults, and are recompenced in the pleafure attending their good actions. Every thing concurs in urging them to cherith virtue, as the fource of happinefs, and to abftain from vice, as the origin of forrow and humiliation.

“It is, perhaps, unneceffary to obferve, that this work is equally adapted to both fexes. At fo early a period of life the difference of their taftes and characters is not fufficiently marked, to require feparate modes of inftruction. It has rather been the author's with to increase the intimacy between brother and fifter, and to render it as firm as it is amiable.

"It is propofed that the plans of the hiftories which compofe thefe little volumes fhall be diffimilar; and that no one fhall be inferted, of which the effects have not been tried upon children of different ages and capacities. Every paffage is omitted which did not appear interefting and impor

tant.

"In every book there fhall be a little drama, in which the principal perfons fhall be children; in order to give them a fettled countenance, gracefulnefs in action and behaviour, and an unembarraffed mode of fpeaking in public. The reprefentation of thefe

little dramas will always prove a domeftic feast, and a certain fource of amufement. The parents will conftantly have a part aligned them, and will enjoy the fweet delight which accompanies the tharing of the diverfions of their young family. It will become a new bond of affection; it will mutually attach them more tenderly, by pleafure, and by gratitude.

N. B. Independent of the moral utility of this work, it will affift them very confiderably in the study of the French language. The greater part of the books which are put into their hands are either above the level of their understanding, or have no connection with their ideas and fentiments. In thefe volumes, however, every object that is introduced to them muft fpur their curiofity, and intereft them deeply. It is abfolutely neceffary, that they thould familiarife themfelves with the modes of expreffion which are employed in defcribing their wants, their taftes, and their pleasures." CONDITIONS of the SUBSCRIPTION.

"From the 1st day of May, 1783, one volume of this work fhall be pubblifhed on the 1ft, and on the 15th day of every month, until there are as many publifhed as have appeared in

the Paris edition.

"Parents may make this work either an object of reward or of punishment. The views of the author will be equally anfwered in both inftances. The volumes, on this account, however, will be diftributed, with the most fcrupulous attention on the day appointed; and a volume in advance will always be printed, in order to prevent difappointments."

The remainder of this Profpectus relates the fize and price, for which we muft refer to the book. The allow ance to dealers is liberal.

M. Berquin's plan is fo ingenious, and he difplays fo much merit in the execution of it, that, we fhould fuppofe, he could not fail of fuccefs, in a country where the French language is efteemed fo neceffery an accomplishment.

ART.

ART. XXV. An Efay on the Bite of a Mad Dog, in which the Claim to Infallibility of the principal prefervative Remedies against the Hydrophobia is examined. By John Berkenhout, M. D.

THE fubject of Canine Madnefs, though it has engaged the attention of the ableft phyficians in modern times, has hitherto remained fomewhat obfcure. In the curative part, in particular, there have been very great defects; and the lofs of the patient has often been owing, we have reafon to believe, to a want of employing fuitable means, and not to an incurablenefs of the difease itself.

The author of this effay feems to have written in a more rational way than many of thofe who have gone before him. He first confiders the feveral names by which the disturbance in the animal frame confequent to the bite of a mad dog has been called; and is of opinion, that not one of them has been properly applied; thinks that the difeafe has been wrongly arranged by nofological writers, Dr. Cullen excepted; who, it appears, has placed it under its proper clafs. The Hydrophobia is, according to our author, a fpecies of angina convulfiva, or Suffocativa.

Having regulated the name and arrangement of the difeafe; having defcribed the fymptoms, as they thew themselves in brutes and in man; and having related the appearances which have been obferved, by different authors, on diffection; he next examines Dr. James's notions on the feat of the poifon, and the mode of infection, which are too abfurd to escape his ridicule. He cautions us not to imagine with the Doctor, that there will be no infection unless the cuticle be ruptured; for that, we are affured, is no defence against canine or any other poifon, if the application be continued fufficiently to give time for its abforption: it is, therefore, neceffary, when the faliva of a mad dog touches any part of the skin, to wipe it off immediately, and wash the fpot."

After having explained the true manner in which the infection is taken, and fhewn that all our knowledge of the nature of the poifon is but conjec

tural, and, therefore, cannot be of any practical ufe; he proceeds to confider the theriacas and antidotes of the ancients; Dr. Mead's powder; the Tonquin receipt; and the Ormskirk medicine: all which he condemns as inefficacious, and not to be trufted to. How do we wonder at the credulity of the public, who purchase, as an infallible remedy againft the most formidable malady under which we can labour, the Ormskirk medicine, which, from the report of Dr. Black and Dr. Heyfham, appears to confift of powder of chalk, half an ounce; Armenian bole, three drachms; allum, ten grains; pow der of elecampane root, one drachm; cil of anife, fix drops!"

He next examines the pretenfions to the efficacy of dipping in the fea, and ftrongly reprobates, as Dr. Fothergill has done, fuch a practice.

Before he enters on the curative means which he would have us purfue, he justly paffes the fevereft cenfure on the "pernicious doctrine" of Dr. Mead, who has openly declared, that it is of little confequence whether the wound is attended to or not!

Dr. Berkenhout judiciously thinks in a different way, and directs that the first attention be bestowed on the wound, and that" the perfon bit immediately apply his mouth to the wound, and continue to fuck it during ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, frequently fpitting out, and washing his mouth after each time with water, warm or cold, no matter which. If the wound be in a part of his body which he cannot reach with his mouth, poffibly he may prevail on fome rational friend to do him this kind office; efpecially when I affure him, pofitively affure him, that it may be done without the leaft danger." Suction has been ufed with almoft never-failing fuccefs, from the earliest times, as a cure for the bites of ferpents and poifonous animals of various kinds; but this author is the firft that ever advised it in a wound received from a mad dog, though

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