Some Suggestions concerning the Preventing the Mischiefs, Which Happen to Ships and TheirMasts by Lightning; Being the Substance of a Letter to the Late Right Honourable GeorgeLord Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty, and F. R. S. by William Watson, M. D. F. R. S.Author(s): William WatsonSource: Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 52 (1761 - 1762), pp. 629-635Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/105679 .

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[ 629 ]

CI. Some Svggefiors ca?ceraiag he pr-

iag the MiJshiefs, which happen to Sl3ips

and their MaJis y Lightring; bezng the

SabJ?arce of a Letzer to the lae Right

Ho£aurable George Lard AnSon, .k/?

Lora] of the Admiralty, andS F. R. S. by

William- Wat-fon, M. D. FX RF S

My Lord, Read :Dec... 16 t S I am well apprimed of yellr Lord-

a762. Ihip's attention. to the public fier-

arice, more particularly to. what relate$ to that depart-

3nent, over which yoll prefide, I cannot omit tranf-

mting to your LordShip fome obBervations, which

ocourred to me upon srhat lately happened to the

Harriot -packetj -n her paiNage tc NewYork. We

are inforrned, sc tlut thxs veSel was itrucle with laght-

n-ing, dich fiplst the main maR, main top md,: and

nuain top igallant maflc in pieces, ripped 1lp th-e; part-

ners of the mazn mat}, brotke down the bulkwhead

between the lleerage and the hold, tore off the locks

from ehe -C^bbin doors, burnt d}¢ tarpaulin of tha

main itches,- mxade fev¢-al {aoles -betweca the CQn1

ings of the hatchgs and the de¢k, rendered all the

compRes uS¢lefs, broke one of ti bearns itween

decks, fl:ove the boat, wounded on¢of tlle men

very much, -and ie reR vvere ilunned for fome times

Moi} of the rigging was burnt off the maR - head.

The whole caufied fuch a finoke in the Slzip, thatX taking

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[ 634 ] taking her to be on fire below, they threw water a confiderable 'time into the cabin; but providentially no other damage was done".

A few years fillce a ffiip, beXQnging to capt. Jolln Waddela -was almoft beat to pieces by thunder and Jigltning, of which a particular account is publiXhed in the PhiloSophtcal TranEaerions $. And rery lately tlze Lnain maR of the Bellona, -a 74 gun {hipfi was iplit in pieces by the lightning, srhich happened in January I762, I make no doubt but that in tlle courSe of your Lord{hip's obfervation, the knowlege and infortnation of many accidents of the like kind may have occurred to you; more particularly in low latitudes, -where miSchiefs from lightning are much more frequent than in parts more di{lant from the equat=.-

What happened to the Harrot packetwis no more ian what ufilally happens to a lhip at fiea, orfto a church, houSe; or otller edifice on: land, when the lit,htning has entered into it, and cannot procure an eafy palIage out of it. The attempting to procure this eafy paSage, and thereby avert the miSchiefs at- tending the want of it, -is the more particular o>s llon of my troubling your lordthip at this time.

A very few years -ago the nxture of thunder atia lightning, which are both to be conlidered as diSe- rent appearances o£ the fame meter, was veryuilittle underItood. Our prieceIEors in a11 ages regarded it as at iRrunuent of divine-!vengeance. They Xtood to much in -awe of- it to confider it clofely; arld

*- Vol. 46. page I X r - thou3h

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[ 63I ]

though the Greeks and Itomans * were in pofl*efl*lon of fome obServations which tnight have led them to a more intimate knowlege of itX they were not ap- priz;edX tllat what they faw, had any relation there- with. lt was not, till by experiments and obServa- tions upon the nature and properties of eleEtricityy and conlparing them with -the phenomena of thun- der and lightning, we were informed, that eleEtricity and thunder arofe fromthe fame cauSe; or, tofpeak nearer the truth, were different modifications of the fame meteor; that they varied in nothing elien- tial, and only differed in being in degree gr ter or lefs.

The fame means, which taught us the management cxf one) give us great reafon to believe that many of the mifchiefs may, by a proper and well difipoSed apparatus, be prevented of the other. A quantity of eledrricity, accumulated to a degree fufficient to de- Itroy a large anima-l, will innocently diScharge itSelf through the EmalleR wire. And Mr. de Romas in France has found that one of his kites, when flown with a cord compofed of henzp and wire, will filent_ Iy and without any report bring down the matter of thunder from a cloud; though, when the apparatus has been altered and an eafy paflige has been denied to it, the J?reams of Sehaoue been Jeen an inch tbtck, and ten fdet Aong, and the report; has been egaal to that

ef a pxSol. It was owing to this eafy paffiage of lightn- ing being interrupted, that occafloned the death of profeIIor Rich77wann at PeterIburg by his own Xappara-

* See Plutarch in thelife of LyEander, Pliny, Seneca, C^far, Livy, &c.

VOL. LII. 4 M tUS,

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[ 632 ] tus, of which I formerly gave an account tn the Royal Society.

I have great reafon, my lord, to thinlt that- the miSchiefs arif1ng from thunder andlightning, happen always near the place, where the exploflon is made; as thofe perfoIls, who have been prefenra when great miSchiefs have been done, univerfally agree, that wohen thefe accidents have ha}pened) the report of th.e thunder has inliantly fucceeded the flsfh of tlae lightnlng. As the prc)greis of liglat is zearly in- Ranta-leous, and that of found fomewhat tnore than soo feet in a fecoad of time, tlze tbunder-and lightning leappening itl the fame inIlant proves tlleex- plofion to have been very near.

We are therefore to guard againR the thunder . .

clouds, which are near us. lChe maft of every ffiip, which is beSet on its tops with thofe brtght lights, which our mariners call comazants, and are the jeu St. Elme of tlle French, and were the CaJ?or and Pol- 1as of the ancients, is within the rphere of aftion of a thunder cloud. Anciently, when theSe were Seen, they were only confldered as the attendants of a orm, and no confequence was drawn from them; but now9 (fince Dr. Franklin's admirable diScovery of conduEt- ing lightning frotn the clonds, we know them to be no other than a modification of tlle fame mettors which conflitutes thunder alld lightning) they de- monflrate that danger is near, and therefore we Ihould do our outmoI} to prevent its effeEts. This in my opinion would be done, if a wire of iron or any other metal were connedced with the fpindles and iron work at the tops of mafis of ffiips, and conduEted dowll the fides of the maIts, and from thexlce in any con-

2 vezient

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[ 633 ] vellient diredtion fo diEpoSed as always to touch thc fiea water. By theSe means the accumulation of the natter of thunder and liglltning, will be prevented to a conGderable diftance from the fhip, by its being difcharged fllently by the wire, which will not bedone by the malEs; as thefe kom their height, figure, an:d conRituent parts, without an apparatus of this kind, tend to dired and condud the lightning into tEle {hip. But for a further explanation upon this head, I beg of your Lordlhip to ca{t your eye upon volume 48. page 2 I 5 of the Philofophical tranfaftions, where I 11ave confidered this matter more at large.

The applying wire to the mafts of Ihips will be nei- ther difficult nor expenfive; as a braSs wsre of the thickneSs of a large goofe quill, I am of opiniont will in moR caSes be large enough to anfwer this purpofe. XI prefer braSs wire to iron, as the former is lefs liable to ruflc than the latter; and any metal corroded by ru to the center, ceafes to be of any uSe, in direding the lightning in the degree hoped for and expedred by this apparatus. The entering into a minate detail of the ratiDnale of this proceAs would take up too much of yourLordfhip's time; from analogy only I will mention to your Lordfhip, that the fame quantity of $unpowder, which confined in a clofe place, will throw down a tower, or rexid a rockX will, when fired loofe in the open air, be al- nuoR inoffenfive.

Thunder Ilorms are very frequent and fevere in Pen- filvania, and great miSchiefs often happen froln them; but I anz informed by Dr. Franklin, that fince an ap- patatus of the kind above mentioned, placed at the tops of the houSes has been generally ufed at Philadelphia,

4 M Z not

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[ 634 ] not afitlgle inllance of miSchief from lightnitlghad hapw pened in that city. He infornzs me further, that at Philadelphia in a thunder [torm, the lightning was ieetl to Itrike tlae ridge of a houSe, upon which an ap- paratus of this fort was ered:ted. The lightning, like a ball of fire, ran from the ridge of the hollfe to the apparatus; and itl running down, it melted the con- dudting- wire, without doing any damage to the houSes Tllis thews the expediency of applying either large wires, or fmall rods, in which the rnelting will moR probably be prevented; notwithtlanding it has been-re peatedly found, tbat, though the wire has been melted it has never failed of firR anSwering the purpofe of a conduecorJ and preventing the miSchiefs threatened by the lightaing4

Though the mifchiefs ariring from lightning are not very frequent in Great Britain, yet at time$ Ahey are fevere-enough to be very alarming. Thedamage occafioned by a thunder Itorm-in July 7sg in Lon_ don, and itl various oier places at no greu diRance from it3, are very freCh in QUf mories. I fubmit it thertfore to your Lord, how far -it. would be at- tenticon Eapplied to think of an apparatus of this fort in his Magefty's powder magasine, ereEting at Purfleet. The expetlce would be trifling -and every ar.gllment, which is produced of their expedi_ encfir in preventing mifchiefs ariilng from lightning on board of Ihips, will have more force tn this in- Rance, wherefrequentlyan immenfe quantityofgun- powder nwfi be colledEed within a comparatively very fmall fpace

As motiscsof humanity, and<ie hopes of public utility, are the cauSe of my trollbli?g gour Lord-

Dl,p

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[ 635 ] Ship with this letter, I a11 make no apology to your LordShip upon this head; and only take the liberty of atfuring you, that I am, with the moR profiound reEpedt,

my Lord,

your Lord(llip's moR obliged

and obedientgfervant,

William V\Tatbu.

..

CII. 24n jqccovnt of the CaJ4e of the late -Rev. James Bradley) D. D. 24J?ronoener R.oyal: ir a Letter to the Right HonourabZe George Earl of MacclesEeld, PreJideg of - R. S. .ti Daniel LySonsX M; D.

My Lord, ReadDec. 16, rrHE refpeEt, with which the late

762. 1 Dr. Bradley aRronomer royal, and Savilian profefl:or of allronomyin this Univerfity, was treatPed by the learned of all c0untries, and the eIleem, in which he was held by your LordIhip, and the Society over which you prefide, mufic naturally make the world defirous -to be acquainted with the circum- flances of that illnefs, wllich occa&oned his death, efipecially as his diforder vfas in itSelf rather uncomF - mon.

Under thefe circumllan:ces I flatter myfelf, that I Eall do what will be very agreeable to your Lordffiip3

and

[ 635 ] Ship with this letter, I a11 make no apology to your LordShip upon this head; and only take the liberty of atfuring you, that I am, with the moR profiound reEpedt,

my Lord,

your Lord(llip's moR obliged

and obedientgfervant,

William V\Tatbu.

..

CII. 24n jqccovnt of the CaJ4e of the late -Rev. James Bradley) D. D. 24J?ronoener R.oyal: ir a Letter to the Right HonourabZe George Earl of MacclesEeld, PreJideg of - R. S. .ti Daniel LySonsX M; D.

My Lord, ReadDec. 16, rrHE refpeEt, with which the late

762. 1 Dr. Bradley aRronomer royal, and Savilian profefl:or of allronomyin this Univerfity, was treatPed by the learned of all c0untries, and the eIleem, in which he was held by your LordIhip, and the Society over which you prefide, mufic naturally make the world defirous -to be acquainted with the circum- flances of that illnefs, wllich occa&oned his death, efipecially as his diforder vfas in itSelf rather uncomF - mon.

Under thefe circumllan:ces I flatter myfelf, that I Eall do what will be very agreeable to your Lordffiip3

and

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