o the ground without harm or any painful shock. On the
other hand, a battalion of French infantry, while marching between
Mouzon and Stenay, June 2, 1849, was struck by lightning, and two men
killed, while about two hundred were struck to the ground. Blood flowed
from their mouths, ears and noses. This effect appears to have been the
result of the concussion. Similar results sometimes follow from heavy
discharges of artillery.

Uniform testimony goes to show that men in metallic armor have never
been fatally injured by lightning. A complete suit of metallic armor
embodies the principle of the well-known electrical cage of Faraday.
This is simply a basket of wire network with its open side to the
ground. If the wire is of proper size and the capacity sufficient, this
cage is the most effectual protection possible, unless the walls be of
solid iron.

If one places beside him a better direct conductor to the earth than his
own body, he will not be fatally injured by the electric current,
though, if it pass very near, he may be blinded by the glare or deafened
by the noise--effects which are usually temporary. Equal safety for
buildings may be similarly secured.

Glass being so well known as an excellent non-conductor, some have been
led to suppose it effectual in warding off the disruptive stroke. Hence
chambers or cases of glass have actually been made for the use of
individuals who were apt to be overcome with terror during the
prevalence of a thunderstorm. In this belief, also, the vane of Christ
Church in Doncaster, England, was furnished with a glass ball; but the
spire was afterward struck, causing great damage. Many also think they
may sit beside a closed window in safety, but records of holes being
melted in the glass and whole windows crumbled to powder by lightning
are too numerous to admit of any reliance upon such a precaution.

In the case of silken garments the evidence met with does not warrant a
statement either for or against them; yet there appears to be no reason
why this non-conductor should be more of a safeguard than any other. No
doubt an abundance of gold and silver lace, or cloth having threads of
these metals, might prove a protection. Feather beds, too, have been
regarded as places of safety, but persons have been killed by lightning
while in bed. Dr. Franklin advised especially that the vicinity of
chimneys be avoided, because lightning often enters a room by them. All
metallic bodies, mirro