[86] Mr. Henley's.
[87] Mr. de Romas saw still greater quantities of lightning brought
down by the wire of his kite. He had "explosions from it, the noise
of which greatly resembled that of thunder, and were heard (from
without) into the heart of the city, notwithstanding the various
noises there. The fire seen at the instant of the explosion had the
shape of a spindle eight inches long and five lines in diameter.
Yet from the time of the explosion to the end of the experiment, no
lightning was seen above, nor any thunder heard. At another time the
streams of fire issuing from it were observed to be an inch thick and
ten feet long."--_See Dr. Priestley's History of Electricity_, pages
134-6, _first edition_.
[88] Twelve were proposed on and near the magazines at Purfleet.
[89] It may be fit to mention here, that the immediate occasion of
the dispute concerning the preference between pointed and blunt
conductors of lightning, arose as follows:--A powder-mill having
blown up at Brescia, in consequence of its being struck with
lightning, the English board of ordnance applied to their painter,
Mr. Wilson, then of some note as an electrician, for a method to
prevent the like accident to their magazines at Purfleet. Mr. Wilson
having advised a blunt conductor, and it being understood that Dr.
Franklin's opinion, formed upon the spot, was for a pointed one; the
matter was referred in 1772, to the Royal Society, and by them as
usual, to a committee, who, after consultation, prescribed a method
conformable to Dr. Franklin's theory. But a harmless stroke of
lightning, having under particular circumstances, fallen upon one of
the buildings and its apparatus in May 1777; the subject came again
into violent agitation, and was again referred to the society, and
by the society again referred to a new committee, which committee
confirmed the decision of the first committee. B. V.[90]
[90] Wherever this signature occurs, the note is taken from a volume
of Dr. Franklin's writings, entitled Political, Miscellaneous, and
Philosophical Pieces, printed for Johnson, 1779. The editor of
that volume, though a young man at the time, had already evinced
extraordinary talents, and was the friend and correspondent of our
author. As he has chosen to withhold his name, we conceive ourselves
not entitled to disclose it: but we shall take the freedom of an
acquaintance to use the notes occasionally, deeming them in many
instances valuable historical records. _Editor._