Chapter I: Front Matter

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THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

* * * * *

Medium 8vo, cloth extra, 10_s._ 6_d._

FLAMMARION'S POPULAR ASTRONOMY

Translated from the French by J. ELLARD GORE, F.R.A.S.
With 3 Plates and 288 Illustrations.

"The six books into which the book is divided give a very
lucid and accurate description of the knowledge which has
been acquired of the moving bodies of space, both as respects
their motions and physical constitutions. Of the translation
we can only speak in terms of praise. Not only does it well
represent the original, but Mr. Gore has added useful notes
for the purpose of bringing the information up to date, and
has also increased the number--already very considerable--of
the excellent illustrations, so that the work is likely to
become as popular in England as it has been in
France."--ATHENÆUM.

"The work which Mr. J. E. Gore has translated into English
has made for itself a name and reputation in France ... and
has gone into general circulation to the number of a hundred
thousand copies. This last fact is proof how well within the
bounds of possibility it is to make the latest discoveries of
science comprehensible and fascinating to the common mind. M.
Flammarion has attained this triumph through the grasp of his
knowledge, the lucidity of his style, and his power of
bringing home the most stupendous and complicated of the
things revealed to us in the depths of space. M. Flammarion's
pages should find almost as great acceptance in this country
as in his own. Simplicity of arrangement and of statement are
part of his charm and of his success."--SCOTSMAN.

"M. Flammarion's latest volume, if it does not displace its
English rivals, may well take a high place in the rank to
which they belong. It is full, lucid, and, thanks to Mr.
Gore's careful revision, well up to date.... Mr. Gore's
edition is so carefully brought abreast of the latest
discoveries that the English student may now congratulate
himself on being in an even better position than the
countrymen of M. Flammarion."--DAILY CHRONICLE.

"Young students of astronomy who wish to obtain a general
idea of the most wonderful and fascinating of all sciences
will find precisely what they seek in M. Flammarion's
eloquent and poetic chapters.... There are many illustrations
in this able and attractive treatise."--SPEAKER.

"It is a fascinating work, extending to nearly seven hundred
pages, and dealing in popular language with some of the most
interesting of the discoveries and speculations of
astronomers."--DAILY NEWS.

"M. Flammarion is a sound practical astronomer; he has
rendered good and laborious service to the science, and he
possesses a valuable faculty of popular exposition.... The
volume is profusely and well illustrated, some of the best
plates making here their first appearance."--SATURDAY REVIEW.

"A high place must be accorded to Flammarion's 'Popular
Astronomy.' Never before has the science of the heavens been
treated with such fulness and interest as in this fascinating
book; for Flammarion is a man of letters as well as a man of
science--a man of letters, too, endowed with the wondrous
gifts of lucidity and charm which distinguish the best French
writers.... Flammarion's book is much more absorbing than
most novels, more romantic than most romances, more poetic
than most poems, yet strictly and scientifically
accurate."--LUDGATE MONTHLY.

"It must be confessed that M. Flammarion not only arrests the
attention, but assists the reader to grasp astronomical
theories--a task in which less popular writers often fail
when they make the attempt."--LITERARY WORLD.

"The book is a most fascinating one, and holds the reader
from start to finish.... As a manual for those who wish to
obtain a good general knowledge of astronomy this work will
be found unsurpassed."--SCIENCE GOSSIP.

LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C.

* * * * *

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

by

CAMILLE FLAMMARION

Translated by Walter Mostyn

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

London Chatto & Windus 1905

Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Limited, London and Beccles.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE VICTIMS OF LIGHTNING 1

II. ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY AND STORM-CLOUDS 17

III. THE FLASH AND THE SOUND 31

IV. FIREBALLS 57

V. THE EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING ON MANKIND 89

VI. THE EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING ON ANIMALS 128

VII. THE EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING ON TREES AND PLANTS 155

VIII. THE EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING ON METALS, OBJECTS,
HOUSES, ETC. 188

IX. LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS 240

X. PICTURES MADE BY LIGHTNING 249

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING