a farther outlet, had expended its force in shattering the walls and making the house tremble, besides melting some gold and burning banknotes. The investigation of the case at the time made some noise, but it had one most useful result--it led to the institution of a new office in connection with the Department of Public Architecture of the city of Lyons, that of an inspector of lightning conductors. He was charged to examine at stated intervals, or as often as circumstances seemed to require it, the conductors applied to all the public buildings of the city, to ascertain their efficacy, and, if not deeming them in good condition, to effect all necessary repairs. Shall we repeat, again and again, ‘They manage things better in France’? The regular inspection of lightning conductors, as yet unknown or all but unknown in England, has been for a long time in practice in several States of Continental Europe, among them Germany and France. The origin of such inspection may be traced to Northern Germany. It has been mentioned before (Chap. IV., page 43) that the first lightning conductor set up over a public building in Europe was erected on the steeple of the Church of St. Jacob, Hamburg, and that the extension of conductors in the city and neighbourhood was so rapid, that before five years had gone by there were over seven hundred conductors. ‘To this day they are comparatively more numerous in this district than anywhere else in Europe.’ To this day, too, the scientific aspect of the question of lightning protection, and the statistics connected with it, are more appreciated here, and have been more closely investigated, than in any other part of Europe. In recent years, this has been more particularly the case in the territories to the north of the city of Hamburg, the German province of Schleswig-Holstein. Not even in the country of their origin, and the one which, as yet, has the greatest number of them in use, have the ‘Franklin rods’ given rise to so much serious study as in that part of Germany.