SPANG (Henry W.) A Practical Treatise on Lightning Protection. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1877. SPARKS (Jared). The Works of Benjamin Franklin; with Notes and a Life of the Author. 10 vols. 8vo. Boston, 1840. SPRAGUE (John F.) Electricity: its Theory, Sources, and Applications. 8vo. London, 1875. STRICKER (Dr. Wilhelm). Der Blitz und seine Wirkungen. 8vo. Berlin, 1872. STURGEON (William). Lectures on Electricity. 8vo. London, 1842. TAVERNIER (A. de). Blitzableiter, genannt Anti-Jupiter. 8vo. Leipzig, 1833. TINAN (Barbier de). Mémoires sur les Conducteurs pour préserver les Edifices de la Foudre. 8vo. Strasbourg, 1779. TOALDO (Giuseppe). Della Maniera di defendere gli Edifizii dal Fulmine. 8vo. Firenze, 1770. TOALDO (Giuseppe). Dei Conduttori per preservare gli Edifizii da Fulmine. 4to. Venezia, 1778. TOMLINSON (Charles). The Thunderstorm. 8vo. London, 1859. TYNDALL (John). Notes on Electrical Phenomena. New edition, 8vo. London, 1876. VERATTI (J.) Dissertatione de Electricitati cœlesti. 8vo. Bologna, 1755. WEBER (F. A.) Abhandlung von Gewitter und Gewitterableiter. 8vo. Zürich, 1792. WHARTON (W. L.) The Effect of a Lightning Stroke. 8vo. London, 1841. WILSON (Robert). Boiler and Factory Chimneys; with a chapter on Lightning Conductors. 8vo. London, 1877. WINCKLER (Prof. J. H.) Gedanken von den Eigenschaften, Wirkungen und Ursachen der Elektricität. 8vo. Leipzig, 1744. YELIN (J. C. von). Ueber die Blitzableiter aus Messingdrahtstricken. 8vo. München, 1824. LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS: THEIR HISTORY, NATURE, AND MODE OF APPLICATION. CHAPTER I. ELECTRICITY AND LIGHTNING. ‘First let me talk with this philosopher: What is the cause of thunder?’ asks Shakspeare in ‘King Lear’ but without giving a reply. The ‘philosopher’ of Shakspeare’s days had no answer to make; nor had any others long after. From the dawn of history till within comparatively modern times, thunder and lightning were mysteries to the human mind; nor did there exist so much as a surmise that there might be any connection between them and the equally mysterious agent called electricity. The latter force indeed revealed itself early to attentive observers, though in forms very different from those known at the present time. The Greeks found out that amber, or ‘electron,’ attracted certain other bodies under friction, and named the force after it; and the Romans were aware that the shocks discharged by the torpedo fish were of electrical nature, and they used them for the cure of rheumatic complaints in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. Both Greeks and Romans also observed the sparks emitted, under certain circumstances, from clothing and from the fur of animals. But this represented the total sum of knowledge about electricity for ages and ages.