The malapterurus to which we have referred is an inhabitant of the African rivers, chiefly in the Nile and Senegal. Such a fish has been known with others for some hundreds of years; its electrical powers are not great. There are one or two other species of fish which possess electrical qualities, but none apparently to the same extent as the torpedo and the gymnotus. [Illustration: Fig. 285.—The Malapterurus.] The electricity of plants also is in some cases very marked. Flashes have been seen to come from some flowers in hot and dry weather. Currents of electricity have been detected, and Wartmann investigated the subject closely. He says the currents in flowers are feeble, but in succulent fruits and some kinds of grain they are very marked. These currents depend upon the season, and are greatest in the spring, when the plant is bathed in sap. These experiences were confirmed by Bequerel in 1850, and he concludes that the rank vegetation in some parts of the world must exercise considerable influence on the electric phenomena of the atmosphere. M. Buff has more recently made experiments in this direction, and he examined plants and trees, and even mushrooms. M. de la Rive, after carefully summing up the various theories, comes to the conclusion that it is to chemical reactions that the traces of electricity are due. The subject of atmospherical electricity properly belongs to meteorology, and under that heading we will treat of it more fully. But lightning is so identified with electricity, and being the most common form observable to all, we will say something about thunderstorms and the electric discharges accompanying them. [Illustration: Fig. 286.—Benjamin Franklin.] Before Franklin’s ever-memorable experiment with his kite established the identity of lightning and electricity, the resemblance between the two discharges had been frequently noticed. The Etruscans pretended to bring down lightning from heaven, and Tullus Hostilius, when experimenting or performing certain “ceremonies,” was killed by the electric discharge he desired to attract. But after all, we cannot attribute any knowledge of electric science to the ancients, although they were, of course, familiar with electric phenomena. It is to Dr. Wall that testimony points as the first person who remarked the analogy between the electric spark and lightning. This was in 1708. Grey and other philosophers supported the theory, but could not establish it. To Franklin, who in June 1752 actually brought down the lightning by his kite and a key, is the actual discovery due. We have already detailed the circumstances (page 206) and need not repeat the account of the experiment.