On p. 274 is a copy of the design by P. Lamy. At this period, physicists were of the belief that lightning was "an exhalation of nitre and sulphur," acting something after the fashion of powder, and able to burn up or throw over everything encountered on its route. In this girdle traced by the lightning, the author sees a scattering of all the constituents of the brass wire, transformed into all kinds of colours due to the dilation of the copper, melted and vaporized over the width of two feet, the colours, in which yellow predominates, varying according to the thickness and the inequalities of the "projection." [Illustration] The second case examined into by P. Lamy, was that of what happened in the church of Sauveur at Lagny, when it was struck by lightning on July 18, 1689. This is one of the most astounding in the entire history of the subject. Let us see what our author has to tell us:-- "If we were to look for some excuse for the strangeness and diversity of the people's sayings and doings in connection with the Lagny case of lightning, we should assuredly find it in the extraordinary nature of the case itself. "For what would naturally be the effect upon minds accustomed to see mysteries in the most transparently natural events, minds whose philosophy never goes beyond the senses, when they learn-- "1. That the lightning had not only descended upon the clock-tower of the church, and carried off the slates from its roof, but had struck and overthrown nearly fifty persons inside the edifice, and wrought great havoc on the high altar. "2. That it knocked over and broke the pedestal on which the figure of Christ was raised to the level of the altar-screen, though this figure remained miraculously suspended in the same place--for this is what is reported. "3. That it carried off the curtain covering the panels of the altar and threw it to the ground without breaking or melting any of its rings, which were made only of copper, and without displacing the rod above the ring-bolts on which they hung. "4. That it upset the oil-lamp burning before the high altar. "5. That it broke into two pieces the stone upon which the priest consecrates the Host. "6. That it tore into four pieces the card on which the canon of the Mass was printed. "7. That it tore the altar-cloth and the cloth which was over it--both of them in an extraordinary way, namely, in the form of a cross of St. Anthony. "8. That the high altar was seen to be burning. "9. That it burnt a part of the communion-cloth and of the tabernacle, upon which it formed several black waves. "10. Finally that it imprinted upon the altar-cloth the sacred words of the consecration, beginning with _Qui pridie quam pateretur_, and going down to _Hæc quotiescumque feceretis in mei memoriam facietis_, inclusive; only omitting those which are usually set forth in special characters, namely, _Hoc est Corpus meum_; _et Hic est Sanguis meus_.