of it should prove fatal. I drew my whip along the horse's mane, which produced a degree of scintillation, but did not dissipate the fiery fluid, a great quantity of which adhered to the whip. This lumination continued about four minutes, without increase or diminution, and went off in an instant, and did not frighten, nor seem to incommode, my horse.
The next opportunity I had of observing this phenomenon, was at the distance of some years, on the 14th of February 1813. The day had been very boisterous, with frequent showers of rain and hail. I was on horseback late in the evening, attended by a servant, also mounted. We required to ford a large river, which, to the reproach of the district in which it is situated, is the only one without a bridge, on the great line of road from the Mull of Kintyre through the West Highlands, and as far north as Johnny Groat's House.
This river is often so much swelled by floods as to be rendered impassable; and these floods frequently effect such changes in its course, as to make the fords intricate and hazardous for travellers. On this occasion all these dangers seemed evident; and just as we had arrived at the brink of the stream, and were considering by which track we should attempt to cross it, a black heavy cloud, accompanied with a violent blast of wind, and a severe shower of hail, came in our faces, and we were instantly in the dark. As we could not now see an inch before us, we were forced to stand still, on a wide open plain, where no shelter was near, and turning our backs to the storm, in shivering expectation awaited its blowing over.
We had not however halted long, when our attention was carried from the storm by the appearance of the manes and ears of our horses, which were quickly covered with the brilliant coruscation I had formerly witnessed, and which now remained longer than before. The servant, who was a native of Ayrshire, having never seen the like, was much surprised and terrified.
There was no thunder nor lightning observed within many miles of the places where these phenomena appeared, nor had there been any for several previous months; yet we cannot doubt that they must have been produced by the electric state of the atmosphere, the moisture of which, at those times, prevented explosion; but which readily emitted the surcharged fluid when it came in contact with any substance to which it would adhere; and this is particularly remarkable with regard to the strong pair of horses. It may be observed, that on both occasions the horses were white, a colour, it has been noticed in the 66th volume of the Philos. Transac., by which the electric fluid is peculiarly attracted, when it happens to strike an animal; a satisfactory instance of which lately took place, and consists with my knowledge.
On a small island off Lochearn, in Argyllshire, one of the most picturesque and beautiful lakes in Britain, a poor man had erected a cottage for his family, and at the back of it a hut for his cow. During a thunder storm in autumn 1810, the lightning penetrated the roof and wall of this cottage, made its way through the cow-house, and split a huge piece of rock that stood behind. The lightning had killed the cow, but a black calf that stood close to her was not touched. Upon examining the cow, the colour of which was brown, and streaked with white on the sides, it was found that the electric fluid had run along the white portions only of the skin, the hair of which was completely destroyed, while that of a different colour remained sound, and was not even singed.
Before concluding this subject, it may be noticed, that the above described luminous appearances of the horses' manes were observed on the borders of two very extensive mosses, in both of which there are at all seasons large collections of stagnant water; but whether these luminations can be attributed to the same cause as that of the well-known Ignes Fatui, so often seen near sink swamps, it may be difficult to determine. Though the vapours arising from marshy ground, and decayed animal and vegetable matter, are said to possess, along with their property of inflammability, that of mobility also, we can assign no other probable cause for the wonderful, and often fantastical appearances of such vapours, than that of occasional combination with electrical fluid, to which they have a strong affinity, and which pervades all the operations of nature.
Sept. 24, 1817. Bicaledon.
