Cases of Lightning Discharge.
By G. E. V. THOMAS, A.M.I.C.E.
Communicated by H. N. Ridley.
The study of lightning phenomena is of great interest and importance, and as the conditions which obtain in Malaya are extremely favourable for the observation of such phenomena, as regards the frequency and violence of thunder storms, it is somewhat surprising to find that the accounts so far available are few. Those here given are of interest as being descriptive of unusual effects.
In well-marked cases of the destructive effect of lightning on trees, the tree struck is completely shattered. Such instances are familiar, probably because they are immediately apparent as the result of a severe storm; but the gradual decay and death of a number of trees in the vicinity of one struck, which would seem to be a frequent after-effect, is a form of damage which, as far as the writer can ascertain, has not previously been noted.
The following account, from the diary of Mr. H. N. Ridley, Director of Gardens and Forests, S. S., describes such an effect, which occurred in a coco-nut plantation in Singapore.
"May 3rd 1898. Visited Siglap and saw a place where, more than a month previously, a tree was struck by a tremendous flash. From this tree in a semicircle (there being none on the outer side) eleven more trees died. The deaths appeared to radiate out from struck tree gradually. Three were still standing; they bore young fruit and flowers, but the whole of the foliage looked as if burut. One was still alive and putting up a fresh leaf. One, covered with fungi, had been dead some time. Why this progressive death? Inspector tells me he saw a similar case where, some time after the death of coco-nuts, some mangosteen trees withered away in like manner.
A similar instance recently occurred in the Botanical Gardens, Singapore, and was brought to the writer's notice by the
