seven others, of whom W. Watson, the father, was one. In 1762, Dr. Watson in a letter to the First Lord of the Admiralty[1] recommended that the navy should be supplied with lightning-conductors of a pattern he devised. The ships were furnished with them, but they were not a success, and sixty years elapsed before conductors of a suitable construction were fastened to the masts. Long before then the danger of powder magazines on land from lightning had been recognised and provided for, but not without something like civil war among the Fellows of the Royal Society. A committee, of which Franklin and Dr. Watson were members, reported strongly in favour of pointed conductors for the powder magazines at Purfleet. One member not only dissented, but formed a party, who wrote and acted in favour of blunt and against pointed conductors. Again a committee was appointed, of which Dr. Watson was a member, to put the matter to the test of experiment. Their conclusion was the same as before. Unfortunately, this was in 1777, at the height of the war with the American colonies. Party politics were at once dragged in to decide a purely scientific question. Franklin was in favour of the lightning-rods ending in points. Philadelphia also had been provided with them, and "not a single instance" of mischief from the severe thunderstorms experienced in that city had happened. That was enough with foolish people to condemn points and favour blunts. The Royal Society decided for points; all who voted on that side were counted friends of the American rebels, as the phrase then went. King George III. took the side
- ↑ Lord Anson (Phil. Trans., Dec. 16, 1762).
