The discharge of the battery is attended by a considerable report, and if
it be passed through small animals, it instantly kills them; if through
fine metallic wires, they are ignited, melted, and burned; and gunpowder,
cotton sprinkled with powdered resin, and a variety of other combustibles,
may be inflamed by the same means.

Why is the fireside an unsafe place in a thunder-storm?

Because the carbonaceous matter, or soot, with which the chimney is
lined, acts as a conductor for the lightning.

Why is the middle of an apartment the safest place during a
thunder-storm?

Because, should a flash of lightning strike a building, or enter at any
of the windows, it will take its direction along the walls, without
injuring the centre of the room.


Combustion.

Why does amàdou, or German tinder, readily inflame from flint and steel,
or from the sudden condensation of air?

Because it consists of a vegetable substance found on old trees, boiled
in water to extract its soluble parts, then dried and beat with a
mallet, to loosen its texture; and lastly, impregnated with a solution
of nitre.---Ure.