A propos of this, Pliny said, "That thunder is rarely heard in winter, and that the great fertility of the soil is due to the frequency of thunder and rain in spring; for the countries where it rains often and in good earnest during the spring, as in the island of Sicily, produce many and excellent fruits."
It has been proved in our times that the ancients were right in extolling rainwater as nourishment for the products of the earth, and science has discovered the cause to be the presence of great quantities of nitrogen and ammonia in the thunder-rain and in hail. Perhaps electricity has a similar effect.
In the neighbourhood of Castres, on April 13, 1781, an old poplar was stripped of its bark in several places. Now, shortly afterwards it burst into leaf, although the neighbouring poplars were much later than it.
The ravages caused in the fields by the electric meteor to forage and vegetables are sometimes considerable. This is especially so with grass when cut, to haycocks, ricks of straw, barley, etc. We have a collection of records of men or animals who, when leaning against haystacks, were struck.
As a rule the haystack is burnt; sometimes, however, the grass is simply scattered and thrown to a distance.
In 1888, a very curious occurrence was observed at Vayres (Haute-Vienne).
The lightning struck a field of potatoes at the village of Puytreuillard; some of the stalks were burnt to cinders; but most remarkable of all, the potatoes were done to a turn, just as if they had been cooked beneath hot ashes.
A belief which was very general in ancient times and derived without doubt from a recollection of the circumstances which were said to accompany the birth of Bacchus, gave the vine the privilege of protecting the neighbourhood from the fatal effects of lightning. But this again is only a legend. The following observation proves it:—
On July 10, 1884, at Chanvres (Yonne), fifty vine-stocks were frizzled up by lightning.
It used to be supposed, too, that the electric fluid held the lily in particular respect. But here is a note which shows us that the white flower is visited by the burning flashes. During a violent thunderstorm on June 25, 1881, at Montmorin (Haute-Garonne)——But let M. Larroque, who witnessed the curious phenomenon, describe it: "In a clump of lilies in my garden," says he, "I see the highest of them surrounded by a violet glimmer, which formed an aureola round the corolla. This glimmer lasted for eight or ten seconds. As soon as it disappeared, I went close to the lily, which, to my great surprise, I found had been deprived of its pollen, while the surrounding flowers were laden with it. So the electric fluid must have scattered or carried off the pollen."