FRANKLIN AND HIS KITE
What other form does lightning occasionally assume?
Sometimes the flash is globular, which is the most dangerous form of lightning.
Does a discharge produce a flash when it passes through good conductors?
It does not, but passes quietly and invisibly.
What is heat lightning?
Sometimes it is the reflection in the atmosphere of the lightnings of storms very remote, the storms themselves being so far distant that their thunders cannot be heard. This phenomenon is also occasioned by the play of silent flashes of electricity between the earth and the clouds, the amount of electricity developed not being sufficient to produce any other effects than the mere flash of light.
Why is lightning more common in summer and in autumn than in spring and winter?
Because the heat of summer and autumn produces great evaporation, and the conversion of water into vapor always develops electricity.