Was this experiment one of great danger and risk?
It was; because the whole amount of electricity contained in the thunder cloud was liable to pass from it, by means of the string, to the earth, notwithstanding the use of the silk insulator.
Have we any proof of the utility of lightning rods?
The experience of a hundred years has shown that when all the necessary rules have been observed, the protection is perfect, as far as human effort can avail.
Is a building more or less liable to be struck when furnished with a good lightning conductor?
Lightning conductors do not, as many suppose, attract the lightning toward the building on which they are situated; they simply direct its course, and facilitate the passage of the fluid in the most direct way to the earth, only when a discharge must inevitably occur. There is no attraction, but the lightning takes the road which offers the least resistance.
What is thunder?
It is a certain noise proceeding apparently from the clouds, which usually follows, after a greater or less interval, the appearance of a flash of lightning.
How is it supposed to be occasioned?
The usual explanation offered is a sudden displacement of the air produced by the electrical discharges in which the lightning is evolved.