Abstract
THE electrical phenomenon described by Mr. Bowlker in NATURE of May 16 was doubtless an instance of St. Elro's Fire; and if it had been dark at the time it was noticed, the post, walking-stick, and other objects affected by it would have been seen to be capped with a glow resembling somewhat the brush-discharge of an electrical machine. It has been observed about fifteen times on the summit of Ben Nevis during the last five years, and these cases are described, and the accompanying weather discussed, in a paper by Mr. Rankin, of the Ben Nevis Observatory, published in the last number of the Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society. When it occurs, all elevated points, whether metallic or not, glow; the light in the more intense cases being several inches in length. It is almost always accompanied by a heavy fall of conical-shaped snow-flakes about a quarter of an inch long, resembling hailstones in shape, but not hard or icy. At all times when it has been seen the barometric pressure has been high over the south or south-west of Europe, and low to the north of Scotland, thus giving steep gradients for westerly winds; and in most cases the temperature on Ben Nevis has been falling, while the barometer after falling considerably has begun to rise again, and the wind to veer from south-west towards north-west.
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OMOND, R. Atmospheric Electricity. Nature 40, 102 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040102c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040102c0
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