“ Large trees, especially tall poplars, placed near a house, may serve as very efficient lightning conductors, but always on the indispensable condition that there is no well or running water on the opposite side of the house, for in that case the lightning, if it struck the tree, might pass through the building on its way to the water. In erecting lightning conductors it is desirable that their lower extremities should terminate in a stream, a well, or a piece of damp ground. The plant most sensible to electricity is the vine. ”

“ It not infrequently happens that the upper branches and their leaves are destroyed—this is generally the case with oaks, which are often struck—but the leaves and young shoots of poplars and many other trees are such excellent conductors that they do not appear when struck to suffer any notable injury. This finds full confirmation in the condition of the poplar on the Cour de Rive. In this instance the principal and highest branch of the tree on its south-western side was the first with which the lightning came in contact. ”

“ These larger branches, and above all the trunk, being much worse conductors than the small branches, the passage through them of the electricity produces heat and "repulsive effects," whereby the bark and sometimes the wood are torn in pieces, the bits being thrown a considerable distance, occasionally more than fifty metres. ”