An Account of What Happened from Thunder in Carmarthenshire; Partly Had from the Woman's Mouth That Suffered by It, Partly from What Was Observed by Others, Communicated to the Royal Society, by John Eames, F. R. S. as He Received It in a Letter from Mr. Evan Davies

I have invented the abovesaid Preparation through my own Speculation, and with great Pains, without the Assistance of any Man living: I have made frequent Experiments of it, and do now communicate it very freely and readily. IV. An Account of what happened from Thunder in Carmarthenshire; partly had from the Woman's Mouth that suffered by it, partly from what was observed by others, communicated to the Royal Society, by John Eames, F. R. S. as he received it in a Letter from Mr. Evan Davies. PENCAIRREG, Saturday December 6, 1729. In the Afternoon of the same Day there happened terrible Thunder and Lightning, which alarmed the whole Neighbourhood; and about four of the Clock of the same Evening, or thereabouts, as the Wife of one William Griff Morgan of the said Parish, was carrying a Pail of Water into the House, being no sooner come over the Threshold into a small Entry that leads towards the Fire, there broke such a violent Clap of Thunder, after its Forerunner (Lightning) that she and three of her Children were very surprizingly struck dead, and instantly bereaved of their Senes, that they lay (they know not how long) miserable and ghostly Monuments of the terrible Shock, being the most dismal Sight that was ever known in those Parts; and I think, by the Report (if my Memory fails me not) they lay weltring in their Blood, before they recovered, and were able to creep to the Bed, till the next Neighbour happened to come in (the Husband being then then abroad at his Day-Labour) to assist them. The Cause, whatever it was, whether Thunder-Bolt, Thunder-Ball, Lightning, &c. (The Learned are best able to distinguish) struck ('tis imagined) at the East End, near the Foundation, into the Hearth, and cleaved in two a thick Stone of about half a Yard in Breadth beyond the Fire (which we commonly call in Welsh Pentan) One Part whereof still remains, and that cleft, but the other is shattered into small Particles and Splinters, and those shot into their Flesh, which ('tis presumed) did the most Hurt. About twenty-four or more of those Stones were from Time to Time taken out of their Wounds; two of those, being all I could get, I have sent for an Instance. To proceed in as regular a Method as possibly I can with the Account, it appears, that afterwards it forced its Way out through the Wall on the South-side within the Compass of the Hearth, when it made a terrible Breach from Top to Bottom, and removed the Stones from the Foundation, and nigh thereto made a deep Hole perpendicular in the Earth, that one might thrust in a Staff to the Wrist, as the Woman herself informed me. That part of the Wall was made up before I viewed the Spot. By the Violence of it, the Brand-Irons and Legs thereof were strained, and by endeavouring to put them to their true Position as before, they were so burnt up, that they fell a-sunder like rusty Iron, or Timber Worm-eaten, and so became of no further Use. The Partitions in the House, which were of no strong Substance (being watled, such as they have in Country Houses) were moved out of place, and a Chest full of Corn forced down towards the Door, some Yards from the Place it stood. The Bucket the Woman had in her Hand, Hand, and other wooden Vessels in the House, were all or most of them shattered, Dishes and Spoons, &c. blown off, and after some Days, found and gathered in the Garden, on the North-side of the House, split and broken, with some Yarn that was hanging in the Top of the House, found out of Doors a while after; and many more Disorders than I am able to account for at present. Wounds and Bruises. The Woman has quite lost her left Eye, which she perceived herself to be blind of, after she came to herself. The poor Creature was speechless for a Week or nine Days, and could not swallow. She has lately had a few Stones come out from the Roof of the Mouth, under the Tongue, and other Parts inwardly: The Tip of her Tongue taken off, as far as I can guess, for she is still lisping; three of the fore Teeth of the under Jaw broken, with the lower Lip slit, but now pretty well healed; two of the Right-hand Fingers, the Second and Third quite off, and the Colour of that Hand still like a Flame of Fire, as if there were yet remaining some igneous Particles in it. She has a terrible Gash upon that Shoulder between the Joints, that once one might cover an Egg in it, very painful, besides three or more Bruises upon the Arm down to the Wrist, that she is not able to heave or lift it up, without the Help of the other Hand, besides several other Wounds and Bruises over great part of her Body. A Boy (an Ideot) had his Hair all singed, his Face and Breast all scorched with Blisters like Bladders running from the raw Flesh, with several Stones taken out from his Body and Legs, and two other small Children suffered ed greatly; so that the Wounds are reckoned by the Woman that used to dress them, to be Thirty at least between the Mother and Children: only one Girl about ten years old, or thereabouts, that stood at a Distance next the Door escaped, having her Cloaths only singed, and no Hurt done her. I had almost forgot to mention the several Splinters of Bones taken out in dressing their Wounds, that I could not get. It is worth observing also, that they did smell so strong of the Sulphur and bituminous Matter for some Days, that one could hardly go near them. They are now, by the Goodness of God blessing the Means used for their Recovery, free from any grievous Pain to complain of; so that they go about. This is all the Account I can give you, huddled up in some Haft, which may serve till you come yourself and take a more exact Survey. What Conclusion to draw from hence I know not, tho' some are very forward to pronounce that it was God's Judgment upon them; but as the Ways of Divine Providence are unsearchable, who causes it to rain upon the just and the unjust, I think People ought not dive too far into those inscrutable Arcana's; but only pray to God to preserve us evermore, and to avert such heavy Judgments our Sins may justly deserve, by such or like terrible Visitations. This Account was sent me by Mr. Jenkin Jenkins a Clergyman, who lives in that Neighbourhood: About half a Year after I was that Way, and viewed the Breach made in the House, and the Wounds which the Woman and her Children had received by the Stones lodged in their Bodies, some of which were not then healed. The Woman then gave me the little Piece of a Stone, wrapp'd up in the brown Paper, which she she said she had taken out of her Tongue, above five Months after this Disaster had happened. Evan Davies. V. The Postscript of a Letter from George Martin, M.D. to William Graeme, M.D. F.R.S. giving an Account of the Operation of Bronchotome, as it was performed at St. Andrews. POSTSCRIPT. I was called to a young Lad, who being in such a good State of Health, as to be then making a Visit to some of his Comrades in another Street, was all of a sudden taken ill with a violent Trouble in his Throat; in which however, I could see nothing wrong, the Amygdala, and other Parts in view, being in all Appearance sound enough, but only looking a little drier than ordinary; without any external Tumour appearing about the Larynx, and no considerable Frequency or Strength in his Pulse. But he had great Pain and a Dyspnea, with an Impossibility of swallowing either Liquids or Solids; every thing returning forcibly by the Mouth and Nose, when he made an Effort to get it over. From all which I reckoned it an Angina of one of the worst Kinds, sine apparente tumore (See Hippocr. Prognost. xxiii. 3. & Pranot. Coac. iii. 96.) and the Seat of the Disease in the Larynx,