104 WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. [1837 



ing Oil the grass,) from a long wire. One of the number 

 only touched the conductor. The spark in this case was not 

 more than a quarter of an inch long. Several other anal- 

 ogous facts were mentioned, and the suggestion made that 

 the whole were probably the result of an inductive action in 

 the long wire, similar to that observed in a long galvanic 

 current. The subject now required further investigation. 



Professor Henry concluded by observing that the facts he 

 had given in this communication were such as must have 

 been noticed by every person who is in the habit of experi- 

 menting on ordinary electricity; but he believed these had 

 never been studied in this connection. He was anxious to 

 direct the attention of the Section to the subject as one which 

 appeared to afford an interesting field of research, particu- 

 larly in connection with the recent discoveries of the sur- 

 prising inductive actions of galvanic currents. 



