INFLUE^■CE OF ELECTKICITY ON VEGETATIOX, 1U5 



In order to ascertain the effect which would be produced by 

 effecting a complete metallic communication between the earth 

 and the atmosphere, a small plot of ground was prepared for 

 bai'ley. The soil having been well levelled and raked smooth, 

 stout copper wires were sunk four inches below the surface pa- 

 rallel to each other, and twelve inches apart, over the whole of 

 the ground, and at either end a bright clean wire was placed 

 across all the others, the ends of which were firmly attached to 

 the two end cross wires, by being twisted round them : towards 

 either end of the square of ground a pole 33 feet high was fixed, 

 bearing at its upper part a large star of fine-pointed copper rods, 

 each 30 inches long, well connected with the wires buried in the 

 soil by stout wires attached to the poles. When thus prepared, 

 another similar piece of ground was treated in the same manner, 

 no wires or poles being employed, and both then sown with bar- 

 ley, which was dibbled in, in rows six inches apart ; in the one 

 plot the plants being left free and untouched, whilst in the other 

 every row of grains was close to a copper wire connected with a 

 system of ten bright points raised 33 feet above the surface of 

 the ground — an arrangement which would certainly rapidly neu- 

 tralize any difference between the electrical state of the earth 

 and atmosphere. The barley all came up at the same time ; it 

 was very closely watched during its growth ; the crop was quite 

 alike, and in both plots was small, and at no time was any dif- 

 ference whatever observed in the appearance of the two little 

 fields. 



A small field of potatoes was divided into four beds, by a 

 path of six feet wide between each, four rows being in each bed ; 

 two of these were employed in experiments with wires, one was 

 left untouched for comparison, and the fourth was devoted to an 

 experiment with buried plates. Over one bed a number of thick 

 copper wires, 12 feet long, pointed at both ends, were suspended 

 by means of well-tarred lines of packthread, at such a distance 

 above the surface of the ground that the lower points of the wires 

 were about a foot above the soil, the upper points being a foot 

 above the string to which they were attached. A row of wires 

 was suspended above each row of potatoes, which were three feet 

 apart, and the wires in each row were about four feet from each 

 other. This arrangement was intended to assist in the neutra- 

 lization of the opposite electricity of the soil and air, the plants 

 being part of the discliarging system. In the second bed, wires 

 well connected together were placed on either side of the sets, 

 buried about six inches below the surface of the soil, and connected 

 with a third wire, stretched a foot above it, just over the line of 

 sets, and Ijearing a series of pointed wires, a foot long, attached 

 throughout its length, at distances of twelve inches apart, which 

 therefore hung downwards towards the young plants. During 



