34 REPORT—1857, 
decided spark and a faint snap. By walking rapidly two or three times back and 
forth, the spark may be increased, and becomes, perhaps, a quarter of an inch or 
more in length, and has great intensity accompanied by a smart snap. This phe- 
nomenon is not peculiar to any particular house or style of carpet, but in the cold 
months can be witnessed in almost every house in New York where there is a thick 
woollen carpet, and the room is kept habitually well-heatedanddry. In some houses 
these phenomena are so remarkable that persons who have never witnessed them have 
listened to the accounts with evident incredulity. 
A few winters ago I received from a female friend an account of some phenomena 
which she had witnessed at the house of Mrs. C. in New York, and which appeared 
so remarkable that I concluded the account must be greatly exaggerated. I was in- 
duced to call on Mrs. C., and request her to favour me with an exhibition of her 
electrical powers, to which request she readily acceded. We were sitting in a par- 
lour covered with a heavy velvet carpet, and lighted with gas by a chandelier suspended 
from the ceiling. Mrs. C. rose from her chair, advanced one or two short steps, and 
gave a slight spring towards the chandelier, which was above her reach when her feet 
rested upon the floor. As her finger approached the metal I perceived a brilliant 
spark and heard a snap such as would have attracted the attention of a person casu- 
ally walking through the hall, separated from the parlour by a closed door. The 
spark was more brilliant than that which is furnished by an ordinary electrophorus 
when most highly excited, but its length was not so great. A few steps upon the 
carpet were sufficient to renew the electric charge, and the spark was perceived when- 
ever Mrs. C. touched a metallic object, like the knob of a door or the gilded frame of 
amirror. The facts which had been before recited to me now no longer appeared in- 
credible, and most of them I verified by my own observations. On approaching the 
speaking tube to give orders to the servants, Mrs. C. repeatedly received a very un- 
pleasant shock in the mouth, and was very much annoyed by the electricity until 
she learned first to touch the tube with her finger. In passing from one pariour to 
the other, if she chanced to step upon the brass plate which served as a slide for the 
folding-doors, she received an unpleasant shock in the foot. A visitor upon enter- 
ing the house, in attempting to shake hands with Mrs. C., received a shock which 
was quite noticeable and somewhat unpleasant. A lady on attempting to kiss her 
was saluted by a spark from her lips. Her little girl on taking hold of the knob of 
a door received so severe a shock that she ran off in great fright. Larger children - 
frequently amused themselves by shuffling about on the carpet and giving each other 
sparks from their fingers. The preceding is the most remarkable case I haye myself 
witnessed; but I have heard of several other houses in New York which appeared 
about equally electrical ; and most of these phenomena have become so familiar in 
New York that they have ceased to excite surprise. The electricity thus developed 
exhibits the usual phenomena of attraction and repulsion, and is capable of igniting 
combustible bodies. By skipping a few times across the room with a shuffling 
motion, and then presenting the knuckle to an open gas-burner, the gas may be 
ignited. This experiment generally fails unless the burner be warm; but if after a 
jet has been some time burning you extinguish the flame and then draw a spark 
with your knuckle from the warm burner, the gas is readily ignited. After a care- 
ful examination of several cases of this kind, I have come to the conclusion that the 
electricity is excited by the friction of the shoes of the inmates upon the carpets of 
the house. I have found by direct experiment, that electricity is developed by the 
friction of leather upon woollen cloth. For this purpose I stood upon an insulating — 
stool, and spreading a small piece of carpeting upon a table before me, rubbed a piece 
of leather vigorously upon it; and then bringing the leather near the cap of a gold- 
Jeaf electrometer, found that the leaves were repelled with great violence. The elec 
tricity of the leather was of the resinous kind. Electricity must therefore neces- 
sarily be excited whenever a person walks with a shuffling motion across a carpet; 
but it may be thought remarkable that the electricity should be intense enough 
to give a bright spark. In order to produce the highest effect, there must be a 
combination of several favourable circumstances. The carpet, or at least its upper 
surface, must be entirely of wool and of a close texture. From my own observa- 
tions I infer that heavy velvet carpets answer this purpose best. Two thicknesses — 
of ingrain carpeting answer very well, A drugget spread upon an ingrain care 
