lOCr On the FranUin'ian Theory 



tors, such as metals, water, &c., it moves without any per* 

 ceivahle obstruction; but that in another class denominated! 

 electrics, such as glass, sealing-wax, &c. which on frictioiT 

 produce signs of electricity, it cither moves with extreui<i 

 difficulty, or is entirely imnioveablo. 



Prop. o. That though electrics arc subdivided into two 

 classes : — 1. Glass, &c. which on excitation have a general 

 tendency to emit the electric fluid by disturlMug tl^e equili- 

 brium, collecting it, by iiKans of the rubber, from the 

 surrounding bodies and conveying it to some other body, 

 produsing the negative or minus state in those bodies, and 

 the positive or plus state in the body to which it is so con- 

 veyed : 2. Resin, sulphur, &c. whose effects are precisely 

 the reverse of the other class, having a general tendency on 

 excitation to receive the electric fluid from any body with 

 which it is immediately connected, producing a negative 

 State in that body, and, by transmission thorough the rubber, 

 a positive state in the surrounding bodies — yet that this af- 

 fords no presumption of the existence of move than a single 

 fluid. 



Prop. C). That any excited electric is capable of com- 

 municating, by contact with other bodies, an electricity si- 

 milar \.o its own; and bv proximity without contact, of in- 

 ducing an opposite state of electricity without losing any 

 pp.rt of its own possessions. 



Prop. 7. That the two different states of positive and 

 negative electricity may be easily and universally distin- 

 guishjd from each other by certain constant and invariabl'r 

 mdi cations. 



Prop. 8. That to elcctrifv a body, the natural or propor- 

 tionate quantity of this fluid must either be augmented or 

 lessened in that body, and that the positive state consists in 

 an accumulation or excess of electric fluid ; and the nega- 

 tive state in a diminution or delieiency of natural quan- 

 tity. 



Let us now proceed to examine separately the diflercnt 

 asrertions comprehended in tlic above propositions. 



The first proposition comprises three positions respecting 

 the phajuomena of electricity, which are not inmiediatelv 

 obvious : that they are imputable to one fluid, elastic, and 

 universally dilTuscd. Besides the want of simplicity which 

 ciiaracteri/ies the hypothesis of two fluids, it does not ap- 

 pear to me that anv advantage is obtained by it, or that the 

 most perplexmg facts are more satisfactorily explained. 

 Two fluids existing in chemical combination could not so 

 easily be ».;parated by causes strictly mechanical : the mere 



act 



