Electricity? 99 



pended over his globe ; but if he drove it near a 

 linen thread, or the flame of a candle, it in- 

 stantly recovered its propensity to approach the 

 globe again. This fact is now explained; the 

 feather, by being attracted by the globe, and 

 especially when in contact with it, becomes 

 charged, or loaded with the electric matter; 

 when it touches or comes very near a body which 

 is not charged with electricity, it parts with its 

 share to that body, and returns again to receive 

 a fresh supply, if " within the sphere of attrac- 

 tion," that is, within those limits whither the 

 attractive powers of the globe extend. 



This philosopher was enabled to remark the 

 hissing noise which a stream of the electric mat- 

 ter produces, and he had a glimpse of the elec- 

 tric light ; but Dr. Wall, an English philosopher, 

 observed it more clearly. By rubbing amber upon 

 a woollen cloth in the dark, he found that light 

 was produced, attended by a hissing or rather a 

 crackling noise. Mr. Hawksbee, another of our 

 countrymen, observed the same thing of glass ; 

 and he constructed a kind of machine, which 

 enabled him to put a glass cylinder in motion. 



Thus the electric attraction and the electric 

 light were proved by experiment; but it was 

 reserved for Mr. Grey, a pensioner of the Char- 

 ter-house, to make the distinction between those 

 bodies which are capable of being excited to 

 electricity, and those which are only capable of 

 receiving it from others. After attempting in 



