490 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



tisni, and sundry other ills, if they were so unfortunate as to get their feet 

 wet. On one occasion we all met together, during a rainy day, when this 

 fact was made known, and they dreaded to go out for fear of the conse- 

 quences which they knew would inevitably follow. I explained to them 

 the fact that there were currents of electricity coursing through them, and 

 that when their feet became wet, water having an affinity for electricity, 

 rapidly drew off an undue quantity from their systems, and they laid them 

 open to numerous attacks, and advised india rubber overshoes, which were 

 forthwith obtained ; and they have repeatedly informed me that they have 

 never suffered since. I believe that volcanoes, tornadoes, thunder storms, 

 and water spouts, are all brought about by electricity, and that it is through 

 God, the prime mover of all things that exist in the universe. 



On many occasions I have met complaining men, who never were well, 

 still never sick, and have enquired whether they slept with their heads 

 towards the east or north ? and the reply was east or west ; I suggested 

 that they change them towards the north, as the electric current flows in 

 that direction, and that it would then pass through them, instead of across 

 them. Complaint since with these individuals has ceased. I give it for 

 what it is worth : try it. 



I have prevented the attacks of all sorts of insects to fruit trees, except 

 those having wings, by encircling them with a strip of copper and zinc. The 

 moment the creature, after passing over the zinc, comes in contact with the 

 copper, he receives a galvanic shock, which shakes his nerves to such an 

 extent, that he falls to the earth immediately, and feels disinclined ever 

 after to approach any tree. I was one of the first to be amazed at the 

 facility with which Mr. Morse's manipulator sent a message for me from the 

 Express office in Broadway to the Lyceum of Natural History, near Prince 

 street, over the first wire ever erected for that purpose. And the question 

 asked Mr. Morse was, whether the principle could not be applied to agri- 

 culture ?• and the reply was, he did not know — obtain a battery and try. 

 I did so, and the result was perfect, causing a tomato to bear three crops 

 of fruit in a single month, a Madeira vine to grow thirty inches in three 

 days, and numerous other plants in like proportion ; a full account of which 

 is in print, and may be seen by any of you. 



Much has been said, and many theories advanced, respecting the manner 

 a current passes through a telegraphic wire. My idea is that all metals are 

 filled to repletion \vith electricity, and consequently, if you force in by a 

 battery a spark at one end of a continuous wire, though it encircled the 

 globe, a corresponding spark, must pass from the other end ; and I do not 

 believe that a battery containing five hundred cells, would expedite the 

 spark more than one thousand miles per second, which feat is accomplished 

 by one of thirty-one cells. And this only leads me to suppose that amazing 

 as the points are which have been reached in this wonderful science, others 

 will be constantly developing, until those unknown, will far exceed those 

 now familiar. And as small beginnings of necessity invariably precede all 

 great things in scientific knowledge, I would respectfully recommend this 



