586 THE INTELLECTUAL RISE IN ELECTRICITY. 



veling at his showing of how houses and barns could be 

 (perhaps) protected from the lightning. 



In the intervals of his lectures, Kinnersley used his ap- 

 paratus for further experimenting, and in the spring of 

 1752, he re-discovered the different electricities of sulphur 

 and glass the resinous and vitreous electricities of Dufay 

 concerning which neither he nor Franklin appears to 

 have had any earlier knowledge. He communicated this 

 at once to Franklin, who repeated the experiments, and at 

 first concluded that the different attractions and repulsions 

 observed proceeded rather from the greater or smaller 

 quantities of the fire obtained from different bodies, than 

 from the fire being of different kinds or having different di- 

 rections; but subsequently he conceded that a glass globe 

 charges positively and a sulphur one negatively. He did 

 not probe into this, however, with his accustomed energy. 

 Another and weightier matter was on his mind, and he 

 had no relish for new research until the question which it 

 raised could be settled. His letters had been published in 

 Europe, but as yet no one had made the experiment. Could 

 he not do it himself? 



He had already canvassed the possibilities of doing so, 

 but had given up the idea because there were no hills or 

 other natural elevations about Philadelphia, and no edifices 

 higher than ordinary dwelling-houses. He believed it 

 necessary to place his pointed rod on some lofty peak or 

 high tower; but in all Philadelphia there was not even a 

 church-spire ; indeed, he might have traversed the whole 

 province of Pennsylvania without finding one. True, the 

 vestry of Christ Church by slow degrees had made up its 

 collective mind some time to build a steeple, but that 

 notion had faded into the dim distance when the war broke 

 out. Franklin was now seeking to revive the project. A 

 lottery had been established to procure the needful funds, 

 both for the structure and the bells, and he watched with 

 impatience the incoming subscriptions and the taking of 

 chances, in the hope that enough money would soon be 



