ON DEW, &c. 179 



dew is most abundant, is rendered less able, than 

 it had previously been, to contain watery vapour 

 in a state of transparency. 2. Bodies in similar 

 circumstances, as far as electricity is concerned, 

 acquire very different quantities of dew. Wool 

 placed on the raised board, for example, attracted 

 very much more dew, than wool attached to the 

 lower side of the same board, and even considera- 

 bly more than the same substance freely sus- 

 pended in the air, and entirely exposed to the 

 sky. 3. Dew forms in different parts of the 

 night, in quantities no way proportioned to the 

 degrees of electricity found in the atmosphere 

 at the same times. Thus, it is commonly more 

 copious in the morning than in the evening, 

 notwithstanding that the air is observed to be, 

 in the latter season, more highly electrical than 

 in the former. 4. I have several nights held 

 a glass bottle, upon which dew was forming, 

 close to the top of a Bennett's electrometer, 

 which had been previously kept in a dry place ; 

 but I never saw the slips of gold leaf to move 

 in consequence. It is very probable, however, 

 that more refined experiments will show, that 

 electrical appearances attend the production of 

 dew. These, perhaps, accompany every change 

 in the chemical form of bodies. But the facts, 

 which have been stated, seem sufficient to esta- 

 blish, that any such appearances, which may be 



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