CHAP. 7- <3. OF ELECTRICITY. 225 



known, and of which many curious stories are 

 recorded.* 



SECTION VI. 



Of the Electricity of the Air. 



WHAT has hitherto been said of the Electri- 

 city of the atmosphere, related chiefly to that 

 of clouds. In serene weather, however, and in 

 the absence of all clouds, the air has shown 

 signs of being electrified, by means of kites 

 raised in the air, and other electrometers.f 

 That air should, at different times and places, 

 have positive and negative charges, is not at all 

 surprising ; but the circumstances under which 

 such charges have taken place do not appear to 

 have been sufficiently attended to. 



* " She was pinched and pulled, she said, 

 And he by Friar's Lantern led." 



Milton. 



The late M. Edward Forster mentioned to me that this 

 phaenomenon used to be common in the marshes between Wal- 

 thamstow and Tottenham, but it has now disappeared there, 

 t See Becaria Elec. ; also Cavallo Comp. Treat. Elec. 

 Letters of Abbe Nollet, in Phil. Trans. &c. 



Q. 



