STATIC ELECTRICITY DEFINED. 9 



The term frictional has been used to designate that 

 class of phenomena now under consideration, since 

 friction is one of the principal agencies by which the 

 electricity is generated. But it seems more appropriate 

 to use a term embracing, not merely one agency by 

 which the electricity is generated, but also the various 

 phenomena produced, and distinguishing these phenom- 

 ena from those pertaining to electricity generated by 

 other methods. And since these phenomena refer 

 chiefly to electricity when stationary, the term static, 

 from the Latin sto, to stand, has been adopted, to dis- 

 tinguish electricity observed under these conditions 

 from electricity observed chiefly in a state of motion. 



