THE STORY OF ELECTRICITY 291 



story of Phaethon, how he drove the chariot of the 

 sun? 



Now, amber is really pitch, — pitch that fell from 

 great pine trees that grew long before man lived 

 upon the world. Whenever these pine trees grew 

 near the shore, the pitch, dropping into the water, 

 or being washed into it, was covered over and so 

 preserved for us in nature's book. But the Greeks 

 knew nothing about that, they only knew that it was 

 a strange substance. They thought that it must 

 have something to do with a god; for, when they 

 rubbed it to polish it, there seemed to be something 

 alive in it, — something that would reach out and 

 take hold of little particles of dust or straw and 

 draw them to itself. The little particles sprang to 

 it and stuck for a moment to its sides. 



Did you ever rub an amber bead on a piece of 

 woolen cloth and see how bits of paper would fly 

 to it? If you do not have amber, use a rod or plate 

 of glass, a stick of sealing wax, or a rubber comb. 

 Have you ever seen your hair follow the comb some 

 cold winter day, or made sparks come by scuffing 

 across the carpet and then touching some one with 

 your finger tip? 



As people came to see more and more of such 

 strange effects from different substances, they 

 studied into the matter until they learned to col- 

 lect this amazing something in such quantities 

 that it could be stored away and kept. 



It is no wonder that the Greeks- could not explain 

 what they saw. Indeed, it has taken thousands of 

 years for men to find out what a strange power it is 



