I>i0tor of Electrical Science, 11 



kerchief. He fixed a loop to tie the kite string 

 to and balanced it with a tail, as boys do now- 



s. He fixed a pointed wire to the upper 

 end of one of the cross sticks for a lightning- 



and then waited for a thunderstorm. 

 When it came, with the help of his boy, he 

 sent up the kite. He tied a loop of silk 

 ribbon on the end of the string next his hand 

 as silk was known to be an insulator or non- 

 conductor and having tied a key to the string 

 he waited the result, standing within a door 

 to prevent the silk loop from getting wet and 

 thus destroying its insulating qualities. The 

 cloud had nearly passed and he feared his 

 long waited for experiment had failed, when 

 he noticed the loose fibers of the string stand- 

 ing out in every direction, and saw that they 

 were attracted by the approach of his finger. 

 The rain now wet the string and made a 



: conductor of it. Soon he could draw 

 sparks with his knuckle from the key. He 

 charged a Leyden jar with this electrical cur- 



from the thunder-cloud, and performed 

 all the experiments with it that he had done 

 with ordinary electricity, thus establishing 

 the identity of tin- two and confirming beyond 

 a doubt what he had lung before believed was 

 true. In after experiments Franklin found 

 that Romctinn tri<it\ of the clouds 



was positive and at other times negative. 

 From this experiment Franklin conceived the 



