52 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. ' [aNNO 1735. 



same, as when he was suspended on lines of blue silk. He then suspended 

 him on the scarlet lines ; but now, though the tube was as well excited, and 

 the experiment often repeated, yet there was no effect produced on him, either 

 of attraction of a pendulous thread, nor of pricking nor burning, by apply- 

 ing a hand near him : one of the iron rods being then first on the blue lines, 

 all the same effects were exhibited, as when the same rod had been laid on 

 silk lines of that colour; but on laying the same rod upon the scarlet lines, no 

 manner of attraction, &c. was perceived. 



In the Philos. Trans. N° 422, Mr. Gray gave an account of the experiments 

 made on the communicative electricity of water, and found that water is at- 

 tracted by the tube ; with several remarkable circumstances with which this 

 attraction is attended ; but he has now found, that when the stand with those 

 little ivory cups there mentioned, are set on any electric body, the same phae- 

 nomena are produced, not only by holding the tube near the water, but when 

 that is removed, and the tip of the finger placed over the water, viz. there is 

 a little hill, or protuberance of water of a conical form, from the vertex of 

 which proceeded a light and a small snapping. 



May the 6th, was made the following experiment. The boy being sus- 

 pended on the silk lines; and the tube being applied near his feet, as usual; 

 on holding the end of his finger near a gentleman's hand, that stood on a cake 

 made of shell lack and black rosin ; at the same time another gentleman stand- 

 ing at the other side of the boy with the pendulous thread; the boy was then 

 bid to hold his finger near the first gentleman's hand, on which it was pricked, 

 and the snapping noise was heard; and at the same time the thread, which 

 was by its attraction going towards the boy, fell back, the boy having lost a 

 great part of his attraction; on a second moving his finger to the gentleman's 

 hand, the attraction ceased: then the thread being held near that gentleman, 

 he was found to attract very strongly; but having since repeated this experi- 

 ment, though the attraction of the boy is much diminished, yet he does not 

 quite lose it, till 2, 3, and sometimes 4 applications of his finger to the hand 

 of him that stands on the electric body, but without touching him. At another 

 time three persons stood, one of them on a cake of shell lack, &c. the other 

 on one of sulphur, the third on a cake of bees-wax and rosin ; the persons all 

 holding hands, the boy applying his finger near the first man's hand, they all 

 three became electrical, as appeared by the attraction of the thread, when 

 held near to any of them. 



June the 10th in the morning, were repeated the experiments with the 

 wooden rods, the most material of which were made with the holly rod : this 

 being laid on the glass cylinder, and a fir board, about a foot square and ,v of 



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