VOL. XLVI.] rHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 21 



they roused every where the attention of those philosophers, who had for any 

 time turned their thoughts to these inquiries. Every one of them was desirous 

 of repeating what Mr. Pivati said had been done at Venice, Mr. Verati at Bo- 

 logna, and Mr. Bianclii at Turin ; and to begin them, as the experiment seemed 

 more simple, they attempted at first the transmission of odoriferous substances 

 through the pores of the glass, the first foundation of intonacatores, so called 

 by Mr. Pivati ; and which we shall, in the progress of this paper, call medicated 

 glasses ; and they endeavoured to purge persons of all ages, and of both sexes, 

 by making them hold in their hand, while they were electrized, scammony, 

 gamboge, aloes, and such like. But it was very extraordinary, that of all the 

 persons who were engaged in these experiments, no one could succeed ; and, 

 from a sort of shame, each of them expected, that some one would complain of 

 his want of success : but this was retarded, as yet, by the haste with which Mr. 

 Winkler sent to the Royal Society, and to some ingenious men in France, the 

 result of his own experiments, which well agreed with those of Italy, and on 

 the credit of which he had made them. 



Mr. N. declares he will speak without any restraint : when he found his at- 

 tempts were fruitless, he communicated it to all the philosophers, with whom he 

 corresponded : he desired them to let him know if they had been more successful 

 than himself, and to acquaint him how they had proceeded, that he might con- 

 form himself to the same. He was much more willing to confess his inability, 

 and to learn from others the method which must of necessity be observed, than 

 to be deprived longer from seeing those phenomena which ought to result from 

 it. Instead of instructions, which might conduct him to the desired success, 

 he received nothing but such confessions as his own : from these he saw that 

 all methods had been tried ; and that nothing remained to be done, but either 

 to believe every thing on the faith of others, or to doubt, without hopes of being 

 better informed. From this moment he formed the project of travelling ; and, 

 among the different motives which made him undertake the journey to Italy, 

 one of the most pressing was, the desire of seeing succeed, in the hands of those 

 who had said they had, those phenomena in electricity, towards the verification 

 of which he had made so many fruitless efforts. He formed to himself a great 

 pleasure in seeing balsam of Peru, benjamin, camphire, cinnamon, &c. pei-vade 

 an electrized glass, which he had tfiken care to stop himself; to see people 

 purged by the palm of their hands ; to see an old gouty man, as the bishop of 

 Sebenico, clap his hands together, strike the ground with his feet, and walk 

 freely, after an electrization of 1 minutes : but what still more piqued his cu- 

 riosity was, to learn, if possible, why the Italian electricity should enjoy these 

 prerogatives, to the exclusion of that of every other country. 

 Abbe N. arrived at Turin about the beginning of May 1749 : and one of his 



