24 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1750. 



which he had experienced with success had always appeared more weak. Mr. 

 N. submitted to this reason, having no other to give him more plausible ; and 

 to bring the whole operation as near as might be to its first circumstances, they 

 met together, to the number of 14, at M. Bianchi's, and were electrized, 

 one after the other, by him, as long a time as he judged proper, sometimes 

 with scammony, and sometimes with gamboge, which he himself had chosen. 



The machine used this day was the same, with which M. Bianchi had al- 

 ways made his own experiments. It consisted of a hollow glass cylinder, 3 

 inches in diameter, and something more than half a foot in length, mounted 

 between 1 supporters on a board, which was fastened to a table with screws. 

 This cylindrical vessel was turned round, without any other intermediate appa- 

 ratus, by a handle, which was at least 4 inches in its radius ; so that the hand, 

 by which this machine was turned, revolved with greater velocity than the sur- 

 face of the glass cylinder, which was put in motion by it. 



This machine had this convenience, that one person only might turn the 

 handle with one hand, and rub the surface of the glass vessel with his other : 

 but there is no difficulty in comprehending, that the electricity could not but be 

 always very weak with such a cylinder, and from such friction ; so that, in the 

 experiments of this day, they were scarcely able to perceive any snaps, in touch- 

 ing the iron chain, by which the electricity was communicated, or from the per- 

 son electrized ; but this was precisely what was desired. 



These experiments were made on Thursday May ig, between 4 and 6 in the 

 afternoon, in a very hot and serene day : on Sunday evening, all the persons 

 who had been electrized, being interrogated, answered without hesitation, and 

 in a manner absolute in all respects, that they had perceived nothing which could 

 be attributed to these experiments : these persons were the Marquis de Siria, 

 Count Ferrero, the Marquis D'Ormea, Mons. de Tignola, an officer of artillery, 

 Pere Beccari, Pere Garo, Dr. Allion, Monsieur Verne, Dr. Scherra, the Abbe 

 Porta, the two preceptors, the young woman, whom Mr. N. mentioned before, 

 and himself. 



The night following, viz. that between Sunday and Monday, Mr. N. was 

 troubled with an indigestion, and felt pains of the colic ; but he attributed them 

 much less to the being electrized the preceding Thursday, than to some roots he 

 had eaten the day before at dinner, and to a very large glass of iced lemonade, 

 which he had drank some time after, and contrary to his usual custom. Yet as 

 some persons were desirous of saying that the electrizing had purged him, and 

 that he had not the candour to speak of it, he thought it his duty to add here 

 for his justification, that during his whole life he has had a weak stomach ; that 

 he could never take ice, nor liquors very cold, without a good deal of circum- 

 spection, and always at the hazard of being incommoded ; and tliat these roots. 



