A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



manner Mr. Bose would not have taken a second 

 electrical kiss. Two thin glasses have been broken 

 by the shock of it. It appears to me very extraordi- 

 nary, that when this phial and nail are in contact with 

 either conducting or non-conducting matter, the strong 

 shock does not follow. I have cemented it to wood, 

 metal, glass, sealing-wax, etc., when I have electrified 

 without any great effect. The human body, there- 

 fore, must contribute something to it. This opinion is 

 confirmed by my observing that unless I hold the phial 

 in my hand I cannot fire spirits of wine with it." 2 



But it seems that none of the men who saw this ac- 

 count were able to repeat the experiment and pro- 

 duce the effects claimed by Von Kleist, and probably 

 for this reason the discovery of the obscure Pomeranian 

 was for a time lost sight of. 



Musschenbroek's discovery was made within a short 

 time after Von Kleist's in fact, only a. matter of 

 about two months later. But the difference in the 

 reputations of the two discoverers insured a very dif- 

 ferent reception for their discoveries. Musschenbroek 

 was one of the foremost teachers of Europe, and so 

 widely known that the great universities vied with 

 each other, and kings were bidding, for his services. 

 Naturally, any discovery made by such a famous person 

 would soon be heralded from one end of Europe to the 

 other. And so when this professor of Leyden made his 

 discovery, the apparatus came to be called the " Leyden 

 jar," for want of a better name. There can be little 

 doubt that Musschenbroek made his discovery entire- 

 ly independently of any knowledge of Von Kleist's, 

 or, for that matter, without ever having heard of the 



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