were such that they readily agreed with him that 

 electricity exerted a favorable influence upon vege- 

 tation. They, like Von Maimbray, passed the 

 electricity, developed mainly by friction, through 

 the stalks of plants to the soil. The machines they 

 used to develop the current were so crude, and 

 their experiments conducted upon such a small 

 scale, that but little advance was made upon the 

 initial experiments, and the interest accordingly 

 waned. 



In 1783, Abbot Bertholon became interested in 

 the subject, and his investigations soon convinced 

 him that electricity was decidedly useful in the 

 maturing of plants. His enthusiasm reached a 

 high pitch, and he gave vent to it in a book, Con- 

 cerning Electricity in Plants. He devoted the larger 

 part of it to reporting the results of his experiments, 

 and the remainder to the description of the appli- 

 ances used in furnishing electricity to the plants. 



We shall briefly describe two of these devices. 

 One consisted of an insulated rod, supported ver- 

 tically, holding up some points in the air and 

 terminating in other points directly over the plant; 

 his intention being to draw down some of the elec- 

 tricity in the atmosphere and pass it through the 

 plant into the ground. The other was more in- 

 genious and complicated, and furnished electricity 

 on a much larger scale. A barrel of water was 

 placed on a cart; beside it stood the operator on an 

 insulated stool. His body was connected by means 

 of an insulated wire with the positive pole of a 

 frictional-electric machine in action. As he dipped 



