258 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. pt. hi. 



some silk (which is a bad conductor), to prevent the elec- 

 tricity from escaping into his body. Between the string and 

 the silk he tied a key, in which the electricity might be 

 collected. 



When his kite was ready he waited eagerly for a heavy 

 thunderstorm, and, as soon as it came, he went out with his 

 son to the commons near Philadelphia and let his kite 

 fly. It mounted up among the dark clouds, but at first no 

 electricity came down, for the string was too dry to conduct 

 it. But by-and-by the heavy rain fell, the kite and string 

 both became thoroughly wet, and the fibres of the string 

 stood out as threads do when electricity passes along them. 

 Directly Franklin saw this he knew that his experiment had 

 succeeded ; he put his finger to the key and drew out a 

 strong bright spark, and before long he had a rapid current 

 of electricity passing from the key to his finger. The wise 

 men of London might now laugh if they pleased, for the dis- 

 covery was made j he had drawn lightning from the sky, and 

 proved that it was electricity ! Soon after this he made an 

 apparatus in his own house for collecting electricity from the 

 clouds, which rang a peal of bells when it was sufficiently 

 charged for him to make experiments with it. He also 

 introduced iron rods as lightning conductors, which were 

 for the future placed near all high buildings to attract the 

 lightning and carry it away into the ground. 



Franklin had now earned a great name ; he was made a 

 Fellow of the Royal Society, and many honours were paid to 

 him by all the countries of Europe. He made many other 

 very valuable experiments, and was besides an active citizen 

 and politician. He died in 1790, in his eighty-fifth year, 

 after a life of hard labour and toil, for which, however, he 

 was well repaid by success. 



