20 PROFESSOR HENRY AND THE 



whom the mantle of Franklin had been waiting 

 all those years, and who was the only American 

 whose stature would not have been dwarfed by 

 assuming it. 



From the clear, blue sky, with two kites, one 

 above and assisting the other, held by a delicate 

 wire wound on an insulated reel, Professor Henry 

 drew down streams of brilliant sparks, intensified 

 by the self-induction of the wire itself; thus prov- 

 ing the electrical relations of the earth and its 

 envelope. So, a child's plaything in the hands 

 of a master, reveals the hidden mysteries of the 

 universe. 



Away beyond the distant horizon we see at 

 times a quivering illumination of the sky, but hear 

 no thunder. How shall that phenomenon be ques- 

 tioned ? Fifty years ago, Henry converted the 

 metallic roof of his house into a great induc- 

 tive plate, by soldering to it a copper wire, and lead- 

 ing that through an electro-magnetic coil to the 

 ground; and with that he held converse with the 

 distant lightning, so far away that its voice could 

 not be heard. If the gods of mythology, who 

 hurl their thunderbolts, have a system in their 

 signals, this apparatus would enable us to read 

 their thoughts. Within a few months, a de- 

 vice has been put into operation by which tele- 

 graphic communication is kept up between the 

 running cars on railroads and the stations, so 



