Nipher — (fravitation and Electrical Action. 165 



have no attraction for each other, although both would 

 be attracted by the earth, even if it had the same poten- 

 tial. The attraction of the earth for a gram of lead 

 would then be by (1) 



A = 981 — 0.000,000,000,006. 



The acceleration of a falling body would be practically 

 unchanged, and would not depend upon the density of the 

 matter of which it is composed, as it would apparently 

 be under the conditions assumed in Eq. (1). 



Eaindrops falling through an overcharged 3 thunder- 

 cloud would repel each other. After the diverging 

 branches of a flash of lightning have penetrated the cloud 

 a new condition has arisen. Overcharged drops of water 

 along the lines of the intricate system of branches of the 

 discharge, have delivered their overcharge to the cloud 

 at the other end of the long flash. These drops are inti- 

 mately commingled with drops which are outside of the 

 drainage lines. The value of V for these two groups of 

 drops now have opposite signs. The final term in equa- 

 tion (1) then becomes positive, as applied to these 

 groups, and it is much greater than the gravitation term. 

 These drops coalesce as they fall to earth and a brief 

 dash of unusually large drops of rain follows. 4 



In former papers above referred to, an experimental 

 study of explosive effects due to a discharge from a large 

 condenser through a small lead wire was discussed. The 

 wire was sealed within a glass tube filled with coal oil. 

 This work has been continued in a modified form. Four 

 quarter ampere fuse-wires of lead were placed in multi- 

 ple across a gap, five centimeters in length in a line lead- 

 ing from either terminal of an influence machine to a 



s The word overcharged, or super-charged, was in common use more 

 than a century ago, when the one-fluid theory was in general favor. 



* See Nipher. A Flash of Lightning. Popular Science Monthly. 

 Jan., 1912: 76. 



Nipher. Experimental Studies in Electricity and Magnetism. Pp. 

 16-17. 



