ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF SILK. 161 
white stockings were held in one hand, they would 
repel one another with considerable force, making 
an angle seemingly of thirty or thirty-five degrees. 
When a white and black stocking were presented 
to each other, they were mutually attracted ; and, 
if permitted, would rush together with surprising 
violence. As they approached, the inflation gra- 
dually subsided, and their attraction of foreign 
objects diminished, but their attraction of one an- 
other increased ; when they actually met, they be- 
came flat, and joined close together like as many 
folds of silk. When separated again, their electric 
virtue did not seem to he in the least impaired for 
having once met ; and the same appearances would 
be exhibited by them for a considerable time. When 
the experiment was made with two black stockings 
in one hand, and two white ones in the other, they 
were thrown into a strange agitation, owing to the 
attraction between those of different colours, and 
the repulsion between those of the same colour. 
This mixture of attractions and repulsions made 
the stockings catch at each other at greater distances 
than otherwise they would have done, and afforded 
a very curious spectacle. 
When the stockings were suffered to meet, they 
stuck together with considerable force. At first Mr 
Symmer found they required from one to twelve 
ounces to separate them. Another time they raised 
seventeen ounces, which was twenty times the 
