ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF SILK. 167 
sparks at the place where it was separated from the 
other, as did also the last one with the conductor ; 
and all of them were negatively electrified. If 
they were all taken from the plate together, they 
cohered in one mass, which was negatively electri- 
fied on both sides. If they were laid upon the 
rough conduetor, and then separated singly, begin- 
ning with the lowermost, sparks appeared as before, 
but all the ribands were electrified positively, 
except the uppermost.—If they received the friction 
upon the rough conductor, and were all taken up 
at once, all the intermediate ribands acquired the 
electricity, either of the highest or lowest, according 
as the separation was begun with the highest or 
the lowest. If two ribands were separated from 
the bundle at the same time, they clung together, 
and in that state showed no sign of electricity, as 
one of them alone would have done. When they 
were separated, the outermost one had acquired 
an electricity opposite to that of the bundle, but 
much weaker. 
A number of ribands were placed upon a plate 
of metal, to which electricity was communicated 
by means of a glass globe, and a pointed conductor 
held to the other side of the ribands. The conse- 
quence was, that all of them became possessed of 
the electricity opposite to that of the plate, or of 
the same, according as they were taken off; except 
