[ 34i ] 
duced to fuch an inquiry, as it feemed to me to open 
a new path for proceeding in electrical refearches, 
and might perhaps throw new light on the great and 
furprifing difcoveries already made in that branch of 
natural philofophy. The fimplicity of the appara- 
tus, and the great facility in making the proper ex- 
periments, putting it in my power to begin and carry 
on my enquiry at pleafure, I entered upon fomewhat 
of a regular courfe of obfervations about the begin- 
ning of November ladj and fince that time have 
purfued it as clofely as my leifure, and the weather, 
which has been far from favourable for electrical ex- 
periments, would permit. It is the purpofe of this, 
and of thofe papers that may follow, to lay before 
the Royal Society an account of the experiments and 
obfervations I have already made, or may hereafter 
be able to make, in the progrefs of this inquiry. 
My firft endeavour was to difcover what fort of 
dockings was mod proper to produce electricity. 
In order to determine this, I tried fingle dockings of 
different kinds, viz. thread, cotton, filk, and worded, 
putting them on, and wearing them fome time. On 
pulling them off, I could perceive nothing of elec- 
tricity in the thread or cotton, and no remarkable de- 
gree of it in the filk and worded. 
When I fay no remarkable degree of it , it may be 
proper to be a little more explicit. I mud therefore 
obferve, that filk and worded, being in themfelves 
electric, are both of them, efpecially filk, extremely 
fufceptible of eledricity. I have fometimes obferved, 
particularly when the weather was favourable, that 
filk, when but barely handled, nay, when but lim- 
ply touched, has become electrical where it had been 
handled 
