C 537 ] 
On the 7 of June, a violent florm happening at 
Paris, and about it, the greater part of the philofo- 
phers endeavour’d to repeat the experiment, which I 
had the honour to mention in my laid letter. I was 
allured, that no one fucceeded at Paris j fome look- 
ing upon the experiment as falfe, while others attri- 
buted their want of fuccefs to the abundance of rain, 
that wet the cakes of refin, which they uied to fup- 
port the bar of iron. 
M. Le Monnier, having prepared to repeat the 
fame experiment here, in the prefence of the Duke 
D’Ayen, avoided that inconvenience in the refin cakes. 
He placed, in the garden of the hotel de Noailles , a 
wooden pole, of about 30 feet high, at the end of 
which was fix’d a large glafs tube, which receiv’d at 
the other end a long tin pipe ; and this pipe receiv’d 
again, in its turn, a pointed bar of iron, of about 6 feet 
high. The glafs tube, as you fee, was inftead of the 
cake of refin, to hinder the communication of the elec- 
tricity from the tin pipe to the pole. A wire was 
carried from the bar of iron, which relied upon a 
filken cord, about fo paces from the pole ; but rain 
coming on, the wire was conducted into the houfe. 
We perceived the commotions of the electrical mat- 
ter from the firft clap of thunder ; it produced Iparks, 
and there were certain intervals, wherein the com- 
motions were fo ftrong, that they were accompa- 
nied with very lharp pain : and I am perfuaded, that, 
if the tin- pipe had triple or quadruple more furface, 
no one could touch the bar of iron, without paying 
dearly for it. It feem’d to me, as if the commo- 
tion was the greater, the nearer the thunder was to 
the bar. This is the experiment, that was executed 
Y y y here, 
