[ 545 '] 
Here is a fad, which eftablifhes that opinion : when 
the rain ceafed for fome time, my pole, altho’ wet, 
produced new figns of eledricity. 
Hitherto the eledricity appear’d to me to be Wrong- 
er in the beginning, than in the middle or end of a 
dorm ; that is, in proportion as it approach’d, till it 
was immediately over the pole. 
I draw this fad from the obfervations, which I 
made from the firfb and fecond of July, without giv- 
ing it as a general one : however, I now reaflume th® 
experiment of the 20 of the fame month. 
Towards 1 1 in the morning, the heavens began to 
be cover’d to the fouth-weft, with fome claps of thun- 
der and lightning at a great diftance. I had juft time 
to go to the garden, where I found the Duke d Ayen, 
who had prepared every thing for the experiments. 
An iron wire defeended from the top of the pole, 
and refted upon the hot-houfe of the garden : this 
wire was fupported by a filken cord, and was termi- 
nated by a tin cylinder, of about 3 inches diameter, 
and 3 feet long. The eledricity of this cylinder was- 
filch, that, when a finger approach’d it, two or three 
very lively fparks at a time were produced, with a 
fparkling noife, like that of the nails of one s fingeib 
crackled againft each other. 
Then the Duke d’Ayen took the firft ftirub he 
met in the hot-houfe, which happened to be that, 
from which the labdctnum is produced, as well as I 
can remember : he placed it with its pot on a cake 
of refin, and faftened the iron wire to one of its 
branches. This fhrub was inftantly eledrifed ; fo 
that whitifh fparks iffued from every leaf, with the 
fame kind of crackling I have juft mention’d} but 
Z z z * hc 
