[ 54 ^ ] 
wire of about 20 feet long came down, and refled 
upon a long glafs tube, fixed to the baludrade which 
environ'd the gallery. My apparatus was fcarce ready, 
when it thunder'd, and the clouds broke by this fird 
clap, and pour’d down a continual large quantity of 
rain, which laded near 2 hours, without the lead dif- 
continuance of the thunder. 
I felt no commotion, in putting my finger towards 
the wire ; nor could I draw any fparks from it. I was 
upon the point of giving it over, when the wire hap- 
pen’d to touch the leads and the baludrade of the 
gallery and it indantly produced as many fparks, as 
it touch’d places on the baludrade and leads. I then 
took the wire in my hand, and threw it drongly 
againd the bars of iron ; and as the wire extended, 
and fucceflively touch’d the bars, it always produced 
the fame effed. There were prodigious multitudes 
of thefe fhining fparks, like thofe produced by the 
finger in common experiments. I only wanted an 
eledrical magazine to accumulate eledrical matter 
in, which would have produced me all the ufual 
phenomena. The thunder w r as in its greated vigour 
from half an hour after 8 to half an hour after 9 ; 
during which the rain was mod abundant, and I re- 
peated my experiment at feveral times. 
It is therefore certain, 1. That the eledricity fome- 
times ceafes when it rains, but not always ; becaule, 
in the prefent cafe, the wore was as much impreg- 
nated with the eledrical dreams as it could be. 
2. That the fird and fecond quedion propofed 
above do not include the true caufe of the cedation 
of the eledricity at the time of rain ; fince there 
are few dorms, in which the rain is more abundant 
than 
