VARIÉTÉS. 
58 7 
Une autre expérience, plus importante, est signalée dans une 
note ajoutée à l’observation que nous venons de rappeler. L'au- 
teur y expose comment, après bien des essais, il est parvenu à 
constater que les attractions électriques se produisent dans le 
vide. 
Au moment où Boyle se livrait à ces recherches scientifiques, 
la machine à faire le vide, inventée par Otto de Guericke et per- 
fectionnée par Boyle lui-même, de concert avec Denis Papin (i), 
otherwise brought to a certain degree of driness, or of stiffness, will be 
attracted by the flesh of some persons, or seem to apply themselves to 
it, as Hair is wont to do to Amber or Jet excited by rubbing. Of tbis I bad 
a ProofiD such Locks worn by twoFair Ladies that you know.For at some 
timesl observed, that tbey coutd not keep their Locks from flying to tbeir 
Cheeks, and (though neither of them made any use, or had anyneed of 
Painting) from sticking there. When one of these Beauties first shew'd 
me this experiment, I turn’d it into Complimentai Raillery, as suspecting 
there migbt be sone trick in it, though I after saw the same thing hap- 
pen to the others Locks too. But as she is no ordinarv Yirtuosa, she very 
ingeniously remov’d my suspicions, and (as I requested) gave ineleave to 
satisfie my self further, by desiring ber to hold lier warra hand at a con- 
venient distant from one of lliose Locks taken off and held in the air. For 
as soon as she did this, the lower end of the Lock.which was free.apjflied 
it self presently to lier hand : which seem'd t lie more strange, because so 
great a multitude of Hair would not hâve been easily attracted by an 
ordinary Electrical Body, that had not been considerably large or 
extraordinarily vigorous. This repeated Observation put me upon inqui- 
ring among some other youug Ladies, whelher they had observed any 
such like thing, but I found little satisfaction to my Question, except from 
one of them eminent for being ingenious, who told me, that soinetimes 
she had with these troubiesome Locks; but that ail she could tell me of 
the Circumstances, which I would hâve been infonn’d about, was, that they 
seem'd to her to flye most to her Cheeks when they had been put into 
a somewhat stiff Curie, and when the weather was frosty. „ Pp. 46-48. 
(1) Sur l’invention et les premiers perfectionnements de la machine 
pneumatique, on peut consulter: Otto de Guericke, Expérimenta nova 
(ut vocantur) Magdeburgica, ouvrage achevé en 1663, et publié à Am- 
sterdam en 1672. Gaspar Schott, Mechanica hydraulico -pneiimu- 
tica, 1657. Le P. G. Schott, jésuite, ami d'Otto de Guericke, décrit dans 
son livre, avec l'autorisation de l'inventeur, le nouvel instrument. Boyle 
en lut la description dans cet ouvrage; il perfectionna l'appareil et 
l appliqua à des recherches sur l'élasticité de l'air : A T ew experiments 
physico meclianical touching tlie spring of the air, 1659. Plus tard, 
ses relations avec Denis Papin lui fournirent l’occasion d'autres per- 
fectionnements dont plusieurs reviennent à son collaborateur. Denis 
Papin, Nouvelles expériences du vide, Paris 1674; A new cligestor or en- 
gine for softing boues (marmite de Papin), Londres 1681. Les recherches 
entreprises en commun par Papin et Boyle sont décrites dans le petit 
