[ *43 3 
firing, atone end of an arm of wood, placed hori- 
zontally, and turning freely upon the point of a 
needle ; the needle being ftuck upright in another 
piece of wood, inlerted in a firm bale, and 
Handing in a perpendicular di red ion to the floor. 
The bladder was balanced by a leaden weight, at 
the other end of the wooden arm, lee Fig. 7. The 
apparatus being thus adjufted, I gave the bladder 
a ftrong fpark, from the knob of a charged bottle ; 
when, prefenting towards it a brafs rod, terminated 
by a ball, two inches in diameter, I obferved, tha^ 
the bladder would come towards it, at the difiance 
of three inches; it would even come back to it, 
when fwinging in a contrary direction ; and when 
it had got within one inch of it, it would throw 
off its electricity in a full and ftrong fpark : the 
bladder gave the fpark nearly, if not quite, as large 
as it received it. I then gave it another ftrong 
fpark, as before, when, prefenting towards it the 
pointed wire above-mentioned, I could never per- 
ceive that it acceded to that ; and when it was 
brought nearly into contact with the bladder, there 
was no fpark at all, fcarce any fen Able quantity of 
eleCtricity remaining in it. I repeated the experi- 
ments many times, with the utmoft care and accu- 
racy I was able ; and always with the very fame 
refult. 
To the obfervations I have now made, upon the 
different efleCts of fharp pointed wires, or thole 
terminated by blunted ends, or round balls, in elec- 
trical experiments, I fhall add another, with 
which 1 have lately been favoured by thomas 
ronayne Efquire, whofe permifiion I have to 
iofert it in this paper. Having 
