2 86 Mr. Nicholson’s Experiments and 
duced no electricity either in heating or cooling. I alfo placed 
a. piece of red-hot glafs upon the lame inftrument, and it 
cooled without affording eleCtric figns. Thefe experiments 
fhewed, that the natural quantity of electricity is the fame in 
thefe bodies, whether they be in the conducting or non-con- 
duCting ftate ; and confequently, if it can be proved, that an 
eleCttric contains a large quantity of electricity, the inference 
may be fairly extended to non-eleCtrics. And it will not 
be difputed, upon any hypothefis, but that a non-con- 
duCtor, or its coating, contains as much of what we call 
electricity as can be driven out of it in the aCt of charg- 
ing. Two fquare inches of talc, of the thicknefs of 0,011 
inch, were repeatedly charged and made to explode over the 
uncoated part, by each turn of a feven-inch cylinder- The 
intenfity of the excitation was fuch, that a conductor, of three 
feet long, and feven inches diameter, gave a denfe fpark of 9 
inches long at each turn. Now, in round numbers 45 fuch 
plates of talc, laid upon each other, would have formed a 
folid inch of matter ; and from this, if fitted up as a Bec- 
caria’s battery, we could with our machine drive out electri- 
city enough limply to charge a conductor 45 times as long 
(negleCting the ends) ; that is to fay, we find that one folid 
inch of talc contains eleCtricity enough to charge a conductor 
of 7 inches diameter, and \ 55 feet long, fo high as to give a 
nine-inch fpark at lealt, but how much more it contains we 
know not. 
If it be here objected* that the talc does nothing more than 
feparate the coatings, we may make ufe of gold leaf for our 
coating ; which fubftance being (as I find by weight and mea- 
furement) no more than ^.^>-0-0 of an inch thick, would in- 
creafe the refuit near three thoufand times. 
Without 
