made with the Doubler of Electricity. 
gave negative electricity. The door and all the windows in 
the women's long ward were set wide open ; the open win- 
dows at each end of this ward being nearly in the direction of 
the wind, gave it a complete passage through it; of course, 
the wind blowing at that time with a brisk gale, ventilated this 
ward completely, for there was no offensive smell in it; how- 
ever, I tried the state of the air in several parts of it with the 
doubler, in all of which it gave positive electricity, the same as 
it would have done in the open air on the outside of the 
building. 
December 6th, I observed in the garden a heap of the lop- 
pings and leaves of shrubs, in a state of putrefaction, which in- 
duced me to examine their volatile effluvium with the doubler, 
which I placed upon the heap, and on working it, it became 
possessed of a weak negative electricity ; for it required more 
than thirty turns of the revolving plate to effect a good charge, 
whereas in the privy (which is at a small distance from the 
heap of leaves) the doubler became strongly charged with less 
than half that number of turns, and with the same kind of 
electricity. This, indeed, I expected would have been the 
case, because I have always observed the doubler to give ne- 
gative electricity in a privy; but that the rotten leaves should 
be able to maintain that electric state in the open air, is truly 
wonderful, when it is considered that the surrounding atmo- 
spherical electricity was of the positive kind, and rather strong- 
ly so, both by the doubler and the high pointed rod. I am of 
opinion that I should not have given due attention to this fact, 
if it had not so happened that the doubler had not been used 
for near two weeks before; it was therefore evident, that it 
