178 
shall only observe, that from all these comparative expeiiments it appealed, 
that the vetches, beans, peas-, &c. in the electrified watei lose a day 01 
two before those in the simple water, and were advanced accordingly. 
The influence of positive or vitreous electricity * says Dr. Darwin in his 
Phytologia, in forwarding the germination of plants and their growth, seems 
to be pretty well established; though some doubts on this head were raised 
by Dr. Ingenhousz. 
The Abbe D’Ormey not only found various seeds to vegetate sooner, and 
to grow taller, which were put upon his insulated table, and supplied with 
electricity, as did the two Doziers; but also that silk-worms f began to spin 
much sooner, which were kept electrified, than those of the same hatch, 
which were kept in the same place and manner, except that they were not 
electrified. 
The Abbe Bartholon, who had before written a tract on this subject, and 
proposed several ingenious methods for applying electricity to agriculture and 
gardening, has also repeated a numerous set of experiments, and shews that 
natural electricity , as well as the artificial , increases the growth of plants, 
and the germination of seeds, and opposes Dr. Ingenhousz by very numerous 
and conclusive facts. Vide Journal de Physique, par Rozier, tom. xxxv. 
p. 2/0, and p. 401. 
FOURTEENTH EXPERIMENT. 
My friend, Mr. D. Bilsbourne, continues Dr. Darwin, in June 1JQ7, sowed 
some mustard seeds in four garden pots at Mr. Hartop’s at Dalby Hall in 
Leicestershire. He subjected one of these to positive or vitreous electricity , 
and another negative or resinous electricityX and observed that the seeds in 
the pot subjected to the negative or resinous electricity germinated a day 
* Vide Note J, p. 157. 
f Acard of Berlin raised the eggs of silk-worms by means of the electric fluid, as also those from 
the hen, (vide Bonnet’s Contemplation of Nature) and Spalanzani found that the fecundated spawn 
of the fiog was in the same manner vivified by the electric fluid, and this philosopher observes, 
they giew faster than those that were not electrified, an event which exactly corresponds with the 
acceleration of vegetation occasioned by the electric fluid. (See Dissertation II.) 
+ Darwin s Xemple of Nature, or Origin of Society, p, 46, where will be found a long 
dissertation on the subject of these two electricities. 
