Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/514

456 varnish between the lead and the stopper, which was of cork, no varnish coming between that and the neck. The electrometer was divided into thirty parts of 1⅛ inch.

The plate at first refused to go round, as mine had done before, the cushions being drawn together by the glass, to which they seemed to adhere, probably from their dampness. After some time, however, this went off, and in about ten minutes electricity was excited.

The electrometer was then applied and went off at 7.

2. Electricity was kept in the phial thirty seconds without any appreciable quantity being lost.

3. A hole was struck through two cards by the discharging wire.

4. Much greater shocks were given to several people than any that could be given by my machine.

5. The phenomenon of the floor-cloth proving a conductor was tried more fully than before. A wire (b, see figure) was passed through the phial (a), the two ends of which were taken hold of by two people (c c), who each took hold of another person (d d); the operator (e) then touched the phial with his discharging wire, and received the shock through both arms, as did (c c) and (d d). Sometimes, however, the others (d d) felt it only in the arm by which they held (c c). The comparative force of the blows which each felt were difficult to ascertain, but we supposed that (c c) felt more than (d d), and probably the operator most of all.

The chief reason that this machine worked better than mine seems to be that the bottle was coated with varnish