Page:Philosophical Transactions - Volume 037.djvu/27

 repeating its Attractions and Repulsions for many Times together: I then fixed the Ball on longer Sticks, first upon one of eight Inches, and afterwards upon one of twenty-four Inches long, and found the Effect the same. Then I made use of first Iron, and then Brass Wire, to fix the Ball on, inserting the other End of the Wire in the Cork, as before, and found that the Attraction was the same as when the Fir-Sticks were made use of, and that when the Feather was held over against any Part of the Wire, it was attracted by it; but though it was then nearer the Tube, yet its Attraction was not so strong as that of the Ball. When the Wire of two or three Feet long was used, its Vibrations, caused by rubbing the Tube, made it somewhat troublesome to be managed: This put me upon thinking, whether if the Ball was hung by a Packthread, and suspended by a Loop on the Tube, the Electricity would not be carried down the Line to the Ball: I found it to succeed accordingly; for upon suspending the Ball on the Tube by a Packthread about three Feet long, when the Tube had been excited by rubbing, the Ivory Ball attracted and repelled the Leaf-Brass, over which it was held, as freely as it had done, when it was suspended on Sticks, or Wire; as did also a Ball of Cork, and another of Lead that weighed one Pound and a quarter.

After I had found that the several Bodies above mentioned had an Electricity communicated to them, I then went on to see upon what other Bodies the Tube would have the same Effect, beginning with the Metals, suspending them on the Tube by the Method above mentioned; first in small Pieces, as with a Guinea, a Shilling, a Half-penny, a Piece of Block-Tin,