New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1841-12-22

lhsre is continua tendency in the fluid to escape
and il will be entirely lost if any body staining
upon tue floor be PLACED ia contact with the elee-
tr!iied body GRAY and Wheeler saw that this put
mo the hands OF the electrician vas, and extra
ordinary power-;he power Of arres'iny the fluid
and compelling is presence-o: keeping i under
his hands until he can submit it to ;hc closest eX-
perimesrs. Ths i the power Of Insulation Sup
pose metallic bail be highly charged aud you wish
to keep it half an hour, how is it to be done By
tue discovery OF Gray and Wheeler. It must be
suspended by silk thread or placed upon glass
Dsfaye at once seized upon tins and said, Nov
we have the mears OF arresting this fHd and OF
compelling II 10 submit TO the 5everest cro,s-exam
nation Dufaye reasoned farther: we know that
if a body be electrified the electricity in escaping
will make itself visible by sparks. Now W. know
that the bodies Of animals are capable OF being
charged with the fluid. Ii thea said Dufaye, we
can manage to charge the person OF q man and
preveat the fluid from escaping may draw
spark from him. With tais plan in his head, Do
fave went 10 the Able NoLLRT and disclosed hs
belief that the human body might BE- chargsd.-
NJlct laughed at him, a II the plan cOIld only ~
1T in the head OF crack Drained enthusiast Du-
fave, however, perseyeTed, and tn ' aged - try
the experiment They went to work clumsily iG
t.liowing out he discovery OF Gray ami " aeeler.
Now, said Dat4yc, II suspend my body by
silk cords shall thcu be electrified and YOU may
Try obtain tie spark. 1t was agreed. and Du-
fave was duly hanged with silk Electrical ma
chine. not having been invented, glass tube was
rubbed and as fast "a electricity was evolved it
was communicated 10 tie suspended Duia} E.
When il thought that the philosopher was
sufficiently charged Noiei presented his knuckie
10 his cheek, and behold a bright splrk passed
from one philosopher 10 the other hi, 10 us is
sufficiently amusing. because with a the present
tiae, j, done every day; then, however, IT was
unknown and on being published. all Europe Wa
a-tonishcd a, the wonderful phenomenon.
The epoch at which the circumstances Of Elec-
trici;y were gradually unfoldcd was from 1870 to
l740. The process of exiorting truth fr'~ Nature
is extremely slow, and in fourteen or fifteen wears
i surprising To see how little real truth was de-
veloped. The Royal Society of London has al
ways been remarkable for The zeal with which
it has engaged in the propagation Of scientific
knowledge. The Secretary ha, usually been
man who without any extraordinary powers OF
mind. has possessed strong love OF information
and an ardent desire for lis diffusion The Sccfe-
tary, Il; the time of which ! speaking, wa.
Mr.. Collinson. Il name now almost unknown. At
this period also, that is, in l74j, Philade phia pos
StNNNi NhLiN 'il o'iNli''N'i 49, ~ - ~
laboring a printer in that city. There vas then
in Pnil4delphia Literary aud Philosophical So
cioty--riihrr the sume that which now exists
or one out of which it sprung 1t has long beca
The laudahe objc.- OF the Royal SOCIETY," of London
to call toge her scientific miads, and to promote
between scientific bodies all over
the world, and thus to aid in the developeIRent oi
truth and Of valuable facts in Science and the
Arts When the circumstances | haze recounted
attracted general nltice Collin-on to the
Society of Philadelphia one OF the
gla,s tubes used in electrical experiments, with
written Instructions as TO the mode OF using H.
When it arrived, the few whose business allowed
them TO know or care any thing about the subject,
which then had scarcely been heard of IN this
cou!trv, said to Franklin. Here Is letter from
this gentleman with glass tube; ool, at your
leisure and see what you can make OF it. Frnnk-
lin took it IN hand in June l747; and with
that singular ardor of mind that extraordinary
zeal and enthusiasm of character which marked
the whole life of Franklin, and which made
with him the taking up OF any question and
the pursuit Of it TO its extreme limits, one aHd
the same thing, within week he had repeated al
the experiments ever made upon the subject, AID
placed himself in position TO push his inquiries
beyond the point the same subject had reached IN
Europe.
In October he commenced correspondence
with Colli-s IN, and between l7l7 and 1852 TINS
was continued on all convenient occasions IA
series of letters which, like her scientific writ
ings, were no, appreciated al first hut afterwards
we're highly estimated, and raised Franklin to the
highest rank of philosophers That extreme ga
gacity. that instinct or can call !; nothing cl,e)
which enables philosophical minds to 20 on before
experience and in OF their and To behold
the shadows Of coming events, enabled franklin
TO see what distant years alone developed and
with that simplicity OF mind. that unbounded areOr
and disregard Us 10 who might be deemed the DIS
covcrer OF any great and important truth, 81 II
were only made known, he communicated to Col
linson his belief that electricity and lightning
icsre the same, and proposed to draw the fluid
from the clouds This letter was read before the
Roval Society OF London and was received by the
usually grave philosophers the members OF that
sody. with shouts OF laughter Ii was suffered
to pass by unHoticed; NJ oae cared 10 r'sk ms
eputatios for SANITY by mentioning TINS iudl-
crous fancy-iishr, and franklin was IN no danger
OF being anticipated in his discoveries or OF having
It's merits claimed by the members OF The Royal
Society.
Meanwhile Franklin quietly proceeded in his IN
vestigalions. The first conclusion OF his research
-. arrived AT about the year l749, Vas the basis
OF his famous theory of Elec;Ficity-a theory wheh
ha. not stood the test Of ne and has indeed al,
most fallen TO the ground. noble and wonderful
wreck The theory deserves notice not manly on
iis own account, but because of the extreme beau
" OF the reasoning asd experiments on when II
was based One of the FIRST experiments wa I'M /,
Two persons. \ and B. stood upon Two insulated
stools in the hands OF WAS placed ass '~o'
which was electrified by artritioa. & then toached
the lube aud received portion OF the electricity
Consequently b had an excess of the Auid--more
than was natural. while A mad less. The process
was repeated until was sur-charged while \
.stal B received Ii from him. Thls done, thlrd