Litchfield enquirer., 1850-10-24
Electrical Houses in New York.

At the recent Session VI euc AtucttCou
Association for the advancement Of sci
ence. at New Haven, Professor Loomis
made some very interesting and rather
startling remarks upon the Electrical
phenomena. The substance OF his re-
marks were as follows:
He said that within the past few years
several houses in the city Of New York
have exhibited electrical phenomena in
very remarkable degree. For months IN
succession they have emitted sparks OF
considerable intensity, accompanied by
loud snap. A stranger upon entering
one Of these electrical houses, in attempt
;nu to shake hands with the inmates re-
ceives a shock, which is quite noticeable,
and somewhat unpleasant. Ladies in at
tempting to kiss each other, are saluted
with a spark. loud laughter.) A
shark is perceived when the hand is
brought near the mob of the door, the
G;lded frame of mirror. the gas pipes.
o. o. any metallic body, especially when
this BODY communicates freely with the
Garth. In one house which he had an
opportunity tc examine, a child in taking
hold of the knob of door, received so
severe a shock that it ran off in great
fright.
the speaking tube to give orders to the
servants, receive a very unpleasant shock
in the mouth, and was very much an
moved by the electricity, until she learned
FIRST to touch the tube with her finger.
Tn nassing from one parlor to the other,
if She chances to step upon the brass
Mate which serves as a slide for the fold
mo doors. she receives an unpleasant
shock in the foot. When she touches
her finger to the chandelier. (the room
was lio6ted with gas by chandelier sus-
nended from the celling) there appeared
brilliant sparks and a snap. In many
houses it has been SO remarkable as to
occasion general surprise and alarm. AT
tor careful examination of several cases
of this kind, he came to the conclusion
that the electricity is created by the frlc-
ton of the shoes Of the inmates upon the
carpets Of the house. He found by Oh.
rect experiment. that electricity is excited
nv the friction of leather upon wooden
cloth. For this purpose he stood upon
an Insulating stool, and spreading small
piece Of carpeting upon the table before
him, rubbed piece Of leather vigorously
unon It, and then bringing the leather
near the cap Of gold leaf electrometer'
the leaves were ref elled in great violence
The electricity Of the leather was OF the
resinous kind.
Electricity therefore must necessarily
be excited whenever person walks with
shutting motion across carpet; out IL
NAV be thought remarkable that the cleo
tricitv should be intense enough to give
bright spark. In order to produce this
effect there must be a combination OF sew
eral favorable circumstances. The car
net. or at least its upper surface, must
be Of wool; and Of close texture IN Or
der to furnish an abundance OF electricity.
Heavy velvet carpets answer this pur-
pose best. The thickness Of ingram car
netting answers thi, purpose very we'll.
A drurget spread upon an ingram carpet
Yields q good supply Of fluid. The effect
Of the increased thickness is obviously to
improve the insulation Of the carpet
The carpet must be kept quite dry. and
also the floor of the room, 50 that the fiu-
id NAV not be conveyed away as soon as
It is excited. This will not generally be
the case except in winter. and IN rooms
that are habitually kept quite warm. The
most remarkable cases which he heard OF
in New York. have been Of close, well
built houses, kept very warm BY fnrna'
ces: and the electricity was abundant il
4 verv cold weather. In warm weathe
only feeble signs Of electricity are OBJ
tanned.
the rubber on the shoe must also b
dry like the carpet, and il must be rub6e
on the carpet rather vigorously. .
skinnino once or twice across room wit
a shutting motion Of the feet perso
becomes highly charged. and then upo.
bringing the buckle near to any metalll
body, particularly if it has any communl
cation with the earth, a bright spark ma
be thus obtained in the winter. but
some rooms the insulation is SO good. an
the carpets are 50 electrical, that it is i'm
possible to cross the room without excl
ting sufficient electricity to give a sparl
It may be said in this case. there can b
but very little friction between the she
and the carpet. But it must be remeu
bered that the rubber is applied to Il
CARPET with considerable force, being ri
ed by the whole weight Of the body.
that slight shutting Of the fectacts wi
great energy.
IAMRs THE NovELIsr.-We are pleas
10 learn from the New York Eyenins 70
thatG. p. r. James has declared, IN
proper court, his Intentions 10 become a
zen IL the United States, Messrs. Str
yer e Townsend have contracted with n
re- anew novel, which is 70 appear Al
seFial il the pages Of their 1aternatiot
Monthly.