The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-05-14
Monday, May II. 1894.
TRY YOUR ELECTRICITY.
One Manner of Testing the Strength Of til
Human Current.

Aahn
That every one has enough natI-
raj electricity in his or her body to
light up an incandescent lamp VII
strike most people as strange, yet i,
is true. Without dynamo. batter
cell or like appliance of L kir.l
other than certain manipulations If
q stout pair of hands. the eXperimeu-
can be performed and an i%nterestir =
result obtained.
Even the average electrician. l.
whose scientific mind two and two
always make four. may be skepticl-
but his doubts will cease when IL
learns it is by FRACTIONAL electricity
that the lighting effes IL To be Oh
tanned.
Most people have heard of that a.
Gent experiment set down in g
natural philosophers Of school d..
by which, if the family cat is viii
ing, you may produce a miniature
pyrotechnic display merely by rub
bling the cats fur the wrong way.
Performed in q dark room that e.
pertinent Is highly interesting, but
il has the distinct drawback that the
puss seldom or never cuts her nails.
To perform the lamp experiment.
take an ordinary incandescent lano
globe-one that has been used-and
grasp il at its lower or socket end
with the thumb and fingers. The
thumb and fingers of the other hand
are then encircled around the wide
part of the glass bulb. The lamp is
then moved rapidly back and forth
through the hand that is around the
bulb. If this is done, and the expert
ment performed in a dark room, the
lamp will glow for some moments
after the rubbing has ceased.
The illumination is most beautiful.
being of a delicate cream color, with
slight blush tinge, and appearing
very much like a miniature aurora.
Although this is plainly a phase Of
FRACTIONAL electricity, the exact rea-
son for the phenomenon is not
known, o is il always successful
under the same conditions. A re-
cent experimental. commenting OF
this strange conduct of the incan-
descent bulb. says:
If ever a phenomenon was full o.
caprice, certainly this one is, for ut
times in following out the same CON
ditions that have been acted upon
previously no results whatever were
produced. The experiment again
has been a failure when tried at diff
ferent locations, three or four miles
apart, with the same lamp in use and
taking precautions TO carefully insu-
late the experimental from possible
contact with the earth.
Certain persons seem unable to
call forth vacuo after repeated at
tempts. The results are also mod
fed by different kinds and sizes of
lamps, the smaller bulbs appearing
to give the best results"
In all of the experiments which
Were successful the glow appeared
to be directly proportioned TO the
speed with which the lamp was
moved and the distance of such
movements. Of course a limit OF
speed Is soon reached, above which
II Is impossible to proceed by manu-
al power. The glow does not affect
the flament at all, and there are no
peculiar sensations felt in the hands.
A slight craakling sound is at times
noticeable.
1t must not be supposed that it is
the flament in the lamp that glows,
That would be a mechanical impossi-
bility. The part that lights up is the
glass itself.-San Francisco Exam