16. Alfred did so, and the little bits of paper, of course stuck firmly to it, so firmly that he could not take them off.

17. "Now rub the other end of the sealing-wax once more upon your coat, and convince yourself that the effects produced by friction, and by the heat of the candle, are different, very different," said his father.

18. Alfred complied with his father's desire, and the little bits of paper were affected just in the same manner as they had been at first.

19. "Here is an empty glass bottle," said Mr. A. ; " rub it on the sleeve of your coat, in the same manner, and then hold it over the bits of paper."

20. The effect produced was similar to that produced by the sealing-wax; the bits of paper were attracted toward the glass, and Mr. A. said that if the experiment had been made in the dark, the glass and the wax would have exhibited faint signs of light.

21. It now remained to seek the cause of so curious an effect. Alfred appealed, as usual, to his father.

a

I

22. "The power thus excited," said Mr. A., "is called electric power, and the little light which I have just told you might be perceived emanating from the wax, had the experiment been made in the dark, is called the electric fluid. have often told you that we must cultivate habits of observation and reflection, in order to aid us in the acquisition of knowledge.

23. "Mr. Boyle was the first who had a glimpse of the electric fluid; as he remarked, after rubbing some diamonds, that they afforded light in the dark. This observation led to reflection, and the various electric properties of bodies became an object of curiosity.

24. "This electrical fluid is one of the most wonderful in

NOTES a The electric power, or electric attraction, was first observed by the ancients, in amber, a resinous substance, of a yellow color. b Boyle, (boil,) Robert; a distinguished natural philosopher of Ireland, born in 1627.

nature; and the earth, and almost all bodies with which we are acquainted, are supposed to contain a certain quantity of it, though it seems to lie dormant until put in action by rubbing or friction; and then, as I have already said, it appears like fire.

25. "The bodies over which it passes freely are all metals, and most animal and vegetable substances; all of which are called conductors of electricity, as air and water are conductors of sound. But this peculiar fluid will not pass over glass, sulphur, charcoal, silk, baked wood, or dry woolen substances; all these bodies, therefore, are called non-conductors."

26. "Is sealing-wax a conductor, father?"

27. "No, my dear; I was going to tell you that heat, produced by friction, and moisture, renders all substances conductors, and that it was in consequence of the heat produced by the friction on the woolen cloth of which your coat is made, that the sealing-wax became one.

28. "Here is a piece of amber," continued he, opening a little drawer in his desk; "this contains the same properties as sealing-wax; I mean that, on being rubbed, it acquires electric powers. The ancients were well acquainted with them, and the name electricity is derived from a Greek word electron, signifying amber."

29. "Well, father, and after all, what grand discovery has been made in electricity?"

30. "I led your attention to the subject," said Mr. A., “ in consequence of having heard you express a wish to become acquainted with the cause of thunder and lightning.

31. "Thunder and lightning are the effect of electricity in the clouds. A flash of lightning is simply a stream of the electric power passing from the clouds to the earth, from the earth to the clouds, or from one cloud to another; and

NOTE. a The best conductors are those metals that do not rust at all, or are least Inclined to it.

thunder is the report and the echoes of the report between the clouds and the earth.

QUESTIONS. 2. Of what is sealing-wax chiefly composed? 6. What did Alfred's father desire him to do? 10. What took place when he held the sealing-wax near the bits of paper? 13. What caused them to move toward the sealing-wax? 20. What took place when a glass bottle was rubbed, and held near the bits of paper? 22. What is this power which attracts called? 22. In what was the electric power first observed? 22. What is the light emanating from the wax called? 23. Who first had a glimpse at the electric fluid? 23. Who was Mr. Boyle? 24. What bodies contain the electric fluid? 25. What are conductors? 25. What metals are the best conductors? 25. What are non-conductors? 28. From what is the name electricity derived? 31. What are thunder and lightning?

2. Ir-reg'u-lar, not regular.

5. I-den'ti-ty, sameness. 5. Sim-i-lar'i-ty, likeness.

LESSON IX.

Spell and Define.

[tice.

7. Ob-ser-va'tion, the act of taking no7 E-lec'tri-fi-ed, charged with electricity.

7. Spec-u-la'tion, a scheme of the mind. 9. Ce'dar, a large evergreen tree.

12. Pro-duc'ed, caused.

13. Pre-cau'tion, preservative care.
14. Re-flec'tion, thought.

16. In'su-la-ted, separated from electric
influence.

27. An-nex'ed, united to.
27. Dis-pers'ed, dissipated.
29. Tre-men'dous, terrible.

ERRORS. -1. Light'nin for light'ning; 2. ur-reg'e-lar for ir-reg'u-lar; 3. pint'ed for point'ed; 6. i-dee' for i-dea; 7. com'plish for ac-com'plish; 7. ber'rils for bar'rels; 7. ar'dunt for ar'dent; 12. a-feer'ed for a-fraid'; 16. in'shu-lat-ed for in'su-lat-ed; 17. ig'ner-unt for ig'no-rant; 29. srink'ing for shrinking.

THE STICK OF SEALING-WAX,-CONCluded.

1. "OH, father, how can you prove this? how can you prove that lightning is nothing more than a stream of electric fluid?"

2. "Flashes of lightning are generally seen crooked, and waving in the air," said Mr. A.; "this is also the case with the electric spark, when it is drawn from an irregular body at some distance.

3. "Lightning strikes the highest and most pointed objects in its way, the church spire, last summer, for instance; in the same manner all pointed conductors receive or throw off the

electric fluid more readily, than such as are terminated by flat surfaces.

4. "Lightning takes the readiest and best conductors,-so does the electrical fluid; lightning burns, so does electricity; lightning sometimes dissolves metals, so does electricity; lightning has been frequently known to strike people blind,— pigeons and other small birds have lost their sight by electricity; lightning sometimes destroys animal life, -animals have also been killed by electricity.

5. "But what proves, in the clearest manner possible, the perfect similarity, or rather identity, of lightning and elec tricity, is, that Dr. Franklin," who is justly celebrated for his many discoveries, particularly in this branch of natural philosophy, astonishing as it may appear to you, actually contrived to bring lightning down from the heavens, by means of a kite, which he raised when a storm of thunder was coming on."

6. "How could he possibly manage this, father? I wonder what gave him the idea, in the first place, that lightning and electricity were one and the same thing?"

7. "Observation, my little friend. What is there that observation, aided by reflection, will not accomplish? He was first led into the discovery by comparing, as we have done, the effects of lightning with those of electricity, and by considering that if two gun-barrels electrified, will strike at two inches, and make a loud report, what must be the effect of ten thousand acres of electrified cloud? He, however, was of too ardent a disposition to rest satisfied with mere speculation; he therefore constructed a kite

8. "A paper kite? a common paper kite, like mine, father?"

9. "Not quite like yours, my love, because it was com posed of silk; silk being better adapted than paper to bear the wet and wind of a thunder-gust, without tearing. He first

NOTE. Dr. Franklin (Benjamin); a distinguished philosopher and statesman, born in Boston, in 1706.

made a small cross of two light strips of cedar, the arms of which were so long as to reach to the four corners of a large thin, silk handkerchief, when extended.

10. "He then tied the corners of the handkerchief to the extremity of the cross, and fixed a very sharp-pointed wire, rising a foot or more above the wood, to the top of the upright stick of the cross; the kite was of course provided with a tail, loop, and string, like yours.

11. "Thus completed, the ingenious philosopher contrived to send it up into an electrical cloud, during a thunder-storm. The wire in the kite being a conductor, attracted the lightning, or electric fire, from the cloud, and it descended down the hempen string, and was received by a key fastened to the extremity of it; that part of the string which he held in his hand being of silk, that the electric virtue might stop when it came to the key."

12. "Why should it stop there? If I had been in Dr. Franklin's place, I should have been afraid that the flash of lightning drawn down from the clouds, would have produced some dangerous consequences."

13. "Prudent foresight induced him to use the precaution of placing a long piece of silk between himself and the key,” said Mr. A. "Cannot you tell me why he did so ?"

14. "Oh, I know now," said Alfred, after a moment's reflection. "I need not have asked the question. I recollect you said that silk is a non-conductor. That was an excellent contrivance of the Doctor's! Well, what did he do with his electrified key?"

15. "He charged phials with it, and from the electric fire thus obtained, kindled spirits, and performed a great number of other experiments; but, above all, completely demonstrated the identity of lightning with that of electricity.

16. "Soon after this discovery, he constructed an insulated rod to draw the lightning from the atmosphere into his house, in order to enable him to make experiments upon it; he also