ll more electricity, more water was
dispersed; that which remained was elongated and contracted, with an
alternating motion; a stronger brush discharge was heard, and the
vibrations of the water and the successive discharges of the individual
brushes were simultaneous. When water from beneath was brought towards the
drop, it did not indicate the same regular strong contracted current of air
as before; and when the distance was such that sparks passed, the water
beneath was _attracted_ rather than driven away, and the current of air
_ceased_.

1585. When the discharging ball was brought near the drop in its first
quiet glowing state (1582.), it converted that glow into brushes, and
caused the vibrating motion of the drop. When still nearer, sparks passed,
but they were always from the metal of the rod, over the surface of the
water, to the point, and then across the air to the ball. This is a natural
consequence of the deficient conducting power of the fluid (1584. 1585.).

1586. Why the drop vibrated, changing its form between the periods of
discharging brushes, so as to be more or less acute at particular instants,
to be most acute when the brush issued forth, and to be isochronous in its
action, and how the quiet glowing liquid drop, on assuming the conical
form, facilitated, as it were, the first action, are points, as to theory,
so evident, that I will not stop to speak of them. The principal thing to
observe at present is, the formation of the carrying current of air, and
the manner in which it exhibits its existence and influence by giving form
to the drop.

1587. That the drop, when of water, or a better conductor than water, is
formed into a cone principally by the current of air, is shown amongst
other ways (1594.) thus. A sharp point being held opposite the conical
drop, the latter soon lost its pointed form; was retraced and became round;
the current of air from it ceased, and was replaced by one from the point
beneath, which, if the latter were held near enough to the drop, actually
blew it aside, and rendered it concave in form.

1588. It is hardly necessary to say what happened with still worse
conductors than water, as oil, or oil of turpentine; the fluid itself was
then spun out into threads and carried off, not only because the air
rushing over its surface helped to sweep it away, but also because its
insulating particles assumed the same charged state as the particles of
air, and, not being able to