From France and the continent of Europe the mania for electrical experiments spread into England. But here it was taken up in a thoroughly practical spirit, worthy of the genius of the nation. Instead of aiming merely at the production of wonderful phenomena, made to create astonishment, a number of scientific gentlemen formed themselves into a body for the express purpose of seeking to ascertain the nature, effects, and conditions of the mysterious agent which had obtained the name of electricity. At the head of this body of inquirers was Dr. William Watson, a member of the Royal Society, indefatigable in the pursuit of science, and with him worked Martin Folkes, then president of the Society, Lord Charles Cavendish, Dr. Bevis, and other distinguished men. They set themselves, first of all, to ascertain in what manner electricity was communicated through the solid earth, as well as through fluid bodies; and, secondly, to enter upon experiments showing the amount of speed at which the force travelled. With the first object before them, they made some curious trials in the month of July 1747, which attracted all London. They hung a wire over the Thames, close to Westminster Bridge, attaching the one end to a Leyden jar, and giving the other to a man who held it in the left hand, while he grasped with the right an iron rod, standing in the river. Facing the latter, on the opposite side of the Thames, not far from the operators with the ‘jar,’ was stationed another person, also grasping an iron staff planted in the river. After the charge had been given, it was found that the electricity, after travelling by the wire over the river, had come back by the water, the person holding the iron staff on the starting side not only experiencing a shock himself, but several individuals touching him. Not content with this experiment, showing the transmission of electricity, Dr. Watson and his friends made another, on a larger scale, a week afterwards, on the New River, at Stoke Newington, London. They spanned, by chains and wires, a circuit embracing 800 feet by land and 2,000 by water, with the result of finding that the water transmitted the electric force by itself, if merely an iron staff was placed in it. But they also discovered at the same time that moist land would carry the force, equally with water. To ascertain the latter fact more distinctly, the investigators made a third experiment at Highbury Barn, Islington, setting up some miles of wire, separated partly by land and partly by water. The conduit of the electric force throughout the whole distance was found to be uninterrupted, which led Dr. Watson to proclaim his conviction that the agent was far more abundant throughout nature than had been formerly believed.