In the middle of the 18th century, a great many experiments involving electricity were conducted. In England, Stephen Gray demonstrated that the human body could become electrified. He suspended a young boy on silk ropes and, by generating static electricity to charge the boy's body, showed how the boy's hands took on a mysterious attractive power, allowing him to pull light objects towards him without touching them. *
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* I'd love to see the parental consent form for that. "I intend to suspend your young boy from silk ropes and then electrify him! Sign here!"
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In France, French clergyman and physicist Abbé Nollet carried out the same experiment, and discovered that if a person brought a finger close to the boy's body, a spark was produced. It was said to be an "electric fluid" that passed from one body to another.**
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** Tell it to the judge, mate.
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