the common way. When I present this phial
and nail to a tin tube, which I have, fifteen feet long, nothing but
experience can make a person believe how strongly it is electrified.
I am persuaded," he adds, "that in this manner Mr. Bose would not have
taken a second electrical kiss. Two thin glasses have been broken by the
shock of it. It appears to me very extraordinary, that when this phial
and nail are in contact with either conducting or non-conducting matter,
the strong shock does not follow. I have cemented it to wood, metal,
glass, sealing-wax, etc., when I have electrified without any great
effect. The human body, therefore, must contribute something to it. This
opinion is confirmed by my observing that unless I hold the phial in my
hand I cannot fire spirits of wine with it."(2)

But it seems that none of the men who saw this account were able to
repeat the experiment and produce the effects claimed by Von Kleist, and
probably for this reason the discovery of the obscure Pomeranian was for
a time lost sight of.

Musschenbroek's discovery was made within a short time after Von
Kleist's--in fact, only a matter of about two months later. But the
difference in the reputations of the two discoverers insured a very
different reception for their discoveries. Musschenbroek was one of
the foremost teachers of Europe, and so widely known that the great
universities vied with each other, and kings were bidding, for his
services. Naturally, any discovery made by such a famous person would
soon be heralded from one end of Europe to the other. And so when this
professor of Leyden made his discovery, the apparatus came to be called
the "Leyden jar," for want of a better name. There can be little doubt
that Musschenbroek made his discovery entirely independently of any
knowledge of Von Kleist's, or, for that matter, without ever having
heard of the Pomeranian, and his actions in the matter are entirely
honorable.

His discovery was the result of an accident. While experimenting to
determine the strength of electricity he suspended a gun-barrel, which
he charged with electricity from a revolving glass globe. From the end
of the gun-barrel opposite the globe was a brass wire, which extended
into a glass jar partly filled with water. Musschenbroek held in one
hand this jar, while with the other he attempted to draw sparks from the
barrel. Suddenly he received a shock in the hand holding the jar,
that "shook him like a stroke o