Massachusetts Spy And Worcester Advertiser

A curious electric phenomenon occurred within these few days, under our own observation. A new feather bed was put into a cold and damp room, and a person incautiously went to sleep in it, without the precaution of having had a fire put in the room during the day, to remove the dampness. Scarcely had he been ten minutes in bed, when he fancied he saw light issuing from his eyes; of this supposition he had the best possible reason, as, from the situation of the room, there was not the least cranny or opening at which light could be supposed to enter, the doors and windows being completely shut and fastened. He paid no attention to this circumstance at first; he had like, however, to pay dear for his temerity. Feeling rather chilly, owing to the state of the room, he put his head under the bed clothes to increase his warmth; he had not continued longer than five minutes in this situation, when on removing his head from under them, he suddenly felt, as it were, a severe blow on the shoulders, neck and head, and the pains seemed to run along the spine, at the same moment a blue flame flashed from his eyes, and a permanent circle of lambent light appeared to irradiate their sockets. Perfectly certain that no person was in the room but himself, he sat up in bed for a moment to reflect on the cause; as the light still continued to flow from his eyes, he immediately recollected that the bed and pillows consisted of new feathers, and that they might be in a highly electric state, and that the shock he had received must have been from them. No sooner had he formed this conjecture, out he leaped upon the floor, and found it verified; the light in his eyes gradually diminished, and before 5 minutes had passed, it was totally gone. Having no desire to repeat the experiment that night, he went to another room for the remainder of the evening. Some nights afterwards, when a fire had been introduced into the room where the phenomenon had took place, and matters had been more comfortably arranged, he went to bed as before, and, surprising to relate, he experienced exactly the same result. He had now no doubt of the facts, and was convinced, that the shocks he had received were owing to the electric state of the feathers in the bed, as they were precisely similar to those he remembered having received from an electrical machine, or Leyden jar. Having thus stated the facts, we request an explanation of them from some of our physico-medical readers.

Glasgow Chronicle.