* * * * *

XIV.--FRANKLIN'S WONDERFUL KITE.


Benjamin Franklin was not only a printer, politician, and statesman, he
was the first scientist of America. In the midst of perplexing cares it
was his delight to study the laws of nature and try to understand some
of the mysteries of creation.

In his time no very great discoveries had yet been made. The steam
engine was unknown. The telegraph had not so much as been dreamed about.
Thousands of comforts which we now enjoy through the discoveries of
science were then unthought of; or if thought of, they were deemed to be
impossible.

Franklin began to make experiments in electricity when he was about
forty years old.

He was the first person to discover that lightning is caused by
electricity. He had long thought that this was true, but he had no means
of proving it.

He thought that if he could stand on some high tower during a
thunder-storm, he might be able to draw some of the electricity from the
clouds through a pointed iron rod. But there was no high tower in
Philadelphia. There was not even a tall church spire.

At last he thought of making a kite and sending it up to the clouds. A
paper kite, however, would be ruined by the rain and would not fly to