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The Cup Of Tantalus


You place a cup of any sort of metal on a stool of baked wood or a

cake of wax. Fill it to the brim with any liquor; let it communicate

with the branch by a small chain; and when it is moderately

electrified, desire a person to taste the liquor, without touching the

cup with his hands, and he will instantly receive a shock on his lips.

The motion of the wheel being stopped, you taste the liquor yourself,

and desire the rest of the company to do so; you then give your

operator (who is concealed in an adjoining room) the signal, and he

again charges the cup; you desire the same person to taste the liquor

a second time, and he will receive a second shock.



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