Electric Discharge from Scythe

Abstract

ON the afternoon of June 4 I was mowing a heavy crop of grass with the scythe when I noticed a sharp crack occurring during the cutting strokes. The noise did not occur at every stroke, but was sometimes heard three times during a stroke. The noise exactly resembled a high-tension discharge, and I can think of no explanation other than that the blade became charged, due to the friction on the very dry grass. It would be interesting to repeat the experiment in the dark, but I fear the grass would not be sufficiently dry. I may add that I am quite satisfied that the noise did not arise from the snapping of dry sterns or from the scythe hitting stones, etc.