I HAVE often wondered what is the real explanation of the following observation. If on a bath of soapy water a skin is allowed to collect on the surface, and then lumps of soapy lather be allowed to drop from one's hands on to it, the skin will crack in all directions, radiating from the point where the skin was first pierced, and this will continue for some time after the initial cause of the disturbance has ceased. The phenomenon is very striking, and can be repeated several times, after which the effect cannot be produced. Also if a cake of wet soap be placed on a wet level surface, the moisture is repelled from the cake, until the latter becomes surrounded by a dry patch. These seem to suggest repulsion of similarly electrified bodies.