KITE, a frame-work of wood or other material, shaped according to the fancy of the maker, a favorite form being that of an isosceles triang:e, the base of which becomes the top, and is surmounted by a piece of cane or bambco, bent in the shape of a semi circle. Over this frame-work is stretched paper, silk, or muslin; a tail of string, to which twisted strips of paver are fastened, acts as a steering apparatus; and a cord attached to the body of the kite, near the top, completes the mechanism and controls its move ments. Kites are also round, square, oval, diamond-shaped, oblong. etc. The origin of this toy is not traced, but it is known to have existed from remote antiquity. Etymology may possibly give a clew to the origin of its name, but it fails to signify the period of invention. nvention. It is' derived from the Welsh did and the Anglo-Saxon cyta, while the Gaelic Icyta, meaning belly, may not improbably have been the root of the English word kite, from the sismitication of filling with wind which it indicates, as " the bellying sail." But i the kite is thus accounted for in the northern tongues, the article is found in use in many southern and even tropical countries. In China, notably, it has been a favorite toy from time immemorial; the same fact exists with regard to Japan; and in these two countries the form of the article is more diversified than elsewhere; owls, bats, dragons, and other creatures are usually copied, the material employed being silk or paper covered with painted designs in ornamentation. - But besides its use as a toy, the kite has frequently been employed practically for important purposes. It has been used in engineering to carry lines to inaccessible points; and, in cases of shipwreck, has been made a medium of communication with the shore, and even to establi:h means of transportation, thus becoming an agency in saving life. The most important scientific
use of a kite was probably that of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who gained through its instrumentality a solution of the problem of the identity of electricity and lightning. With a design to establish the theory to this effect which he had formulated, Dr. Frank lin constructed a kite. The frame-work consisted of a cross made of two light strips of cedar; over this was stretched a silk handkerchief, tied to the four extremities; a sharp pointed wire extended a foot from the top of the upright stick of the cross, a silk ribbon was tied to the end of the string which held the kite, the cud next the hand, and a key suspended at the junction of the twine and silk.
The kite was raised by-Franklin, assisted by his son, during a thunder-storm in June, 1752, and almost immediately he had the satisfaction of experiencing a spark on apply ing his knuckles to the key: and when the string had become wet by the passing shower, the electricity became abundant. A Leyden jar was charged at the key, and by the electric tire thus obtained spirits were inflamed, and all the customary experiments per formed. This important testimony to the truth of Franklin's deductions aroused the scientific minds of Europe to consideration of the question. He was highly honored by scientific bodies, and the royal society awarded him the Copley medal in 175:3. The kite has added to the English language a species of phraseology peculiarly indicative of its own characteristics. Such terms as " kiting," " ' and " higher than a kite," though not elegant, are found useful on the stock exchange and elsewhere, to describe certain situations and conditions familiar to all business men.