Mr. H. Sloggett on the Constitution of Matter. 447 



Then the repulsion which these atoms exercise on each other 

 will be represented by 



MmR + Eer (A.) 



And the attraction will be 



Mea + mEfl (B.) 



Imagine a case of equilibrium, then 



Mmr + Eer=Mea + mEa. 

 Now all those quantities are variable; and it is easy to per- 

 ceive that the attraction and repulsion will vary with varying 

 values of either of the quantities. At present we wish to 

 know the effect of increase or diminution of the quantity of 

 electricity on an atom. 



Now suppose the attraction and repulsion equal, and we get 



Mea-M/«R=Eer-Effl«. 

 0) (2) 



Diminish E then (2) becomes less than (1), and consequently 

 B becomes less than A ; that is, the repulsion becomes in ex- 

 cess. This is on the assumption of m a being greater than e r. 

 Increase E, and in like manner the attraction becomes in ex- 

 cess. In a similar manner might it be shown that an increase 

 or diminution of e would cause a corresponding attraction 

 or repulsion. Still more so, then, must this occur when both 

 E and e increase or diminish together. This is an evident 

 reason for the repulsion existing between bodies negatively 

 electrified. But its more important feature is the view it 

 would give of voltaic excitement; indicating that the current 

 is simply the appropriation of the electricity holding the ele- 

 ments of the liquid compound in combination, to the forma- 

 tion of the new compound which is essentially always in pro- 

 cess. It will not be necessary now to trace any further the 

 effects of this mode of considering the constitution of matter. 

 I have said thus much merely as a preliminary necessary for 

 its reception. Whether similar views may have been enter- 

 tained before, I know not, but they have been my own for a 

 considerable period past, and in their elucidation of all the 

 facts on which I have tried them, there seems to be greater 

 consistency than on many other suppositions which I have met 

 with. It may be worth while to allude to the manner in which 

 the property of conduction is treated by this theory: it would 

 appear that no body is a perfect conductor; the relation between 

 conductors and non-conductors being merely a question of 

 time and velocity ; for each atom of a body exercising an at- 

 traction and repulsion on free electricity in it, the facility of 

 transmission will depend on the ratio and intensity of those 



