Sir Oliver Lodge 133 



deep and shallow earths are required. Also he proved 

 that it is most necessary to inspect all lightning rods at 

 regular intervals. 



It was his work on lightning conductors that drew Sir 

 Oliver's attention to the investigation of wireless waves, 

 and it may be news to some of our readers that it was he 

 who invented the coherer which made possible the success 

 of Marconi's early experiments in wireless. This is what 

 the great Hertz himself said : 



Professor Oliver Lodge, in Liverpool, investigated the theory 

 of the lightning conductor, and in connexion with this carried 

 out a series of experiments on the discharge of small condensers 

 which led him on to the observation of oscillations and waves 

 in tones. Inasmuch as he entirely accepted Maxwell's views and 

 strove to verify them, there can scarcely be any doubt that if 

 I had not anticipated him he would also have succeeded in 

 obtaining waves in the air and thus also in proving the propaga- 

 tion of electric force. 



In other words, it was largely by chance that Sir Oliver 

 did not achieve the honour of being the originator of 

 practical wireless telephony. As it is, he is one of the 

 great living authorities on this subject, and has both 

 written and lectured widely upon it. But Sir Oliver's 

 special subject is ether — perhaps the greatest of all 

 puzzles to the average person without scientific training. 



" Many physical phenomena," says Chambers s En- 

 cyclopedia, " are supposed to be due to the propagation 

 of a state of stress or motion through a medium filling all 

 space. Such a medium is called an ether." Yes, but our 

 difficulty is that ether appeals to none of our senses. It 

 cannot be seen, felt, smelled, tasted, or tested by any 

 chemical process known to man. It has no weight, 

 apparently no substance. How, then, can man appreciate 

 its existence? 



Man, indeed, can only appreciate it indirectly. Sir Isaac 



