positive charge is equal in strength to all of the electrons which 

 it neutralizes; consequently the release of one electron from 

 an atom releases a positive charge equal to the negative charge. 



The positive charge is thus always atomic in mass, but the 

 negative charge has a mass L-1830 the mass of the hydrogen 

 atom. If the positive charges could flow, they would consti- 

 tute a currenl of positive electricity, in the same way thai a 

 stream of negative charges constitutes a current of negative 

 electricity. It is this stream of negative charges which con- 

 stitutes the ordinary electric current, the positive charges, be- 

 ing atomic in size, cannot flow through a metallic conductor. 



The electric current possesses inertia. This is a property 

 of matter whereby it resists a change from a state of rest or 

 motion. The cause of inertia is not known, but since work- 

 has to be done to overcome it, it is reasonable to suppose that 

 it is the resistance offered by the ether to this change. The 

 energy expended in overcoming inertia is stored around the 

 electric current in the lines of force in the ether, which are 

 set up by this change in its rate of flow. 



When the current ceases to flow, all of the energy expended 

 in setting up the lines of force is returned to the circuit, as the 

 lines of force fall in upon it. The inertia of the electric cur- 

 renl is the same as the inertia of other forms of matter, so far 

 as the energy transformations are concerned, and many lead- 

 ing scientists Lave surmised that the cause of inertia in both 

 cases is the same. 



[f the atom is an aggregation of positive and negative 

 charges, then any change in the rate of motion of the atom 

 ought to set up electric fields about these charges, one a nega- 

 tive field and one a positive field and the two would exist side 

 by side and neutralize one another so far as any external in- 

 fluence is concerned. 



EXPERIMENT. 



Hoping to throw some light upon the nature of inertia, the 

 following experiment was undertaken in the laboratories of 

 the Los Angeles Polytechnic High School. This school has a 

 laboratory equipped for college work in physics and electricity, 

 and it is consequently supplied with the proper apparatus Cor 

 such work. .Messrs. Ed Bennett, Lorenzo Rifenberick and 

 Kenneth Ormiston, members of the electrical engineering class 

 assisted in carrying out the experiment. 



As ;i preliminary t rial a coil of wire < '. Pig. '2 was prepared. 

 This coil contained one thousand turns of number 34 double 

 cotton covered copper wire. The terminals of the coil were 

 connected to a type P, wall, D'Arsonval galvanometer, made by 



1 ds and Northrup. Tt has a sensibility of 31 megohms and a 



resistance of 148 ohms. A small brass cannon, R, was sus- 

 pended by wires a couple of inches above the coil C, the muzzle 

 of the cannon being over the middle of the coil. The cannon 



59 



