, D 1 ' 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 



HELD AT PHILADELPHIA 

 FOR PROMOTING USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 



Vol. L July-August, ]911 No. 200 



SYMPOSIUM. 



THE MODERN THEORY OF ELECTRICITY AND 



MATTER. 



I. 



THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



By DANIEL F. CO^ISTOCK. 

 {Read April 23, igii.) 



The field of the present discussion is so large and the time for 

 it is so limited that I feel sure I can serve you best by foregoing the 

 luxury of an historical introduction and by entering somewhat 

 abruptly into the heart of the subject before us. I wish, then, to 

 discuss before you the general ideas and beliefs respecting the ulti- 

 mate nature and relations of matter and electricity which are in the 

 foreground at the present time. 



In dealing with progress of scientific explanation it is necessary 

 to remember, what we too often forget, that the verb " to explain," 

 when applied to a new complex phenomenon, means mereiy the ex- 

 pressing of it in terms of something else either more fajiiiliar or 

 more fuiidaiiicutal. An exaggerated example of the first type is 

 furnished by all the old anthropomorphic explanations of natural 



PROC. AMER. PHU.. SOC. , L. 200 U, PRINTED JULY 3I, igil. 



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