172 THE AGE OF ELECTRICITY. 



aud sentiments of our loved oues, though we maybe separated hy hun- 

 dreds of miles; it finds its use in the details of our household life; it 

 wins favor for a method of lighting with which oxygen is no longer 

 consumed, and our dwellings are free from ofi'ensive smell; it has made 

 such inroads into industrial works that it is looked ui)on as a necessity 

 wherever the wise step was taken of calling upon its aid. At the same 

 time it has thrown tlie notions of natural philosophy into confusion and 

 put to a severe ordeal the conceptions of the human mind. 



All of this progress is of yesterday's date, and no one can tell what 

 the future has in store; but whatever wonders may be witnessed by 

 our successors, it could ])roperly be said that tlie nineteenth century, 

 now drawing to its close, will, with good reason, be called the age of 

 electricitv. 



