78 New Theories of the Great Forces. 



philosophical therefore to conclude that it is 

 the same element that is concerned in both 

 instances. If we were to distinguish between 

 the actions of the telephonic wire and the 

 telegraphic wire we should say that there is 

 no difference in the medium of communica- 

 tion, which is in either case the vito-magnetic 

 fluid ; but that in the former the normal fluid 

 is affected simply, while in the latter an arti- 

 ficial and extraordinary amount of fluid is 

 induced so as to produce strong magnetic 

 effects. In the telephone wire we have an 

 affection of the fluid ; in the telegraphic wire 

 a pulsation, so to speak. 



In the production of sound, vibrations 

 (erroneously called waves), have an impor- 

 tant agency, but they have no act or part in 

 its conveyance. 



The varying intensities of sound, and the 

 distance to which it reaches, are in direct 

 ratio with the kind of force applied in its 

 production, the character of the resistance 

 offered and the medium of communication 

 employed. 



