26 DISCOVERY OF ELECTRIC EXCITATION. 



ether pervading the particles of transparent bod- 

 ies, and confirms the identity of solar light and 

 of electric action; and shows that the spaces 

 between the particles of glass are occupied by the 

 electric ether as a medium of communication. 



ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY OF ELECTRIC 

 EXCITATION. 



The ancient Greek philosophers appear to have 

 been the earliest to notice and record the exist- 

 ence of the universal electric medium, and the 

 mode of its excitation in obedience to mechanical 

 impulses imparted to it. On rubbing pieces of 

 amber, bright sparks appeared ; and for this rea- 

 son the Greeks gave the descriptive name of 

 ELEKTRON, sunshiny, to this peculiar resinous 

 substance. This term is borrowed from another 

 Greek word, ELEKTOR ; which is defined, " The 

 sunshine that excites men to rise from their beds." 

 The English term, "electricity," derived from 

 this Greek word, therefore, literally means " sun- 

 shine." 



Pythagoras taught that this same ELECTOR, or 

 sunshine, is manifest in the splendor of lightning ; 

 the heat, or burning power, of which is denoted 

 KERAUNOS in the Greek. 



Hippocrates, another Greek philosopher, taught 

 " the existence of a universally diffused ether, 

 which in motion constitutes elementary fire, and 

 silently actuates and animates all things." 



