492 HATHERTON.. EDWARD J. L. 



HEAT. 



lord high admiral during the visit of his roy- 

 al highness to the seaports, was promoted to 

 the rank of captain, July 7th, 1827. In 1834 

 lie was appointed to the "North Star," and 

 was for a time employed on a survey of the 

 coast of Central America. He became rear- 

 admiral in July, 1854. Upon his marriage, in 

 1838, he took up his residence at Swinton 

 Park, and soon after became magistrate for the 

 north and west districts of Yorkshire ; and in 

 1848 was high -sheriff. He was a man of great 

 benevolence of character, and a benefactor of 

 the Church, having built and endowed one 

 near Masham, and another in Devonshire. He 

 built a number of alms-houses for the benefit 

 of the poor, beside contributing largely to the 

 different schools in and near Masham. 



HATHERTON, Rt. Hon. EDWARD Jomr 

 LITTLETON, Lord, born March 18th, 1791, died 

 at Teddesley Park, May 4th, 1863. He was the 

 only son of Moreton Walhouse, Esq., of Hath- 

 erton, but on the death of his great uncle, Sir 

 Edward Littleton, Bart., he inherited the es- 

 tates and assumed the name of Littleton. He 

 was educated at Rugby, graduating at Brasen- 

 nose College, Oxford, and had barely attained 

 his majority when, in 1812, he succeeded to 

 the representation of Staffordshire. 



The business habits of Mr. Littleton, his 

 tact and good judgment, soon gained him a 

 high station in the Commons, and he was long 

 considered one of the best authorities on the 

 forms and procedure of Parliament. He suc- 

 ceeded his uncle in the chairmanship of the 

 Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Com- 

 pany, an office he retained to his death. Mr. 

 Littleton was a constant supporter of Catholic 

 Emancipation, the advocacy of which measure 

 for many years imperilled his seat. He was 

 also one of the principal framers of the 

 "wings" of the Catholic Relief Bill, as well 

 as one of the promoters of the unsuccessful 

 measure for the payment of the Catholic cler- 

 gy. He was a supporter of Mr. Canning's 

 short lived ministry, and on the accession of 

 Lord Grey to the premiership, he immediately 

 joined the whig party. Upon the passage of 

 the measures of Reform, the Cabinet intrusted 

 to him the difficult duty of planning the boun- 

 daries of the newly enfranchised towns and 

 divisions of counties, and of extending the 

 limits of the old parliamentary cities and 

 boroughs, and with very few and immaterial 

 modifications the suggested boundaries became 

 the law of the land. On the dissolution of 

 Parliament in 1835 he was again returned for 

 South Stafford, and the same year was created 

 a peer, by the title of Baron Hatherton, of 

 Hatherton. In 1854 he was appointed Lord- 

 lieutenant of Staffordshire. During the Cri- 

 mean War he devoted himself to the organiza- 

 tion of the militia of his county, and latterly 

 to the formation of Volunteer Rifle Corps. 

 His hospitality was profuse, and he annually 

 entertained public men of all parties and men 

 of letters, together with many distinguished 



foreigners visiting England ; and no man of his 

 rank took a deeper interest in the welfare of 

 the working classes. 



HEAT. An important revolution has been 

 going on within the last few years in the phi- 

 losophy of physics, which must have the effect 

 of changing our fundamental conceptions of the 

 nature and relations of force. The publication 

 in London of Prof. Tyndall's new and admira- 

 ble work on " Heat as a Mode of Motion," must 

 be regarded as an important result of the prog- 

 ress of thought in this direction, and the re- 

 publication of this book in New York as it is 

 the first regular work upon this subject in 

 America by bringing forward the new views, 

 and opening the general discussion, has a spe- 

 cial interest at the present time. 



Every reflecting student of physical science 

 has no doubt been perplexed by the phrase 

 " imponderable forms of matter," which is ap- 

 plied in our textbooks to heat, light, electricity, 

 and magnetism. No one has proposed to rank 

 chemical affinity in this category, or to consid- 

 er the force which produces or resists motion 

 as an imponderable. By this hypothesis agen- 

 cies, which are closely allied, and unquestiona- 

 bly of a kindred nature, have been so complete- 

 ly separated as to involve the whole subject in 

 absurdity, and prevent the progress of rational 

 and consistent theory. 



According to the old view, caloric is regarded 

 as the substance of heat as a subtile, impon- 

 derable matter which flows in and out of bodies, 

 warming and cooling them according to its 

 quantity. When heat disappears, the caloric is 

 said to become " latent ; " as different bodies 

 require different quantities of heat to raise them 

 through the same degree of temperature, they 

 are said to have different " capacities " for con- 

 taining or holding the caloric fluid ; while if a 

 body becomes heated by rubbing, it is be- 

 cause its latent heat is liberated by friction. So 

 also with electricity. By friction of various 

 bodies the equilibrium of the all-pervading 

 " electric fluid " is supposed to be disturbed. 

 When the glass plate of the electrical machine 

 is rubbed by the cushion the effect is to draw 

 up the "- electric fluid " out of the earth, the 

 " common reservoir," and when a circuit of 

 wire becomes electrically active, it is because a 

 " current " of the " electric fluid " is flowing 

 round and round through the conductors. This 

 old hypothesis has no doubt been of important 

 service in its day. Before the time had come 

 to perceive the true relations of these agencies, 

 the best that could be done was to borrow the 

 conception and language of fluids, and apply 

 them to these subtile and mobile effects of force 

 that had to be represented in some way. But 

 the hypothesis was grossly material ; caloric 

 was regarded as matter, as truly and essentially 

 as gold or iron. And as the fundamental mod- 

 ern conception of the chemical elements is that 

 they cannot be transmuted one into the others, 

 so the radical conception of the imponderables 

 was that as each had an independent material 





