94 . SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT. 



who have most completely fathomed Maxwell's work, 

 said to me once, ' I understand everything in the book 

 except what is meant by an electrically charged body.' " 

 Professor Glazebrook tells us : " We cannot find in the 

 ' Electricity ' an answer to the question, What is an 

 electric charge ? Maxwell did not pretend to know, and 

 the attempt to give too great defmiteness to his views 

 on this point is apt to lead to a misconception of what 

 those views were. . . . Still, in order to grasp Maxwell's 

 theory, this knowledge is not necessary." 



Nevertheless, Maxwell's followers in this country and 

 abroad are not satisfied to leave those points which are 

 obscure or indefinite in his theory unilluminated. I have 

 already referred to the valuable practical illustrations of 

 Lodge. What has been done in a more systematic 

 manner on the Continent and at home I shall briefly 

 refer to at the end of the next chapter. We may call it 

 a revival of the atomic view of electricity. 



