ELECTRICAL FIRE. 509 



spirits. Watson called the last an effect of the attractive 

 power of electricity, and the first a result of its repulsive 

 power, an arbitrary hypothesis which served temporarily 

 to satisfy curiosity. 



But in the end the deductions tended to throw existing 

 theories into greater confusion than ever. Here were in- 

 flammable substances ignited, not by sparks emanating 

 from persons, and presumably due to the incorporeal fire 

 set loose, but by sparks apparently engendered in the sub- 

 stances themselves and proceeding to persons, so that, by 

 electrical means, not only could fire be driven out of one's 

 body, but be equally well driven into it. The natural 

 deduction was that if fire could in this way be poured into 

 the human system, the less spirituous liquor contained in 

 that system the better, if people did not want to be con- 

 verted into involuntary bonfires. This was ^before the era 

 of temperance agitation, otherwise the promoters of the 

 cause might thus have found, ready at hand, a powerfully 

 deterrent argument; for if one sort of fire would ignite a 

 toper another kind might be equally efficacious, and a 

 spark from one's pipe might do as much mischief as the 

 flash from the electrical machine. In fact, however, it 

 may be doubted whether any one drank a drop the less, 

 despite the alarming possibilities suggested. 



The philosophers -of both England and Germany had 

 now materially improved their electrical machines, which 

 were yielding discharges hitherto unrivalled in strength. 

 The similarity of the electrical flashes to lightning was 

 commonly remarked, and when Gordon killed birds by 

 them, another resemblance to Jove's bolt was recognized. 

 As for explanatory theories, sentiment and opinion con- 

 cerning not only electrical principles, but regarding the 

 fundamental doctrines of matter and force, had undergone 

 a great change. u At Paris," says Voltaire, referring to 

 his visit to England in 1727, " you see the universe com- 



