6 FARADAY 



person of ten, fifteen, or twenty years of age, perhaps the 

 first sight of a cataract or a mountain would occasion him 

 more surprise than he had ever felt concerning the means 

 of his own existence; how he came here; how he lives; 

 by what means he stands upright; and through what means 

 he moves about from place to place. Hence, we come into 

 this world, we live, and depart from it, without our thoughts 

 being called specifically to consider how all this takes place; 

 and were it not for the exertions of some few inquiring 

 minds, who have looked into these things, and ascertained 

 the very beautiful laws and conditions by which we do live 

 and stand upon the earth, we should hardly be aware that 

 there was any thing wonderful in it. These inquiries, which 

 have occupied philosophers from the earliest days, when 

 they first began to find out the laws by which we grow, and 

 exist, and enjoy ourselves, up to the present time, have 

 shown us that all this was effected in consequence of the 

 existence of certain forces, or abilities to do things, or 

 powers, that are so common that nothing can be more so; 

 for nothing is commoner than the wonderful powers by 

 which we are enabled to stand upright: they are essential 

 to our existence every moment. 



It is my purpose to-day to make you acquainted with some 

 of these powers; not the vital ones, but some of the more 

 elementary, and what we call physical powers; and, in the 

 outset, what can I do to bring to your minds a notion of 

 neither more nor less than that which I mean by the word 

 power or force? Suppose I take this sheet of paper, and 

 place it upright on one edge, resting against a support 

 before me (as the roughest possible illustration of something 

 to be disturbed), and suppose I then pull this piece of string 

 which is attached to it. I pull the paper over. I have 

 therefore brought into use a power of doing so the power 

 of my hand carried on through this string in a way which 

 is very remarkable when we come to analyze it; and it is 

 by means of these powers conjointly (for there are 

 several powers here employed) that I pull the paper 

 over. Again, if I give it a push upon the other side, 

 I bring into play a power, but a very different exertion of 

 power from the former; or, if I take now this bit of shell- 



