626 HENRY A. EOWLAND 



of our science. Thus far no important applications of electricity had 

 been discovered; there was nothing but pure science to attract inves- 

 tigators, and thus the science remained for many years after. 



But no science is complete unless it is quantitative as well as quali- 

 tative. It is now very nearly one hundred years since Coulomb laid 

 the foundation of electrostatics and Aepinus and Cavendish commenced 

 to lay the foundation of mathematical electricity, and they were fol- 

 lowed by Laplace, Biot, Poisson, and Murphy. 



The discoveries by Galvani and Volta in 1790 and 1800, and by 

 Oersted in 1820, gave us the galvanic battery and electro-magnetism, 

 and it was not until the latter date that any useful practical application 

 was possible. Then, so complete was the science that no factor of other 

 than minor importance was necessary to transmit intelligence from one 

 extremity of the earth to the other. 



By the labors of the immortal Faraday, electro-magnetic induction 

 was discovered and the modern dynamo-electric machine became a cer- 

 tainty. 



To his other labors, both experimental and theoretical, the modern 

 science of electricity owes much, but it is familiar to all. The name of 

 Faraday needs no eulogy from me, for it stands where it can never be 

 hidden, and the spark which Faraday first kindled now dazzles us at 

 every street corner. No wealth came to him, though he had only to 

 hold out his hand for it. But the holding out of one's hand takes time, 

 which Faraday could not spare from his labors, and so the wealth which 

 was rightly his went to others. Who will follow in his footsteps and 

 live such a life that the thought of it almost fills one with reverence? 

 It is not only his intellect which we admire; it is his moral qualities 

 which fill us with awe his noble and unselfish spirit. 



The name of Faraday brings us down to modern times, whose history 

 it is unnecessary to repeat in detail, especially as there are some now 

 present who have contributed largely to bring the science to its present 

 perfection. 



One of the principal features which we remark in our modern science 

 of electricity is the perfection of our means of measuring both electrical 

 and magnetic quantities. In this connection the great names of Gauss 

 and Weber appear, the fathers of the modern absolute system of elec- 

 trical and magnetic measurement, and that of Sir William Thomson, 

 in no less degree distinguished. On the laws of electric attraction we 

 base our electrostatic system of measurement, and on the magnetic ac- 

 tion of the current, the great discovery of Oersted, we base our electro- 



