Does Matter Exist ? 



But what are we to think of electricity? 

 Electricity is not matter and yet it possesses a 

 true inertia. When the free ends of two copper 

 wires connected to the terminals of a cell are 

 brought into contact a current passes over them, 

 but it does not reach instantaneously its normal 

 strength, it requires a certain time to do so, as if 

 the cell had to overcome a certain inertia; and 

 again, when the two copper wires are separated 

 the current does not stop instantaneously, it can 

 even force a passage across the air separating 

 the wires and produce a spark. We cannot fail 

 to notice the striking analogy between this 

 phenomenon and what we were saying a 

 moment ago about the movement of a stream of 

 water. And yet for years we shut our eyes and 

 disregarded this analogy ; we even relegated the 

 two phenomena to opposite extremities of the 

 domain of science, and called them by different 

 names in order to reduce the temptation to place 

 them together. To-day several scientists, 

 among others Sir Oliver Lodge, the celebrated 

 physicist of Birmingham, have removed the mote 

 from our eyes. They go even further and think 

 that there is in reality no other inertia but that 



95 



