INature'0 flMractes, 



source. A business will never exceed the in- 

 telligence that is put into it, nor will a gov- 

 ernment ever be greater than its people. 



Let us begin the subject of electricity by 

 going somewhat into its past history. It is 

 always well to know the history of any subject 

 we are studying, for we often profit as much 

 by the mistakes of others as by their suc- 

 cesses. I shall also give the theories advanced 

 by different investigators, and if I should have 

 any thoughts of my own on the subject I 

 shall be free to give them, for I have just as 

 good a right to make a guess as any one. It 

 must be confessed, however, that the older I 

 grow the less I feel that I know about the 

 subject of electricity, or anything else, in com- 

 parison with wljat I see there is yet to be 

 known. I once met a young man who had 

 just graduated from college, and in his con- 

 versation he stated that he had taken a course 

 in electricity. I asked him how long he had 

 studied the subject. He said " three months." 

 I asked him if he understood it and he said 

 that he did. I told him that he was the man 

 that the world was looking for; that I had 

 studied it for thirty years and did not under- 

 stand it yet. 



"A little learning is a dangerous thing" 

 for it puffs us up, and we feel that we know 

 it all and have the world in our grasp; but 

 after we have tried our " little learning" on 



