CHAP. XII.] CAVENDISH PAPERS. 389 



I think I understand you to make Plato make the earth 

 sit still and preside over the heavenly motions, and so become 

 the artificer of day and night, like a policeman who swings 

 his bull's-eye round to his back. But his words are capable 

 of being used by the movers of the earth, as Milton says, 



If earth, industrious of herself, fetch day 

 Travelling east. 



I hope you will let me know whether I have not misunder- 

 stood both you, Plato, and the Truth. I have never thanked 

 you for your (Edipus, etc., which I have enjoyed. But at 

 present I am all day at the Laboratory, which is emerging 

 from chaos, but is not yet cleared of gas-men, who are the 

 laziest and most permanent of all the gods who have been 

 hatched under heaven. 1 



Mrs. Maxwell joins me in kind regards to Mrs. Campbell 

 and yourself. Your afft. friend. 



To W. GARNETT, Esq. 



Glenlair, 8th July 187 4. 



... In the MS. he [Cavendish] appears to be familiar 

 with the theory of divided currents, and also of conductors 

 in series, but some reference to his printed paper [on the 

 Torpedo] is required to throw light on what he says. He 

 made a most extensive series of experiments on the conduc- 

 tivity of saline solutions in tubes compared with wires of 

 different metals, and it seems as if more marks were wanted 

 for him if he cut out G-. S. Ohm long before constant 

 currents were invented. His measurements of capacity will 

 give us some work at the Cavendish Lab., before we work 

 up to the point where he left it. His only defect is not 

 having Thomson's electrometer. He found out inductive 

 capacity of glass, resin, wax, etc. 



1 Alluding to the passage of Plato's Timceus, p. 40, which had given 

 rise to the previous discussion. 



