Faraday's Discoveries 



generations will be able to refer to those guiding 

 stars in answer to the question, what has been 

 the practical use of the labours of Faraday ? But 

 I would again emphatically say, that his work 

 needs no justification, and that if he had allowed 

 his vision to be disturbed by considerations re- 

 garding the practical use of his discoveries, those 

 discoveries would never have been made by him. 

 "I have rather," he writes in 1831, "been de- 

 sirous of discovering new facts and new relations 

 dependent on magneto-electric induction, than 

 of exalting the force of those already obtained; 

 being assured that the latter would find their 

 full development hereafter." 



In 1817, when lecturing before a private so- 

 ciety in London on the element chlorine, Faraday 

 thus expresses himself with reference to this 

 question of utility. "Before leaving this sub- 

 ject, I will point out the history of this substance 

 as an answer to those who are in the habit of 

 saying to every new fact, 'What is its use ?' Dr. 

 Franklin says to such, 'What is the use of an in- 

 fant ? ' The answer of the experimentalist is, 

 'Endeavour to make it useful. ' When Scheele 

 discovered this substance, it appeared to have no 

 use; it was in its infancy and useless state, but 

 having grown up to maturity, witness its powers, 

 and see what endeavours to make it useful have 

 done. " 



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