THE CONQUEST OF NATURE 



ceedingly minute particle, stating indeed, that in actual 

 size it is believed to be about one thousand times smaller 

 than the hydrogen atom, which hitherto had been con- 

 sidered the smallest thing known to science. But we 

 have now to offer a seemingly paradoxical modification of 

 this statement. It is true that in mass or weight the 

 electron is a thousand times smaller than the hydrogen 

 atom, yet at the same time it may be conceived that 

 the limits of space which the electron occupies are 

 indefinitely large. In a word, it is conceived (by 

 Professor J. J. Thomson, who is the chief path-breaker 

 in this field) that the electron is in reality a sort of 

 infinitesimal magnet, having two poles joined by lines or 

 tubes of magnetic force (the so-called Faraday tube), 

 which lines or tubes are of indefinite number and ex- 

 tent; precisely as, on a large scale, our terrestrial globe 

 is such a magnet supplied with such an indefinite 

 magnetic field. That the mass of the electron is so 

 infinitesimally small is explained on the assumption 

 that this mass is due to a certain amount of universal 

 ether which is bound up with the tubes where they are 

 thickest; close to the point in space from which they 

 radiate, which point in space constitutes the focus of 

 the tangible electron. 



It will require some close thinking on the part of the 

 reader to gain a clear mental picture of this conception 

 of the electron ; but the result is worth the effort. 

 When you can clearly conceive all matter as composed 

 of electrons, each one of which cobwebs space with its 

 system of magnetic tubes, you will at least have a 

 tangible picture in mind of a possible explanation of 



