230 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



every colored ray has in it a degree of matter. Least in the red, more in the 

 yellow, still more in the green, next in the violet, and then most of all in the 

 chemical-rays. And so you may go on, through electricity and through the 

 gases. And here is the basis for Delong's and Pettit's law of specific heat. The 

 relative quantities of heat and of matter entering into the composition of gases is 

 the very principle that this law takes cognizance of. The bearing of all this on 

 the question, and its beautiful harmony with my whole theory will be at once per- 

 ceived. 



Now about electricity. Electricity is a gas which we cannot handle in the 

 gas form. But so strong is the affinity of some gases for matter, that they mass 

 themselves on the surface of bodies. For example, a bar of platinum becomes 

 covered with a blanket of oxygen. It may be wiped off, it may be driven off with 

 heat, it may be coaxed ofif by putting the end of the bar in a chemical mixture 

 for which oxygen has a strong affinity. There is a law about this massing. Only 

 a heavy metal can master and bind a heavy gas. Platinum sponge has a great 

 capacity for condensing hydrogen, and observe, in the condensation, heat is given 

 off, so that a hydrogen gas-jet lights itself, by heating the platinum sponge against 

 which the gas strikes. A small lump of charcoal will condense within itself more 

 hydrogen than will fill an ordinary room when free. From this condensation of 

 gases we sometimes have the heat that causes spontaneous combustion. All 

 these things confirm my theories; but I mention them here to help us understand 

 electricity. Electricity is the most abundant of all gases. It is in all the air, 

 and in the regions above the air. Its affinities are such that it can be massed by 

 almost anything. There is a blanket of it around almost everything you touch. 

 It is held in every degree of mobility or rigidity, according to the nature of the 

 body to which it adheres. The degree of attractive force in each case determines 

 the texture of the coating, and from this we have the scale, from good conductors 

 to good insulators. And from this also grows that other scale, from bodies most 

 highly positive to lowest negative. Electricity is not only on the surface of 

 bodies, but it enters the pores and pervades all bodies. Sound is conducted by 

 it, and the rapidity of the conduction of sound in different bodies, the distance 

 to which the sound will be carried, and the loudness of the sound, all depend, 

 other things being equal, on the different electrical conditions of the bodies 

 through which the sound is transmitted. There is no reason why, with the proper 

 use of electricity the telephone, like the telegraph, may not convey its messages 

 around the world. 



Electricity in the gas form is next of kin to heat. And see its affinity for 

 matter. And see also its self-repellence when free. Like the other gases, yet 

 exceeding them all, in the strength of attraction, and in the force of the repulsion. 

 I see no necessity for two kinds of electricity. We give the name electricity to 

 the subtle gas or gases found massed upon solids. In the attraction that masses 

 them we see their affinity for matter. We see this also in the experiment of the 

 pith balls. If one be charged, and the other not, there is attraction, because of 

 this affinity. If there be contact, there is equilibrium, as concerns the balls; but 



