ELECTRIC THEORY OF MATTER 305 



Thus the theory of positive and negative elec- 

 tricity still eludes our grasp as much, if not more so, 

 than the theory of gravitation ; but although a 

 satisfactory clue has not yet been given, it is prob- 

 able that matter is made up of one kind of electricity 

 only, and that the originality and ingenuity of the 

 Cavendish professor may find a way of explaining it. 



These difficulties, however, should not be so 

 emphasised as to stand in the way of the earnest 

 worker, in search beyond these strange enigmas for 

 an answer to the riddle they present. Questions at 

 one time apparently as difficult have now yielded, 

 though reluctantly, their solutions, which even the 

 most critical have accepted. May it not be hoped 

 that the problem of matter and of electricity too 

 will be solved by such piercing methods of scientific 

 investigation ? The lessons of the past may in their 

 turn help to lighten the views we may take of the 

 future ; for is it not persistency and resource that 

 pave the way for that success which is not 

 ephemeral, but lasting ? 



With all its faults, it is to the scientific imagina- 

 tion, once more, with its flights of fancy into 

 unknown realms of speculative thought, that even 

 the most sceptical must look to seek salvation. 

 It is to the experienced guide who can let his 

 fancy go, when on safe ground, but knows when 

 to pull up, that we have to entrust ourselves. 

 Such investigators as Tyndall, Maxwell, and Faraday 

 did not content themselves to work like bees or 

 bricklayers, adding in their own dull way to the 



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