236 Notices of Scientific Works. [April, 



one into another." Then he states experiments, showing the con- 

 version of chemical power into heat, into electricity, and into mag- 

 netism, and of the converse action in each case : after which he re- 

 marks : — " Even gravitation may perhaps be included. For as the 

 local attraction of chemical affinity becomes attraction at a distance, 

 in the form of electricity and magnetism, so gravitation itself may 

 be only another form of the same power." Later in life Mr. Faraday 

 initialed these notes and wrote ' Correlation of Forces.' Now Mr. 

 Grove's ' Lectures on the Correlation of the Physical Forces ' were 

 delivered eight years subsequent to this. Hence priority of the idea 

 unquestionably belongs to Mr. Faraday, whilst the masterly develop- 

 ment that led to its speedy recognition was first accomplished by 

 Mr. Grove. 



The chef-d'oeuvre of Faraday's researches is, in our opinion, that 

 which led to the discovery of magneto-electricity. Both theoretically 

 and practically its importance can hardly be over-estimated. It is 

 well known that Faraday took a keen interest in all those develop- 

 ments of scientific discovery that benefited mankind. The writer well 

 remembers the emotion with which Mr. Faraday spoke as he showed 

 him a rod of iron that had been fused by a current of magneto- 

 electricity, and explained the wonderful expansion of that power 

 discovered by Mr. Wilde. Thirty years before, Faraday had seen 

 the birth of that same electricity only in the convulsive twitch of the 

 needle of his galvanometer. He lived to behold this child of his grow 

 into a mighty power ; he saw it everywhere employed and fortunes 

 founded on its free use ; he saw it adapted for telegraphy, and the 

 luxury of private telegraphs made possible by its means ; he saw it 

 used on a grand scale for electro-metallurgy ; he saw it generating 

 ozone, and thereby refining sugar; he saw it make iron run like 

 water ; he saw its light used by the photographer to enlarge his 

 negatives ; and finally, he saw it shine like a midnight sun over the 

 reefs around our coast. It is sad for our country's honour to know 

 that the genius who laid the foundation of this prosperity was all 

 his life long supported by a private institution, which never could 

 afford to pay Faraday so much as he would have earned had he been 

 a bank-clerk. It is humiliating to read how, when Faraday was 

 rising to the zenith of his fame, the Committee of the Eoyal Insti- 

 tution were only able to report that " certainly no reduction could 

 be made in Mr. Faraday's salary of 100Z. per annum, with rooms, 

 coals, and candles." And though, happily, Faraday found his highest 

 reward in the pleasure of his work and in the kindly esteem of his 

 fellow-men, nevertheless he keenly felt how little our nation care to 

 recognize deep philosophical pursuits. Writing to Lord Wrottesley, 

 he says, — " For its own sake the Government should honour the 

 men who do honour and service to their country. I have, as a 

 scientific man, received from foreign countries and sovereigns honours 



