﻿m& 
  

  

  LONDON, 
  EDINBURGH, 
  and 
  DUBLIN 
  

  

  PHILOSOPHICAL 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  AND 
  

  

  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  SCIEtf: 
  

  

  [SIXTH 
  SERI 
  

  

  MARCH 
  1902 
  

  

  XXIX. 
  Aepinus 
  Atomized. 
  By 
  Lord 
  Kelvin* 
  

  

  § 
  1. 
  A 
  CCORDINGr 
  to 
  the 
  well-known 
  doctrine 
  of 
  Aepinus, 
  

   J\. 
  commonly 
  referred 
  to 
  as 
  the 
  one-fluid 
  theory 
  of 
  

   electricity, 
  positive 
  and 
  negative 
  electrifications 
  consist 
  in 
  

   excess 
  above, 
  and 
  deficiency 
  below, 
  a 
  natural 
  quantum 
  of 
  a 
  

   fluid, 
  called 
  the 
  electric 
  fluid, 
  permeating 
  among 
  the 
  atoms 
  of 
  

   ponderable 
  matter. 
  Portions 
  of 
  matter 
  void 
  of 
  the 
  electric 
  

   fluid 
  repel 
  one 
  another 
  ; 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  electric 
  fluid 
  repel 
  

   one 
  another 
  ; 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  electric 
  fluid 
  and 
  of 
  void 
  matter 
  

   attract 
  one 
  another. 
  

  

  § 
  2. 
  My 
  suggestion 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  Aepinus' 
  fluid 
  consists 
  of 
  

   exceedingly 
  minute 
  equal 
  and 
  similar 
  atoms, 
  which 
  I 
  call 
  

   electrions 
  f 
  , 
  much 
  smaller 
  than 
  the 
  atoms 
  of 
  ponderable 
  matter; 
  

   and 
  that 
  they 
  permeate 
  freely 
  through 
  the 
  spaces 
  occupied 
  by 
  

   these 
  greater 
  atoms 
  and 
  also 
  freely 
  through 
  space 
  not 
  occupied 
  

  

  * 
  Communicated 
  by 
  the 
  Author. 
  From 
  the 
  Jubilee 
  Volume 
  presented 
  

   to 
  Prof. 
  Bosscha 
  in 
  November 
  1901. 
  

  

  t 
  I 
  ventured 
  to 
  suggest 
  this 
  name 
  in 
  a 
  short 
  article 
  published 
  in 
  

   ( 
  Nature,' 
  May 
  27, 
  1897, 
  in 
  which, 
  after 
  a 
  slight 
  reference 
  to 
  an 
  old 
  idea 
  of 
  a 
  

   " 
  one-fluid 
  theory 
  of 
  electricity 
  " 
  with 
  resinous 
  electricity 
  as 
  the 
  electric 
  fluid, 
  

   the 
  following 
  expression 
  of 
  my 
  views 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  occurs 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  T 
  prefer 
  

   " 
  to 
  consider 
  an 
  atomic 
  theory 
  of 
  electricity 
  foreseen 
  as 
  worthy 
  of 
  thought 
  

   " 
  by 
  Faraday 
  and 
  Clerk 
  Maxwell, 
  very 
  definitely 
  proposed 
  by 
  Helmholtz 
  

   " 
  in 
  his 
  last 
  lecture 
  to 
  the 
  Royal 
  Institution, 
  and 
  largely 
  accepted 
  by 
  

   " 
  present-day 
  theoretical 
  workers 
  and 
  teachers. 
  Indeed, 
  Faraday's 
  law 
  

   '■of 
  electrochemical 
  equivalence 
  seems 
  to 
  necessitate 
  something 
  atomic 
  

   "" 
  in 
  electricity, 
  and 
  to 
  justify 
  Johnstone 
  Stoney's 
  word 
  electron. 
  The 
  

   '" 
  older, 
  and 
  at 
  present 
  even 
  more 
  popular, 
  name 
  ion 
  given 
  sixty 
  years 
  

   " 
  ago 
  by 
  Faraday, 
  suggests 
  a 
  convenient 
  modification 
  of 
  it, 
  elecirion, 
  to 
  

   41 
  denote 
  an 
  atom 
  of 
  resinous 
  electricity. 
  And 
  now, 
  adopting 
  the 
  

  

  Phil. 
  Mag. 
  S. 
  6. 
  Vol. 
  3. 
  No. 
  15. 
  March 
  1902. 
  S 
  

  

  