﻿JNDEXED. 
  

  

  THE 
  

   LONDON, 
  EDINBURGH, 
  and 
  DUBLIN 
  

  

  PHILOSOPHICAL 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  AND 
  

  

  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  SCIENCE. 
  

  

  [SIXTH 
  SERIES.] 
  

  

  U. 
  APR14 
  2902 
  S. 
  

  

  APBIL 
  1902. 
  & 
  

  

  XL. 
  Some 
  Experiments 
  upon 
  the 
  Relations 
  between 
  /Ether, 
  

   Matter, 
  and 
  Electricity. 
  By 
  Norman 
  E. 
  Gilbert*. 
  

  

  IN 
  the 
  following 
  paper 
  are 
  described 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  experi- 
  

   ments, 
  undertaken 
  at 
  the 
  suggestion 
  of 
  Professor 
  H. 
  A. 
  

   Rowland, 
  upon 
  the 
  relations 
  between 
  aether, 
  matter, 
  and 
  

   electricity. 
  The 
  theories 
  advanced 
  in 
  the 
  paper 
  as 
  suggestive 
  

   of 
  the 
  experiments 
  are, 
  to 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  the 
  writer's 
  ability, 
  

   statements 
  of 
  Professor 
  Rowland's 
  ideas. 
  Unfortunately, 
  

   the 
  sudden 
  illness 
  and 
  death 
  of 
  Professor 
  Rowland 
  prevented 
  

   him 
  from 
  reviewing 
  the 
  paper. 
  

  

  Since 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  wave 
  theory 
  of 
  light 
  by 
  

   Huygens 
  in 
  1678, 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  problem 
  which 
  has 
  

   confronted 
  the 
  physicist 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  determination 
  of 
  the 
  

   nature 
  and 
  the 
  properties 
  of 
  the 
  medium 
  which 
  we 
  must 
  

   imagine 
  to 
  fill 
  all 
  space 
  for 
  the 
  propagation 
  of 
  the 
  waves 
  

   which 
  give 
  rise 
  to 
  the 
  sensation 
  of 
  light. 
  Numerous 
  aethers 
  

   have 
  been 
  postulated, 
  each 
  with 
  properties 
  which 
  might 
  

   account 
  for 
  the 
  phenomenon 
  under 
  consideration, 
  but 
  none 
  of 
  

   which 
  has 
  made 
  any 
  claim 
  to 
  universal 
  application. 
  Green 
  

   has 
  developed 
  extensively 
  the 
  elastic 
  solid 
  theory 
  and 
  has 
  even 
  

   made 
  estimates 
  of 
  the 
  density 
  and 
  rigidity 
  of 
  the 
  aether. 
  The 
  

   recent 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  electromagnetic 
  theory 
  of 
  light 
  and 
  

   the 
  location 
  of 
  the 
  electromagnetic 
  energy 
  in 
  the 
  aether, 
  have 
  

   demanded 
  properties 
  entirely 
  different 
  from 
  any 
  which 
  could 
  

   be 
  furnished 
  by 
  a 
  rigid 
  elastic 
  solid, 
  and 
  new 
  aethers 
  have 
  been 
  

   postulated 
  accordingly. 
  Faraday's 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  rotation 
  

  

  * 
  Communicated 
  by 
  Prof. 
  J. 
  S. 
  Ames. 
  

   Phil. 
  Mag. 
  S. 
  6. 
  Yol. 
  3. 
  No. 
  16. 
  April 
  1902. 
  2 
  B 
  

  

  