MODERN SCIENCE *— N o . II . 

 THE MAGNETOSCOPE. 



In our First Number, we directed atten- 

 tion, at some length, to this curious dis- 

 covery of Mr. J. 0. Rutter, of Brighton, 

 and promised to watch its progress. Mr. 

 Rutter, it would seem, is privately experi- 

 menting still; and the result of his studies 

 will, no doubt, transpire at a fitting season. 



We have meantime received from Messrs. 

 Longman and Co., a volume, by Mr. Rutter, 

 entitled " Magnetoid Currents." In this 

 are some very interesting particulars of his 

 invention, explained by diagrams. To these 

 we direct the especial attention of the in- 

 quirer after truth. 



At the end of the volume, is a Letter by 

 Dr. King, of Cambridge. There is much 

 matter for active thought in this letter, and 

 we feel pleasure in diffusing it widely. Fools 

 there are many, who rail at what they can- 

 not comprehend. This ever has been, ever 

 will be the case. Still there are some who 

 can and will " think." Let such peruse the 

 following 



LETTER TO MR. J. O. RUTTER. 



"My dear Sir, — I have taken so warm an 

 interest in your experiments, from the time 

 that you gave your Lecture at the Albion 

 Rooms, Brighton, that I should like to be per- 

 mitted to add a postscript to your little 

 book, in which I may express some sentiments 

 and views which my profession has sug- 

 gested to me, and which, even if they occurred 

 to you, you might not wish to bring before 

 the public at present. A few words from 

 me would not implicate you in my opinions, 

 and they might be suggestive to others, who 

 may be inclined to trace the consequences 

 of your primary facts to their legitimate 

 conclusions. 



" To me, no scientific truth is interesting 

 unless it has, directly or indirectly, a moral 

 bearing. It has been usual to separate science 

 and morals, as if they had no real connection 

 with each other ; but to me it has always ap- 

 peared impossible to do so. The moment crea- 

 tion is viewed as a work of mind and person- 

 ality, it becomes a question of good and evil 

 ends, of right and wrong ; and every new dis- 

 covery in the laws of physics raises our ideas 

 of the spirituality of man, and of the high 

 moral position he is some day destined to 

 occupy by his benevolent Creator. When 

 Volta first saw the dead frog leap from the 

 table, by its contact with two metals, he 

 little supposed the sublime inferences to 

 which that circumstance would lead, by 

 furnishing a new instrument for interro- 

 gating nature, and informing, by the electric 

 wire, a new mode of communication in 

 civilised countries, by annihilating space 



and time. Undoubtedly, the order and har- 

 mony of creation were always a proof 

 to reflective minds of power, intelligence, 

 and omnipresence ; but there is some- 

 thing in uniformity which has a tendency to 

 conceal from us its cause, to deprive it of 

 free-will, and to ascribe it to a necessity and 

 a fate. But when we discover new modes 

 of operation in this will, and view discoveries 

 as new modifications of the same will, we 

 are not only impressed with the novelty, but 

 we are disposed to argue back to old facts 

 and laws as manifestations of that will, and 

 to wonder at our previous insensibility to 

 such stupendous phenomena. 



"It is the same with the discoveries which 

 you have been permitted to make in the in- 

 fluences of magnetic and electric currents 

 and energies, as connected with every object 

 in nature, and with the human body in par- 

 ticular. We have long known the wonder- 

 ful properties of the true magnet, and we 

 have considered its applicability to naviga- 

 tion as one of the grandest discoveries of 

 science ; but there we stopped. Of late 

 years, the magnetism of the earth has been 

 a subject of curious and interesting research ; 

 and the late discovery of the relation of 

 oxygen to the magnet, opened still sublimer 

 views of the economy of nature, and of our in- 

 timate dependence upon the physical world. 

 We imagined we were upon the threshold of 

 greater truths, drawn from the infinity of 

 nature, and more closely touching upon our 

 moral constitution. The discovery of double 

 electric currents, along insulated wires, having 

 different properties, and called (for conveni- 

 ence), positive and negative, — paved the 

 way to our comprehending how the human 

 body might be the subject of similar cur- 

 rents. The road had also been prepared by 

 Bell's discovery of the true anatomy of the 

 nerves, and their double formation. "We 

 are now enabled to comprehend how the 

 vitality of the body may be closely depend- 

 ent upon magnetic and electric currents, 

 both inherent in the body itself as a vital 

 structure, and as a recipient of such agencies 

 from the earth. 



" Of the truth of these facts your experi- 

 ments leave us in no doubt. The human 

 body, when insulated, has an inherent inde- 

 pendent vitality, but this is then confined to 

 itself. In order to operate upon other 

 bodies, it requires to be in connection with 

 the earth. In this state it becomes a real 

 magnet, surrounded by a magnetic aura, 

 and possessing magnetic polarities, by which 

 it influences and is influenced by other living 

 bodies. To what extent these influences 

 act, arid in what way they modify our phy- 

 sical and mental phenomena, must be left 

 for further investigation. What you have 

 already discovered is of great importance in 



