66 On (he Heating Effects of Electricity and Magnetism. 



made to touch for a moment the surface of the water aud imme- 

 diately withdrawn to a distance of about a quarter of an inch ; the 

 discharge took place, the extremity of the platinum wire was fused, 

 and the molten platinum attached to the wire, but kept up by the 

 peculiar repulsive effect of the discharge, was exhibited, as it were, 

 suspended in mid-air, giving an intense light, throwing off scintilla- 

 tions in directions away from the water, and only detaching itself 

 from the wire when agitated. 



Here water in the vaporous state must be transferred, for the im- 

 mersed electrode gave off gas, without doubt oxygen, and the mole- 

 cular action on the negative fused platinum resembled, if it were not 

 identical in character with, the currents observed on the surface of 

 mercury when made negative in an electrolyte. 



It may be objected to the theory proposed, that electrical effects 

 are obtained in what is called a vacuum, where there is no intermedium 

 to be polarized ; but this objection, though not applicable to the pro- 

 jection of the terminals, could hardly be discussed until experimen- 

 talists had gone much further than at present in the production of a 

 vacuum. The experiments of Davy and others had shewn that we 

 are far off from obtaining any thing like a vacuum where delicate in- 

 vestigations are concerned. 



The view of the ancient philosophers, that nature abhors a vacuum, 

 which had been much cavilled at, and was supposed to be exploded 

 by the discovery of Torricelli, Mr Grove thought had been unjustly 

 censured : giving the expression some degree of metaphorical license, 

 it afforded a fine evidence of the extent and accuracy of observation 

 of those who were unacquainted with inductive philosophy as a sys- 

 tem, but who necessarily pursued it in practice. Whether a vacuum 

 was possible might be an open question ; experimentally it was un- 

 known. 



Lastly, in answer to those who might ask, To what practical results 

 do researches such as these lead ? what accession of physical comfort 

 or luxury do they bring ? Mr Grove took occasion to offer his humble 

 protest against opinions now perhaps too generally prevalent, that 

 science was to be viewed only or mainly in its utilitarian or practical 

 bearings. Even regarding it in this aspect, were it not for the de- 

 votion which the love of knowledge, which the yearning anxiety to 

 penetrate into the mysteries of our being and of surrounding exist- 

 ences induced ; the practical results of science would not have been 

 attained ; the band of martyrs to science, from Socrates to Galileo, 

 would not have thought aud suffered without a higher incentive than 

 the acquisition of utilitarian results. Without disparaging these results, 

 indeed regarding them as necessary consequences of any advance in 

 scientific knowledge, be considered that the love of truth and know- 

 ledge for themselves was the great animating principle of those who 

 rightly pursued science ; that, based upon an enduring quality of 

 our common nature, this feeling was rooted in far firmer foundations, 



