Supplement to the Calculus of Operations. 



195 



fire; this is the way that fire was first obtained by man. 

 Here the node and venter are discovered in the operator 

 and his instrument, the wood. If the operation be pro- 

 longed sufficiently, light is produced, and if the result be 

 turned into a circular prism, like Newton's rings, it will be 

 decomposed into seven luminous rays and one actinic ray, 

 partly reflected and partly transmitted. This will repre- 

 sent the sun's ray or pencil of light. If the inclination be 

 sufficient, the ray will be divided into two, ordinary and 

 extraordinary. 



We will modify the shape of the instrument by taking a 

 plate of glass, or some substance so thin as to have but 

 two sides. Support it by its centre of gravity, and apply 

 to it a cushion of some soft material, and rub it very gently. 

 There will appear positive electricity on the opposite side, 

 and negative electricity on the same side, provided both 

 sides are connected by a conductor. This is exactly equiva- 

 lent to decomposing a sphere of heat ; and thus electricity 

 is a split force, each opposing the same, and attracting the 

 opposite. When coming together, they produce heat and 

 light again. Here the node is distinguished in the operator, 

 and there are two venters, a positive and a negative. In 

 the decomposition of light, it was divided into two, like 

 the positive and negative, and they united by complement- 

 aries, giving a square. 



Referring back to figure b, which we know represents 

 water, with equal ratios of attraction and repulsion, so that 

 nodes and venters are at identity; let our operator take a 

 liquid of higher intensity than water, of course it will have a 

 higher attraction and repulsion, and will disturb the equi- 

 librium of the water. As water is a thin substance, having 

 but two sides, positive electricity will occur on the opposite 

 side and negative on the same side ; the like will occur on 

 the next particle, and so on until reaching the border, on 

 which will appear an amount of positive electricity and 

 negative on the opposite side : a split force. The positive 



