1876.] The Newly -Discover ed Force * igl 
In suggesting the theory that this force might be allied to 
electricity by supposing it to return, after the manner of the 
shuttle, to the source whence it is generated, I did not by 
any means commit myself to it ; on the contrary, when all 
the known faCts and phenomena that relate to the subject 
are carefully balanced, I find it as yet impossible to disprove 
the theory that this is a radiant force, somewhere between light 
and heat on the one hand and magnetism and electricity on the 
other, with some of the features of all these forces. But this 
claim is stupendous. 
Experiments of the following kind are suggestive to 
enquirers in this department of research. When the wire 
conducting the force from the battery to the dark box is di- 
vided in the air, and the ends are separated even a sixteenth 
of an inch, no spark appears in the dark box. Lay these 
ends of the wire on a semi-conduCtor, as wood, and the force 
will pass even when they are separated a moderate distance. 
Place small pieces of tin-foil about these ends as they are 
again suspended in the air, and the force now passes an inch 
or perhaps several inches through the air. Place pieces of 
tin-foil of large surface about these ends, and the force will 
pass a longer distance. Make the surfaces of tin-foil larger 
still, until they are a foot square or more, and the force will 
travel several feet through the air. 
Prepare three large pieces of tin-foil ; place one piece at 
each end of the divided wire suspended as before, and the 
other piece about equal distance between them ; and still 
the spark may be seen faintly, though irregularly, in the 
dark box. The force must go by induction or radiation from 
the piece of tin-foil to the middle piece, which aCts as a kind 
of resting-place, and thence to the piece at the other end of 
the wire. The spark has been obtained, though with diffi- 
culty, and only after very nice adjustment of the pencil-points 
in the dark box after having passed through four pieces of 
tin-foil, the distance from the first to the last being eight feet 
(Fig. ,4). The highest tension statical electricity, as gene- 
rated by Holtz’s machine, could not do this except by induc- 
tion, and withal would require insulation. 
When a number of Leyden jars are substituted for the 
pieces of tin-foil, the result is the same ; but Leyden jars 
are insulated. In these experiments insulation is not re- 
quired, as is shown by the following experiments : — 
A large surface of tin-foil (6 x 6 or 12 x 12 ins.) was con- 
nected with one end of the divided wire and laid on a table. 
Over this were placed broad pieces of rubber, glass, or 
paraffin, and on the top of them was placed a similar piece 
