I. Experimental researches in electricity.—Nineteenth series

Abstract

2146. I Have long held an opinion, almost amounting to conviction, in common I believe with many other lovers of natural knowledge, that the various forms under which the forces of matter are made manifest have one common origin; or, in other words, are so directly related and mutually dependent, that they are convertible, as it were, one into another, and possess equivalents of power in their action. In modern times the proofs of their convertibility have been accumulated to a very considerable extent, and a commencement made of the determination of their equivalent forces. 2147. This strong persuasion extended to the powers of light, and led, on a former occasion, to many exertions, having for their object the discovery of the direct relation of light and electricity, and their mutual action in bodies subject jointly to their power; but the results were negative and were afterwards confirmed, in that respect, by Wartmann.