The
recent beautiful experiments of Hertz on magnetic waves have opened a
fertile region for investigation.
It would seem that the study of magnetism and electricity will give us
the ability to investigate the ether of space, which medium has been
theorized upon at great length, with the result of leaving it very
much where it was before, a mysterious necessity.
Faraday says, speaking of magnetism:
"Such an action may be a function of the ether, for it is not at
all unlikely that if there be an ether it should have other uses
than simply the conveyance of radiations." 3,075. Vol. III.,
Exp. Res.
"It may be a vibration of the hypothetical ether, or a state of
tension of that ether equivalent to either a dynamic or a static
condition," etc. 3,263. Vol. III., Exp. Res.
Faraday again says, speaking of the magnetic power of a vacuum:
"What that surrounding magnetic medium deprived of all material
substance may be I cannot tell, perhaps the ether." 3,277. Vol.
III., Exp. Res.
Modern views would seem to point that through a study of magnetic
phenomena we may take a feeble hold upon the universal ether.
Magnetism is an action or condition of that medium, and it may be that
electrical actions are the expression of molecular disturbances
brought about by ether strains or interferences.
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