Helmholtz says:  “If we accept the hypothesis that simple bodies are composed of atoms, we are obliged to admit that, in the same way, electricity, whether positive or negative, is composed of elementary parts which behave like atoms of electricity.”

The second law seems, in fact, analogous to the law of multiple proportions in chemistry, and it shows us that the quantities of electricity carried vary from the simple to the double or treble, according as it is a question of a uni-, bi-, or trivalent metal; and as the chemical law leads up to the conception of the material atom, so does the electrolytic law suggest the idea of an electric atom.

CHAPTER VI

THE ETHER

Sec. 1.  THE LUMINIFEROUS ETHER

It is in the works of Descartes that we find the first idea of attributing those physical phenomena which the properties of matter fail to explain to some subtle matter which is the receptacle of the energy of the universe.

In our times this idea has had extraordinary luck.  After having been eclipsed for two hundred years by the success of the immortal synthesis of Newton, it gained an entirely new splendour with Fresnel and his followers.  Thanks to their admirable discoveries, the first stage seemed accomplished, the laws of optics were represented by a single hypothesis, marvellously fitted to allow us to anticipate unknown phenomena, and all these anticipations were subsequently fully verified by experiment.  But the researches of Faraday, Maxwell, and Hertz authorized still greater ambitions; and it really seemed that this medium, to which it was agreed to give the ancient name of ether, and which had already explained light and radiant heat, would also be sufficient to explain electricity.  Thus the hope began to take form that we might succeed in demonstrating the unity of all physical forces.  It was thought that the knowledge of the laws relating to the inmost movements of this ether might give us the key to all phenomena, and might make us acquainted with the method in which energy is stored up, transmitted, and parcelled out in its external manifestations.

We cannot study here all the problems which are connected with the physics of the ether.  To do this a complete treatise on optics would have to be written and a very lengthy one on electricity.  I shall simply endeavour to show rapidly how in the last few years the ideas relative to the constitution of this ether have evolved, and we shall see if it be possible without self-delusion to imagine that a single medium can really allow us to group all the known facts in one comprehensive arrangement.