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CHAPTER II.
ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC SCIENCE PRIOR TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE POTENTIALS.
The magnetic discoveries of Peregrinus and Gilbert, and the vortex-hypothesis by which Descartes had attempted to explain them,[1] had raised magnetism to the rank of a separate science by the middle of the seventeenth century. The kindred science of electricity was at that time in a less developed state; but it had been considerably advanced by Gilbert, whose researches in this direction will now be noticed.
For two thousand years the attractive power of amber had been regarded as a virtue peculiar to that substance, or possessed by at most one or two others. Gilbert proved[2] this view to be mistaken, showing that the same effects are induced by friction in quite a large class of bodies; among which he mentioned glass, sulphur, sealing-wax, and various precious stones.
A force which was manifested by so many different kinds of matter seemed to need a name of its own; and accordingly Gilbert gave to it the name electric, which it has ever since retained.
Between the magnetic and electric forces Gilbert remarked many distinctions. The lodestone requires 110 stimulus of friction such as is needed to stir glass and sulphur into activity. The lodestone attracts only magnetizable substances, whereas electrified bodies attract everything. The magnetic attraction between two bodies is not affected by interposing a sheet of paper, or a linen cloth, or by immersing the bodies in water; whereas the electric attraction is readily destroyed by screens. Lastly, the magnetic force tends to arrange bodies in definite
