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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF AN ELECTRON

Photo The Fleet Agency

A Well-known Phenomenon Produced by Electrons

A sudden discharge of electrons from cloud to cloud, or from cloud to the earth, constitutes what we call "lightning."

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF AN ELECTRON.

WHEREIN THE SCIENTIFIC IDEAS OF THE PRESENT
TIME ARE EXPLAINED IN AN INTERESTING
AND NOVEL FASHION

BY
CHARLES R. GIBSON, F.R.S.E.

AUTHOR OF "SCIENTIFIC IDEAS OF TO-DAY," "ELECTRICITY OF TO-DAY"
"THE ROMANCE OF MODERN ELECTRICITY," &c. &c.

ILLUSTRATED

PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: SEELEY & CO. Limited
1911

PREFACE

Although text-books of science may appear to the general reader to be "very dry" material, there is no doubt that, when scientific facts and theories are put into everyday language, the general reader is genuinely interested. The reception accorded to the present author's Scientific Ideas of To-day bears out this fact. While that volume explains, in non-technical language, the latest scientific theories, it aims at giving a fairly full account, which, of course, necessitates going into a great deal of detail. That the book has been appreciated by very varied classes of readers is evident from the large numbers of appreciative letters received from different quarters. But the author believes that if the story of modern science were told in a still more popular style, it would serve a further useful purpose. For there are readers who do not care to go into details, and yet would like to take an intelligent interest in the scientific progress of the present day. Some of those readers do not wish to trouble about names and dates, while the mere mention of rates of vibration and such-like is a worry to them. They wish a book which they may read with the same ease as an interesting novel. Hence the form of the present volume.

The author is indebted to Professor James Muir, M.A., D.Sc., of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, and to H. Stanley Allen, M.A., D.Sc., Senior Lecturer in Physics at King's College, University of London, for very kindly reading the proof-sheets. The author is indebted further to Professor Muir in connection with some of the illustrations, and for others to Dixon and Corbitt and R. S. Newall, Ltd., Glasgow; Siemens Schuckert Werke, Berlin.

CONTENTS

• PAGE
• [CHAPTER I]
  WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT
• The Scribe introduces the Electron to the reader. He has something to say also about the mysterious æther which pervades all space. He emphasises the fact that the electron is a real existing thing [21]
• [CHAPTER II]
  THE ELECTRON'S PREFACE
• The Electron explains the reason why it has written its autobiography [29]
• [CHAPTER III]
  THE NEW ARRIVAL
• The Electron points out who the new arrival is really. It relates an amusing experience. It tells how man disturbed electrons before he discovered their existence. An ancient experiment, and what the wise men of the East thought about it. How electrons are responsible for the electrification of any object. Handled by a new experimenter, they surprise man. Man becomes of special interest to the electrons [32]

• [CHAPTER IV]
  SOME GOOD SPORT
• The Electron explains how man succeeded in crowding them together, with some rather exciting results from the overcrowding. One historical incident. Man's fear of the consequences. How a party of electrons wrecked a church steeple. An unfortunate accident [42]
• [CHAPTER V]
  MY EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS
• The Electron's story begins at a very far distant period, before this world had taken shape. The Electron was present when the atoms of matter were being formed. The birth of the moon. Something still to be discovered. The moulding of the planet. Boiling oceans. The electrons took an active part in making sea-water salt. The Electron explains why it has been chosen to write the story of itself and its fellows [52]
• [CHAPTER VI]
  MAN PAYS US SOME ATTENTION
• The electrons are encouraged by one of the experiments made by man. They hope it may lead to their discovery, so that their services may be recognised. The Electron's experience in a vacuum tube. A disappointment and a revival of hope. A great declaration by one individual man. The Electron misjudges man. Mention of a great discovery. The christening of the electrons [60]

• [CHAPTER VII]
  A STEADY MARCH
• The Electron explains how they produce the electric current. How man discovered means of making the electrons march. A simple explanation of how a complete electric circuit is always necessary. How an "earth circuit" works. How the marching electrons can do work [68]
• [CHAPTER VIII]
  A USEFUL DANCE
• A perpetual dance. A responsible position. How the safety of the mariner depends upon the electrons' dance. How electrons produce a magnet. A convenient kind of magnet, which gains and loses its attractive power when desired. How a permanent magnet is made. The great service of electrons in modern life [76]
• [CHAPTER IX]
  HOW WE CARRY MAN'S NEWS
• The method of sending the news. The Electron's personal experience. A series of forced marches. How man controls the electrons. How the electrons reproduce the signals [86]

• [CHAPTER X]
  HOW WE COMMUNICATE WITH DISTANT SHIPS
• An entirely different means of communication. A surprise to man, but not to the electrons. How the electrons produce waves in the surrounding æther. How these waves disturb distant electrons. The Electron's personal experience. Its description of its actions in a wireless telegraph station [94]
• [CHAPTER XI]
  HOW WE REPRODUCE SPEECH
• Why it is not correct to speak of the electrons as carriers of speech. The action of electrons in the working of telephones. The Electron's own experience in wireless telephony [106]
• [CHAPTER XII]
  OUR HEAVIEST DUTIES
• A roving commission. How electrons can move gigantic cars and trains. The action of electrons in dynamos and motors. How the electrons transmit the energy. What makes the motor go [116]
• [CHAPTER XIII]
  A BOON TO MAN
• A simple explanation of how the electrons produce light. How the Electron provides a connecting link between matter and the æther. How light reaches the earth

• from the sun. How the electrons produce that beautiful luminous effect which man calls an "Aurora." How the earth has become a negatively charged body. How electrons produce radiant heat. The difference between light and heat [126]
• [CHAPTER XIV]
  HOW WE PRODUCE COLOUR
• What colour is really. How the different colour sensations are stimulated by the electrons. The Electron as a faithful satellite to the atom. How electrons can produce the different æther waves. How the electrons respond to the different waves. The production of artificial light. Co-operation of the electrons. Man's ridiculously wasteful processes. The electrons' secret [136]
• [CHAPTER XV]
  WE SEND MESSAGES FROM THE STARS
• The kind of messages referred to. How the electrons have informed man of what the stars are made. How man reads the electrons' wireless messages. How it is other electrons that enable man to read the messages. The real explanation of reflection of light. How light is absorbed by some objects. How some substances are transparent. Why objects appear coloured. What makes the lines in the spectra of stars. The spectroscope [144]

• [CHAPTER XVI]
  HOW MAN PROVED OUR EXISTENCE
• How man reasoned out a plan for detecting the electron. How the electrons altered some lines in the spectrum. The curious manner in which the Electron informed man that certain stars are approaching this planet, while others are receding from it [158]
• [CHAPTER XVII]
  MY X-RAY EXPERIENCE
• X-rays are an old story to some electrons. The Electron's personal experience. A very sudden stop. How electrons made a fluorescent screen send out light. The electrons assist the surgeon. A curious find. Detecting imitation diamonds. The Electron and the mummy [166]
• [CHAPTER XVIII]
  OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE ATOMS
• How the atoms of matter attract one another. What constitutes the temperature of a body. What the atoms are made of. An important thing still to discover about the atom. The elements. How the electrons produce compound substances. The real explanation of chemical changes [178]

• [CHAPTER XIX]
  HOW WE MADE THE WORLD TALK
• It was nothing new on the part of the electrons. Exaggerated rumours. The electrons and radium. Fast-flying electrons. Atomic explosions [186]
• [CHAPTER XX]
  CONCLUSION
• The Electron is made to sum up a few of the wonders which it has related, in order to emphasise the great services which electrons render to man [194]
• [APPENDIX] [200]
• [INDEX] [211]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

• PAGE
• A Well-known Phenomenon produced by Electrons Frontispiece
• Damage Done by a Party of Electrons [45]
• A Tobacco Tin defying Gravitation [79]
• A Motor-car with Wireless Telegraph [99]
• A Train Impelled by Moving Electrons [119]
• Protection against a Discharge of Electrons [129]
• The Spectroscope and the Electrons' Wireless Messages [149]
• How Electrons Produce X-ray Images [171]

CHAPTER I

WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT

The reason for writing this story is given in the Preface, but the title is so strange that the reader will wish naturally to know what the story is about. What is an electron? Is it an imaginary thing, or is it a reality?

One of the reasons for writing this story in its present form is to help the reader to realise that electrons are not mythical, but real existing things, and by far the most interesting things we know anything about. The discovery of electrons has shed a new light upon the meaning of very many things which have been puzzles until now. They give us a reasonable explanation of the cause of light and colour. They provide a new idea of the constitution of matter. They enable us to picture an electric current, and they give us definite, though by no means final, answers to the why and wherefore of magnetism, chemical union, and radio-activity.

The story is imaginary only in so far that one of the electrons itself is supposed to tell the tale. But in the endeavour to make the story interesting, there has been no sacrifice of accuracy in the statements of fact.

While all names and dates, and many other details, have been kept out rigidly from the story, a note of the more important of these has been added in an Appendix for the sake of those readers who may wish to refer to them.

It will be well to introduce the electron to the reader before leaving it to speak for itself. We have definite experimental proof of the existence of electrons, and yet it is very difficult to realise their existence, for two reasons. In the first place, they are so infinitesimally small. We count a microbe a small thing; we can see it only with the aid of a very powerful microscope. Yet that little speck of matter contains myriads of particles or atoms. An atom of matter is therefore an inconceivably little thing, but even that is a great giant compared to an electron. Our second difficulty in realising the existence of an electron is that it is not any form of what we call matter; it is a particle of electricity, whatever that may be.

From the earliest experiments it became evident that there were two distinct kinds of electricity. These were described by the pioneer workers as positive and negative electricities. To-day we have definite experimental proof that negative electricity is composed of separate particles or units. Just as matter is composed of invisible atoms, so also is negative electricity of an atomic nature. These particles of negative electricity have been christened electrons, electron being the Greek word for amber, from which man first obtained electricity. Of course no one can ever hope to see an electron, but physicists have been able to determine its size and mass, its electric charge, and the speeds at which it moves.

While it has been known for more than a century that light is merely waves in the all-pervading æther of space, set up by incandescent bodies, it has been a puzzle always how matter could cause waves in the æther, as it offers no resistance to the movement of matter through it. Here we are on the back of a great planet, flying through space at the enormous rate of one thousand miles per minute, and yet our flimsy atmospheric blanket is in no way disturbed by the æther through which we are flying. In the following story we shall see that these electrons help us towards a solution of this and many other problems; they provide the missing link between matter and the æther.

But what is this æther of which one hears so much in these days? The truth is we know nothing of its nature. We cannot say whether it is lighter than the lightest gas or denser than the densest solid. The æther, whatever it may be, is as real as the air we breathe. It is the medium which brings us light and heat from the sun, and which carries our wireless telegraph and telephone messages. The whole universe is moving in this great æther ocean.

In order to make the electron's story perfectly intelligible to every reader, I have added a short explanatory note at the beginning of each chapter. These notes merely state the facts about which the electron is speaking.

To make the electron's story as realistic as possible, it has been necessary to give the imaginary electron perfect freedom of knowledge concerning itself and its surroundings. In our schooldays we had to write the autobiographies of steel pens, and such-like, but these inanimate things had to be endowed with powers of thought, feeling, and desire. It is very important, however, to remember that an electron is a particle of negative electricity—a real existing thing.

CHAPTER II

THE ELECTRON'S PREFACE

While many scientific men now understand our place in the universe, we electrons are anxious that every person should know the very important part which we play in the workaday world. It was for this reason that my fellow-electrons urged me to write my own biography. My difficulty has been to find a scribe who would put down my story in the way I desired. The first man with whom I opened negotiations wished me to give him dates and names of which I knew nothing. And he asked such stupid questions about where I was born and who my parents were, as if I were flesh and blood.

I am pleased to say that my relationship with the scribe who has put down my story in the following pages has been of the most friendly description. Apart from a little tiff which we had at the outset, there has been no difference of opinion. He complained that I related things in too abstract a form. However, we got over the difficulty by a compromise; I have allowed him to place what he calls "The Scribe's Note" at the beginning of each chapter, but it will be understood clearly that these are merely convenient embellishments, and that I am responsible for the story of my own experiences.

CHAPTER III

THE NEW ARRIVAL

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER THREE

It will be well to keep clearly in mind that an electron is a real particle of negative electricity.

Electrons have been discovered only within recent years.

No matter from what substances we take them, they are always identical in every respect.

Some electrons are attached to the atoms of matter in such a way that they may be removed easily from one object to another.

When a surplus of these detachable electrons is crowded on to any object, we say that it is charged with negative electricity.

We speak of the other object, which has lost these same electrons, as being charged with positive electricity.

In this chapter the electron refers to the old-world experiment in which a piece of amber when rubbed attracts any light object to it.

For many ages man believed this to be a special property belonging to amber alone.

One of Queen Elizabeth's physicians discovered that this property was common to all substances.

It is most amusing to me and my fellow-electrons to hear intelligent people speak of us as though we were new arrivals on this planet. Dear me! We were here for countless ages before man put in an appearance. I wonder if any man can realise that we have been on the move ever since the foundations of this world were laid. It is man himself who is the new arrival.

It does seem strange to us that men should be so distinctly different from one another. We electrons are at a decided disadvantage, for we are all identical in every respect. I have no individual name—it would serve no purpose. Even if you could see me, you could not distinguish me from any other electron. I wonder sometimes if men appreciate the great advantage they have in possessing individual names. I was impressed with this thought one fine summer morning. While I was riding on the back of a particle of gas in the atmosphere, I was carried through the open window of a nursery just as the under-nurse was putting the room in order. A little later there was some commotion in the nursery, for the young mother and her mother had come to see the twin daughters being bathed by the nurses. The grandmother happened to remark how very much alike the two little infants were. She said laughingly to the head nurse that she must be careful not to get the children mixed. But the big brother, aged five years, remarked that it would not matter really how much they were mixed until they got their names. Sometimes I wish we electrons did differ from one another, so that we might each possess an individual name, but no doubt it is necessary for us all to be exactly alike.

Long before man had discovered us, he caused us deliberately to do certain things. He was mystified by the results of his experiments, for he was not aware of our presence. A few of my fellow-electrons have rather hazy recollections of being disturbed while clinging to a piece of amber. They had been disturbed often before in a similar way, by being rubbed against a piece of woollen cloth, and the result had been always that a number of electrons let go their hold upon the cloth and crowded on to the amber. The overcrowding was uncomfortable, but it happened usually that the surplus electrons found some means of escape to the earth, where there is no need of excessive crowding.

On the occasion to which I refer, it so happened that the rubbing had been unusually vigorous and prolonged, so that the electrons were crowded on to the amber in great numbers. In their endeavour to escape they produced a strain or stress in the surrounding æther, and this caused a small piece of straw, which was lying within the disturbed area, to be forced towards the amber.

What attracted the attention of the electrons was that the man who was holding the piece of amber removed the clinging straw and replaced it exactly where it had been lying. In the meantime he had been handling the amber, and many of the crowded electrons had managed to make a bolt for the earth by way of the man's body. They did this so very quietly that the man did not feel any sensation. However, as soon as the amber was rubbed again, a similar crowd provided the same attractive property. We electrons became impatient to hear what man would say of our work, for it was apparent that he had noticed the movements of the straw. You will hardly believe me when I tell you to what decision these wise men of the East came. They declared that, in rubbing the amber, it had received heat and life. As if life could be originated in any such simple manner!

You can picture our disappointment when we found that man was going to ignore our presence. Occasionally we were given opportunities of displaying our abilities in drawing light objects towards pieces of rubbed amber. But the funny thing was that man got hold of the stupid idea that this attractive property belonged to the amber instead of to us. If he had only tried pieces of sulphur, resin, or glass, he would have found that these substances would have acted just as well. You see it was not really the substance, but we electrons who were the active agents.

We had given up all hope of being discovered, when news came along that a learned man was on the hunt for us. He was crowding us on to all sorts of substances. He rubbed a piece of glass with some silk, and at first he was surprised greatly to see light objects jump towards the excited glass. Of course, we were not surprised in the very least. The only thing that amused us was to find that he was making out a list of the different substances which showed attractive properties when rubbed. He could not, evidently, get away from the idea that it was the substances themselves that became attractive.

We were sorry that the poor experimenter wasted so much time and energy in trying to crowd us on to a piece of metal rod. He rubbed and he rubbed that metal, but it would attract nothing, and I shall tell you the reason. You know that we electrons hate overcrowding; indeed we always separate from one another as far as possible when there is no force pulling us together. We only crowded on to the amber because we could not help ourselves; we had no way of escape, for amber is a substance we cannot pass through. But we have no difficulty whatever in making our way along a piece of metal, and as soon as the rubbing began, some electrons moved off the metal by way of the man's arm and body to make room for those being crowded on to the metal from the rubber. And so there never was any overcrowding, and consequently no straining of the æther. But it was not long before we found that man had succeeded in cutting off our way of escape. He had attached a glass handle to the metal rod, and we were compelled to overcrowd upon the metal as we could not pass through the glass handle. Neighbouring light objects were attracted by the excited or "electrified" metal. Even this demonstration did not put man upon our track.

Perhaps I should explain in passing, that when a glass rod is rubbed with a silk handkerchief we crowd on to the silk, and not on to the glass. This leaves the glass rod short of electrons, and the æther is strained so that light objects are attracted. Man did notice that there was some difference between a piece of amber and a piece of glass when these were excited. What the difference was he could not imagine, but to distinguish the two different conditions he said that the amber was charged with negative electricity and the glass with positive electricity.

From that time forward man became of special interest to us. We felt sure that sooner or later he was bound to recognise that we were at work behind the scenes. It seemed to us, however, that man was desperately slow in turning his attention towards us, and we tried to waken him up in a rather alarming fashion, as I shall relate in the succeeding chapter.

CHAPTER IV

SOME GOOD SPORT

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER FOUR

Men began to make glass plate machines for producing electrification on a larger scale.

The electric spark is produced.

The electron tells the story of the first attempt to store electricity in a glass jar.

This is what we do now by means of a Leyden jar.

A sudden expulsion of electrons from one object to another is called a discharge of electricity.

Lightning is a discharge of electrons from a cloud to the earth or from cloud to cloud.

In repeating Franklin's experiment of drawing electricity from thunder-clouds, a Russian professor received a fatal shock.

Now I must tell you of a surprise in which I took an active part. Some man thought he would separate a great crowd of us from our friends. Of course, he did not think really of us, but whatever he may have supposed he was doing, he succeeded in accumulating greater crowds of us together than he had done previously. He managed this by making simple machines to do the rubbing for him on a larger scale. The result was really too much for us; we were kept crowding on to a sort of brass comb arrangement from which we could not escape, as the metal was attached to a glass support. Talk about overcrowding! I had never experienced the like before, and I felt sure some catastrophe would happen. Suddenly there was a stampede, during which a great crowd of electrons forced their way across to a neighbouring object and thence to the earth. I can assure you it was no joke getting through the air. We all tried to leap together, but some of the crowd were forced back upon us; then bang forward we went again, back once more, and so on till we settled down to our normal condition. Of course all this surging to and fro occupied far less time than it takes to tell. Indeed, I could not tell you what a very small fraction of a second it took.

I wish you had seen the experimenter's surprise as we made this jump. We caused such a bombardment in the air that there was a bright spark accompanied by a regular explosion. Some men ran away with the idea that electricity was a mysterious fire, which only showed itself when it mixed with the atmosphere. Nothing delighted us more, after our own surprise was over, than to have a chance of repeating these explosions, to the alarm of the experimenters. But the best sport of all was to come, and when I heard of it I was so disappointed that I had not been one of the sporting party. It came about in the following way.

[!--[Pg 45]--]

By permission of Dixon and Corbitt and R. S. Newall, Ltd. Glasgow

Damage Done by a Party of Electrons

When a myriad of electrons is discharged suddenly from a cloud to the earth, it happens sometimes that considerable damage is done. The above photograph is of a church steeple damaged by lightning in 1875. No lightning-conductor was provided, so the electrons had to get to earth by way of the steeple itself, with the disastrous result as shown.

One learned man thought he had hit upon a good idea. He tried to crowd a tremendous number of us into some water contained in a glass jar. Without condescending to think of us, he crowded an enormous number of electrons from one of his rubbing machines along a piece of chain which led them into water. The overcrowding was appalling, for it was impossible to escape through the glass vessel. Things had reached a terrible state, when the experimenter stopped the machine and put forward his hand to lift the chain out of the water. Now was the chance of escape, so the whole excited crowd made one wild rush to earth by way of the experimenter's body. The rapid surging to and fro of the crowd racked the man's muscles. I wish I had been there to see him jump; they say it was something grand. You can imagine how the little sinners enjoyed the joke; they knew they were safe, as man had no idea of their existence at that time.

Another man was foolhardy enough to try a similar experiment, and they say that his alarm was even greater; indeed, he swore he would not take another shock even for the crown of France. We were all eager to get opportunities of alarming man, not that we wished him any harm, but we thought he might pay us a little more attention.

I remember one occasion upon which some of us were boasting of what we had done in the way of alarming men, whereupon one fellow-electron rather belittled our doings. He maintained that he had jumped all the way from a cloud to the earth, along with a crowd of other electrons. In doing so they had scared the inhabitants of a whole village, for they alighted upon the steeple of a church, and in their wild rush they played such havoc among the atoms composing the steeple that they did considerable outward damage to the great structure.

I may as well confess that we are not free agents in performing these gigantic jumps; we are compelled to go with the crowd when things are in such a state of stress. We simply cannot hold on to the atoms of matter upon which we happen to be located. It is only under very considerable pressure that we can perform this class of jump, and I beg to assure you that we are perfectly helpless in those cases where we have been dashed upon some poor creature with a message of death.

Alas! on one occasion I was one of a party who killed a very learned man. It was most distasteful to us; we could not possibly prevent it. He had erected a long rod which extended up into the air, and terminated at the lower end in his laboratory. Some of us who were in the upper atmosphere were forced on to this iron rod, and from past experience we quite expected that we should be subjected to a sudden expulsion to earth. Indeed we were waiting for the experimenter to provide us with a means of escape, when suddenly he brought his head too near to the end of the rod, and in a moment we were dashed to earth through his body. We learned with deep regret that the poor man had been robbed of his life.

To turn to something of a happier nature, I shall proceed to tell you of some of my earliest recollections. Remember I shall be speaking of a time long before man existed—even before this great planet was a solid ball.

CHAPTER V

MY EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER FIVE

This great globe upon which we live was once a glowing mass of flaming gas.

It is possible that the whole solar system was once one great mass.

In any case, we have no doubt that the moon is simply the result of a part of our glowing mass having become detached.

In the hottest stars we find only the lightest atoms of matter, such as hydrogen gas, the atoms of heavier substances being found in stars which have begun to cool down.

The electrons have been present from the very beginning, and it is they who go to make up the atoms of matter.

We picture an atom of matter as a miniature solar system of revolving electrons.

There is doubtless a corresponding amount of positive electricity, but so far we have no evidence of its nature.

Before giving an account of the everyday duties which we perform, it may interest you to hear something of our early history.

Not only have we been on the move ever since the beginning of this world, but some of us have clear recollections of this planet long before it was a solid body. The whole world was a great ball of flaming gas. I have heard some fellow-electrons say that we were attached to a greater mass of incandescent gas before the beginning of this world, but I have no personal recollections of it. But one thing I do remember is a great upheaval which caused a large mass of gas to become detached from our habitation. Without any warning a great myriad of our fellow-electrons were carried away on this smaller mass. At first this detached mass circled around our greater mass at very close quarters, but we soon found that our friends were being carried farther and farther away, until they are now circling around this solid planet at a comparatively great distance. Man calls this detached mass the moon, and when I have heard children say in fun that they wish they could visit the man in the moon, I have longed to go and see how it fares with those fellow-electrons who seem to be separated from us in such a permanent manner.

After this exciting event, which I have heard described as "the birth of the moon," our great ball of flaming gas began to cool gradually. But you will be interested in what happened before the moon's birth. I saw a crowd of electrons suddenly congregate together along with something else which man has not discovered. Never mind the other part, but picture a number of electrons forming a little world of their own. There they went whirling around in a giddy dance. I saw these little worlds or "atoms" being formed all around, and I feel truly thankful now that I was not caught in the mad whirl, for these fellow-electrons have been kept hard at it ever since, imprisoned within a single atom. I have met a very few electrons who have escaped from within an atom, but I shall tell you about them later on.

The first thing I noticed was that each of the atoms had practically the same number of electrons in it. At that time I thought only in an abstract way, but since then I have learned that these were hydrogen atoms; hydrogen being the lightest substance known to man. Exactly what happened next I cannot recollect, but my attention was attracted later to larger congregations of electrons forming other little worlds of their own. These atoms were, of course, heavier than the hydrogen atoms. I saw quite a variety of different systems, of which I thought then in an abstract fashion, but which I know now to be atoms of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, iron, copper, and so on. While man has given the atoms these distinguishing names, you will understand that the incidents which I am relating took place long before there was any appearance of solidity about our planet; these substances were all in a gaseous state.

After this, I recollect that there was a great envelope of water-vapour condensed around the planet. Some condensed into liquid water upon the surface of the globe, while part was suspended in the form of clouds. Some of my fellow-electrons acted as nuclei or foundations for the formation of the cloud particles. The water which condensed upon the earth settled down in the hollows, which had been produced previously by the immense pressure of the water-vapour envelope. We can hardly believe it is the same world.

You cannot imagine how strange it was to see the great oceans boiling and steaming; of course, they were fresh water then. I need hardly tell you that they have become salt only because the rivers have brought down sodium into them, and when these sodium atoms unite with chlorine atoms they form particles of common salt. I know all about this because we electrons play a very important part in all such combinations.

One very memorable recollection is that of life originating in the oceans. I wish I could let you into the secret of the origin of life, but, according to the Creator's plan, man must find out for himself. Your guesses are all wide of the mark.

By the way, perhaps I should explain why I have been selected to write this biography. The first reason is that I am a free or detachable electron, and the second point in my favour is that I have had exceptional opportunities of seeing about me. I have heard men say that lookers-on see most of the game, and as I have witnessed the gradual evolution of things, you will understand that I have views of my own. A casual observer might think that things had deteriorated, for long ago there were immense monsters upon this planet, and these would put all modern creatures in the shade as far as size and strength are concerned. But one of the most interesting things to me has been to watch the evolution of man, and more especially the gradual development of his brain. Indeed, sometimes I have wished that I had happened to be an electron in the brain of a man; but, on the other hand, my career would not have been of the varied kind which it has been.

CHAPTER VI

MAN PAYS US SOME ATTENTION

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER SIX

Men found that by exhausting the air from glass globes or tubes it was possible to pass electric discharges through them, and in so doing some very beautiful luminous effects were produced within the vacuum tubes.

It was when experimenting with one of these tubes that a scientist suggested that radiant particles were being shot across the tube.

These particles were really electrons, but it was thought at that time that they were atoms of matter.

Another scientist declared, from certain mathematical calculations, that there existed extremely small particles of something around the atoms of matter, and that it was the motion of these in the æther which produced light.

People were not willing to accept this theory.

Some time later another scientist was able to prove by experiment that these particles did exist.

This was done by means of the spectroscope, as will be related by the electron in a later chapter.

From the little I have told you already of our experiences, you will see that men had been making many experiments in which we electrons took a very active part. It was disappointing that even although we had surprised man in so many different ways, he had never become suspicious of our presence. One day, however, we did begin to hope for recognition. I was present, with a great crowd of electrons, imprisoned within a glass globe from which the air had been extracted. We were very pleased to find that the surrounding space had been cleared of air, for it was apparent that the experimenter was going to make us jump across from one end of the glass tube to the other.

A crowd of us had collected on the extremity of a wire, or "electrode," at the one end of the tube, while another similar crowd was present on the other electrode at the opposite end of the tube. While I speak of a crowd, meaning that there were millions of us, I do not suggest that we were overcrowded, for we had plenty of elbow-room to move about on the atoms to which we were attached. All in a moment the scene was changed. We felt a crowd of electrons pressing us forward and forcing us right up to the very end of the electrode. We found that the crowd was approaching by a wire leading into the tube. Soon the crowding had reached such a condition that we became alarmed; we could see no way of escape. We were imprisoned by the glass walls, but we soon discovered that many of the electrons who had been stationed on the other electrode had deserted their posts and fled along a wire leading out of the tube. If we could only follow them. It would be a tremendous jump to get over to the other wire, but the way was fairly clear of air. When the overcrowding reached a certain point we were literally shot across from the one electrode to the other. This was the first time I had ever experienced anything of the kind, but many fellow-electrons had gone through similar performances for years at the hands of other experimenters.

However, it was somewhat alarming to be fired off like a rocket across the tube. What happened after that I cannot recollect, but some time later I was present in that or a similar tube when I heard the experimenter say to a friend that he believed there were particles flying across his tube. We sent news all along the line stating that at last we had been discovered, and I can assure you that we felt proud. But our joy was not long-lived, for it turned out that we were considered to be particles or atoms of matter; the experimenter spoke of us as "radiant matter." This was a real disappointment.

It took us some time to recover from our disappointment at being mistaken for clumsy atoms of matter. We are of a higher order of things altogether. No atom of matter can travel at speeds such as we can. We cross these vacuum tubes with speeds equal to millions of miles per minute.

A great many of us were kept busy within vacuum tubes by other experimenters, but nothing very exciting happened. Indeed, we had lost all hope of attracting man's attention to ourselves as long as we were imprisoned within these tubes. In the meantime our hopes were revived by news which reached us from another quarter.

We heard that a very learned man had declared boldly that there did exist little particles which revolved around the atoms of matter, and that it was the motion of these tiny particles in the æther which produced the well-known waves of light. There was considerable rejoicing among us, for we were anxious to have our services recognised by man. This great man was not guessing merely; he was willing to prove by mathematical calculations that we did exist in reality. Of course, we ourselves required no proof of our existence, but we believed that man would be convinced. Our high hopes were soon laid low; news reached us that people were shaking their heads and saying that figures could be made to prove anything.

After we had settled down to our ordinary duties, we got word that at last man had really detected us in a flame of gas. This seemed quite reasonable, for, as I shall relate to you in another chapter, we have a very lively time of it in a flame of gas. However, when we were informed that man had discovered us by means of a sort of telescope arrangement, I, for one, began to doubt the truth of the discovery. Some time before this I had heard that men were spying at gas flames in the hope of finding us, and this seemed most ridiculous, for if man could not see the large congregations of us called atoms, how could he expect to see individual electrons? My ignorance was dispelled when it was explained that man had not been looking for us directly, but for the æther waves which we produce. But I have not had an opportunity of explaining to you how some of us produce waves in the æther; I shall have to wait till a later chapter. In the meantime I may say that since this important discovery I have taken some part in an experiment similar to the historic one wherein we were detected, but of that too I shall have more to say again.

The rejoicing at this discovery was not confined to us, for men of science were quick to grasp the importance which was attached to this new knowledge. We felt that man was bound to acknowledge our services from that day. The next event was our christening, and this was not all plain sailing. Indeed, we have been rather annoyed with one name which some good friends persist in giving us. I refer to the name corpuscle, which we feel to be a sort of nickname, although it may have been suggested in all kindness. It may be difficult for you to appreciate our dislike to this name, but it seems to us to savour too much of material things. It is not dignified; you must remember we are not matter. We are delighted with what we prefer to call our real name—electron—for that speaks of electricity. As you know, we are units of particles of negative electricity, and so this seems a most sensible and suitable name. But I must hasten to tell of some of our everyday duties in which we serve man.

CHAPTER VII

A STEADY MARCH

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER SEVEN

The steady motion of electrons from atom to atom along a wire, or other conductor, constitutes the well-known "electric current."

The moving electrons disturb the æther around the wire and produce what we know as a "magnetic field."

The electron explains why it is necessary to have a complete circuit before any electric current can take place.

Also how one length of wire may be used to connect two distant places provided the two extremities of the wire are buried in the earth.

Personally I knew nothing about marching until quite recently. Indeed, none of my fellow-electrons seem to have had definite ideas of regular marches previous to last century. That century is prominent in our history as well as in man's. There is no doubt that before then we must have made more or less regular marches through the crust of the earth and elsewhere; but for myself I have no such recollection previous to the following occasion.

The experience was not a very exciting one. I found myself passing along from atom to atom in a copper wire. But what was of special interest to us was that it became evident that these enforced marches were being deliberately controlled by man. Of course you will understand that man knew nothing of our existence at that time. All he knew was that when he placed a piece of zinc and a piece of copper in a chemical solution, there were certain effects produced in some mysterious fashion. For instance, when he connected the top of the two metals in this chemical cell or "battery" by a piece of wire, he got what he described as an electric current. Now all that happened really was this. The chemical action in this battery which man had devised caused a rearrangement among the atoms composing the metals and the solution, with the result that we poor electrons had to rearrange our domiciles. As an accumulation of electrons gathered on the zinc, some of us were forced along the connecting wire towards the copper. As long as the chemical action in the battery was kept up, so long were we kept on the march from the zinc to the copper by way of the wire.

Man tried increasing the length of this wire bridge across which we had to pass, but we had no difficulty in making our way along. But you must not run away with the idea that we rush along the wire with lightning speed. Although we can fly through the æther at a prodigious speed, our progress from atom to atom in a wire is more like a snail-pace. As a matter of fact, our rate of march is much less than the walking pace of a man; indeed it may be stated conveniently as so many yards per hour.

Some people may find it difficult to believe that our rate of march is so very slow. Their front door is a good many yards away from their electric bell, but it does not take us an hour, or any appreciable part of a minute, to summon the maid. The secret is that there is a whole regiment of us along the wire, and before one of us moves on to a neighbouring atom, another electron must move off that atom and on to its neighbour, and so on. In this way the electrons at the far end of the wire commence to move at practically the same moment as those near the battery.

It has been a source of amusement to me to see people perfectly mystified by the fact that they can get no electric current unless they have a complete circuit. What else could they expect? How could man march if he had no road to march on? You see, the reason for our march is that we wish to escape from the overcrowding on the zinc, and we are forced towards the copper. The atoms composing the wire are our stepping-stones, and if there is not a complete chain of atoms we are helpless. You have already heard how we can jump an air-space under very great pressure, but that condition does not exist in the present case. When we are disturbed by the chemical action of the battery, we should prefer to have a short-cut from the zinc to the copper, but if the only path man gives us is by way of a long wire, then we must be content to travel that road, in order to reach the copper. It is a matter of little moment to us what arrangement man makes as long as he gives us a complete path. For instance, he may lead us out from the zinc to a distant telegraph instrument, and then, instead of providing a second wire to take us back to the battery, he may conduct us by a short wire to the earth. We are quite content to lose ourselves in this great reservoir, provided man places another short wire from the earth to the copper of the battery at the other end of the line. Then as we slip off at the one end of the line, an equal number of electrons can climb up at the other end, and thus enable all our friends in the long wire to keep up a steady march.

This march of ours is not merely a means of transporting ourselves from one place to another; it is to enable us to do work. It is only when we are in motion that we can do useful work, for we must move before we can disturb the æther, and it is by means of the æther that we transmit energy.

If you place a magnetic needle or mariner's compass near a wire along which we are making a steady march, you will find that we can affect our fellow-electrons who are stationed within the magnetic needle. We cause the needle to swing round and take up a position at right angles to our line of march. We succeed in doing this because these electrons in the magnetic needle are on the move also. But this reminds me that I have never told you how we produce that æther disturbance which you call magnetism.

When, as children, you played with toy magnets in the nursery, little did you think that there was a host of tiny electrons amusing you. And yet we electrons are responsible entirely for all magnetic effects, as I shall proceed to explain.

CHAPTER VIII

A USEFUL DANCE

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER EIGHT

We believe magnetism to be due to electrons revolving around atoms of iron and other magnetic substances, as related by the electron in this chapter.

We have seen that the steady motion of electrons along a wire produces a magnetic field around the wire.

Therefore if we have electrons revolving round and round the atoms in a piece of iron, there will be a miniature magnetic field around each atom.

The electron explains why a piece of iron does not show the magnetic power locked up within it until it is "magnetised."

The electron refers to electro-magnets; an electro-magnet is simply a piece of soft iron with a coil of insulated wire wound around it.

The iron only shows its magnetic power as long as a current of electricity is kept passing through the surrounding coil of wire, for reasons which the electron explains.

I may tell you quite frankly that I have never taken part in the perpetual dance of which I am about to tell you. I am of a free and roaming disposition, but I have often watched some of my fellow-electrons at this work. Of course, it is pleasant work, as all our duties are, now that man acknowledges our services.

We are responsible for the behaviour of the mariner's compass needle. It is we who cause it to point continually in one definite direction. If we ceased to dance around the iron atoms in the compass needle aboard a ship, the man at the helm could not tell in what direction he was going, and sooner or later he would be almost certain to wreck his vessel. For this service alone man ought to be grateful to us, but before I have finished my story, you will find that even this important duty is but a small affair when compared with many of our other tasks.

There is one matter I should like to make quite clear to you. Although we electrons are all identical, we have different stations to fill. You have doubtless become familiar with my roving disposition, and you probably think of me as a detachable electron. Then there are our friends who are locked up within the atoms of matter—part and parcel of the atom. And now I am introducing you to those electrons who act as satellites to the atoms, revolving around them at a comparatively great distance, just as the moon revolves around the earth. These are the electrons which give rise to the magnetism in a piece of iron. There are other electrons which perform very rapid revolutions around all classes of atoms, but I shall introduce these friends later on.

[!--[Pg 79]--]

A Tobacco-Tin Defying Gravitation

That phenomenon known as "magnetism" is due to the steady locomotion of electrons, as explained in the text. Here we see a large magnet attracting a tinned iron box which is tethered to the table by two cords. The result is that the box is supported in the air. The spiral wires are connected to the electro-magnet, an explanation of which is given in [Chapter VIII].

I need hardly remark that a piece of ordinary iron does not behave like a magnet. Indeed, it is fortunate that it does not. If it did, man could not get along with his work very well. The hammer would stick to the head of the nail it had struck, the fire-irons would stick to the fender, while the cook's pots and pans would hold on to the kitchen range. That would be a very stupid arrangement, but we electrons have really no say in the matter of arrangement. We are always on the move, performing a perpetual dance around the iron atoms, but the atoms arrange themselves in a higgledy-piggledy fashion, so that the electrons on one atom pull the æther in one direction while others pull the æther in an opposite direction. In this way the outward effect is not perceptible. When, however, man places a coil of wire around the iron, and makes a crowd of electrons march along the wire, these marching electrons affect the æther, which in turn influences the satellite electrons which are revolving around the atoms of iron. You may be somewhat surprised when I tell you that, owing to this æther disturbance, these satellite electrons are able to produce a rearrangement among the atoms. If you doubt my word, you may easily prove the truth of the statement. If you magnetise a long bar of iron you will find that its length is actually altered. This is due to our having disturbed the arrangement of the atoms.

Perhaps I should explain that when we force the atoms into their new condition, we can do so only under the æther stress set up by our fellow-electrons who are marching in the neighbouring wire. Whenever their march ceases the æther stress is withdrawn, and the atoms are able to fall back into their old higgledy-piggledy condition. In this way man is able to make a piece of iron a magnet and to unmake it as often as he cares by simply switching on and off the electric current from the wire surrounding the iron.

If a piece of hard steel is used in place of soft iron, then we find that the atoms are not so easily disturbed, but when they are once brought into line with one another, they will remain in their new condition after the æther disturbance has been withdrawn. It may seem strange to you that quite a small percentage of carbon atoms added to the pure soft iron should cause such a marked difference, but the matter seems plain enough to us. Man was so impressed with the manner in which the atoms were evidently fixed in their new condition that he spoke of permanent magnets. It is especially fortunate for man that these pieces of steel do retain their magnetism, and give us a reliable mariner's compass. But I shall tell you how you may disturb even these sedate atoms. If you hammer the metal very vigorously, or if you heat it to redness, you will find that the atoms have been freed from what appeared to be their permanent position, and they are back to their old higgledy-piggledy condition, so that we electrons are all opposing one another. Remember we are hard at work all the time although we may be giving no outward sign of our activity.

While we render an important aid to man by providing this permanent magnet for his compass, you will find that a very great deal of our assistance to man in his everyday life depends upon our behaviour in soft iron electro-magnets. It is in these that man can control our behaviour at will. It is through this simple piece of apparatus—the electro-magnet—that man has been able to accomplish so much in signalling to his friends at a distance. It is also by means of these electro-magnets that man can get us to turn an electric motor, and so on. But I must tell you, first of all, how we enable man to signal to a distance, or, in other words, how we carry man's news.

CHAPTER IX

HOW WE CARRY MAN'S NEWS

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER NINE

The electron explains wherein its method differs from all other methods.

It is well known that within recent years the old iron telegraph wires have been replaced by much lighter copper wires; the electron explains the reason for this change.

It describes how the electrons manage to work the most widely used form of telegraph instrument, which is called the "Morse," after its inventor.

Here we find one of the practical applications of the electro-magnet described in the preceding chapter.

It is we electrons who have so very far outdistanced all material carriers of news. You must acknowledge that the best runner, the swiftest horse, the fastest express train, and the prize carrier pigeon, are all nowhere when compared with us electrons.

But I do not wish to mislead you in any way, and I can speak from personal experience in this case. We do not race off with man's messages in the same sense as these other messengers do. Our swiftness of communication depends upon the simple fact that man provides a whole connecting regiment of us between the two distant places. And when the order to march is given we all move off at practically the same moment. In this way the electrons at the far end of the connecting wire are able to cause signals there immediately. This is the secret of man's success in being able to hold immediate communication with his distant friends. His success is due entirely to the co-operation of us electrons.

My personal experience has been in connection with a very simple telegraphic arrangement. Indeed, the most of our duties in transmitting messages are performed with this particular kind of instrument, known as a "Morse sounder."

At the time of which I speak, I had become attached to an atom of iron in the end of a long telegraph wire. From this you will probably guess that my experience was gained some time ago, for man does not use iron wires nowadays in fitting up telegraph lines. He used iron at first, and some of these lines still exist, but when he discovered that a very much lighter copper wire would serve the same purpose, he discarded the heavy iron wires. Man explained the matter by saying that the copper offered less resistance to the electric current, and the majority of people were quite satisfied with this kind of explanation. Of course these are merely convenient phrases which give man no real reason for the difference. The real reason is that we electrons are able to move about from one copper atom to another with very much greater ease than we can among the iron atoms. That is the reason why man made the change from iron to copper wires, although he had no idea of the reason at the time.

To return to my experience in connection with a telegraph instrument, I found that we were being subjected to a series of forced marches. The whole regiment of electrons along the line made a forward move. The line of march ended in a short length of fine wire wound around a piece of soft iron to form an electro-magnet. The end of the wire dipped into the earth, as I have explained in an earlier chapter.

Now all that we electrons had to do was to make a forward move, halt, forward again, another halt, and so on. Sometimes the signal to halt was longer in being given than at other times, but we found that this was intentional, and that there were two definite lengths of march. I have explained already how we marching electrons cause an electro-magnet to attract a piece of iron and let it go again as soon as we cease marching. It only remains for me to give you a general statement of how we work the Morse telegraph.

Man has arranged a little lever with an iron end-piece immediately above the electro-magnet, so that the magnet may attract it. Of course you are aware that it is the electrons within the soft-iron core of the electro-magnet who produce the magnetic effect. Every time we electrons in the surrounding wire make a forward move, the electro-magnet pulls down the end of the little lever referred to. As long as we keep marching, so long will the end of the lever remain down, but the moment we halt, the lever is free to be pulled up by a spring attached to it. The movements of the lever indicate the length of our long and short marches, and it is by means of these that man sends signals. All that he does is to control our march, by means of an electric push and a battery at one end of the wire, and it is we who produce the signals at the distant end of the wire. Each time man presses the push we move the distant lever. When we pull the lever down it is so arranged that it makes a sound like "click," and when we let it spring up against a stop it makes another sound not unlike "clack." Our long and short marches are therefore converted into long and short "click-clacks." Man has made a simple code of signals representing his alphabet, and right merrily do we rap out the signals for which we receive orders at the distant end of the wire, while some one at the other end listens to the sounds we cause to be made.

I have told you enough of our duties to let you see how we are able to carry man's news from one part of the earth to any other part. By far the greatest part of our signalling work is done with this simple Morse sounder.

It may interest you to note that we can produce those signals far faster than man can read them. When man found this out he took advantage of our powers. He made an automatic transmitter which could manipulate the make-and-break of the battery current far more rapidly than any human fingers could do. Then as we rapped off the signals with lightning speed at the distant end, he attached a little ink-wheel to the end of the moving lever, so that it could mark short and long strokes on a ribbon of paper passing close to it. Although man could not distinguish the signals by his ear he was able to read the record of those we caused to be left upon the paper ribbon.

We have been made to work many other forms of telegraph instruments. In some of these we control type-letters, while in others we imitate handwriting, but all these are merely adaptations of our powers of marching. We are proud of our achievements in rapid signalling, which all right-thinking people have not been slow to acknowledge.

CHAPTER X

HOW WE COMMUNICATE WITH DISTANT SHIPS

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER TEN

In this chapter the electron deals with that modern marvel—Wireless Telegraphy.

Here the æther of space plays a very prominent part.

The author has given some particulars about the æther in the first chapter (What the Story is about).

In conjunction with that, the electron may be left to tell its own story.

Our duties in this case are totally different from those of which I have been telling you. While we electrons can do many wonderful things, we cannot march through space. We may be fired off like bullets from the sun to the earth, but that is quite another matter. I shall have something to say about that fact later on. You have seen already that man can make us jump only a very short distance, even when he has cleared our path of the obstructing air, as he does in a vacuum tube.

If men were to provide us with a complete path of metal atoms from the shore to the ship, we could set to work upon the simple plan which I have described in the preceding chapter. But, needless to say, man has more sense than to attempt to keep up metallic connection with a ship going away out to sea.

Even the wisest men were surprised when they heard that we electrons could signal through space to great distances without any connecting wires. We ourselves were not surprised. Had we not been doing this very thing from the foundation of the world? Our fellow-electrons in the sun have never ceased to communicate with those of us upon the earth. Of course I am referring at present to those æther waves which man calls heat and light. But the waves which we make to carry man's messages through space are of the very same nature, the only difference being that they are much longer, or, in other words, much farther apart. They do not follow each other so closely, and they do not affect the eye or the sense of touch. However, these long waves are able to bestir some of us electrons who are situated at a great distance from the sending electrons.

Our method of producing such waves in the æther is by surging to and fro from atom to atom in an upright wire. When we make a rapid to-and-fro motion we send out great waves in the æther. The original plan adopted by man was to make us jump across a spark-gap, but in this case also it was our rapid oscillation to and fro that produced the waves. If we wish the waves to carry to a great distance, we must club together in considerable force to supply the necessary energy. The energy which we can get from a battery and induction coil is not sufficient for any very long distances. In such cases we require the aid of a dynamo, a machine about which I shall have some experience to relate in another chapter.

In communicating through space, our position is very similar to that of two men shouting to one another over a distance. The one man disturbs the air, thus sending air-waves (sound) over to his friend, and these waves produce certain sensations which he can interpret. I should like you to understand that we electrons are upon a higher plane than atoms of matter. We cause waves in the all-pervading æther, not among clumsy particles of air. After these æther waves have travelled enormous distances they retain sufficient energy to disturb electrons situated at the distant place.

I shall tell you of the first experience I had in this connection. I found myself attached to an atom of nickel, a kind of atom which looks to us electrons very much like an iron atom, because it has nearly the same number of electrons composing it, only they are arranged differently. But I was telling you that I found myself on this nickel atom sealed up in a small glass tube. Of course there were myriads of similar atoms all around me, but I did not feel very happy. I was being urged forward, and yet I could not get across from some atoms to others, for the nickel was in the form of loose filings. From past experience I knew that there was a battery along the line somewhere; I could feel the strain. All of a sudden I was startled to find that I could move forward. Exactly what happened, I am not at liberty to tell, but this much I may say, that it was the arrival of some æther waves which altered the condition of things among the filings in the tube.

[!--[Pg 99]--]

A Motor-Car with Wireless Telegraph

It has become quite a fashion in America to have motor-cars fitted up for wireless telegraphy. That the electrons play an important part in telegraphing through space is explained fully in [Chapter X].

We had just started out on our march forward when we received such a shaking that we found ourselves in the same isolated positions as at first; we could not get across from one particle to another. More æther waves arrived, we made a fresh start, then came another rude shaking, and so on we went starting and stopping. Indeed, it was the regularity of these long and short marches that gave me the first idea that we were being controlled by some telegraph operator. We were amused to find that the rude shaking, of which I have been telling you, was caused by the action of some of our fellow-electrons. Some of them in their march around an electro-magnet in the receiving instrument caused a little lever to knock against our tube and give us a sudden jolt.

I should like you to notice that the energy with which we moved the telegraph instrument did not come from the distant station. It was a local battery which worked the receiving instrument, but this battery was controlled by the incoming æther waves affecting the tube of filings. There is really no mystery about the matter, but I am anxious not to take credit for anything more wonderful than we have actually accomplished.

We electrons have rendered a very great service to man by enabling him to communicate with his friends who are far out on the ocean, and cut off from all possible chance of material communication. We are willing to serve man on land also, though we very much prefer the ordinary marching arrangement if he will provide a connecting wire. The fact is that we find it very much more difficult to send æther waves over land than we do over water.

I have heard some men ask how many different telegraph instruments may be worked at one place simultaneously without confusion. That is a question for man himself to answer. We electrons are able to produce any variety of waves of different frequency or length; it remains only for man to construct apparatus that will respond only to a definite rate of waves. I hear that man has made considerable progress in tuning the wireless instruments.

Some men are eager to get us to carry messages through space across the great oceans from shore to shore. We shall not refuse, provided man supplies sufficient energy, but I must admit that we electrons prefer the submarine cable. Of course man may put this down to our laziness; we certainly prefer as little severe straining as possible.

I have been telling you of my earliest and only personal experience in connection with space telegraphy. I understand that greatly improved methods have been adopted since that time, but I have never happened to drift in their direction.

CHAPTER XI

HOW WE REPRODUCE SPEECH

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the first part of this chapter the electron explains the part it plays in ordinary telephony.

The reader will picture the transmitting instrument at the one end of the line influencing the receiving instrument at the distant end.

Towards the end of the chapter the electron turns its attention to the newer subject of wireless telephony, which has been accomplished now over a distance of several hundred miles.

My scribe suggested a rather clumsy title for this chapter—"Electrons versus atoms as carriers of speech." I expect he made this suggestion without much thought, for there are two serious objections to such a title.

In the first place, we are not carriers of speech. We are controlled by speech at one end of the telephone line, and we make a reproduction of the speech at the distant end of the line. No sound passes between the two places; there is only a movement of electrons along the connecting line.

My second objection to the hurriedly suggested title is that it is hardly fair to make any comparison between the achievements of atoms of matter and those of ourselves. We are not in the same category as atoms. Besides, we electrons are dependent entirely upon the material atoms for making our work useful to man. For instance, we might keep on making waves in the æther for all time, and yet if the atoms of matter were to pay no heed to those imperceptible waves, man would never be aware of their presence. Indeed we electrons act solely as go-betweens. On the other hand, it is only fair to ourselves to point out that a group of atoms in one town could never communicate with a group of atoms in a distant town unless we electrons came to their aid. It is true that over a very short distance the atoms may communicate directly. For instance, if a heavy blow is given to a large gong, the atoms of metal may vibrate so energetically that they succeed in disturbing the atoms of gas of the surrounding atmosphere for some considerable distance. But in the case of speech, the speaker cannot supply any great energy, so that he can disturb the atmosphere only to a very limited distance. We electrons, however, can do yeoman service in this respect. We have enabled men to speak to one another over immense distances.

The whole affair is very simple. Man speaks and causes the atmospheric atoms to vibrate and impinge upon a light disc or diaphragm in a simple instrument which man has named the telephone. This vibrating disc presses upon a myriad of carbon particles contained in a small case or box, the disc forming one side of the box. When these carbon particles are pressed together we electrons can get across more easily from atom to atom. There is a battery urging us forward, but our motion is dependent entirely upon the manner in which the vibrating disc presses upon the carbon particles. I cannot describe our movement in the line-wire as a march; it is in reality a surging to and fro.

You will understand that this to-and-fro motion of the electrons in the line-wire varies according to the vibrations of the sending disc, which is controlled by the speaker's voice. At the distant end of the line we electrons bring our magnetic powers into action. We keep varying the attractive powers of an electro-magnet, according to the motion of the electrons in the wire. This ever-changing magnet produces vibrations in an iron disc which is fixed close to the magnet. This disc is set vibrating in exact sympathy with the sending disc. When the listener places this receiving disc close to his ear, the vibrations are carried by the atmospheric atoms to his hearing apparatus. All that we electrons have done is to cause one disc to vibrate in exact synchrony with another distant disc. But that is all that is required, for the receiving disc will reproduce similar air-vibrations to those set up by the man's voice at the distant place. I have pointed out already that we do not attempt to carry the sound. It is true that the atoms of matter do the hard work, but it is we electrons who enable a group of atoms in one town to communicate with a group of atoms in a distant town.

It was natural that as soon as man found that he could work his telegraph instruments without the aid of connecting wires, he should try to do the same with his telephone instruments. We were sorry when we found men trying to use the original spark-telegraphy methods for telephones. While we had no difficulty in operating a telegraph instrument by means of æther waves and the tube of filings, it was quite impossible for us to produce telephone vibrations on the same principle. This spark method was a too rough-and-ready plan. The waves we produced were like sudden splashes in the æther ocean, whereas we knew that we must produce regular trains of continuous waves in order to reproduce telephone vibrations. However, you may be aware that we have succeeded by a different arrangement of apparatus. Indeed it may interest you to know that one of my most recent experiences has been in connection with some wireless-telephone experiments.

Unfortunately I was not in a very favourable position to learn all that was going on, but it was quite exciting work. I happened to be attached to an atom of copper in a length of wire which had been run up into the air on a sort of flag-pole arrangement. I need hardly say that I was not alone, for by this time you will have become accustomed to picture myriads of electrons occupying a very small space.

We were set vibrating to and fro with tremendous energy, but what bothered me most was the great variation in our movements. It was the nature of these variations which gave me the clue that we were being controlled by the vibrations of a telephone disc. I can tell you we did make a complex series of waves in the surrounding æther! These waves went out through space and influenced some electrons stationed at a great distance. When these electrons at the receiving station were set in motion they controlled the electric current from a local battery which set a second telephone disc vibrating in synchrony with the one at the sending station.

On questioning some of my fellow-electrons who happened to have been nearer the transmitting part of the instrument than I had been, I got some interesting information. They tell me that there was a dynamo and an arc lamp in our circuit, while the telephone instrument was in a neighbouring circuit. The electrons surging to and fro in the telephone circuit influenced those energetic electrons in the arc-lamp circuit to which the ærial wire was attached. You see that my position in the ærial wire was not a very advantageous one for observing what was taking place.

This was truly a great achievement—to enable one man to speak to another distant hundreds of miles, and without the aid of any connecting wire. I think you will agree with me that we have excelled all past records in the world of wonders.

CHAPTER XII

OUR HEAVIEST DUTIES

THE SCRIBE'S NOTE ON CHAPTER TWELVE

Here the electron explains its behaviour in a dynamo at work.

The principle of the dynamo was discovered by Faraday in the thirties of last century.

He found that when a coil of wire was moved through a magnetic field, there was a current of electricity induced in the moving coil.

Experimental machines were constructed, and after a while a practical dynamo was evolved.

Wires are attached to a dynamo and the electric current is led out.

This current may be conducted to a distant tramway car, and, by sending the current through an electric motor, mechanical motion is produced and the car propelled along.

An electric motor is practically the same as a dynamo, but instead of turning its coil round in order to produce an electric current, we pass a current into the coil and it moves round. It will be sufficient to leave the electron to tell its own story.

This is another of those roving commissions in which I have been privileged to take part on more than one occasion.

If you think of the giant size of an electric tramway car or a railway train, and try to compare one of these with an electron, such as your humble servant, it will seem quite ridiculous that I should suggest that it is we electrons who move those huge vehicles. Yet such is the actual case.

Of course we require the application of very considerable power to urge us to so heavy a task. All the energy which we can get from a few electric batteries might enable us to drive a toy car, but when it comes to turning the wheels of a real car or train, we require a correspondingly greater amount of energy.

I may as well tell you quite frankly that we electrons are only the intermediaries or go-betweens. Indeed, you must have noticed that in every case we act merely as a connecting link between matter and the æther, and between the æther and matter.

But what I want to tell you of, is the part we play in moving an electric car or railway train. It is really all very simple if you could only see it from our standpoint. Picture a host of us attached to copper atoms in a coil of wire which is being moved through that disturbed æther called a magnetic field. We are set in motion immediately. It is true that when we are moved forward into the field we march off in one direction, only to be arrested and made to move off in the opposite direction as we leave the field, but it really makes no difference in our working capabilities as long as we are kept on the move. This is what is actually taking place in the armature of a dynamo as it revolves between the poles of the electro-magnet. There is no peace for us so long as the coil is kept revolving; we are kept in a constant state of rapid to-and-fro motion.