In the preparation of this book, therefore, I have made practice and work the predominating factors. It has been my aim to suggest the best form in which to do the things in a practical way, and from that work, as the boy carries it out, to deduce certain laws and develop the principles which underlie them. Wherever it is deemed possible to do so, it is planned to have the boy make these discoveries for himself, so as to encourage him to become a thinker and a reasoner instead of a mere machine. A boy does not develop into a philosopher or a scientist through being told he must learn the principles of this teaching, or the fundamentals of that school of reasoning. He will unconsciously imbibe the spirit and the willingness if we but place before him the tools by which he may build even the simple machinery that displays the various electrical manifestations. CHAPTER I THE STUDY OF ELECTRICITY. HISTORICAL There is no study so profound as electricity. It is a marvel to the scientist as well as to the novice. It is simple in its manifestations, but most complex in its organization and in its ramifications. It has been shown that light, heat, magnetism and electricity are the same, but that they differ merely in their modes of motion. FIRST HISTORICAL ACCOUNT.--The first historical account of electricity dates back to 600 years B. C. Thales of Miletus was the first to describe the properties of amber, which, when rubbed, attracted and repelled light bodies. The ancients also described what was probably tourmaline, a mineral which has the same qualities. The torpedo, a fish which has the power of emitting electric impulses, was known in very early times. From that period down to about the year 1600 no accounts of any historical value have been given. Dr. Gilbert, of England, made a number of researches at that time, principally with amber and other materials, and Boyle, in 1650, made numerous experiments with frictional electricity. Sir Isaac Newton also took up the subject at about the same period. In 1705 Hawksbee made numerous experiments; also Gray, in 1720, and a Welshman, Dufay, at about the same time. The Germans, from 1740 to 1780, made many experiments. In 1740, at Leyden, was discovered the jar which bears that name. Before that time, all experiments began and ended with frictional electricity. The first attempt to "bottle" electricity was attempted by Muschenbr[oe]ck, at Leyden, who conceived the idea that electricity in materials might be retained by surrounding them with bodies which did not conduct the current. He electrified some water in a jar, and communication having been established between the water and the prime conductor, his assistant, who was holding the bottle, on trying to disengage the communicating wire, received a sudden shock.