Scientific Romances (First Series)Hinton, Charles Howard
Philosophy
Scientific Romances (First Series)
Hinton, Charles Howard
Fourth dimension
Let us consider the state due to these twisting strings of particles.
Place two pennies lying on the table before you, and suppose them to be
the sections in which two strings of a conductor are cut across, so that
you are looking at two particles, represented by the pennies in the
interior of a conductor; the strings, of which the pennies are sections,
come up towards your eye. Now twist the two pennies each in the same
direction—say that of the hands of a watch. From the outer edges you can
take the motion off; the edges are moving in the same direction. But
where the two pennies meet you will see that the edge of each is going
in a contrary direction to the other. And if one penny tends to move an
object in one way the other tends to move it in the contrary direction.
Hence these motions tend to neutralize each other in the interior of a
conducting wire.
Having now formed a conception of the state of the particles in an
electrified poker, suppose another poker likewise held by an insulating
handle is brought near the first. Let the pokers be so arranged that the
handles both point one way, the black ends another way, and let the
second poker be in the same line as the first, with its handle towards
the black end of the first.
Now the first poker is charged, it contains electricity, its particles
are twisted. What effect will it have on the second poker?
It is found that the second poker undergoes a certain change, but when
it is removed to a distance from the first poker all trace of this
change disappears.
On the end nearest the first poker—on the handle—is found silk
electricity; on the end furthest from the first poker—on the black
end—is found glass electricity.
A B C D
--- ---
+ + - +
Let A B be one poker, the + representing the charge of glass
electricity. Let C D represent the other poker, the - representing the
induced silk electricity, the + the glass electricity in it.
Let A be the handle of the first, B its black end. Let C be the handle
of the second, and D its black end. To explain this let us bring in our
imaginary principle. Let us suppose that when a charged body is brought
near an uncharged body, but is separated from it by some medium through
which electricity cannot pass—let us suppose that by some agency the
twist in the charged body calls up an image twist in the body opposite
it. Thus, due to the twist in the first poker there will be an image
twist in the handle part of the second poker.
But the strings of particles in the second poker are not twisted as a
whole; they are twisted in such a way that if they are removed from the
first poker, the twist, whatever it be, disappears.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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