Abstract
THERE is a tale in the “Arabian Nights” of a fisherman who, after a day's ill luck, cast his net for the fourth and last time with a prayer to Allah that he might have a good haul. He drew to shore a copper jar of curious construction and mysteriously sealed, which on being opened was found to have confined a genie possessed of remarkable powers. As the genie proposed to reward his liberator by taking his life, the fisherman induced him to return into the jar, in which he again confined him. About two centuries ago the body of fishermen who called themselves then natural philosophers drew to shore from the sea of natural phenomena a similarly remarkable jar cap able also of confining a very powerful genie. The discovery of the Leyden jar, we are told, “caused the greatest excitement in Europe and America,” two continents which three years ago exchanged congratulatory messages across 2000 miles of ocean by means of Leyden-jar sparks. This, the most recent sensational demonstration of the powers of the genie, is by no means the most important; he has truly produced as great a revolution in the doings of mankind as any of his imaginary predecessors.
The Theory of Experimental Electricity.
By W. C. D. Whetham. Pp. xi + 334. (Cambridge: The University Press, 1905.) Price 8s. net.
Electric Railways: Theoretically and Practically Treated.
By S. W. Ashe J. D. Keiley. Pp. 285. (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co.; London: Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 10s. 6d. net.
Modern Electric Practice.
Vol. vi. Edited by M. Maclean. Pp. vi + 318. (London: The Gresham Publishing Co., 1905.) Price 9s. net.
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SOLOMON, M. The Theory of Experimental Electricity Electric Railways: Theoretically and Practically Treated Modern Electric Practice . Nature 73, 169–170 (1905). https://doi.org/10.1038/073169a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/073169a0
