Part 76

1569. The power of particles of dust to carry off electricity in cases of high tension is well known, and I have already mentioned some instances of the kind in the use of the inductive apparatus (1201.). The general operation is very well shown by large light objects, as the toy called the electrical spider; or, if smaller ones are wanted for philosophical investigation, by the smoke of a glowing green wax taper, which, presenting a successive stream of such particles, makes their course visible.

1570. On using oil of turpentine as the dielectric, the action and course of small conducting carrying particles in it can be well observed. A few short pieces of thread will supply the place of carriers, and their progressive action is exceedingly interesting.

1571. A very striking effect was produced on oil of turpentine, which, whether it was due to the carrying power of the particles in it, or to any other action of them, is perhaps as yet doubtful. A portion of that fluid in a glass vessel had a large uninsulated silver dish at the bottom, and an electrified metal rod with a round termination dipping into it at the top. The insulation was very good, and the attraction and other phenomena striking. The rod end, with a drop of gum water attached to it, was then electrified in the fluid; the gum water soon spun off in fine threads, and was quickly dissipated through the oil of turpentine. By the time that four drops had in this way been commingled with a pint of the dielectric, the latter had lost by far the greatest portion of its insulating power; no sparks could be obtained in the fluid; and all the phenomena dependent upon insulation had sunk to a low degree. The fluid was very slightly turbid. Upon being filtered through paper only, it resumed its first clearness, and now insulated as well as before. The water, therefore, was merely diffused through the oil of turpentine, not combined with or dissolved in it: but whether the minute particles acted as carriers, or whether they were not rather gathered together in the line of highest inductive tension (1350.), and there, being drawn into elongated forms by the electric forces, combined their effects to produce a band of matter having considerable conducting power, as compared with the oil of turpentine, is as yet questionable.

1572. The analogy between the action of solid conducting carrying particles and that of the charged particles of fluid insulating substances, acting as dielectrics, is very evident and simple; but in the latter case the result is, necessarily, currents in the mobile media. Particles are brought by inductric action into a polar state; and the latter, after rising to a certain tension (1370.), is followed by the communication of a part of the force originally on the conductor; the particles consequently become charged, and then, under the joint influence of the repellent and attractive forces, are urged towards a discharging place, or to that spot where these inductric forces are most easily compensated by the contrary inducteous forces.

1573. Why a point should be so exceedingly favourable to the production of currents in a fluid insulating dielectric, as air, is very evident. It is at the extremity of the point that the intensity necessary to charge the air is first acquired (1374.); it is from thence that the charged particle recedes; and the mechanical force which it impresses on the air to form a current is in every way favoured by the shape and position of the rod, of which the point forms the termination. At the same time, the point, having become the origin of an active mechanical force, does, by the very act of causing that force, namely, by discharge, prevent any other part of the rod from acquiring the same necessary condition, and so preserves and sustains its own predominance.

1574. The very varied and beautiful phenomena produced by sheltering or enclosing the point, illustrate the production of the current exceedingly well, and justify the same conclusions; it being remembered that in such cases the effect upon the discharge is of two kinds. For the current may be interfered with by stopping the access of fresh uncharged air, or retarding the removal of that which has been charged, as when a point is electrified in a tube of insulating matter closed at one extremity; or the electric condition of the point itself may be altered by the relation of other parts in its neighbourhood, also rendered electric, as when the point is in a metal tube, by the metal itself, or when it is in the glass tube, by a similar action of the charged parts of the glass, or even by the surrounding air which has been charged, and which cannot escape.

1575. Whenever it is intended to observe such inductive phenomena in a fluid dielectric as have a direct relation to, and dependence upon, the fluidity of the medium, such, for instance, as discharge from points, or attractions and repulsions, &c., then the mass of the fluid should be great, and in such proportion to the distance between the inductric and inducteous surfaces as to include all the lines of inductive force (1369.) between them; otherwise, the effects of currents, attraction, &c., which are the resultants of all these forces, cannot be obtained. The phenomena, which occur in the open air, or in the middle of a globe filled with oil of turpentine, will not take place in the same media if confined in tubes of glass, shell-lac, sulphur, or other such substances, though they be excellent insulating dielectrics; nor can they be expected: for in such cases, the polar forces, instead of being all dispersed amongst fluid particles, which tend to move under their influence, are now associated in many parts with particles that, notwithstanding their tendency to motion, are constrained by their solidity to remain quiescent.

1576. The varied circumstances under which, with conductors differently formed and constituted, currents can occur, all illustrate the same simplicity of production. A ball, if the intensity be raised sufficiently on its surface, and that intensity be greatest on a part consistent with the production of a current of air up to and off from it, will produce the effect like a point (1537); such is the case whenever the glow occurs upon a ball, the current being essential to that phenomenon. If as large a sphere as can well be employed with the production of glow be used, the glow will appear at the place where the current leaves the ball, and that will be the part directly opposite to the connection of the ball and rod which supports it; but by increasing the tension elsewhere, so as to raise it above the tension upon that spot, which can easily be effected inductively, then the place of the glow and the direction of the current will also change, and pass to that spot which for the time is most favourable for their production (1591.).

1577. For instance, approaching the hand towards the ball will tend to cause brush (1539.), but by increasing the supply of electricity the condition of glow may be preserved; then on moving the hand about from side to side the position of the glow will very evidently move with it.

1578. A point brought towards a glowing ball would at twelve or fourteen inches distance make the glow break into brush, but when still nearer, glow was reproduced, probably dependent upon the discharge of wind or air passing from the point to the ball, and this glow was very obedient to the motion of the point, following it in every direction.

1579. Even a current of wind could affect the place of the glow; for a varnished glass tube being directed sideways towards the ball, air was sometimes blown through it at the ball and sometimes not. In the former case, the place of the glow was changed a little, as if it were blown away by the current, and this is just the result which might have been anticipated. All these effects illustrate beautifully the general causes and relations, both of the glow and the current of air accompanying it (1574.).

1580. Flame facilitates the production of a current in the dielectric surrounding it. Thus, if a ball which would not occasion a current in the air have a flame, whether large or small, formed on its surface, the current is produced with the greatest ease; but not the least difficulty can occur in comprehending the effective action of the flame in this case, if its relation, as part of the surrounding dielectric, to the electrified ball, be but for a moment considered (1375. 1380.).

1581. Conducting fluid terminations, instead of rigid points, illustrate in a very beautiful manner the formation of the currents, with their effects and influence in exalting the conditions under which they were commenced. Let the rounded end of a brass rod, 0.3 of an inch or thereabouts in diameter, point downwards in free air; let it be amalgamated, and have a drop of mercury suspended from it; and then let it be powerfully electrized. The mercury will present the phenomenon of glow; a current of air will rush along the rod, and set off from the mercury directly downwards; and the form of the metallic drop will be slightly affected, the convexity at a small part near the middle and lower part becoming greater, whilst it diminishes all round at places a little removed from this spot. The change is from the form of a (fig. 135.) to that of b, and is due almost, if not entirely, to the mechanical force of the current of air sweeping over its surface.

1582. As a comparative observation, let it be noticed, that a ball gradually brought towards it converts the glow into brushes, and ultimately sparks pass from the most projecting part of the mercury. A point does the same, but at much smaller distances.

1583. Take next a drop of strong solution of muriate of lime; being electrified, a part will probably be dissipated, but a considerable portion, if the electricity be not too powerful, will remain, forming a conical drop (fig. 136.), accompanied by a strong current. If glow be produced, the drop will be smooth on the surface. If a short low brush is formed, a minute tremulous motion of the liquid will be visible; but both effects coincide with the principal one to be observed, namely, the regular and successive charge of air, the formation of a wind or current, and the form given by that current to the fluid drop, if a discharge ball be gradually brought toward the cone, sparks will at last pass, and these will be from the apex of the cone to the approached ball, indicating a considerable degree of conducting power in this fluid.

1584. With a drop of water, the effects were of the same kind, and were best obtained when a portion of gum water or of syrup hung from a ball (fig. 137.). When the machine was worked slowly, a fine large quiet conical drop, with concave lateral outline, and a small rounded end, was produced, on which the glow appeared, whilst a steady wind issued, in a direction from the point of the cone, of sufficient force to depress the surface of uninsulated water held opposite to the termination. When the machine was worked more rapidly some of the water was driven off; the smaller pointed portion left was roughish on the surface, and the sound of successive brush discharges was heard. With still more electricity, more water was dispersed; that which remained was elongated and contracted, with an alternating motion; a stronger brush discharge was heard, and the vibrations of the water and the successive discharges of the individual brushes were simultaneous. When water from beneath was brought towards the drop, it did not indicate the same regular strong contracted current of air as before; and when the distance was such that sparks passed, the water beneath was attracted rather than driven away, and the current of air ceased.

1585. When the discharging ball was brought near the drop in its first quiet glowing state (1582.), it converted that glow into brushes, and caused the vibrating motion of the drop. When still nearer, sparks passed, but they were always from the metal of the rod, over the surface of the water, to the point, and then across the air to the ball. This is a natural consequence of the deficient conducting power of the fluid (1584. 1585.).

1586. Why the drop vibrated, changing its form between the periods of discharging brushes, so as to be more or less acute at particular instants, to be most acute when the brush issued forth, and to be isochronous in its action, and how the quiet glowing liquid drop, on assuming the conical form, facilitated, as it were, the first action, are points, as to theory, so evident, that I will not stop to speak of them. The principal thing to observe at present is, the formation of the carrying current of air, and the manner in which it exhibits its existence and influence by giving form to the drop.

1587. That the drop, when of water, or a better conductor than water, is formed into a cone principally by the current of air, is shown amongst other ways (1594.) thus. A sharp point being held opposite the conical drop, the latter soon lost its pointed form; was retraced and became round; the current of air from it ceased, and was replaced by one from the point beneath, which, if the latter were held near enough to the drop, actually blew it aside, and rendered it concave in form.

1588. It is hardly necessary to say what happened with still worse conductors than water, as oil, or oil of turpentine; the fluid itself was then spun out into threads and carried off, not only because the air rushing over its surface helped to sweep it away, but also because its insulating particles assumed the same charged state as the particles of air, and, not being able to discharge to them in a much greater decree than the air particles themselves could do, were carried off by the same causes which urged those in their course. A similar effect with melted sealing-wax on a metal point forms an old and well-known experiment.

1589. A drop of gum water in the exhausted receiver of the air-pump was not sensibly affected in its form when electrified. When air was let in, it begun to show change of shape when the pressure was ten inches of mercury. At the pressure of fourteen or fifteen inches the change was more sensible, and as the air increased in density the effects increased, until they were the same as those in the open atmosphere. The diminished effect in the rare air I refer to the relative diminished energy of its current; that diminution depending, in the first place, on the lower electric condition of the electrified ball in the rarefied medium, and in the next, on the attenuated condition of the dielectric, the cohesive force of water in relation to rarefied air being something like that of mercury to dense air (1581.), whilst that of water in dense air may be compared to that of mercury in oil of turpentine (1597.).

1590. When a ball is covered with a thick conducting fluid, as treacle or syrup, it is easy by inductive action to determine the wind from almost any part of it (1577.); the experiment, which before was of rather difficult performance, being rendered facile in consequence of the fluid enabling that part, which at first was feeble in its action, to rise into an exalted condition by assuming a pointed form.

1591. To produce the current, the electric intensity must rise and continue at one spot, namely, at the origin of the current, higher than elsewhere, and then, air having a uniform and ready access, the current is produced. If no current be allowed (1574.), then discharge may take place by brush or spark. But whether it be by brush or spark, or wind, it seems very probable that the initial intensity or tension at which a particle of a given gaseous dielectric charges, or commences discharge, is, under the conditions before expressed, always the same (1410.).

1592. It is not supposed that all the air which enters into motion is electrified; on the contrary, much that is not charged is carried on into the stream. The part which is really charged may be but a small proportion of that which is ultimately set in motion (1442.).

1593. When a drop of gum water (1584.) is made negative, it presents a larger cone than when made positive; less of the fluid is thrown off, and yet, when a ball is approached, sparks can hardly be obtained, so pointed is the cone, and so free the discharge. A point held opposite to it did not cause the retraction of the cone to such an extent as when it was positive. All the effects are so different from those presented by the positive cone, that I have no doubt such drops would present a very instructive method of investigating the difference of positive and negative discharge in air and other dielectrics (1480. 1501.).

1594. That I may not be misunderstood (1587.), I must observe here that I do not consider the cones produced as the result only of the current of air or other insulating dielectric over their surface. When the drop is of badly conducting matter, a part of the effect is due to the electrified state of the particles, and this part constitutes almost the whole when the matter is melted sealing-wax, oil of turpentine, and similar insulating bodies (1588.). But even when the drop is of good conducting matter, as water, solutions, or mercury, though the effect above spoken of will then be insensible (1607.), still it is not the mere current of air or other dielectric which produces all the change of form; for a part is due to those attractive forces by which the charged drop, if free to move, would travel along the line of strongest induction, and not being free to move, has its form elongated until the sum of the different forces tending to produce this form is balanced by the cohesive attraction of the fluid. The effect of the attractive forces are well shown when treacle, gum water, or syrup is used; for the long threads which spin out, at the same time that they form the axes of the currents of air, which may still be considered as determined at their points, are like flexible conductors, and show by their directions in what way the attractive forces draw them.

1595. When the phenomena of currents are observed in dense insulating dielectrics, they present us with extraordinary degrees of mechanical force. Thus, if a pint of well-rectified and filtered (1571.) oil of turpentine be put into a glass vessel, and two wires be dipped into it in different places, one leading to the electrical machine, and the other to the discharging train, on working the machine the fluid will be thrown into violent motion throughout its whole mass, whilst at the same time it will rise two, three or four inches up the machine wire, and dart off jets from it into the air.

1596. If very clean uninsulated mercury be at the bottom of the fluid, and the wire from the machine be terminated either by a ball or a point, and also pass through a glass tube extending both above and below the surface of the oil of turpentine, the currents can be better observed, and will be seen to rush down the wire, proceeding directly from it towards the mercury, and there, diverging in all directions, will ripple its surface strongly, and mounting up at the sides of the vessel, will return to re-enter upon their course.