energy of position which we can draw upon with more facility than if it were a head of water, for, although we can draw upon the energy of a head of water whenever we choose, yet we cannot carry it about with us from place to place as we can with coal. We thus perceive that it is not the coal, by itself, that forms the source of energy, but this is due to the fact that we have coal, or carbon, in one place, and oxygen in another, while we have also the means of causing them to unite with each other whenever we wish. If there were no oxygen in the air, coal by itself would be of no value.
Electricity: its Properties.
79. Our readers have now been told about the force of cohesion that exists between molecules of the same body, and also about that of chemical affinity existing between atoms of different bodies. Now, heterogeneity is an essential element of this latter force—there must be a difference of some kind before it can exhibit itself—and under these circumstances its exhibitions are frequently characterized by very extraordinary and interesting phenomena.
We allude to that peculiar exhibition arising out of the forces of heterogenous bodies which we call electricity, and, before proceeding further, it may not be out of place to give a short sketch of the mode of action of this very mysterious, but most interesting, agent.
80. The science of electricity is of very ancient origin;
