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LONDON: CAMBRIDGE WAREHOUSE, 17, PATERNOSTER ROW. CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO.
LEIPZIG: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
1879
[All Rights reserved.]
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR.
Biographical data-Lord Charles Cavendish's experiments-Henry
Cavendish lived with his father during his electrical researches
His laboratory in Great Marlborough Street-His apparatus-His
attendant-Committee of the Royal Society on lightning con-
ductors-Cavendish's researches on the electric current-Papers
on the Torpedo by Walsh, Hunter, &c.-Experiment on the
formation of nitric acid before the Royal Society-Cavendish's
artificial Torpedo
Account of Cavendish's Writings on Electricity.
PAGES
xxvii to xxxviii
The two papers in the Philosophical Transactions.
xxxix
The manuscripts-Sir W. Snow Harris' account of them
xl
State of electrical science-Lord Mahon's experiments-Estimate of
"Whether the charge of a coated plate bears the same proportion
to that of a simple conductor whether the electrification is strong
or weak"
liv
Method of the experiments.
proportional"
Reference to these experiments in the paper on the Torpedo
Determination of the "power of the velocity to which the resistance is
lvi
lvii
lix
Resistance of salt solution at different temperatures
Resistance of pure water
Resistance of solutions of different salts
Chemical equivalents of different substances as given by Cavendish
lx
lxii
FIRST PUBLISHED PAPER ON ELECTRICITY.
"AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL PHÆNOMENA OF ELECTRICITY,
BY MEANS OF AN ELASTIC FLUID." From the Philosophical Transactions
for 1771 (p. 1-50).
-
Charges of similar bodies as the n − 1 power of their corresponding diame-
Two parallel circular plates
ters, and independent of the material of which they are made
Charge of a thin flat plate independent of its thickness
Equilibrium of electricity in bodies communicating by a canal is in-
dependent of the form of the canal.
Whether the conditions of equilibrium are the same for two bodies com-
municating by a conducting wire as if they communicated by a canal
of incompressible fluid.
Molecular constitution of air
67-72
73
74-83
Containing a comparison of the foregoing theory with Experiment.
§ 1. Conductors and non-conductors
Electric properties of air and vacuum
Positive and negative electrification
§ 2. Attraction and repulsion
Electrometer in electrified air
§ 3. On the cases in which bodies receive electricity from, or part with it
§ 7. Wilcke and Epinus's experiment of electrifying a plate of air
§ 8. Electric spark.
98
99, 100
101-105
106-117
117
118-126
127
134
135-139
PRELIMINARY PROPOSITIONS.
From the MS. in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, No. 4.
Prop. XXIX (Fig. 1). If the fluid uniformly spread on a circular plate is to that collected in the circumference as p to 1 the capacity of the plate is to that of the globe as p+1 to 2p+1
Prop. xxx. Capacity of two disks at a finite distance
Cor. 1. Capacity in terms of p
ARTICLES
140
141
142
Cor. 2. Capacity when the density is supposed uniform
143
Lemma XIV.
ratios of B and b to C.
Cor. 3. The place in which the canal meets the disk is indifferent only
when the fluid is in equilibrium
Lemma XII (Fig. 2). Repulsion of a particle on a column
Lemma XIII. Repulsion of two columns
Lemma xv (Fig. 3). Action of a uniform cylinder on an external point
Cor. Potential of middle and end.
Prop. xxxi (Fig. 3). Charge of cylinder compared with that of globe
Cor. Upper and lower limits of charge
Prop. xxxii (Fig. 4). Charge of two equal cylinders at a finite distance
Prop. xxxIII. Ratio of charges of B and b may be deduced from the
Lemma xv (Fig. 5). Repulsion on a short column close to an electrified
plate
Lemma xvi (Fig. 6). Two equidistant concave plates
Cor. 1. Definition of corresponding points, &c.
Cor. 2. Density increasing towards the circumference
Lemma xvII (Fig. 7). Concave plate compared with flat one
Cor.
144
155
156
157
158
159
Cor. 8. Charge directly as surface and inversely as thickness
164
165
166
167
168
Prop. xxxv (Fig. 9). Theory of conducting strata in the glass plate
Prop. xxxvi (Fig. 10). Penetration of glass by fluid
Cor. 1. Equivalent thickness of plate if there were no penetration
Cor. 2. Thickness of coatings indifferent.
Prop. xxxvII. Density more nearly uniform than if there had been no
penetration
171
172
173
Cor. Distribution probably nearly the same as in plate of air of equiva-
lent thickness
174