POPULAR ELECTRICITY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 135, 7 June 1878, Page 4

POPULAR ELECTRICITY.

Frorc the K"ew York Times )

Within tbe present century vasfc progress has been made in the study of the nature and applications of electricity. From the firet spnrks drawn from the back of the primeval cat by her cavedwelling master (o the discovery of the photograph there is on immense distance. Nevertheless, it is believed by many scientißc persons that we are yet merely on the threshold of electricity, and that in tbe future we shall make discoveries infinitely more important than those which the ab'est electricians have hitherto made.

It is only just beginning to be understood that,the elfctric currents of the earth have an intimate connection with a great quantity of things. The aurora borealis is believed to be ia some mysterious way connected with spot on the solar diac, cud these spolss in their turn have an influence upon our climate, and upon the spread of pestilential diseases. Recently it has been asserted that no nonn can sleep well unless the major axis of his bed, and consequently his personal niejor axis, corresponds with the position of tbe axis of the earth. This is due to tbe fact that the currents of earthly electricity flow in the direction of the earth's axis? or, in other words, from pole to pole. If they enterarecumbent human being afc his feet and pass out at his hean, he becomes sleepy, while if, owing to the wrong position of his bed, tbey enter him from one side or tbe other, the struggles to get out again produce such a derangement of his nervous system as to render it impossible for him to sleep. These are but & few of tbe hosts of facts which might be mentioned to prove the influence of eartb-currents upon man and his surroundings, and we shall yet make discoveries in this particular field which no one outside of an insane asylum will be capable of believing. The reason why tbe catß, whose howls disturb our noctural slumbers, are uniformly found on back fences running a direction perpendicular, or nearly perpendicular, to the axis of the earth, has never yet been ascertained. Sirlsaac Newton attempted to explain the fact by asserting that the great majority offences are built parallel to the Equator, but this explanation is glaringly at variance with well ascertained facts. Buffon suggested that ca's are mysteriously influenced by the moon, and that hence they prefer fonoeg wMch are boilt ia the general direction of the plane of the moon's orbit. This is certainly a plausible explanation, but it has yet to be proved that raoonlight is the cause, rather than a mere incident, of nocturnal cat concerts. The other explanations which have been hazarded by lesser authorities are scarcely worth mentioning. AH that we really koow is the siogle fact that nocturnal cats are distributed around the earth in belts parallel to the equator. Fully 93 per cent, of the cats that bring D& from cur midnight couches with bootjacks in our humis, and rage iu our hearts, are perched upon the east and west fences, and to the truth of ihis assertion every New-Yorker will readily

agree.

In exoming this very interesting and important problem, let us begin by asking why the midnight cat howls ? Superficial observers have alleged tbat h'owYwg is the natural expression 0/ the tender passion among cais, and tbat the intensity of a cat's admiration for the females of his species may be accuruately measured by the hideousness of his bowls. This, is an ioeuls to human intelligence and feline selfreapeect. Would any young man desiring to plead his suit with the lady of his heart place himself uader her window and yell as if he were undergoing the severest torments? Of course he would not, and equally of course no intelligent cat would be guilty of a like folly. The yells of 4he midnight cat bear every sign of being the expression of the keenest suffering, and only tbe most perverse ingenuity can regard them as the voice of love.

We have thus learned that the cat perched on a back fence perpendicularly to the axis of the earth, and to the direction of the earth's currents of electricity, bowls, because he— or sbe, as the case may be — is undergoing acute agony. Very possibly cats pass over fences running from north to south quite as frequently as they do over fences running in tbe direction of the equator ; but in the former case they experience no pain, and henee do not attract attention by their outcries. The moment however that a cat finds himself on an ease and west fence he is racked by internal pains. He tries to relieve his mind by howls and profanity and he thereby excites tbe rage of the human audiences. Now, if we ascertain what producas these pains we shall have found the true answer to the question under discussion. May it not be that electricity is at the bottom of the whole affair ?

Tha cat, be it remembered, i 8 more addicted to electricity than any other animal, except the electric eel, and hence is peculiarly susceptible to the influence of the earth currents. So long as the cat walks over fences running from north to sooth his axis is coincident with the direction of these currents. They pass smoothly through his spinal column, ;and beyond gently stimulating his mind and tail, they have do perceptible effect upon him. When however, he tries to walk on a fence built parallel to the Equator, his private axis becomes perpendicular to the earth-currents. They penetrate info bis vitals and wrench him all to pieces in their efforts to force their

way through him. Filled with anguish be a»op3, clings fiercely to the fence, nml lifts up his voice in frenzied agony. To nome extent the muscles of his legs are paralysed, and he is unable to move until tha unfeeling boet-jack comes hurtling through the air and stimulates him into action. He then springs from the fence; bis pnins vanish, and his voice is silent. Is not this a complete and scientific explanation of the question which baa so long defied the ablest scientific minde?

We thus see how beautiful are the reasoning processes by which truo science investigates abstruse questions. We also see see that one of the most common incidents of every-night life is due to the electricity of the earth. Let us, then, be thankful that we live in a scientiGc uge, and that there are more uses for electricity than anyone has yet dreamed of.