Shelford Bidwell

“ The visible spectrum is limited solely by the physiological constitution of our organs of vision, and the fact that it begins and ends where it does is, from a physical point of view, a mere accident. The spectrum actually projected upon the screen is in truth much longer than that portion of it which any one can see: it extends for a considerable distance beyond the violet at the one end and beyond the red at the other, these invisible portions being known as the ultra-violet and infra-red regions. People’s eyes differ in regard to range of sensibility just as their ears do. ”

“ A line of force is a line drawn through a magnetic field in the direction of the force at each point through which it passes. A uniform magnetic field is one in which H has everywhere the same value and the same direction, the lines of force being, therefore, straight and parallel. A magnetic field is generally due either to a conductor carrying an electric current or to the poles of a magnet. The magnetic field due to a long straight wire in which a current of electricity is flowing is at every point at right angles to the plane passing through it and through the wire ”

“ Anything which, when illuminated by a source of white light, reflects all its various components equally and without absorbing a larger proportion of some than of others, appears white or grey. Between white and grey there is no essential difference except in luminosity, or brightness, that is to say, in the quantity of light reflected to the eye, or—to go a step further back—in the amplitude of the ether waves. Under different conditions of illumination any substance which reflects all the rays of the spectrum equally may appear either white or grey, or even black. ”

“ The ballistic method is largely employed for determining the relation of induction to magnetizing force in samples of the iron and steel used in the manufacture of electrical machinery, and especially for the observation of hysteresis effects. The sample may have the form of a closed ring, upon which are wound the induction coil and another coil for taking the magnetizing current; or it may consist of a long straight rod or wire which can be slipped into a magnetizing coil such as is used in magnetometric experiments, the induction coil being wound upon the middle of the wire. ”

“ In the red colour we have another striking example of an exceedingly common phenomenon which is habitually disregarded; indeed I can find no record of its ever having been noticed at all. The fact is that whenever a bright image is suddenly formed upon the retina after a period of comparative darkness, this image appears for a short time to be surrounded by a narrow coloured border, the colour, under ordinary conditions of illumination, being red. ”

“ Induction is an effect of the field of force associated with a magnet. Magnetic force has not merely the property of acting upon magnetic poles, it has the additional property of producing a phenomenon known as magnetic induction, or magnetic flux, a physical condition which is of the nature of a flow continuously circulating through the magnet and the space outside it. ”

“ It occurred to Sir Isaac Newton that although a single lens could never be free from chromatic aberration, yet it might be possible to arrange a so-called achromatic combination of lenses in such a manner as to overcome the defect and bring all the rays issuing from a point, whatever their refrangibility, to one focus. Experiments which he undertook for the purpose of testing the matter led him to form the conclusion that such a result could never be attained, the amount of colour dispersion in all substances being, as he stated, always exactly proportional to that of refraction. ”

“ Let a magnetic pole be drawn several times around a uniform steel ring, so that every part of the ring may be successively subjected to the magnetic force. If the operation has been skilfully performed the ring will have no poles and will not attract iron filings. Yet it will be magnetized; for if it is cut through and the cut ends are drawn apart, each end will be found to exhibit polarity. Again, a steel wire through which an electric current has been passed will be magnetized, but so long as it is free from stress it will give no evidence of magnetization ”

“ No fact in physics can be much more firmly established than that of the essential identity of light and electricity. It follows then that the displacements of the ether which constitute light-waves are not necessarily of the same gross mechanical nature as those which we see on the surface of water, or which occur in the air when sound is transmitted through it. The displacements which the ether undergoes are not mechanical—primarily at all events—but electrical. Every one knows what a simple mechanical displacement is. ”

“ The intensity (at any point) of the field due to the magnetization may be denoted by Hi, that of the external field by H0, and that of the resultant field by H. In certain cases, as, for instance, in an iron ring wrapped uniformly round with a coil of wire through which a current is passing, the induction is entirely within the metal; there are, consequently, no free poles, and the ring, though magnetized, constitutes a poleless magnet. Magnetization is usually regarded as the direct effect of the resultant magnetic force, which is therefore often termed the magnetizing force. ”

“ But it is not only in regard to lengths and distances that the law in question holds good; in most, if not all cases in which a psycho-optical estimate is possible, the mental standard is unstable and tends to assimilate itself, as regards the quality or condition to be estimated, to the entity in which the same is manifested. This is true, for example, in judging of an angle of inclination or slope; of a motion in space; of luminous intensity, or of the purity of a colour.
Every cyclist knows how difficult it is to form a correct judgment of the steepness of a hill by merely looking at it. ”

“ It is however easy to demonstrate by means of the compass that the force is much greater in some parts of the field than in others. Lay the compass upon the cardboard, and observe the rate at which its needle vibrates after being displaced from its position of equilibrium; this will vary greatly in different regions. When the compass is far from the magnet, the vibrations will be comparatively slow; when it is near a pole, they will be exceedingly rapid, the frequency of the vibrations varying as the square root of the magnetic force at the spot. ”

“ It is precisely because the hue called white is the one which is associated with the light of our sun that we regard whiteness as synonymous with absence of colour. We take sunlight as our standard of neutrality, and anything that reflects it without altering the proportions of its constituents we consider as being colourless. ”

“ The effects of pulling stress may be observed either when the wire is stretched by a constant load while the magnetizing force is varied, or when the magnetizing force is kept constant while the load is varied. In the latter case the first application of stress is always attended by an increase—often a very great one—of the magnetization, whether the field is weak or strong, but after a load has been put on and taken off several times the changes of magnetization become cyclic. ”

“ If a green glass is placed before the lens, the ghost will be at its best, and should be seen quite clearly and easily, provided that no attempt is made to follow it with the eyes. With an orange glass the ghost becomes less distinctly visible, and its colour generally appears to be greenish-blue, instead of violet as before. When a red glass is substituted, the ghost completely disappears. If the speed of rotation is sufficiently high, the red spot is considerably elongated during its revolution, and its colour ceases to be uniform, the tail assuming a light bluish-pink tint. ”

“ Even a permanent magnet is susceptible of induction, its polarity becoming thereby strengthened, weakened, or possibly reversed. If one pole of a strong magnet is presented to the like pole of a weaker one, there will be repulsion so long as the two are separated by a certain minimum distance. At shorter distances the magnetism induced in the weaker magnet will be stronger than its permanent magnetism, and there will be attraction; two magnets with their like poles in actual contact will always cling together unless the like poles are of exactly equal strength. ”

“ The two ends of the spectrum gradually fade away into darkness, and the point that I wish to insist upon and make perfectly clear is this:—The position of the boundaries terminating the visible spectrum does not depend upon anything whatever in the nature of light regarded as a physical phenomenon. Ether waves which are much longer and much shorter than those which illuminate the spectrum certainly exist, and evidence [Pg 14] of their existence is easily obtainable. But we cannot see them; they fall upon our eyes without exciting the faintest sensation of light. ”

“ A well-known example of hysteresis is presented by the case of permanent magnets. If a bar of hard steel is placed in a strong magnetic field, a certain intensity of magnetization is induced in the bar; but when the strength of the field is afterwards reduced to zero, the magnetization does not entirely disappear. That portion which is permanently retained, and which may amount to considerably more than one-half, is called the residual magnetization. The ratio of the residual magnetization to its previous maximum value measures the retentiveness, or retentivity, of the metal. ”

“ I find it impossible to focus a red object, such as the filament of an electric lamp screened by a properly selected deep red glass, when placed at the ordinary distance of distinct vision—some nine or ten inches from the eye—without the aid of a convex lens. In this case one is not too short-sighted but too long-sighted to see the object distinctly; in other words, the lenses of the eye cannot refract the red rays sufficiently to produce well-defined images upon the retina, and the refraction has to be increased by artificial means. ”

“ When the load on a hardened wire is gradually increased, the maximum value of I is found to correspond with a greater stress than when the load is gradually diminished, this being an effect of hysteresis. Analogous changes are observed in the residual magnetization which remains after the wire has been subjected to fields of different strength. The effects of longitudinal pressure are opposite to those of traction; when the cyclic condition has been reached, pressure reduces the magnetization of iron in weak fields and increases it in strong fields (Ewing, Magnetic Induction, 1900, 223) . ”

“ If a cardboard disk, which is painted in conspicuous black and white sectors is caused to rotate at a sufficiently high [Pg 170] speed, the divisions are completely lost sight of, and the whole surface appears to be of a uniformly grey hue. But if the rapidly rotating disk is illuminated by a properly timed series of electric flashes, it looks as if it were at rest, and in spite of the intermittent nature of the light, the black and white sectors can be seen quite continuously, though as a matter of fact the intervals of darkness are very much longer than those of illumination. ”

“ From experiments of both classes it appears that for a given field there is a certain value of the load for which the magnetization is a maximum, the maximum occurring at a smaller load the stronger the field. In very strong fields the maximum may even disappear altogether, the effect of the smallest stress being to diminish the magnetization; on the other hand, with very weak fields the maximum may not have been reached with the greatest load that the wire can support without permanent deformation. ”