as the son of a Yorkshire blacksmith, and was born
in London on September 22, 1791. At the age of twenty he became
assistant to Sir Humphry Davy, whose lectures he had attended at
the Royal Institution. Here he worked for the rest of his laborious
life, which closed on August 25, 1867. The fame of Faraday, among
those whose studies qualify them for a verdict, has risen steadily
since his death, great though it then was. His researches were of
truly epoch-making character, and he was the undisputed founder of
the modern science of electricity, which is rapidly coming to
dominate chemistry itself. Faraday excelled as a lecturer, and
could stand even the supreme test of lecturing to children.
Faraday's "Experimental Researches in Electricity" is a record of
some of the most brilliant experiments in the history of science.
In the course of his investigations he made discoveries which have
had momentous consequences. His discovery of the mutual relation of
magnets and of wires conducting electric currents was the beginning
of the modern dynamo and all that it involves; while his
discoveries of electric induction and of electrolysis were of equal
significance. Most of the researches are too technical for
epitomisation; but those given are representative of his manner and
methods.

_I.--Atmospheric Magnetism_

It is to me an impossible thing to perceive that two-ninths of the
atmosphere by weight is a highly magnetic body, subject to great changes
in its magnetic character, by variations in its temperature and
condensation or rarefaction, without being persuaded that it has much to
do with the variable disposition of the magnetic forces upon the surface
of the earth.

The earth is a spheroidal body consisting of paramagnetic and
diamagnetic substances irregularly disposed and intermingled; but for
the present the whole may be considered a mighty compound magnet. The
magnetic force of this great magnet is known to us only on the surface
of the earth and water of our planet, and the variations in the magnetic
lines of force which pass in or across this surface can be measured by
their action on small standard magnets; but these variations are limited
in their information, and do not tell us whether the cause is in the air
above or the earth beneath.

The lines of force issue from the earth in the northern and southern
parts