Heroes of Science: Physicists - Garnett William

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two classes of bodies, viz. electrics, or those which would attract light bodies when rubbed; and non-electrics, or those which could not be so excited. The first electric machine was constructed by Otto von Guericke, the inventor of the Magdeburg hemispheres, who mounted a ball of sulphur so that it could be made rapidly to rotate while it was excited by the friction of the hand. He observed the repulsion which generally follows the attraction of a light body by an electrified object after the two have come in contact. He also noticed that certain bodies placed near to electrified bodies possessed similar powers of attraction to those of the electrified bodies themselves. Newton replaced the sulphur globe of Otto von Guericke by a globe of glass. Stephen Gray discovered the conduction of electricity, in 1729, when he succeeded in transmitting a charge to a distance of 886 feet along a pack-thread suspended by silk strings so as to insulate it from the earth. Desaguliers showed that Gilbert's "electrics" were simply those bodies which could not conduct electricity, while all conductors were "non-electrics;" and Dufay showed that all bodies could be electrified by friction if supported on insulating stands. He also showed that there were two kinds of electrification, and called one vitreous, the other resinous. Gray, Hawksbee, and Dr. Wall all noticed the similarity between lightning and the electric discharge. The prime conductor was first added to the electric machine by Boze, of Wittenberg; and Winkler, of Leipsic, employed a cushion instead of the hand to produce friction against the glass. The accumulation of electricity in the Leyden jar was discovered accidentally by Cuneus, a pupil of Muschenbroeck, of Leyden, about 1745, while attempting to electrify water in a bottle held in his hand. A nail passed through the cork, by which the electricity was communicated to the water. On touching the nail after charging the water, he received the shock of the Leyden jar. This brings the history of electrical discovery down to the time of Franklin.

      

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      Robert Boyle was descended from a family who, in Saxon times, held land in the county of Hereford, and whose name in the Doomsday Book is written Biuvile. His father was Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, to whom the fortunes of the family were largely due. Richard Boyle was born in the city of Canterbury, October 3, 1566. He was educated at Bene't College (now Corpus Christi College), Cambridge, and afterwards became a member of the Middle Temple. Finding his means insufficient for the prosecution of his legal studies, he determined to seek his fortune abroad. In 1595 he married, at Limerick, one of the daughters of William Apsley, who brought him land of the value of £500 per annum. In his autobiography the Earl of Cork writes:—

      When first I arrived at Dublin, in Ireland, the 23rd of June 1588, all my wealth then was twenty-seven pounds three shillings in money, and two tokens which my mother had given me, viz. a diamond ring, which I have ever since and still do wear, and a bracelet of gold worth about ten pounds; a taffety doublet cut with and upon taffety, a pair of black velvet breeches laced, a new Milan fustian suit laced and cut upon taffety, two cloaks, competent linen, and necessaries, with my rapier and dagger. And since, the blessing of God, whose heavenly providence guided me hither, hath enriched my weak estate, in beginning with such a fortune, as I need not envy any of my neighbours, and added no care or burthen of my conscience thereunto. And the 23rd of June, 1632, I have served my God, Queen Elizabeth, King James, and King Charles, full forty-four years, and so long after as it shall please God to enable me.

      Richard Boyle's property in Ireland increased so rapidly that he was accused to Queen Elizabeth of receiving pay from some foreign power. When about to visit England in order to clear himself of this charge, the rebellion in Munster broke out; his lands were wasted, and his income for the time destroyed. Reaching London, he returned to his old chambers in the Middle Temple, until he entered the service of the Earl of Essex, to whom the government of Ireland had been entrusted. The charges against him were then resumed, and he was made a prisoner, and kept in confinement until the Earl of Essex had gone over to Ireland. At length he obtained a hearing before the queen, who fully acquitted him of the charges, gave him her hand to kiss, and promised to employ him in her own service; at the same time she dismissed Sir Henry Wallop, who was Treasurer for Ireland, and prominent among Boyle's accusers, from his office.

      A few days afterwards, Richard Boyle was appointed by the queen Clerk to the Council of Munster, and having purchased a ship of Sir Walter Raleigh, he returned to Ireland with ammunition and provisions.

      "Then, as Clerk of the Council, I attended the Lord President in all his employments, and waited upon him at the siege of Kingsale, and was employed by his Lordship to her Majesty, with the news of that happy victory; in which employment I made a speedy expedition to the court; for I left my Lord President at Shannon Castle, near Corke, on the Monday morning, about two of the clock, and the next day, being Tuesday, I delivered my packet, and supped with Sir Robert Cecil, being then principal Secretary of State, at his house in the Strand; who, after supper, held me in discourse till two of the clock in the morning; and by seven that morning called upon me to attend him to the court, where he presented me to her Majesty in her bed-chamber, who remembered me, calling me by my name, and giving me her hand to kiss, telling me that she was glad that I was the happy man to bring the first news of that glorious victory ... and so I was dismissed with grace and favour."

      In reading of this journey from Cork to London, it is almost necessary to be reminded that it took place two hundred and fifty years before the introduction of steam-boats and railways. At the close of the rebellion, Richard Boyle purchased from Sir Walter Raleigh all his lands in Munster; and on July 25, 1603, he married his second wife, Catharine, the only daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, principal Secretary of State, and Privy Councillor in Ireland, "with whom I never demanded any marriage portion, neither promise of any, it not being in my consideration; yet her father, after my marriage, gave me one thousand pounds in gold with her. But that gift of his daughter unto me I must ever thankfully acknowledge as the crown of all my blessings; for she was a most religious, virtuous, loving, and obedient wife unto me all the days of her life." He was knighted by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir George Carew, on his wedding-day; was sworn Privy Councillor of State of the Kingdom of Ireland in 1612; created Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghall, September 29, 1616; Lord Viscount of Dungarvon and Earl of Cork, October 26, 1620; one of the Lords Justices of Ireland, with a salary of £1200 per annum, in 1629; and Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, November 9, 1631.

      Robert Boyle, the seventh son of the Earl of Cork, was born January 25, 1627. His mother died February 16, 1630. The earl lived in prosperity in Ireland till the breaking out of the rebellion in 1641, and died at Youghall in September, 1643. It is said that when Cromwell saw the vast improvements which the earl had made on his estate in Munster, he declared that "if there had been an Earl of Cork in every province, it would have been impossible for the Irish to have raised a rebellion."

      At a very early age Robert was sent by his father to a country nurse, "who, by early inuring him, by slow degrees, to a coarse but cleanly diet, and to the usual passion of the air, gave him so vigorous a complexion that both hardships were made easy to him by custom, and the delights of conveniences and ease were endeared to him by their rarity." Making the acquaintance of some children who stuttered in their speech, he, by imitation, acquired the same habit, "so contagious and catching are men's faults, and so dangerous is the familiar commerce of those condemnable customs, that, being imitated but in jest, come to be learned and acquired in earnest." Before going to school he studied French and Latin, and showed considerable aptitude for scholarship. He was then sent to Eton, where his master took much notice of him, and "would sometimes give him unasked play-days, and oft bestow upon him such balls and tops and other implements of idleness as he had taken away from others that had unduly used them."

      While at school, in the early morning, a part of the wall of the bedroom, with the bed, chairs, books, and furniture of the room above, fell on him and his brother. "His brother had his band torn about his neck, and his coat upon his back, and his chair crushed

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