The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-04-17
Electrical ,y---Eartfiqualtcs-'.
What they Arc and How they May Ec
Controlled.

Controlled.
EHit0r San Francisco Chronicle:
Thanks to the indonltable labors of Myer,
navev, Farraday, Grove, Hclmholst, and the
long list of patient workers whose laborS
have she'd lustre upon science and glory upon
the nineteenth century, we have been taught
tie great lesson that all the phases and con-
difious of matter are correiatlve, merely VII
iyiny and changing their forms pelpettrlly
through the three appreciable substances
known ;s gas. liquid and solid, and that the
c!eat moter and sulf Of this eternal motion
and combination is electricity.
| have neither the time nor tic space here
f.: olucid,te the known laws oi correlation
Of natural forces. Suffice ii 10 state that Il
il is now we'll established that heat, light.
cold, and magnetic attraction, Tfc all the
mere effects or resutants of electrical action.
Heat, for instance, is always intense IN exact
ratio to the amount Of action going forward
in the atoms of bodies, and the intensity OF
cold is precisely proportioned to the degree
Of inactivity in the atoms of bodies.
1t il now known that electric currents as
s111nr the greatest degree of activity at or
Itc,r the surface of bodies, and that bodies
having flow Of electricity upon their sur
faces are magnetic, and will attract other
substances. Hence large bodies attract
smaller ones because the former present Il
greater degree OF electric or magnetic az
tiyity upon their surfaces.
We know that river OF electricity is for
ever flowing over and through the earth's
belt from north to south, and therefore the
earth becomes a powerful and constant mag
net, attracting all smaller bodies toward its
surface or point of elettrical activity. The
perpetual flow of electricity over the earth is
detected by the mariners needle, whlch
always points towards the Afetac circle (of
source of the electrical current) lr'e'cry latl-
tude on the globe. All electrified Or mag
netized bodies present q pecuiiarlty kiSWh Us
pctnrity, the precise reasons Tor when RYE hoI
fully understood 1t Is known, however,
that what is'termed the positive pole of ore
magnet has natural affinity for and is always
attracted by the negative pole of another mag
net.
It ia also known that two p0SitiveS or two
negatives will repel each other. Another
Notable CHARACTERISTIC OF magnets ~ that when
Il positi4e and negative are brought in con-
tact they af $rst naturally attract each other,
but subsequently, repel each other. This is
doubtless owing to She law of equalization
of forces, for nature III MI her movements
and transitions is forever sesking bat never
attaining perfect equilibrium.
Now, if + have succeeded in nissiag my
self clear upon the laws OF attraction ano' re-
rusion in magnets, and upon the effects OF
electrical action upon the surface OF bodies,
can readily explain the cause OF an earth
quake.
The sun is positive magnet. The earth
is negatively charged. By reason of the pre-
sent position of the earth's orbit in the heal
yens, the suns SUPERIOR attractive energy is
upon the southern llaff Of the globe; hence,
ali the deep seas are mainly "pilcd up"
about the South Pole The attraction of the
positive sun upon the negative electricity OF
the earth causes a perpetual how from the
Arctic to the Antarctic circle. The electr-
city of the earth is endeavOring TO reach the
sun; but instead of doing so, it obeys the
law of equalization. In other Words, II u.s.
suInes the same positive condition as the sun,
and'is repelled and driven back toward the
north Upor being repealed, it becomes posi-
tive; and Is il cannot return over or through
the neeatively-cliaalesd earth, it rises to high
region above the clouaS! and performs the
So. abrve the insulating atmosphere: 1t
ellcluy in mind that dry atmosphere
mus. NC ond,u.,, of electricity, and were II
,ss t nUn r,ads and pors hoatinsi in between
ih ns ' ueatvey earth "na t RUs ps
current above, we shoul.., electrical dis
nomena Of lightning or oth.. re rood con-
turlances. Vapors and clouds T. & the sky
duetors. and when they appear l. N be-
readily furnish means of equalizati.
tween the two great electrical streams
The slopes Of the Sierra Neyadas are mace
up of u series of mineral belts, In all OF when
iron predominates. Iron is the best known
conductor of electricity, and therefore, durifIg
our long, dry summers, our mineral veins
become vast reservoirs Of pent-up negative
electricity.
There Is no moisture or clouds in the air,
and no chance for equalization with the air
current; and it IL therefore not surprising
that the shock should be terrific when ut
length the imprisoned forces rush together.
Clouds are the aerial bridges upon which the
liehtnings and storms ind ready passage to
the trembling planet. Careful observers have
long since noted the significant fact that Cali
fornia tremblers nearly always occur in au-
tumn, about the time the rainy season sets in,
and after protracted dry summer. Some
times they occur about the commencement Of
the late spring rains, especially il the weather