Henry Holland to Faraday   1856 or after

Brook Street Thursday

My dear Sir,

Our short conversation of this afternoon emboldens me (though perhaps wrongly) to copy a few lines in which I once put down my stray ideas on the subject.

“May not Force, generally, be best conceived & expressed, as action taking place (irrespectively of its cause) in definite lines direction, through, & by means of a molecular medium pervading all space?

“The exquisite tenuity of such medium, instead of being an objection, is almost essential to our conception of such actions or forces propagated by it - of this penetration through the denser forms of matter - & of their mutual convertibility.”

“The phrases of Currents or Streams, useful for explanation, are injurious in conveying the idea of translation of matter, instead of translation of action or Power.

“Can gravitation ever be brought under a law of molecular transmission?

I should not have committed the impertinence of transcribing & sending these crude notes, had they not seemed to have some slight relation to your larger & more philosophical views on this deeply interesting subject - And even at this last moment I have scruple in occupying a minute of your time with them.

Ever, my dear Sir, yours faithfully | H. Holland


Watermark: 1856

Please cite as “Faraday4677u,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 28 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday4677u