Quaternion Physics

Maxwell says:

“The proposed Theory seeks for the origin of
electromagnetic effects in the medium surrounding the electric or
magnetic bodies … The properties attributed to the medium in
order to explain the propagation of light are -

1st. That the motion of one part communicates motion to the
parts in its neighborhood.

2nd. That this communication is ot instantaneous but
progressive, and depends on the elasticity of the medium as
compared with its density.

The kind of motion attributed to the medium when transmitting
light is that called transverse vibration. An elastic medium
capable of such motions must be also capable of a vast variety of
other motions, and its elasticity may be called into play in other
ways, some of which may be discoverable by their effects. …

… if we look for the explanation of the force of gravitation
in the action of a surrounding medium, the constitution of the
medium must be such that, when far from the presence of gross
matter, it has immense intrinsic energy, part of which is removed
from it wherever we find the signs of gravitating force. …

… The equations of this paper … show that transverse
disturbances, and transverse disturbances only, will be propagated
through the field, and that the number which expresses the
velocity of propagation must be the same as that which expresses
the number of electrostatic units units of electricity in one
electromagnetic unit, the standards of space and time being the
same. … …the … theory … restores the medium
[luminiferous ether] … and certifies that the vibrations
are transverse, and that the velocity is that of light. With
regard to normal [longitudinal] vibrations, the
electromagnetic theory does not allow of their transmission.
…”.

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