When Sir James Malcolm was in Persia, on his first expedition, an
electrifying machine which he took with him was one of the chief means
of astonishing his Persian friends; and with its effects he surprised
and alarmed all, from majesty itself to the lowest peasant.
At Isfahan, all were delighted with the electric machine, except one
renowned doctor and lecturer of the college, who, envious of the
popularity gained by this display of superior science, contended
publicly that the effects produced were moral, not physical; that it was
the mummery the Europeans practised, and the state of the nervous
agitation they excited, which produced an ideal shock; but he expressed
his conviction that a man of true firmness of mind would stand unmoved
by all that could be produced out of the _glass bottle_, as he
scoffingly termed the machine. He was invited to the next experiment,
the day arrived, and he came accordingly.
This doctor was called "Red-stockings," from his usually wearing scarlet
hose. He was, notwithstanding his learning and reputed science, often
made an object of mirth in the circles of the great and wealthy at
Isfahan, to whom he furnished constant amusement, from the pertinacity
with which he maintained his dogmas.
Hence, "Red-stockings," with all his philosophy, was not overwise.
Nevertheless, he maintained his ground in the first society, by means
common in Persia, as in other countries: he was, in fact, a little of
the fool,[5] and not too much of the honest. This impression of his
character, combined with his presumption, made Sir John Malcolm and his
party less scrupulous in their preparations to render him an example for
all who might hereafter doubt the effects of their boasted electricity;
indeed, their Persian visitors seemed anxious that the effect should be
such as to satisfy the man that had dared them to the trial--that it was
physical, not moral.
The philosopher, notwithstanding various warnings, came boldly up, and
took hold of the chain with both hands, planted his feet firmly, shut
his teeth, and evidently called forth all his resolution to resist the
shock. It was given; and poor "Red-stockings" dropped on the floor, as
if he had been shot. There was a momentary alarm; but, on his almost
instant recovery, and it being explained that the effect had been
increased by the determination to resist it, all gave way to one burst
of laughter. The good-natured philosopher took no offence. He muttered
something about the reaction of the feelings after being overstrained,
but admitted there was more in the glass bottle than he had anticipated.
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Footnote 5:
"_Poco di matto_" is deemed by the Italians an essential quality in a
great man's companion.
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HOW TO MEASURE THE SHOCK OF AN
EARTHQUAKE.
Dr. Buckland relates that in certain places liable to earthquakes, their
extent has been measured by _bowls of treacle_, the inclination of the
treacle in the bowl showing the quantum of shock; and elsewhere (by a
watchmaker) in Scotland, by placing a clock against each of the four
walls of an apartment, and marking the centre of the disk of the
pendulum with chalk: when the shock took place, the derangement caused
the pendulum to strike against the back and front of the clock-case,
when, of course, a mark would be left indicative of the phenomenon,
though not of its amount.
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