It was Gauss who first
based the practical measurement of magnetic force (and therefore of
every other force) on those long established principles, which, though
they are embodied in every dynamical equation, have been so generally
set aside, that these very equations, though correctly given in our
Cambridge textbooks, are usually explained there by assuming, in
addition to the variable standard of force, a variable, and therefore
illegal, standard of mass.
Such, then, were some of the scientific results which followed in this
case from bringing together mathematical power, experimental sagacity,
and manipulative skill, to direct and assist the labours of a body of
zealous observers. If therefore we desire, for our own advantage and
for the honour of our University, that the Devonshire Laboratory
should be successful, we must endeavour to maintain it in living union
with the other organs and faculties of our learned body. We shall
therefore first consider the relation in which we stand to those
mathematical studies which have so long flourished among us, which
deal with our own subjects, and which differ from our experimental
studies only in the mode in which they are presented to the mind.
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