It will be well to keep clearly in mind that an electron is a real particle of negative electricity.
Electrons have been discovered only within recent years.
No matter from what substances we take them, they are always identical in every respect.
Some electrons are attached to the atoms of matter in such a way that they may be removed easily from one object to another.
When a surplus of these detachable electrons is crowded on to any object, we say that it is charged with negative electricity.
We speak of the other object, which has lost these same electrons, as being charged with positive electricity.
In this chapter the electron refers to the old-world experiment in which a piece of amber when rubbed attracts any light object to it.
For many ages man believed this to be a special property belonging to amber alone.
One of Queen Elizabeth's physicians discovered that this property was common to all substances.
It is most amusing to me and my fellow-electrons to hear intelligent people speak of us as though we were new arrivals on this planet. Dear me! We were here for countless ages before man put in an appearance. I wonder if any man can realise that we have been on the move ever since the foundations of this world were laid. It is man himself who is the new arrival.
It does seem strange to us that men should be so distinctly different from one another. We electrons are at a decided disadvantage, for we are all identical in every respect. I have no individual name--it would serve no purpose. Even if you could see me, you could not distinguish me from any other electron. I wonder sometimes if men appreciate the great advantage they have in possessing individual names. I was impressed with this thought one fine summer morning. While I was riding on the back of a particle of gas in the atmosphere, I was carried through the open window of a nursery just as the under-nurse was putting the room in order. A little later there was some commotion in the nursery, for the young mother and her mother had come to see the twin daughters being bathed by the nurses. The grandmother happened to remark how very much alike the two little infants were. She said laughingly to the head nurse that she must be careful not to get the children mixed. But the big brother, aged five years, remarked that it would not matter really how much they were mixed until they got their names. Sometimes I wish we electrons did differ from one another, so that we might each possess an individual name, but no doubt it is necessary for us all to be exactly alike.