ABSTRACT
Maxwell was successful in finding a mechanical representation of the electrotonic state, and of the electromagnetic field generally. He explained the model and its mathematical properties in a paper called 'On Physical Lines of Force', the title being taken from the paper by Faraday. In this paper Maxwell made his breakthrough to a new theory of electromagnetism, a theory which became the centre of all further research. Maxwell's mechanical model of the electromagnetic field is one of the most imaginative but least credible ever put forward. It is the only model of the ether which was able to unite static electricity, current electricity, inductive effects and magnetism. Each electrical and magnetic quantity is represented by a specific aspect of the mechanical model. The identification of vortex speed and magnetic intensity laid the foundation for the rest of the deduction. There was already a general theory of elasticity giving the velocity of transverse waves in a mechanism obeying Newton's laws.
