2026-10-08 — Thomas A. Edison Papers (Rutgers)

URL: https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/chronology/1871-1880 (Chrome; find used). - Nov. 1875: "Notices phenomena he ascribes to 'etheric force' while working with acoustic-telegraph apparatus ..." - July 1876 (24 July): "Conducts etheric force experiments in response to published criticisms by Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston." [web] Related, seen in search results only: Wikipedia "Etheric force" (sceptics led by James Ashley of the Telegrapher, Thomson and Houston; Beard's "apolic force"; Beard, "The Nature of the Newly Discovered Force", Scientific American 22 Jan 1876) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etheric_force ; ETHW https://ethw.org/Etheric_Force ; Ian Wills, "Edison and science: a curious result", Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (2009), and "Edison, Science and Artefacts" (PhilSci-Archive 2007). Bearing: priority 3/4 — Edison's 1875 sparks from an interrupted electromagnet are the closest related work; Houston claimed in Jan 1876 that his 1871 note had already described them. Edison's lab notebooks of July 1876 are the record of his reply. Result: positive. Recheck: yes (Edison Papers digital edition documents on etheric force, e.g. Docs. 680, 690 cited by Project MUSE).