The Real Nature of the Electric Fluid, Explained and Illustrated by Numerous Facts ; and also, a Cause assigned for the Polarity of the Magnet

Morrisville: J. & E. Norton, 1840. First Edition. Wraps. Good. First Edition. 16 pages. Extracted from a bound volume of other works. A separate wrapper, if issued, is not present here. Remnants of glue at spine, light overall soiling. Wraps. OCLC notes eleven copies as of this writing. Rare Book Hub indicates Lathrop Harper had a copy in 1976 (for 125!!) with entry "A strictly scientific attempt to explain electricity, lightning, thunder as well as terrestrial magnetism. Not in Wheeler Gift, nor is the author listed in Mottelay or in the Dict. of Amer. Biogr. The only reference to him is found in Sabin 27574, listing a poem by Dr. James Glenn of New York."

We've been able to ascertain that James Glenn was of Pratt's Hollow, Madison Co, N.Y. and was a corresponding member of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science where he donated books, submitted occasional manuscripts (including one on Light) and donated his works (this title and the subsequent later edition in 1844 which included another work). Beyond that he seems to have had little visibility in the scientific world. Nonetheless for people interested in the evolution of thought in this area, the paper includes views that might be of some interest.