Eye of the Raven (48 page)

Seismic shifts too were underway in European science, as dramatically reflected in the rise of electricity as a field of scholarly study. Inspired by the work of Benjamin Franklin as much as by advances in England, France and Germany, electrical devices of the types described in these pages were indeed being used for experimentation and even medical treatment by the mid-18th century. Franklin reported that his life was forever changed by the gift of an "electrical" glass tube in 1746, and his years of research that followed resulted in a number of important discoveries-including the existence of positive and negative particles-that had a lasting effect on Philadelphia's burgeoning community of scientists.

While Scots certainly played a role in science-and Duncan McCallum's own training reflects the preeminent role of Scotland in the medical science of the day-it is the Scottish connection to native Americans that drives the central characters in this book. Doubtlessly a shared martial tradition and a common generosity of spirit contributed to this link, but ultimately that connection is one of those fascinating quirks of history that cannot be fully explained and perhaps can only be fully appreciated in retrospect. Scots adapted and integrated into cultures all over the globe-the wandering Scot was a fixture in many countries even in medieval times-but the link between the Scots and the woodland Indians of America is unique in history. While it began among the northeastern tribes when Highland troops and Iroquois served together in the French and Indian War, a Highlander born on the shores of Loch Ness, Lochlan MacGillivray, became the leader of the southern Creek nation, the chieftain of the Indians who decades later waged a bloody campaign against Andrew Jackson was a red-haired Scottish warrior named Weatherford, and John Ross, the revered chieftain of the Cherokee who led his people for thirty-eight years, was seven-eighths Scottish by blood.

Ross led his tribe on the infamous Trail of Tears, marking the final chapter in the destruction of the woodland Indians' way of life. That process was very much in its opening chapters in 1760, and real life heroes did indeed struggle to forestall it, though soon the chieftains would look back in disbelief at the violent transformation in relations with the Europeans. Some were no doubt present in 1763 to sift through the ruins when twenty peaceful Christian Indians were massacred at Conestoga, Pennsylvania by a mob of settlers. In the ashes of the burnt buildings was found one of the original treaties signed by William Penn, its words still legible, including the promises that both people would live "with One Hand and One Heart," and that the settlers would for all time "shew themselves true Friends and Brothers to all and every one of ye Indians."

Early in 1746 the first true electrical capacitor capable of storing an electrical charge is developed at Leyden University using a glass jar with metallic wrapping, water, and metal terminals. The Leyden jar becomes a platform for extensive experimentation with electrical fluid, or electricity, in Europe and America. Upon the gift of an "electrical tube" this same year, Benjamin Franklin sets aside his commercial pursuits and dedicates several years to scientific study, most of it focused on electricity, during which he discovered positive and negative charges and invented the lightning rod. During these years Franklin also ventured into electrotherapy, exploring the use of electrical charges to treat a wide range of medical maladies.