I really don't think that there is an ether either, it was a joke, that you were supposed to get. That Robert Boyle actually thought, that mass was not conserved in gas expansion, and you can say that even easier, when you have gasses coming from electrochemical sources. This ether, is what most scientist believed in. You can say that mass is not conserved, even easier, if you are detecting the gas with your nose. And you were also supposed to get the joke about the irish current. That people cant define Irish, because the english school system defined the word anglo-irish, and the english school system also defined the word electron, and current. It says in basic electricity, NAVPERS, that the total force, that will KILL YOU is not the voltage but the CURRENT. So the total EMF is the CURRENT. and Farday said that the decay in the battery is propotional to the VOLTAGE READING. So the total emf is the current, and the loss of power is from the voltage. and if you dont believe me, get a low voltage source, and put it so it has lots of current, and go kill yourself. Those were two jokes, that you did pick up. Laugh haha funny.