Using thermodynamics as an analogy, an ‘‘electricity machine’’ is constructed and analyzed. This machine runs through a ‘‘Carnot’’ cycle. The analysis leads to the construction of a ‘‘new’’ quantity called ‘‘reduced electricity’’ (charge). The example shows what life in electrodynamics would be without the substancelike quantity which we call electrical charge. (This state of affairs is accepted in thermodynamics.) Imagine the development of the theory of electricity had fallen into the hands of the thermodynamicists. As fairy and other tales go, they have an air of surrealism surrounding them.