3 o2 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the radiant energy absorbed performs work upon the ether, presumably 

 the generation of minute ethereal vortex-rings — the elementary par- 

 ticles from which electrons are derived, or possibly the positive and 

 negative electrons themselves out of which the atoms are formed. 

 From associations of electrons to atoms, from atoms to molecules, from 

 molecules to the first tiny beginnings of a cosmical crystalline subli- 

 mate, there is a continual progression and increase of size. Finally, 

 this widely dispersed material must be gathered from the immense 

 voids of space into the germs of future worlds, and for this task the 

 meteorites appear to be the appointed instruments. 



A process which goes on forever in one direction is inconceivable. 

 For every swing of the pendulum there must be a counter swing. If 

 atoms have been built up by the action of light, they can be torn apart, 

 and the energy of their formation will be once more set free. We may 

 assume that a certain proportion of the atoms disintegrate, a very mi- 

 nute proportion ordinarily in planetary bodies, but a much larger one 

 under solar conditions. The following facts suggest a relation : ( 1 ) The 

 known radioactive elements disintegrate with the production of helium, 

 and the evolution of enormous thermal energy. (2) The stars which 

 are, at least externally, the hottest, since they have effective tempera- 

 tures which have been rated in a few cases as high as 40,000° C, are 

 surrounded by extensive atmospheres of helium. These relations favor 

 the hypothesis that the helium stars contain an exceptional amount of 

 peculiarly unstable elements, and owe their high temperature to the heat 

 set free in the gradual elimination and destruction of these substances. 

 The energy of formation of the atoms is being slowly dissipated as radia- 

 tion from the stars, but is eventually reabsorbed by the ether, and is 

 thus restored to the material phase of its existence by the formation of 

 new atoms. 



A plausible inference may be formed from the behavior of radium. 

 In 1,000 years, 4 grams of radium will have been nearly one third 

 transformed into other forms of matter of less intrinsic energy, the 

 radium being reduced to about 2.8 grams. During this interval of. 

 time, the four grams of radium will have emitted, according to Euther- 

 ford's measurement of the annual production of heat from radium, 

 (4.0 + 2.8) x 876?000 x lj0 00 = 3.0 X (10) 9 



gram-calories of heat. This is, of course, only a first approximation. 

 The progression is not strictly linear. Since the gram of substance 

 transformed has not, in this case, been annihilated as matter, but has 

 simply been transmuted into other forms of matter, the 3 X (10) 9 

 gram-calories of thermal energy do not represent the total mass-energy 

 of the gram of matter, but only that portion of the mass -energy which 

 has been lost in this partial transformation. If we suppose that the 

 total original energy is 1,000 times as much as that which has been lost 



