SPECULATION'S ON THE NATURE OF MATTER. 797 



ty due to an ethereal origin for the components, that many hundreds 

 of revolutions must occur for each transverse oscillation or elliptical 

 deformation. 



In its passage through other disk-atoms in equilibrium which are 

 in harmonic tension with the vibrating ray (and therefore not diatber- 

 mal or transparent), I conceive that tbe vibratory ray is able to invert 

 the process and agitate the diaphragm of stress of the system, as a 

 fish-line does the surface of a pool ; thus setting up an inverse com- 

 motion and vibration of orbits due to accession of motion, accounting: 

 for the effects of reflexion, tbe absorption and conversion of light into 

 sensible heat, and the chemical and actinic and electrolytic effects ob- 

 served. The diverse nature of some of these effects may be due to 

 the extremely diverse character of the vibrations, both of the disks 

 and of the rays ; e. g., the polar ray, which would have a pulsatory 

 vibration. 



The primitive gas would not, any more than our own elementary 

 gases, experience any difficulty in holding its own, and maintaining 

 equilibrium forever, under any ordinary state of diffusion, by reason 

 of its perfect elasticity. But with emerging matter, or crippled ether, 

 among other properties gravity becomes apparent ; and though hardly 

 sensible, at first, yet within the enormous cosmical aggregations of this 

 novel drift, pressure and condensation would ensue at some point so 

 great that in the absolute cool of space the critical point of endurance 

 would be overcome, and some molecular systems would cripple and 

 collapse, with the resultant liberation of their motion and clashing and 

 agitation of the neighboring systems known as rise of temperature. 

 The falling in of others would follow and increase the commotion, 

 causing local expansion, and currents to a region of less pressure 

 sometimes, no doubt, with enough velocity to carry them entirely into 

 free space, and beyond the control of the system. 



It would be futile to attempt here to follow out all the complex 

 consequences of this initiated evolution, but it is clear tbat tbe temper- 

 ature of the whole aggregation must rise until, at the outer boundary, 

 where alone the liberated energy was able finally to escape, the tem- 

 perature must stand constantly at the heat of dissociation of the par- 

 ticular element or elements being evolved at any stage of develop- 

 ment. But radiation would proceed only at the rate allowable by the 

 nature of the combinations going on at a specified stage, though it 

 would be practically constant for long periods, as the supply of motion 

 could be extricated. The aggregation could not become a simple cool- 

 ing body wbile molecular mobility remained. 



Amid all this commotion and lavish escape of energy on the wings 

 of tbe ether, not one particle of matter is lost. It can not recover its 

 linear motion. It joins in the dance that is going on, and contributes 

 to swell the molecular weight of whatever system of molecules is being 

 evolved at that particular stage of development. 



