6o 



ORGANIC FUNCTIONING 



is always the same. They are imagined as being analogous to 

 the visible waves in water and they are sometimes said to be 

 *' transmitted " by the ether of space. All this is a convenient 

 way of speaking about radiation, but it is only a convenient 

 fiction. 



Most physical systems have fields of force round about them 

 and extending to an indefinite distance. This just means that 

 such physical things are wherever they can be detected because 



Fig. 1 8. — Diagram showing Variations in the Intensity at a Point in 



A Field of Force. 



we do not now postulate an ether of space in which radiant 

 energy is propagated. When the physical thing oscillates the 

 field of force surrounding it also oscillates. 



19. ON THE MODES OF ENERGY 

 It will be convenient, for the purpose of exposition, to regard 

 energy as existent in three " modes " : 



iga. As Bound Energy. This is the energy of protons and 

 electrons that are so assembled as to form the atoms of permanent 

 matter. In our present experience it is impossible, by any means, 

 to cause these atoms to break up, or disintegrate, so that the 

 energy that holds the protons and electrons together may become 

 free. (It is possible to break up a nitrogen atom, say, by 



