ALL MATTER, PONDERABLE AND LMPONDERABLE. 291 



and matter without tlicse forcos is a, pure alistraction. If there were but a sing'le 

 atom in the universe, it wouhl always remain identical with itself; hut the tend- 

 ency of each atom to maintain its original activity is continually c^juntervailed 

 by the action of other atoms and the undulations of the ether. We are hence 

 forced to admit that inertia and activiti/ are two facts inseparable from matter. 

 We all know that in bodies which revolve upon an axis, inertia is manifested by 

 a tendency of the particles to withdraw from that axis, a tendency which varies 

 in intensity with the velocity of the rotation. We may ecpuiUy admit that in 

 the uiolecular ij;Touj)s which constitute bodies, the force antagonistic to molecular 

 gravitation is nothing else than the centrifugal force due to a rotary movement 

 of each of the molecules around the centre of gravity of the group, and variable 

 with the velocity of the molecules themselv'cs, a velocity which is ])roportional 

 to their temjierature. 



Singe heat generates electricity, either directly or indirectly, and electricity 

 heat ; since all other forces are transformed amcmg themselves and are resolved 

 into different forms of movement, we must thence necessarily conclude that any 

 })henomena whatsoever can only j)t'OCt'cd from the varied evolutions of the pritnor- 

 diaJ force which the Creator has given to matter, of tchich it is the active and insepa- 

 rabte pjrinciplc ; as to the nature of that force it will, perhaps, always be hiddeu 

 to the humaui ntellect. 



