1822.] 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
SIMPLE EXPERIMENTS and FACTS, in 
CORROBORATION of the NEW PRINCI- 
PLES of NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, which 
at different times have been promul- 
gated in the MONTHLY MAGAZINE. > 
1, OWL a ball in a right line full 
against another. ball, and the 
moving ball, on striking the other, will 
stand still; while that which was at 
rest will moye forward in the same 
direction: proving that the force, mo- 
mentum, power, and motion, received 
from the head by the first ball has been 
transferred to the other ball, such 
transfer being the cause of one stand- 
ing still, and of the other moving. 
2. Bowl a hard ball against another 
ball of half-baked clay and sand, and 
the collision will separate the clay ball 
into fragments ; whilst each fragment 
will acquire motion according to its 
form and bulk: proving that the mo- 
tion of the hard ball has been transfer- 
red to the parts of the other, and that 
breaking in pieces is the transfer and 
reception of motion, the communicated 
force being greater than the mecha- 
nical adhesion of the mass. 
_ 8. Lay a tile on a stone or smith’s 
anvil, and. strike it with a hammer, 
and it will diverge on all sides, the 
motion of the hammer being transfer- 
red to the several parts which exhibit 
its motion, the impulse of the hammer 
being .at the same time greater than 
the adhesion of the atoms of the tile. 
4. Lay a piece of iron or a nail on 
an anvil, and strike it with a hammer, 
and .no. dispersion will take place, 
though the motion of the hammer is 
transferred just as it was to the tile: 
yet the momentum of the hammer is 
not lost; on the contrary, it is commu- 
nicated to the nail, and acquired by 
certain insensible atoms of the nail, 
which in consequence radiate with 
velocities inversely, as the quantities 
of matter in the atoms moved, and in 
the hammer; or as the billions, or 
millions of millions of atoms in the 
hammer to those moved in the nail. 
This radiation of atoms affects the 
animal nerves with the sensation call- 
ed HEAT; and in their dispersion they 
involve the atoms of volatile bodies 
on or near the iron ornail, and expand 
and raise the thermometer. The ex- 
cited atoms of the nail radiate there- 
fore with velocities of millions of miles 
per minute ; but, radiating into spaces 
already filled with atoms, they are de- 
flected again and again, till they are 
Montuty Mae. No. 374. 
Experiments illustrative of the New Philosophy. 
297 
turned into circles of individual rota- 
tion, and then they will continue re- 
volving till their motions are actually 
imparted to other atoms, or are divided 
with them. 
5, Strike the same nail five or six 
blows in quick succession, and the 
radiating atoms will be so increased 
in number and. accelerated in velo- 
city, as to disperse the moisture of 
the cuticle of a finger brought in con- 
tact, or, in vulgar language, burn it. 
The same radiating atoms will also 
disperse the atoms of a drop of water 
laid on the nail, into gas, and will con- 
vert other bodies and fluids into other 
gases. They will also communicate 
so intense a motion to the hydroge- 
nous atoms of any unctuous bodies 
brought in contact, as to disperse 
them on every side, and produce the 
phenomena of flame and light; and 
also decompose the nearest sphere of 
air, during which dispersion and de- 
composition, the oxygen of the air is 
left in combination with the carbon of 
the unctuous substance, forming an 
oxide; and a. continued fixation of 
oxygen thus excited will maintain the 
flame or evolution of hydrogen and 
nitrogen, as long as the unctuous sub- 
stance affords a supply or excess of 
hydrogen, flame and light arising from 
an intense motion imparted to certain 
gasses, which in consequence radiate. 
6. Bowl a ball on a smooth surface, 
and it will move a certain distance ; 
bow] it on a rough surface, and it will 
move over only part of that distance ; 
bowl it over a rougher surface, and 
the distance will be more diminished: 
the cause of the diminution is called 
friction, and has been ascribed toa 
quality or vibration of surfaces; but it 
is truly caused by the parting with 
motion, for the increased roughness 
consists merely in increased obstruec- 
tions, the atoms of which receive the 
motion, and are diffused around by 
the transfer, creating heat, &c, 
7. Increase the mass of the ball; 
%. e, increase its central momentum, 
weight, or gravity, as in a waggon- 
wheel, and the tendency of the wheel 
to descend, while it is impelled hori- 
zontally, will so increase the quantity 
of motion as by the transfer to render 
the receiving atoms hot, disperse 
them, and create decomposition and 
combustion. Every case of projec- 
tion includes two impulses; one, that 
of central momentum, by which, if the 
body were unsupported, it would fall 
through sixteen feet in a second, and 
Q4q the 
