54 New Theories of the Great Forces. 



Note the Functions of this Ocean. 



This fluid is indeed the vital principle, up- 

 on which all life, animate and inanimate, de- 

 pends. The necessity for frequent respira- 

 tions is occasioned by the imperative de- 

 mands of the system for this agent. As be- 

 fore intimated, the mild and steady light 

 which illumines the earth in its day-season is 

 owing to the action of the active fluid of the 

 cone-space upon the static fluid of the at- 

 mosphere. The untempered force of the 

 former might not be endured. The pale and 

 steady light of the moon and planets is due 

 to a like reaction through the same agencies. 



The relations which the present known con- 

 stituents of the atmosphere sustain to this fluid 

 may not at the present time be estimated. 



Not yet fully Comprehended. 



"Air," said SIR LYON PLAYFAIR, "is the 

 most familiar of substances ; the first with 

 which an infant becomes acquainted on en- 

 trance into the world, and in death, the last 

 to be given up ; yet, strange to say, its nature 

 and constitution have only become partially 

 understood within the past century, and even 



