88 NOMOS, 



electrical light is nothing more than electrical action, 

 otherwise chemical action, attested by the eye. 



And this, moreover, is the idea which we should 

 derive from the consideration of the light which is 

 derived from ordinary combustion, and from various 

 other sources, for in all these cases the light is 

 more or less obviously connected with chemical 

 changes. 



Now these changes, it must be remembered, are 

 present, according to the premises, not only at the 

 origin of the ray, but at every point of its course 

 until it dies out in darkness. Actual waves of 

 chemical change, and not mere ideal undulations in 

 a hypothetical ether, spread abroad on all hands from 

 the luminous focus, and there is no illumination be- 

 yond the waves. According to the premises, indeed, 

 we must regard the illuminated object, whatever or 

 wherever it be, as being for the time the seat of 

 continual chemical changes, either between the 

 molecular elements of different substances, or be- 

 tween (see p. 32) the molecular elements of the 

 same substance. 



The phenomenon of electrical heat may be partly 



disposed of in the same manner as the light, but not 



entirely. The sensation of heat, in all probability, 



is nothing more than electrical action attested by a 



particular class of nerves ; but this attesta- 



Electrical . . . 



heat must be tion is not sufficient to account for that 



referred to .. .. i i i 



chemical ac- seemingly repulsive power which is cha- 

 racteristic of heat, and which causes a 



