Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



and bright bodies, Science finds that it can think 

 about these phenomena can generalise and tie 

 them into bundles best by assuming that the bodies 

 are all in a state of vibration ; a vibration so 

 minute that (unlike the vibrations connected with 

 Sound) it cannot be directly perceived. So far 

 good. There is no harm in the assumption of 

 vibration, as long as it is understood to be a mere 

 assumption for a temporary convenience of thought. 

 But now Science goes farther than this, and not 

 only supposes a common attribute to all visible 

 bodies, but credits this common attribute with 

 a real existence independent of the visible bodies 

 in which it was supposed to inhere and makes 

 this the cause of their visibility ! Obviously now 

 a common and universal medium is required for 

 this common and universal assumed vibration (just 

 as Newton required a medium for his universal 

 " falling ") and so, hey presto ! we have the 

 Undulatory Ether. And having got it we find 

 that to fulfil our requirements it must have a 

 pressure of 17 million million pounds on the 

 square inch, and yet be so rare and tenuous as not 

 to hinder the lightest breath of air ; that while 

 it is thus rare enough to surpass all our powers of 

 direct scrutiny, its vibrations must yet be capable 

 of agitating and breaking up the solidest bodies ; 

 that it must pass freely through some dense and 

 close structures like glass, and yet be excluded 

 by some light and porous, like cork, and so on and 

 on! In fact we find that it is unthinkable. Against 

 this adamantine, impalpable Ether, as against 



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