36 



CAPILLARY VESSELS CAPITAL. 



can i mi vary when the liquid readies the summit of 

 the tube ; for, however small the radius of the tube 

 may be, it is always incomparably greater than the 

 radius of the sphere of molecular action. The great 

 importance or the theory of molecular action, hi 

 |iliysical science, is becoming daily more apparent; 

 and it must soon form the principal basis of rational 

 mechanics, which has too long continued an abstract 

 -ciciire, founded, not on a real, but an imaginary 

 state of bodies. The gradual progress of discovery 

 renders it more and more probable, that there are 

 only two laws according to which all the forces of 

 nature decrease, the first being proportional to the 

 inverse square of the distance, and the second to a 

 function of the distance of which we know nothing, 

 except that it vanishes altogether when the distance 

 has a sensible magnitude. The gravitation of the 

 great Ixxlies of the universe, the electric and mag- 

 netic forces, whether attractive or repulsive, are in- 

 stances of the former ; while the vibrations of elastic 

 bodies, the communication of motion, whether by 

 shock or by pressure, as well as capillary attraction, 

 the refraction of light, and chemical actions, depend 

 on the latter, which is the law of the molecular for- 

 ces. Now, it is from this last class of forces that the 

 laws of equilibrium and motion ought to be deduced, 

 and not from hypotheses entirely gratuitous respect- 

 ing the absolute hardness, rigidity, and incompressi- 

 bility of bodies qualities which have no existence 

 in nature. The only obstacle to the attainment of 

 this desirable result seems to be the difficulties of the 

 calculus. It is, indeed, impossible to deduce the 

 Jaws of motion, from the action of molecular forces 

 in any other manner than by the application of a 

 very refined and difficult analysis ; yet the subject 

 presents some facilities, and there are considerations 

 which go far to obviate the mathematical difficulties. 

 For example, in deducing the equations of equili- 

 brium of solid and liquid bodies, it is not necessary to 

 compute the total force acting on an isolated mole- 

 cule. These equations depend on the resultant of 

 actions which take place between two portions of 

 the same body, of insensible magnitude, but com- 

 prising each an extremely great number of mole- 

 cules. The resultant of the aggregate forces of the 

 different molecules comprehended within the sphere 

 of action of an individual molecule, is therefore, a 

 determinate function of their mean distance, and in- 

 dependent of any irregularity in their distribution. 

 The same resultant is also independent of the mag- 

 nitude of the radius of the sphere of action, which 

 cannot be determined in any precise manner, and 

 with respect to which we only know that it is insen- 

 sible. It is on these hypotheses that the computa- 

 tion of molecular forces is essentially founded. See 

 Foreiaii Quarterly Review, vol. ix., and Poisson's 

 Nouvelle Theorie de C Action CapUlaire (Paris, 1831). 



CAPILLARY VESSELS; the minute vessels in 

 which the arteries terminate, and from which, in a 

 way not well understood, the veins commence. The 

 distinction between the arteries and veins is, there- 

 fore, lost hi these vessels. The support of the solid, 

 and the formation of the fluid, parts of the system 

 take place especially in these vessels. 



CAPITAL, in political economy, is the stock of 

 valuable exchangeable commodities possessed by in- 

 dividuals or a community. This is the usual and more 

 limited meaning of the term ; for, in comparing the 

 capital of one individual with that of another, we nave 

 in mind the amount of money for which the stock of each 

 caii l>e exchanged. The market value is in view. In 

 estimating the capital of any individual, we necessarily 

 take into consideration the debts due to and from him ; 

 and many men of Icirge capital are only possessed of 

 claims upon others ; their whole stock is in the hands 



of others at interest; and they have only promises 

 for a certain amount of moiiry, and actually possess 

 neither lands nor goods to any considerable value ; 

 while others possess large quantities of both, and yet 

 have little or no capital, since they owe, in money, 

 the value of the greater part or the whole of their 

 possessions. Now it is plain that no individual ran 

 undertake production, to any large extent, without 

 an extensive stock. He must have land to culth at e , 

 or materials to work up, and implements to work with. 

 Even a savage must nave a capital, such as his hut, 

 cli it lies, cooking utensils, food enough to support him 

 until he can obtain a new supply, and implements, 

 such as a liatchet, gun, canoe, fishing gear to pro- 

 cure this supply. The first effort of industry is to 

 supply the implements, apparatus, and machinery for 

 his own employment ; and as society and the arts ad- 

 vance, and the operations of industry are extendei 1 , 1 1 1 t 

 implements, apparatus, machinery, and materials, re- 

 quisite in conducting the processes of production, must 

 be proportionally accumulated ; and these will consti- 

 tute a part of the capital of a community, and also of an 

 individual, which is essential to success in productive 

 processes. And these can be commanded by any 

 one in proportion to the extent of his individual capi- 

 tal ; or, if he have credit, then his resources for produc- 

 tion will depend upon the capital of others in other 

 words, that of the community to which he belongs. 



In considering the aggregate capital of a com- 

 munity, we may put out of the question all the debts 

 due from any of the members to others ; for, whe- 

 ther these be great or small, and they will vary 

 according as the practice of giving credit is more or 

 less in use, still the capitafof the community will 

 consist in its lands, buildings, ships, machinery, ma- 

 terials on hand, implements ; in short, in all those 

 things which bear a value in the market. Provided 

 the community owes no debts abroad, these will con- 

 stitute its aggregate capital ; and, if its members are 

 indebted abroao, we find its actual net capital, as in 

 the case of an individual, by deducting the amount 

 of its debts from the value of its possessions, without 

 regarding the debts due from some of its members 

 to others. 



In comparing the capital or wealth of two commu- 

 nities, we may be led into an error by comparing the, 

 value of their possessions in gold and silver, since 

 the value of these metals is well known to differ in 

 different countries, by whatever standard the compa- 

 rison be made. If, for instance, we compare the 

 value of the metals in reference to the wages of a 

 common day-labourer, we find he has two or three 

 pence a-day in Egypt, and twenty or forty pence in 

 Britain. We shall find the same diversity in other 

 things. If we take a horse, of the same beauty and 

 serviceable qualities, for an example, we shall find 

 his price, in money, to be twice as great in one place 

 as in another. In order, therefore, to make such a 

 comparison through the medium of the metals, or by 

 adopting them as a common measure, we should, in 

 the first place, correct the measure itself, and ascer- 

 tain whether an ounce of gold, in one of the places 

 between which the comparison is to be made, is worth 

 a half of an ounce or an ounce and a half in the other; 

 and the way of correcting the standard would be, to 

 take equal quantities of a great number of articles of 

 the same quality, in the two places, or equivalent 

 quantities of equivalent articles, as nearly as their 

 equivalence can be ascertained, and compare their 

 money prices in the two places. But this correction of 

 the common measure is not very easily made. The 

 means of comparing the value of money at successive 

 periods, in the same community, are very defective ; 

 and the only attempt at any sca2e of value, of this 

 description, known to the writer of this article, is 



