THOUGHTS ON NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 55 



* We may mix oxygen and hydrogen without their 

 combination taking place ; this only occurs at a high 

 temperature, but then with great violence. 



The combinations are clearly a result of the force 

 of material motion, and of speed combination. 



A study of the t atomic weights also goes far with 

 a studious mind to assist conviction as to the truth 

 of the theory. 



The strong support given to the theory by the 

 works of Sir William Huggins, Sir Norman Lockyer 

 and others on the stars may be here alluded to. In 

 the hottest stars hydrogen and proto-hydrogen are 

 almost the only predominant elements. The energy 

 is so great that the granules, atoms, etc., are kept 

 at such a high rate of speed that it is impossible for 

 them by degrees of cooling to attain such variety of 

 speeds as to produce a great variety of combinations 

 of substance. When all are driven at such high 

 speed differences are eliminated, and matter appears 

 near to its simplicity. It is the difference in the 

 rates of speed between the very highest and the 

 lowest, combined with the varieties of movement and 

 arrangement and the question of J weight, which has 

 an important bearing when the groups clash, that 

 accounts for the many differences of material com- 

 binations of substance. 



The truth of the theory is also demonstrated daily 

 the world over by electrical accumulators. Energy, 

 in the form of material motion, is being forced into 



* Ostwald. 



t Every well-defined property of a so-called element appears to be a 

 function of its atomic weight. Rudorf. % Or mass. 



