THE FINITE UNIVERSE 



whirl; this whirl of the particle might produce in 

 the surrounding ether the effects which we call 

 electrical. This is the simplest supposition that 

 can be made, and towards its demonstration many 

 a mind is now turned. For the present, at least, 

 there is no account of how these charged particles, 

 mutually repellent, are bound together in atoms 

 so rigidly coherent as to appear absolutely inde- 

 structible. Neither is it clear how atomic aggre- 

 gates of particles will cohere to form the mole- 

 cule. Chemic affinity, the theory of matter, the 

 nature of electricity, are still unsolved problems. 

 We must await more light. But when the solu- 

 tion comes it will probably be of all three together. 



"The first principle with investigators of nat- 

 ure," said von Helmholtz, "must be that nature is 

 intelligible for us; otherwise it would be folly to 

 try to study it." If the cosmos, of which we are 

 a part, is infinite, it is not intelligible, for the in- 

 finite is beyond our understanding. If it is infinite 

 in extent, infinite in bulk, it would contain infinite 

 forces, attracting over infinite spaces, and moving 

 objects with infinite speeds. If its parts are in- 

 finitely divisible, the combinations of these parts 

 would be infinite in variety and action. So far as 

 we know, there is nothing in natural phenomena to 

 suggest such conclusions. 

 * 97 



