NEW CONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE 



would come anywhere near to explaining the enor- 

 mous magnetic force of the earth. 



On the other hand, perhaps, we have here a clew 

 which will tell us something of why the atoms, as 

 they increase in weight, seem to show a periodic 

 character, a kind of rise and fall in their proper- 

 ties, just as, for example, the notes in each octave, 

 though different, sound in unison. It is one of the 

 problems of the future. 



Finally, one may ask what possible practical bear- 

 ing this brilliant discovery might possess ; whether, 

 for example, we should ever be able to utilize the 

 corpuscles for the transport of force and motive 

 power at long distances, without the aid of wires. 

 Professor Thomson's view is that, conceivably, in 

 the upper regions of the atmosphere an incandes- 

 cent body, like that of an ordinary carbon filament, 

 might be employed to drive off cathode rays which 

 might be collected at some distant point. It is to 

 be observed that it is perfectly easy to direct the 

 rays, since they always travel in straight lines, as 

 we have seen. On the other hand, Professor Thom- 

 son has made an interesting calculation to the effect 

 that with an ordinary Crookes tube the amount of 

 matter actually shot off as cathode rays would not 

 amount to more than a few millionths of a gram per 

 twenty-four hours. Professor Becquerel has gone 

 a little further and made a calculation that a thou- 



164 



