48 TWO NEW WORLDS 



the other hand, a new electron (or " infra-planet " ) 

 is added to the system, the latter becomes a " negative 

 atom." It is obvious that only those electrons will 

 be liable to loss which have either very large or very 

 eccentric orbits, and as a rule the same atom cannot 

 lose more than two or three at the most. 



Two such atomic systems, then, approach each other 

 so closely that one electron is transferred from one 

 system to another. This transfer immediately sets up 

 an electrostatic attraction between the two systems, 

 equal to the attraction between a single electron and 

 a single positive atom. The future behaviour of the 

 two systems will depend upon their original speed. 

 If that is excessive, they will fly apart again no 

 longer as neutral atoms, but one of them a positive 

 atom and the other a negative atom. But if the 

 speed is moderate, they will revolve round each 

 other and form a binary. Needless to say, the 

 revolutions will be much slower than the revolution 

 of electrons in their orbits, both on account of the 

 greater distance apart and the greater mass of the 

 revolving bodies. Unlike our astronomy, the infra- 

 astronomy is obliged to acknowledge a dependence 

 of the rate of revolution upon the mass of the re- 

 volving body, since the force is mainly electrical, and 

 is not proportional to the masses, but to the charges. 



After the transfer, the probabilities are that the 

 captured electron becomes an " inferior planet " in 

 the capturing system, so that it runs no risk of 



