KINETICS OF THE ETHER 



movement of the falling body, whatever might be 

 its rate of actual motion, would be relatively thereto 

 so slow that it would be, as it were, practically at rest. 

 The impact from the Ether atoms would therefore be 

 sensibly constant in their impulsive action upon the fall- 

 ing body, thus causing the constant accelerative rate of 

 thirty-two feet per second of a falling body to the earth. 



In thus communicating to or maintaining a vibra- 

 tory movement in the molecules of matter the ethereal 

 particles must lose a portion at least of their own 

 motion, so that the said atoms, even if in themselves 

 perfectly elastic, would retreat from the mass with 

 less swiftness than they came to it ; or their own 

 motion might be entirely converted into the new mo- 

 lecular motions of the mass into heat and electro 

 static and electro motive force, in which events the 

 ethereal atoms would come to rest ; or, at least, move 

 with the new molecular motion only. The probable 

 farther electric action of the Ions has been already 

 mentioned. 



If two large bodies existed free to move, otherwise 

 isolated in the Ether, but within such a distance of 

 each other as to be within the length of the mean path 

 of the Ether particles, their condition would be some- 

 what different. Each would receive as before the 

 impact of the Ether atoms ; but as there would be 

 fewer, or possibly no atoms rebounding, or coming 

 '55 



