The Cause of Life and Motion 19 



Any body of matter is nothing more than an 

 aggregation of atoms held in suspension, some- 

 what in the same manner as a cloud, with the 

 difference that the cloud elements have no abso- 

 lute fitting places within isochronous polyhe- 

 drons of force. Or it may be said, that the body 

 of the cloud does not sufficiently displace the 

 energy of the forces to secure an adequate 

 outward pressure to sustain it. in a permanent 

 form. The same circumstance applies to water, 

 for notwithstanding its density, its force of dis- 

 placement is not sufficient to hold it to a form. 

 By the withdrawal, however, of certain of its 

 elements, it is brought to a state of comparative 

 rest in the shape of ice, or by the infusion of 

 new elements it may take numerous other com- 

 pact forms, depending entirely in any particular 

 case upon the forms of such elements. 



The elements of the air take up the principle 

 positions of rest in the space near the earth, but 

 become more diffused at certain distances above 

 it. The positions unoccupied by the air elements 

 are not voids, they are always taken up by cer- 

 tain elements which are continually aggregating 

 into minute bodies and in these forms they are 

 finally impelled to the earth by the force of its dis- 

 placement. 



The optical instrument, called the kaliedescope, 

 illustrates very beautifully a single system of the 

 polyhedrons of force. In this instrument, we 



