The Cause of Life and Motion 23 



stand above the water, then its momentum would 

 be sustained for a considerable distance. 



In the discharge of a gun the wad will sud- 

 denly stop at the limit of the force of explosion, in 

 consequence of the exhaustion of its momentum 

 or displaced energy. And yet the same wad 

 might be thrown a considerable distance by the 

 hand. It would appear from this and many 

 other familiar phenomena, that the range of 

 flight of a projectile is in some inverse ratio with 

 the force of projection when such force ex- 

 ceeds the measure of the projectile's displaced 

 energy. 



Light bodies, or those having the least dis- 

 placement of energy, are more easily propelled 

 than heavy ones, but heavy ones have the ad- 

 vantage in overcoming obstacles. A fish although 

 it has very little momentum in its native element, 

 is enabled to travel at a very high speed because 

 it travels in a uniform medium. 



The displaced force waves about a body have 

 their greatest extension about its exterior in the 

 direction of the body's longest diameter, and up 

 to a certain limit, a long body projected in the 

 direction of its length would have a greater 

 range of flight than would a short body of the 

 same weight. It therefore follows that the great- 

 est apparent attraction of any uniform body is 

 in a line with its longitudinal axis, notwithstand- 

 ing any theory to the contrary. 



