the fixed stars' is due to the small number 

 of luminous corpuscles received by the 

 eye which might be only a few per second. 

 These corpuscular optical speculations 

 now carry special interest as a curiously 

 definite foreshadowing of the work on 

 electric radio-activity, in which Thomson , 

 Rutherford and others have actually con- 

 trolled the velocities of the electric cor- 

 puscles by the agency of field of force, and 

 have directly counted the numbers of 



r 



them that are shot out from active matter. 

 " In his wide outlook over the field of 

 nature, in the extent of knowledge that 

 was linked together in his active interests, 

 Michell was a true disciple of the British 

 school of physical science, the con- 

 temporary members of which were largely 

 his personal friends. They were falling 

 behind in mathematical analysis, owing 

 to too conservative partiality for the 

 geometrical methods of their master 

 Newton. While the great analysts of the 

 continent were closely engaged in the 

 104 



