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tells us that the spectroscope is the key to the secrets 

 of nature, the vade mecum of natural science, and the 

 guide to knowledge ol cosmic truths and their laws, 

 founded on the phenomenon of light in general and elec- 

 tric light in particular : not the less these cosmic pheno- 

 mena are, as it were intentionally ignored by the repre- 

 sentatives of the school of cosmic gravitation. 



I am not the first to appear as an antagonist of this 

 school, and the founder of a new solar system. Others 

 have entered before me on this field. The well known 

 professor of physics. Young, can claim first honours 

 as being the earliest in revolting against the crushing- 

 authority of Newton, which stood in the way of progress 

 in optical science, and prevented the establishment of a 

 theory of light on a foundation which we can now see 

 to be thoroughly sound. 



Zenger, Faraday and Poloui, working at the problems 

 of atmospherical electricity, and carrying out recent ex- 

 periments with varied electrical inductions acting on a 

 revolving globe, came to the conclusion that the results 

 achieved in this way would adequately serve to explain 

 the movement of the planets and comets in our solar 

 system, along their orbits. They proposed to substitute 

 for the supposed central law of gravitation, the electric 

 force of the sun. Of course the proposal remained like 

 a voice crying in the wilderness, since it is so much 

 easier to go on holding the beliefs of our fathers and 

 our grandfathers than it is to rack our brains over new 

 experiments, and exert ourselves in the labour of gras- 

 ping a new cosmic theory. 



