^o Da Wollaston on the elementary Particles 



alone is not adequate to its explanation, as Dr. Hooke had 

 conceived. 



Another obvious supposition is that the cube might be con- 

 sidered as a right angled rhomboid, resulting from the union 

 of eight spheroids having a certain degree of oblateness (2 to 

 1) from which a rectangular form might be derived. But the 

 cube so formed w^ould not have the properties of the crystal- 

 lographical cube. It is obvious, that, though all its diagonals 

 would thus be equal, yet one axis parallel to that of the ele- 

 mentary spheroid would probably have propertii^s different 

 from the rest. The modifications of its crystalline form would 

 probably not be alike in all directions as in the usual modifi- 

 cations of the cube, but would be liable to elongation in tha 

 direction of its original axis. And if such a crysial were elec- 

 tric, it would have but one pair of poles instead of having four 

 pair, as in the crystals of boracite. 



There is, however, an hypothesis which at least has sim- 

 plicity to recommend it, and if it be not a just representation 

 of the fact, it must be allowed to bear a happy resemblance to 

 truth. 



Let a mass of matter be supposed to consist of spherical 

 particles all of the same size, but of two different kinds in 

 equal numbers, represented by black and white balls ; and 

 let it be required that in their perfect intermixture every 

 black ball shall be equally distant from all surrounding 

 white balls, and that all adjacent balls of the same denomina- 

 tion shall also be equidistant from each other. I say then, 

 that these conditions will be fulfilled, if the arrangement be 

 cubical, and that the particles will be in equi.ibrio. Fig. 14 

 represents 2l cube so constituted of balls, alternately black and 



