CONSTITUENTS OF THE UNIVERSE. 



The Ether Theory. 



fHIS remarkable list o'f errors, or false 

 assumptions, any one of which would 

 prove a formidable obstacle in the path 

 of real discovery, and a bar to correct conclu- 

 sions has been quite generally accepted; and 

 for that reason it seems to call for some con- 

 sideration in connection with the affirmative 

 or main propositions. 



Commencing then with the Ether theory 

 of the transmission of light, a single com- 

 parison will suffice to show its absurdity. If 

 we take that portion of space that properly 

 pertains to our own solar system, and com- 

 pare it with the magnitude of that system, 

 we shall find that if a single mustard seed 

 was to represent the sun and all of the dif- 

 ferent orbs and parts that belong to it; about 

 a cubic mile would represent the field of 

 ether involved in the problem. A cubic mile 

 ot ether with only about one millionth of 

 a cubic inch of material in it, to make it 

 vibrate? It is even absurd to assume that 



