THE AUTHOR'S THEORY OF THE TIDES 191 



Counting myself as one of this plebeian caste, I con- 

 fess, without any sense of shame, my simplicity in sup- 

 posing that the earth's axial rotation had a dynamical 

 origin, that it is being spun round and round by a live 

 power, and that the much taking of something from a 

 finite quantity, though possible to the hypercultivated 

 imaginations of our Newtonian friends, is neither good 

 mathematics nor good sense. 



That some physical cause lies behind the earth's ro- 

 tation is axiomatic; and what cause more eligible to this 

 purpose than this very phenomenon of the tides, super- 

 induced as they are by that great cosmic force gravi- 

 tation? Where can power be more effectively applied 

 than at the circumference of the fly wheel! Has it never 

 occurred to you before, that Newtonianism has found no 

 use for gravitation save as a restraining means to leash 

 planets and retard rotations? Given this unique, this 

 all-sufficient creative energy, modern science has system- 

 atically resisted its logical development. Like the un- 

 worthy servant in the parable, it has buried its talent. 



Here we have the precise elements requisite to ac- 

 count for the earth's diurnal rotation. In Fig. 8, let AB 

 represent an arc of the earth's orbit, along which she is 

 being hurried by the vortical action of the Prime Resul- 

 tant, and E, our planet itself (the direction of the move- 

 ment in each case being shown by the arrows). As pre- 

 viously explained, the tidal action of the sun at the point 

 indicated by x is to drive back the oceans with a strength 

 equivalent to 1-1600 of their weight; it is as if the sun 

 were applying a very powerful brake, or as if he were 

 blowing a strong blast against that side, causing the solid 

 kernel to trip, as it were, and roll over and over upon 

 its face, like a barrel on an incline. Or, as some might 

 say, the principle is rather that of buoyancy, the kernel 

 being " lifted off its feet", as by a sudden rise of water, 

 rendering it perennially unstable against the pull of the 

 Prime Eesultant. A stately ship, our Earth, driven by 

 wireless power from the stars; herself the compass, hu- 

 manity her passengers, eternity her port ! 



