I02 SCIENCE AND IMMORTALITY 



not go to the making of atoms " ; but, on the other 

 hand, when once the equilibrium of the intricate 

 ether whirls which make an atom is destroyed — 

 when once it is simpRfied into electric atoms — it 

 can never be restored again, and the ultimate 

 ripples of ether will surely die away. Le Bon 

 puts the matter very clearly : " These vibrations 

 of the ether, ever the companions of the electric 

 atoms, most likely represent the form under which 

 these vanish by the radiation of all their energy. 

 The electric particle, with an individuality of its 

 own, of a defined and constant magnitude, would 

 thus constitute the last stage but one of the 

 disappearance of matter. The last of all would 

 be represented by the vibrations of the ether, 

 vibrations which possess no more durable indi- 

 viduality than do the waves formed in water 

 when a stone is thrown into it, and which soon 

 disappear. 



" How can the electric atoms proceeding from 

 the dematerialisation of matter preserve their in- 

 dividuality and transform themselves into vibra- 

 tions of the ether ? 



" All modern research leads us to consider these 

 particles as constituted by whirls, analogous to 

 gyroscopes, formed in the bosom of the ether 

 and connected with their lines of force. The 

 question, therefore, reduces itself to this : How 



