MODERN VIEWS ON MATTER. • 241 



It is prol)able that in these phenomena we actually witness the bom- 

 l)ardmcnt of the screen Ijy the positiv e ions hurled off I)}' radium with 

 a velocity of the order of that of light. Each particle is rendered 

 apparent only by the enormous extent of lateral disturbance produced 

 by its impact on the sensitive surface, just as individual drops of rain 

 falling on a still pool are not seen as such, but b}" reason of the splash 

 they make on impact, and the ripples and waves they produce in ever- 

 widening circles. 



Indulging in a "scientitic use of the imagination," and pushing the 

 hypothesis of the electronic constitution of matter to what I consider 

 its logical limit, M'e may be, in fact, witnessing a spontaneous dissoci- 

 ation of radium — and we ])egin to doubt the permanent stability of 

 matter. The chemical atom may be actually suffering a katabolic 

 transformation, l)ut at so slow a rate that, supposing a million atoms 

 fi}^ oti' every second, it would take a centur}' for weight to diminish 

 by one milligram. 



It must never be forgotten that theories are only useful so long as 

 they admit of the harmonious correlation of facts into a reasonable 

 system. Directh' a fact refuses to be pigeonholed and will not be 

 explained on theoretic grounds, the theory must go, or it nuist be 

 revised to admit the new fact. The nineteenth century saw the birth 

 of new views of atoms, electricity, and ether. Our views to-day of 

 the constitution of matter may appear satisfactor}' to us, but how will 

 it be at the close of the twentieth century? Are we not incessantly 

 learning the lesson that our researches have onh' a provisional value? 

 A hundred years hence shall we acquiesce in the resolution of the 

 material universe into a swarm of rushing electrons ? 



This fatal quality of atomic dissociation appears to be universal and 

 operates Avhenever we brush a piece of glass with silk; it works in the 

 sunshine and raindrops, and in the lightnings and flame; it prevails in 

 the waterfall and the stormy sea. And although the whole range of 

 human experience is all too short to afford a parallax whereby the date 

 of the extinction of matter can be calcidated, protylo, the '"foi'mless 

 mist," once again ma}' reign supremo, and the hour hand of eternitv 

 will have completed one revolution. 



