INTRA-ATOMIC ENERGY. 293 



own iixcs tiiid about the ,sun. Ac-corduio- to the new ideas concerning 

 the composition of atoms, we are authorized to suppose that eacli of 

 them was formed in a simihir manner, and, in spite of its minute size, 

 represents a Aerita])le solar system. 



Yet our nebula, like those which still continue to illuminate the 

 night, necessarily came from something. In the present state of 

 science we can onl}^ suggest the ether as a possible source from which 

 this something arose, and that is Avh}^ all investigations lead us Vmckto 

 considering it as the fundamental element in the universe. The 

 worlds were born in it and they will die in it. 



We are ignorant how an atom came to ))e formed and why it ends 

 by slowly disappearing; but we at least know that a similar evolution 

 is taking place in the worlds that surround us, since we can observe 

 them going through all the phases of evolution from the nebula to the 

 cooled star, passing through the stage of incandescent suns similar to 

 our own. The transformations of the inorganic world now appear 

 to be as certain as those of organized ])eings. The atom and conse- 

 quentl}" matter do not escape from this sovereign and mysterious law 

 which rules over the birth, growth, and death of the innumerable 

 stars which people our firmament. 



It is in these atomic S3'stems, which were ignored for so long a time 

 because of their extreme minuteness, that we must doubtless look for 

 the explanation of some of the mysteries that surround us. The inti- 

 niteh' little ma}- perhaps contain the secrets of the infinitely great. 



It is not only from a purely theoretical point of view that it is nec- 

 essar}" to thoroughl}" stud}- the atomic systems and the tremendous 

 energies that work within them. Science may be on the eve of cap- 

 turing these energies whose existence was unsuspected and thus ren- 

 der unnecessary the mining of coal. The provision of combustibles 

 that the terrestrial strata contain is rapidl}' becoming exhausted, and if 

 this reservoir of energy fails, manufactures, the essential element of 

 civilization, are destined to perish. AVithout coal, indeed, railroads 

 and steamboats would l)e stopped, factories closed, and electric lights 

 extinguished. The man of science who finds the means of economically 

 li])erating the forces that matter contains will almost instantaneously 

 change the face of the world. An illimitable source of energy being 

 gratnitously at the disposal of man, he would not have to procure it 

 by severe lal)or. The poor would ])e the eipials of the rich, and the 

 social (|uestion would be no longer agitated. 



