248 report— 1879. 



The following Reports and Papers were read : — 



1. Report of the Committee for commencing Secular Experiments upon the- 

 Elasticity of Wires. — See Reports, p. 33. 



2. Report of the Committee for making more Accurate Determinations of the 

 Mechanical Equivalent of Heat. — See Reports, p. 36. 



3. On Etherspheres as a Vera Causa of Natural Philosophy. 

 By Rev. S. Eaknshaw, M.A. 



The author of this communication, assuming an admitted parallelism between the 

 phenomena of light and heat, proceeds by means of three hitherto overlooked 

 propositions in natural philosophy to establish the universal existence of what he 

 has denominated etherspheres, the third of his propositions being — ' Every atom of 

 matter in the universe is surrounded by an ethersphere of its own.' The follow- 

 ing is the system of nature which he finds sufficient for his purpose : — 



1. In nature there are two distinct substances, matter and ether, neither of 

 which has any power to attract or repel the other. 



2. Matter consists of atoms which attract each other with forces varying 

 according to the Newtonian law (distance) -3 . 



3. The atoms of bodies of the same kind are alike in all respects ; atoms or 

 bodies of different kinds differ from each other in size, and possibly also in other 

 respects, such as shape, &c. 



4. Atoms, whether of matter or of ether, are incapable of experiencing any 

 change of figure or dimensions ; and they are all assumed to be of such geometrical 

 forms as cannot fill space. 



5. From the phenomena of light it has been inferred that atoms of ether repel 

 each other with a force varying as (distance) -4 . 



6. Every atom of matter is impervious to ether, and acts on ether in no other 

 way than by pressure of contact. 



7. A portion of space filled with matter is necessarily void of ether; and all 

 space void of matter is pervaded by ether. 



8. The enormous velocity of light in free space has led to the opinion that 

 very great must be the repulsive power of ether on ether ; and it seems to follow 

 from this that an ether atom will experience great difficulty in moving from one 

 part of the ethereal medium to another. Except as waves and currents ether 

 motion will be under great restraints, and especially shall we see this when we 

 also remember the high power ( 4 ) of its inverse law of force. 



9. In free space light is believed to be transmitted with the same velocity in 

 every direction, and from this we infer that the atoms of ether are all spherical 

 in form. 



The following is the author's definition of an ethersphere :— 

 All space not filled by matter is pervaded by ether, so that every atom of mat- 

 ter is surrounded by ether, but this is not what is included in the word ' ethersphere.' 

 The author shows that if any portion of space be rendered void of ether from any 

 cause whatever, that space has become void of the repulsive forces which were 

 centred within it, and that, consequently, when these forces are taken away the 

 medium outside the space will draw closer towards that space ; and if the space 

 be occupied by an atom of matter, the density of the surrounding ether will be- 

 greater than before, and the ether, being in contact with the atom at its surface, 

 will press upon it. This excess of ether about the vacant space above its original 

 quantity constitutes the ethersphere ; and though this gathering together of ether 



