720 ..ABOUT THE ATMOSPHERE AND ITS PHENOMENA. 



HO palpably contradict<^d, that the earth is inert, that the atmosphere is a 

 passive fluid — the one a stranger to the other — and all these wondrous ex- 

 hibitions of kindred forces but the result of the Sun's rays, acting extrane- 

 ousl}^ and without sj^n'.jjathy frona elemental power, inhering in all parts and 

 members of the solar system. That it must be so reason tells — facts de- 

 monstrate it — it cannot be otherwise. The earth is but a member of a com- 

 mon family — the atmosphere born of the same matter, obedient to the same 

 law, controlled by the same force common to all — that force pervading 

 every part of both — not solely induced by external heat. What is it? 



This force, we arbitrarily call electricity. So far as human knowledge 

 can take cognizance, it is that which pervades all matter, from the molecule 

 to the planet, and binds all together. The trouble is that we reason from 

 what strikes the natural senses, back to phenomena — we cannot eat or 

 drink the air or the elements, hence we fail to realize them. But if we 

 reason from them up to, or down to their ultimates, that we do use as min- 

 isters to our life, and life in all its manifestations, we become results, 

 instead of their assuming the fragmentary form of phenomena of which our 

 senses take cognizance. Science, from this stand-point enlarges our vision 

 and adds to the capabilities of sense. 



We now know that we must revise our theories — that the life of our 

 world is only one form ol the manifestation of matter and force — that be- 

 hind it is a force or life more potent, of which it was born and b}^ which it 

 is controlled and maintained. That this force is what we call electricity 

 there is no doubting — it is present in the atom and in the Sun, constant 

 and the ea,me — the life of worlds and of all divisions, elements and combi- 

 nations of matter. That this force on the earth is excited and influenced 

 by the heat of the Sun or through it upon other less intense forms of mat- 

 ter is bej^ond question. And now let us see if this is not the path to the 

 secret of atmospheric phenomena ? 



Electricity, if not heat, is associated with it; if not light, it is with light 

 in its operation — for it manifests both intense heat and light. If it is not 

 in itself the law of chemical affinity, it is present with and controls it. If 

 not magnetism, it is one of its modes of operation. If it is not gravity, it 

 is always in its company. And if not itself the vital force of all nature and 

 of vegetable and animal life, it is certainly coincident with and capable of 

 controlling all. Briefly, as far as we know, it is the soul of matter, and its 

 expressions are what we call its phenomena — whether in those limited to 

 the field of our own earth or cosmical in their action. 



The earth is a magnet, but not a natural one — but all bodies can be 

 magnetized by currents of electricity flowing round them. We also know 

 that the electricity of any body is excited and made to flow in currents by 

 various causes: — bj^ the disturbance of chemical afflnitj"; by the decompo- 

 sition of composite bodies ; by the molestation of crystallized lamina, and 

 also by the unequal heating of them — the electricit}" being excited in the 

 heated part and flowing to the colder. And what now ? 



