290 



the imponderables, as they are called, are merely the results of the 

 motions of the atoms of the ethereal medium, combined, in some 

 cases, with the motion of the atoms of the body; and since the vibra- 

 tions of the atoms of a mass of matter do not increase the attraction 

 of the earth on the mass, an increase of temperature in a body cannot 

 change its weight; and also because the ethereal medium fills all 

 space, a portion of this medium can no more exhibit weight, than a 

 quantity of air when weighed in the midst of the atmosphere. 



The points here noticed, relate merely to the fundamental con- 

 ceptions of the corpuscular or atomic constitution of matter, and 

 not to the arrangement of the atoms into systems of groups, which 

 are necessary to represent the varied and complicated mechanical 

 and chemical phenomena exhibited in the physical changes going on 

 around us. Though he could not, at this time, attempt to give any 

 details of the application of this hypothesis, he drew attention to one 

 class of facts, of which it is important to furnish an expression in the 

 arrangement of the atoms. He alluded to the facts of polarity, or 

 those which exhibit the action of opposite forces at the extremities of 

 molecules or of masses. The north and south poles of two magnets, 

 brought together, neutralize each other; the attraction of one is ba- 

 lanced by the repulsion of the other, and the point of junction is with- 

 out action on a third ferruginous body. In the same manner, appa- 

 rently, two chemical elements which enter into combination exhibit a 

 neutralizing effect, which indicates the existence of polar forces in the 

 phenomena of chemical action. Nothing, however, is perceptible of 

 this kind in the effects of gravitation ; the action of two particles on 

 each other does not interfere with the action, at the same time, of 

 these two, on any number of other particles. 



In conclusion, it should be remembered that the legitimate use of 

 speculations of this kind is not to furnish plausible explanations of 

 known phenomena, or to present old knowledge in a new and more 

 imposing dress, but to serve the purpose of suggesting new experi- 

 ments and new phenomena, and thus to assist in enlarging the bounds 

 of science, and extending the power of mind over matter; and unless 

 the hypothesis can be employed in this way, however much ingenuity 

 may have been expended in its construction, it can only be considered 

 as a scientific romance worse than useless, since it tends to satisfy 

 the mind with the semblance of truth, and thus to render truth itself 

 less an object of desire. 



