464 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
(3) That owing to the form and action of the ethereal corpuscule it — 
will adjust itself to the surface with which it is in contact. More 
strictly, since the ether penetrates all bodies, the corpuscules will 
adjust themselves according to the nature as well as to the form 
of the surface. 
“If the ether is composed of rotating corpuscules then, by contact with 
the earth, their velocity of rotation will be gradually reduced, and accord- 
ing to the theory explained in the former paper these corpuscules will com- 
bine with the solid matter which they have penetrated. In this way the 
earth would grow larger by the addition of matter which has been reduced 
to an ordinary state, that is to matter as we commonly understand it. The 
matter of the ether may be described as matter in an “ extraordinary state.” 
Astronomers maintain that the earth is growing larger, however gradually, 
and but very recently the view was put forward that this gradual increase 
in the size of the earth was due to showers of meteoric stones. The total 
quantity of meteoric matter, however, falling on the earth, was found by 
calculation much too small to produce the increase in the size of the earth. 
Professor Seeley, in a course of lectures on geology, delivered three or four 
months ago at the Royal Institution, expressed his conviction that the earth 
was being increased in size by some gradual process of addition. 
The corpuscules of the ether are so constituted and act in such a manner 
as to ‘adjust themselves to a flat surface, so that their outsides will revolve 
in the direction of that surface. More strictly it should be said that the 
ethereal corpuscules adjust themselves to what may be called a predom- 
inating surface. By a predominating surface would be understood a sur- 
face that has the greatest’ influence on the direction of rotation of the 
eorpuseules. The solid and immovable land would have a greater influence 
than the mobile ocean, and dense solid matter than relatively lighter matter. 
The plumb-line has been found to be deflected from the true or astronomical 
vertical, in two ways, both probably owing to the same cause. The first is 
well known. Mountains deflect the plumb-line from the true vertical. In 
mountainous countries, as near the Alps and Caucasus, this deflection 
amounts to as much as 29" of are. The other case is this, the plumb-line 
hangs perpendieular to the surface of still water always, but the direction 
of the plumb-line is very frequently not in the direction of the centre of the 
earth. As bearing on this point, though not clearly understood, the follow- 
ing extraordinary faets should be quoted :— 
“ At sixteen astronomical stations in the English survey the disturbance 
of latitude due to the form of the ground has been computed, and the follow- 
ing will give an idea of the results:—At six stations the deflection is under 
2”, at six others it is between 9' and 4", and at four others it exceeds 4". 
