Waxeuin.— Local Variations in Gravity. 465 
There is one very exceptional station on the north coast of Banffshire, near 
the village of Portsoy, at which the deflection amounts to 10’, so that if 
that village were placed on a map in a position to correspond with its 
astronomical latitude, it would be 1,000 feet out of position! There is the 
sea to the north, and an undulating country to the south, which, however, 
to a spectator at the station does not suggest any great disturbance of 
gravity. A somewhat rough estimate of the local attraction from external 
causes gives a maximum limit of 5", therefore we have 5” unaccounted for, 
or rather which must arise from unequal density in the underlying strata 
in the surrounding country. In order to throw light on this remarkable 
phenomenon, the latitudes of a number of stations between Nairn on the 
west, Fraserburgh on the east, and the Grampians on the south were 
observed, and the local deflections determined. It is found that the deflec- 
tions diminish in all directions, not very regularly certainly, and most 
slowly in a south-west direction, finally disappearing, and leaving the maxi- 
mum at the original station at Portsoy." * 
Professor Maxwell believes the ether to be made up of rotating corpus- 
cules fixed in space. That the ether is composed of rotating corpuscules is 
also the expressed opinion of Mr. Preston, who has made a special study of 
the ether. Sir William Thompson has shown that magnetic attraction is a 
rotational effect. Sir John Herschel expresses the opinion that the ether is 
composed of corpuscules, and says in a very decided manner that they must be 
fixed in space, and that they may rotate. The writer of this paper had ex- 
pressed views in strict accordance with these just given. He has endea- 
voured and still endeavours to show that gravitation is a rotational effect, 
and, if so, that the ether, or “ electric fluid,” is the physical agent producing 
gravitation. Now, as the ether penetrates all bodies and comes in contact 
with them the velocity of rotation of the corpuscules becomes gradually 
much reduced by this contact. Eventually these corpuscules combine with 
the bodies they penetrate, probably making them more dense and also 
adding to their mass and bulk. Solid rock would have a greater effect in 
reducing the velocity of rotation of the ethereal corpuscules than earthy or 
gravelly beds. Consequently all the striking solid features of the earth 
would become rather exaggerated than reduced by the direct action of the 
ether alone. “The Uniformitarian Theory " in geology declares that the 
basis upon which it stands is ‘‘ that the continents have always been con- 
tinents and the oceans oceans.” The great features of the earth ** persist." 
Whatever great features now exist—as the Himalayas and the Alps, the 
deep basins of the Atlantie and the Pacific—have always existed in their 
characteristic features. 
* See rog “Earth” (figure of) in the Encyclopedia Britannica, by R. E. Clark 
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