26 W. A. Norton on Molecular and Cosmical Physics. 
tive impulse is but an excessively minute fraction of each 
individual impulse propagated in the force; and this is expend- 
in giving motion, or virtual motion to the atom. That is, 
and this latter force must be vastly greater than the elastic force 
of the ether called into play in the propagation of a wave of 
light or heat; since this elastic force results from a slight in- 
equality in the repulsive actions of the contiguous atoms on 
different sides, attendant upon a slight relative displacement of 
the atoms. It is, as I conceive, by the coming into operation 
under certain circumstances, of a portion of this vast cosmical, 
ethereal force, received from definite directions, that the known 
effective forces of nature are brought into play. 
Immediate consequences of the Interception of the Cosmical Force. 
—Unwersal Gravitation—Let us next conceive that a single 
