300 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 



produce a drag on the latter in the nature of a 

 permanent rotational strain ; but if by some means 

 the frequency of rotation of the rotating electron, 

 constituting the gyrostatic system, can be dimin- 

 ished, the atomic system will radiate energy to the 

 aether when the period is sufficiently diminished. 

 This can be accomplished by the approach of a 

 negative corpuscle which will take up some of 

 the energy of the system and slow down the 

 motion. Hence, when a collision takes place 

 between a corpuscle and the positive ion or atom, 

 which we have devised, radiation occurs. While 

 it is radiating the ion behaves as if it were not 

 charged. When the corpuscle and the rotating 

 electron come very close together, it is easy to 

 see that the average effect of the latter on the 

 former is a repulsive one. The corpuscle and 

 so-called positive atom will move about together 

 and rotate, but never ultimately unite till, by the 

 influence of collisions, the vibrations which the 

 corpuscle controls cause this to fly ofi", and the 

 internal vibrations of the electron are again in- 

 creased by subsequent molecular collisions. There 

 will be again radiations before reaching the non- 

 radiative periods of oscillation, whilst potential 

 energy is again stored up in the aether. Thus 

 radiation occurs whenever association or dissocia- 

 tion takes place. 



The effect of molecular agglomerations, then, is 

 to attract negative corpuscles to set free the 

 potential energy which is stored up in the atom 



