lo THE ACTIVE FORCES OF LIVING ORGANISMS 



It will, of course, be borne in mind that the pre- 

 dominance of attractive power over repulsive power is 

 an essential condition of the existence of atoms. Were 

 the latter greater than the former vortex, motion 

 could no longer continue, and with its cessation the 

 rigidity peculiar to matter would disappear, and the 

 tions^of''^'^ bound ether of the atom would become free. We 

 atoms. jj^ay perhaps suppose that when chemical action 

 takes place, as it always does, owing to some 

 external force, such as light or heat or electricity — 

 that is to say, to a movement of some kind of the 

 ether — the perfect vortex motion is momentarily 

 modified, that there is, as it were, a slight tendency 

 on the part of the bound ether of the atoms to become 

 free, to vibrate in unison with the disturbed ether sur- 

 rounding them, and, reacting on it, to communicate 

 to it a portion of the force which in the quiescent 

 state is more entirely internal. 

 The ether Not Only do physicists look upon ether as filling 

 all matter, all space between our earth and the other heavenly 

 bodies, but they also suppose it to permeate all 

 matter surrounding atoms and filling up whatever 

 vacuum would otherwise be left between them. 

 There- This view is of interest for many reasons, and 



action of . xi 



atoms on amongst others because it seems to suggest a partial 

 as a pes- explanation of the electrical differences which exist 



sible canse i , • , , i -ji ■ ^ 



of eieo- between various substances ; for, if we consider 

 potential, electricity to be a mode of motion of the ether, we 

 may assume that all atoms when excited by a vibra- 

 tion of the latter would not react with the same 



