﻿18 
  Prof. 
  L. 
  T. 
  More 
  on 
  Theories 
  

  

  As 
  both 
  attributes, 
  mnss 
  and 
  energy, 
  are 
  always 
  associated 
  

   with 
  matter, 
  and 
  as 
  matter 
  apparently 
  is 
  revealed 
  to 
  ns 
  only 
  

   through 
  them, 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  take 
  either 
  one 
  as 
  the 
  funda- 
  

   mental 
  attribute, 
  the 
  " 
  Ding 
  an 
  sich 
  " 
  o£ 
  Kant. 
  Thus 
  the 
  

   postulate 
  o£ 
  inertia 
  is 
  the 
  basis 
  o£ 
  an 
  atomic 
  or 
  corpuscular 
  

   theor}^, 
  while 
  energy 
  serves 
  in 
  the 
  s;ime 
  capacity 
  for 
  the 
  

   science 
  ot* 
  energetics. 
  But 
  the 
  attempt 
  to 
  explain 
  matter 
  

   and 
  energy 
  has 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  substitution 
  o£ 
  vortex 
  rings, 
  strains 
  

   or 
  electric 
  charges 
  in 
  an 
  aether 
  £or 
  the 
  hard 
  atom, 
  and 
  has 
  

   refined 
  the 
  concept 
  o£ 
  energy 
  to 
  a 
  mathematical 
  symbol. 
  

   These 
  methods 
  sooner 
  or 
  later 
  lead 
  to 
  purely 
  metaphysical 
  

   discussions, 
  expressed 
  by 
  mathematical 
  equations 
  in 
  place 
  o£ 
  

   scholastic 
  logic, 
  in 
  which 
  a 
  hypothetical 
  universe 
  is 
  sub- 
  

   stituted 
  for 
  sensible 
  matter. 
  When 
  we 
  assert 
  that 
  matter 
  is 
  

   an 
  attribute 
  o£ 
  the 
  aether 
  or 
  a 
  complex 
  o£ 
  centres 
  of 
  energy, 
  

   we 
  explain 
  nothing 
  as 
  we 
  merely 
  endow 
  a 
  more 
  tenuous 
  

   hypothetical 
  fluid 
  with 
  all 
  the 
  properties 
  o£ 
  matter 
  under 
  

   discussion. 
  For 
  example, 
  to 
  explain 
  the 
  genesis 
  and 
  growth 
  

   o£ 
  a 
  crystal 
  we 
  transfer 
  to 
  each 
  constituent 
  molecule 
  all 
  the 
  

   properties 
  of 
  the 
  complete 
  crystal 
  ; 
  an 
  evasion 
  rather 
  than 
  a 
  

   solution 
  of 
  the 
  problem. 
  

  

  For 
  a 
  century 
  or 
  more 
  science 
  has 
  tried 
  to 
  explain 
  all 
  

   phenomena 
  as 
  variations 
  of 
  mechanical 
  force, 
  acting 
  accord- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  Newton's 
  law, 
  between 
  atoms 
  and 
  gethers. 
  The 
  

   attempt 
  has 
  failed, 
  mainly 
  for 
  two 
  reasons, 
  the 
  simple 
  atom 
  

   proved 
  to 
  be 
  inadequate, 
  and 
  no 
  aether 
  could 
  be 
  imagined 
  

   which 
  did 
  not 
  contain 
  irreconcilable 
  contradictions 
  when 
  

   phenomena 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  coordinated. 
  When 
  the 
  step 
  was 
  

   once 
  taken 
  of 
  considering 
  the 
  atom 
  as 
  a 
  complex 
  system 
  of 
  

   snbatoms, 
  the 
  passage 
  to 
  the 
  converse 
  problem, 
  of 
  explaining 
  

   mass 
  as 
  a 
  variable 
  function 
  of 
  some 
  more 
  fundamental 
  

   attribute 
  of 
  matter, 
  has 
  been 
  rapid. 
  

  

  In 
  recent 
  theoretical 
  articles 
  matter 
  is 
  no 
  longer 
  an 
  aggre- 
  

   gation 
  of 
  concrete 
  atoms 
  or 
  subatoms, 
  places 
  of 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  

   differentiation 
  in 
  an 
  aether 
  possessing 
  inertia, 
  but 
  a 
  manifes- 
  

   tation 
  of 
  some 
  more 
  fundamental 
  entity, 
  such 
  as 
  a 
  negative 
  

   charge 
  of 
  electricity. 
  The 
  argument 
  of 
  these 
  writers 
  is 
  

   essentially 
  as 
  follows: 
  since 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  proved 
  that 
  a 
  moving 
  

   body 
  of 
  ponderable 
  matter 
  possesses 
  more 
  momentum 
  when 
  

   it 
  is 
  electrically 
  charged 
  than 
  when 
  uncharged, 
  therefore 
  we 
  

   may 
  account 
  for 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  inertia 
  and 
  momentum 
  of 
  

   matter, 
  but 
  also 
  for 
  matter 
  itself, 
  by 
  endowing 
  somethi7ig 
  

   with 
  an 
  adequate 
  electrical 
  charge 
  and 
  velocity. 
  This 
  con- 
  

   clusion 
  is, 
  at 
  least 
  with 
  our 
  present 
  knowledge, 
  a 
  non-sequitur; 
  

   iri^he 
  first 
  place 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  experience 
  of 
  the 
  somethings 
  

   and 
  second, 
  the 
  requisite 
  velocity 
  may 
  be 
  an 
  unattainable 
  

  

  