268 Mr. S. T. Preston's Suggestion in 



into contact. If we suppose the impulsive influence to be 

 powerful enough to bring (sensibly) the entire peripheries of 

 all the rings into mutual contact, the rings bending (from 

 their elasticity) for this purpose, then it would appear that the 

 whole must form a system of hexagons, as the annexed dia- 



Fij?. 1. 



gram (fig. 1) may serve roughly to illustrate. For the condi- 

 tions of equilibrium would not allow any thing else. It is 

 true that squares might conceivably be formed if the bending 

 were sufficient for that purpose (and by a somewhat different 

 arrangement of the rows), but it must evidently in any case 

 (from the conditions of equilibrium) be some regular or geo- 

 metric figure. Might not this possibly be capable of throwing 

 some light on the phenomena of crystallization ? It appears 

 evident that the ring molecules, under these conditions, could 

 also form hollow solid figures of geometric shape, if the rings 

 were to unite at their peripheries or edges in a regular manner. 

 But it will be seen that the tendency for the rings to unite 

 at their edges or boundaries in a regular manner is auto- 

 matic, since at their edges alone shelter exists, the streams of 

 aether atoms passing freely through the open parts of the 

 rings, so that there exist virtually "lines of impulsive action" 

 directed symmetrically from edge to edge, producing automa- 

 tically a guiding action, or (crystalline?) "building." 



If there were any foundation for these data in reality, it 

 would follow as an a priori conclusion, that leaving the ring 

 molecules to themselves in an unhampered manner (as, for ex- 

 ample, occurs in the process of melting or solution) would be 

 most favourable to crystalline building. Also it would appear, 

 equally a priori, that if the ring molecules were artificially 

 interfered with (as by hammering for instance) they might 

 (especially from their elasticity) be crossed or jostled up 

 together irregularly, and so not unite symmetrically at their 



