THE UNDERLYING FACTS OF SCIENCE 575 



ally obtained warrants us in suspecting that molecular aggregates can 

 not exist at zero absolute; thus we may well believe that chemical 

 a ffini ty, while influenced by temperature, is in no way dependent on it, 

 but is an intrinsic property of the atoms themselves. Gaseous matter 

 in space is not necessarily " frozen to death." 



It bas just been stated that there was no indication that a fall in 

 temperature hastened atomic disintegration; the reverse may be true. 

 Jean Becquerel has recently shown that at the temperature of liquid 

 air the transparency of matter increases and the spectral absorption 

 bands become finer. It is well known that the very opposite is the case 

 with a rise in temperature above normal. In this we may see a vindi- 

 cation of the theory that heat is due to molecular agitation, or, to speak 

 more correctly, is manifested as molecular agitation, which interferes 

 with translucent properties. 



Phenomena of Interstellar Space 



If the ether is a mass of elementary gas or gases, in what relation 

 will it stand to the energies which it transmits ? If the ether is gaseous, 

 i. e., material, all our accumulated knowledge of matter is at variance 

 with the accepted facts of astrophysics. If this gaseous ether is the 

 ultimate condition of matter, the luminiferous medium, all our ac- 

 cumulated knowledge of the ether is opposed to many accepted facts of 

 science. The acceptance of a material ether necessitates too much work 

 of reconciliation and the distortion of established facts to suit its re- 

 quirements. We turn, therefore, to sub-material theories. 



The ether transmits but does not manifest heat, light and other 

 forms of energy. Light is not manifested in space — at least not to any 

 appreciable extent; the variations in our distance from the sun do not 

 produce color phenomena of the order of those which a variation in the 

 depth of atmosphere through which we view the sun produces. Heat 

 stands in the same relation to the ether as sound does to gases of suitable 

 density ; it is not manifested in a non-material ether ; it is transmitted, 

 and that part of space through which it passes is unaffected. If a 

 molecular mass, our globe and its atmosphere, for instance, be inter- 

 posed, the light and heat will be manifested, dissipated and finally 

 absorbed by atoms or atomic aggregates, the periods of whose vibrations 

 coincide with theirs. If not manifested they can not be dissipated, but 

 will travel forever in a right line. 



But if this is correct, how is it that interstellar space possesses any 

 temperature at all ? Why is it not at zero absolute ? Heat, as already 

 stated, is known to us by its manifestation; it is manifested in matter 

 and ultimate corpuscles can only transmit it without retaining it. Heat 

 and light may be identical in nature, but they are distinct in their 

 action; it has recently been shown that the change of period in the 



