F W. Very— A Cosmic Cycle. 193 



If atoms are constituted by vortex-rings in the ether, and if 

 the weight of an atom depends on the energy or complexity of 

 this peculiar form of vortical motion, the logical conclusion is 

 that the absence of vortex-rings in the free ether implies 

 absence of gravitational mass, or a density of zero. Substance 

 there must be, using the term in a general, although not in a 

 merely metaphysical sense ; but of ordinary matter as distin- 

 guished by the possession of gravitational action, ether has 

 none, on this supposition. Energy must be defined as the 

 modification of ethereal rotation, or the establishment of rota- 

 tion at new points in the ether. When temporary vortex 

 filaments spring up in the ether between positively and nega- 

 tively electrified bodies, this gives the energy of electric attrac- 

 tion — an energy which depends on the number of filaments, or 

 lines of electric force, and their distribution, being greater 

 when the distribution becomes more strongly asymmetrical. 

 The formation of temporary closed vortex-filaments around an 

 electric current gives rise to magnetic attraction. The forming 

 of more permanent vortex-rings in the ether with resulting 

 gravitational attraction, demands an energy which is greater 

 when the internal motion is more complex. The destruction 

 of a vortex-ring, or its simplification, sets energy free. We 

 may concede that there is doubtless a preservation of entropy 

 by some sort of mechanism, and that the system is in some 

 way reversible ; but by the " system " of which I now speak, 

 is meant a connected train of processes as wide as the physical 

 universe ; and for the working of this system, even for a single 

 throw, an immense time is demanded. The change from the 

 gaseous, or ultragaseous state to that of the free ether is not 

 like that from a solid to a liquid, or the similar transformation 

 of a liquid to a gas, requiring the latency of a certain amount 

 of heat. Although appearing like a rarefaction, the change in 

 question is quite different. Its ratio to the previous changes 

 is of the % form and caunot be guessed from the previous oper- 

 ators, but must be determined in a new way. 



Most attempts to solve the problem and discover the prop- 

 erties of the ether, have proceeded on the assumption that the 

 ether resembles a rarefied gas. In this way DeVolson Wood* 

 found that its specific heat must be something like five millions 

 of millions, that of water being unity. The computation may 

 not be without value, although it is necessary to modify the 

 very meaning of the word " heat," or energy of molecular 

 motion, when treating of a substance which has no molecules, 

 nor rectilinear motions such as the kinetic theory of gases 

 assumes. The numerical value deduced by this computation 



* Philosophical Magazine (5), vol. xx, p. 4.02, 1885. 



