16 



WILLIAM M. HAMLET. 



then this alkaline body 1 and its primary congener, nitrogen, both 

 bear interesting names, associated as they are with all that pertains 

 to life upon this planet. 



Particularly interesting is the evolution of the simple symbol H 

 for nitrogen. The hieroglyphic sign used by the ancient Egyptians, 

 as may be seen in the cartouche of the Pharaohs, at Abydos and 

 elsewhere, is — ; the Phoenician is 7; the Etruscan form is 7; while 

 the Greek form brings it nearly identical with the modern w. If 

 of such interest from the antiquarian point of view, will they not 

 afford equal, or perchance greater interest, from the point of view 

 of molecular mechanics 1 



Our position as to scientific belief is this : — that the depart- 

 ments of knowledge dealing with the properties of aggregates of 

 matter, and hitherto labelled and recorded under the terms 

 chemistry and physics, may, and rather should, be termed the 

 mechanics of the Ether ; for do we not exist in an Ethereal con- 

 tinuum, when facts are now being co-related, in a manner the like 

 of which is unknown in history 1 ? The air is thick, it has been 

 said, with impending discovery just as the world was in Newton's 

 time waiting the arrival of the master mind who shall link 

 together all that is now known, harvesting the results into a new 

 and greater ' Principia.' 



That those complete and radical changes exhibited in ethereal 

 vortex motion, the so-called matter, should be classed as chemistry: 

 while the transient vortex changes capable of speedy diminution, 

 reversal, and change back again into the original state should form 

 the domain of physics, is convenient for purposes of reference and 

 study, but where chemistry ceases or physics begins, can nowadays 

 be only of interest to the curious : the chemist must embrace both. 

 Time does not allow of my treating these matters other than as 



l The word 'alkali' means 'to fry/ or 'the fry/ 'the roasted' (al kali), 

 the arabic word qualey, or kaley, meaning fried, or roasted in a pan ; hence 

 the calcined ash left oa the incineration of a plant or of any vegetable 

 matter was called al kali, a word that has come down to us, practically 

 unchanged, from the alchemists* 



