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A Paper was read, entitled, “ Notes on Calorific 
Phenomena,” by J. C. Dyeh, Esq., Y.P. 
The Author states that the essences of matter, their 
number and their forms, are only known to us by their 
observed properties and mutations ; that conflicting theories 
on physics arise from the various interpretations given to the 
same phenomena ; and if unable to reconcile such differences, 
further inquiry, with that view, may not he improper, whilst 
the laws of nature rest on debateable grounds. That 
practically matter, in its aggregate, is found to consist of two 
sorts or classes — the “ ponderable” and the “imponderable” — 
gravity and elasticity serving to distinguish their respective 
inherent properties. That as no tests of weight or measure 
can apply to the latter, its mutations and action on other 
bodies are the sole means we have of forming any judgment 
concerning its agency in the laboratory of nature. That the 
calorific element, or heat, is assumed to be the one “sole 
imponderable element which pervades matter and space 
throughout the universe,” and it constitutes the elastic forces 
reacting upon and balancing the gravitating forces in all other 
bodies. This elemental state of heat must he taken as distinct 
from its other three states of sensible, radiating, and specific 
heat, commonly recognised. That elemental heat is acted 
upon by mechanical and chemical forces, and the changes 
which it undergoes from the one to the other conditions of 
heat, give rise to atmospherical phenomena, known as 
electrical, magnetic, and optical ; as also to the entire range 
of meteorological changes, as set forth in the Paper. That 
by the mechanical forces of the earth’s motion in its orbit 
and diurnal rotation, acting upon the elemental medium, its 
equilibrium is disturbed and motions generated which afford 
rational explanations of the luminous and ordinary electrical 
and magnetical conditions of the atmosphere, as indicated by 
their respective meteors. That by the action of chemical 
forces, great mutations of heat are continually going on ; for 
