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trinity to a duality ; and this without touching the other question as to 
whether the attraction of gravitation may not be after all merely a modifica- 
tion of that other force, which we call chemical affinity. Then Mr. De La 
Mare tells us that there are three motions of the heavenly bodies — the motion 
of each planet on its axis, the motion of the planetary system round the sun, 
and the motion of the solar system with all other systems through space. I 
believe that last motion is also disputed ; and, if so, we once more reduce 
the three to two. In the next place we are told that light is a triple com- 
pound, the solar spectrum consisting of three spectra — the luminous, the 
calorific, and the actinic. But the student of physical science will tell you 
that all these are convertible one into the other, all three, in fact, being 
modifications of one force. In the next place we have an old fallacy, which 
I should have thought would by this time have vanished from every scientific 
mind ; that is, that the luminous spectrum is compounded of three colours, 
yellow, red, and blue. But what is the simple fact ? When you separate 
pure white light into its elements, you get, not three, but an infinite number 
of colours ; and if you take any one of these colours, you cannot further 
decompose it. Take purple, for instance ; can you separate that purple into 
blue and red ? No. If you have no evidence, then, that this colour is actually 
made up of blue and red, what is your scientific ground for stating this ? You 
may certainly take an artificially-made purple colour, and find that it consists 
of blue and red ; and if you mix blue and red together you get the impres- 
sion of purple upon the eye. But take the actual purple ray, and you will 
find that you cannot separate it into anything else. In the eye of science, 
therefore, it is an entity of itself, quite as much as yellow, blue, and red. 
Every distinct shade of colour is an entity by itself, for the impression 
of each is produced by a particular rate of undulation in the medium 
through which the light passes, and these various shades cannot be separated 
into anything else. The luminous spectrum, therefore, is not composed 
of three parts, but of an infinite number of parts. Then Mr. De La 
Mare refers to atmospheric air, which he says is a triple compound made 
up of three gases. But I was not aware that it was a compound at all. — 
It is a mixture, and it is composed, not of three but. of dozens and 
hundreds of gases. The two gases forming the greatest proportion of 
atmospheric air are oxygen and nitrogen. Then you have water, car- 
bonic acid, and ammonia, next in quantity ; and then extremely minute 
traces of many other gases. There is evidently no trinity here. Mr. De La 
Mare also tells us that water is of a triple constitution, because it exists in the 
form of water, ice, and steam. But what is there of triple constitution here, 
because there are three forms in which water can exist ? We are told next 
that electricity is of triple constitution, but we are not told how. I have 
always understood that electricity was not of three, but of two forms — positive 
and negative, or, as some prefer to say, vitreous and resinous. We are told 
also that man is of triple constitution ; and here, indeed, Mr. De La Mare 
has a point in his favour. Man is composed of body, soul, and spirit, and we 
may fully admit that there is in that some analogy with the Divine Trinity. 
VOL. III. N 
