i8;8.] 
Genesis of Matter. 
493 
characteristics we are obliged to suppose some aCtion. Let 
us imagine the contrary ; must it not at least have a ten- 
dency to aCtion such as we find in attraction ? We may 
imagine this, but I fear it cannot have this inclination 
without some remaining heat ; and if we take all the life — 
that is, the motion — we know of, and leave nothing to give 
a tendency till heat comes again, we imagine the motion to 
exist in the atom itself in one case, and only in the atom 
when heated up — that is, set in motion — in the other case. 
There must be a latent capacity in the atom, and that must 
be represented in some way. Is it in a form or in another 
motion ? 
Here we come to a very curious point. When the heat 
comes to the hydrogen, and motion begins, the heat may be 
inclined to say, “ I only am the power; the hydrogen is 
nothing ; matter is a dead thing, with which I play as I 
choose.” But we may answer the heat thus : — “ Cause 
oxygen to move in exactly the same way, and I will believe 
you ; or cause any other element to do the same.” The 
heat cannot, because each has its own peculiar movement ; 
and so we learn that hydrogen, after all, did play its part in 
the dance, and played it too with a power that seemed to 
be eternal. Although it cannot aCt alone, it can wait for 
endless ages for a companion with whom to rejoice — that is, 
take the heat away, freeze it to the utmost, and the parti- 
cles will cease. At least I assume this ; if indeed the 
existence of solid hydrogen, even for an instant, is not a 
sufficient proof. If any one says that heat is held too much 
as a material here, the reply is, “ No, it is treated as an 
external agent.” The hydrogen deprived of heat will be 
quite still so far as we know, and it is interesting to know 
in what condition it rests. It is not dead, but sleeps ; its 
particles are closely associated, and the colder it is the more 
firmly do the particles unite — up to a certain point, at least, 
I for one do not know how far. After all, this is not death ; 
in death there are no bonds of brotherly love. Can any one 
measure the strength of union of such particles, and find if 
there is more force expended by this hydrogen when it is 
active than when it is passive or void of heat ? This to 
some extent we can do, although we cannot do it perfectly 
till we know the cohesive force, and a few more points, more 
clearly. But if, by the want of heat, there is this enormous 
power of compression — or, in other words, of attraction for 
itself — developed, then it would appear as if the original 
power of the hydrogen were enormous, and the heat did not 
increase it, but merely altered its direction. We must, 
