498 
Genesis of Matter . 
[October, 
no weight. 4. We may imagine a place to exist where 
matter has no weight, but this is less easily conceived of 
common matter. 5. We may imagine weight to be 
taken out and in ; we have an analogy in a magnet lying 
on the ground, attracting, and in a sense making heavier, 
the iron over it. 6. That something which gives weight 
may exist without our matter, although we cannot 
prove it. 7. If it is outside of our matter it may be an ex- 
istence of a kind to be passing through our matter. 
8. Possibly an existence polarising the vibrations, or rather 
movements, of molecules, and giving them a direction. 
9. If so, it probably has a motion of its own. 10. If so, 
the parts of which it is composed are necessarily smaller 
than the atoms of our chemistry : it is as difficult to con- 
ceive it non-atomic as to conceive our matter to be so, and 
we do not render it more intelligible by calling it non-atomic. 
11. The state of Physics and Chemistry demands a finer 
atom than ours, and we can get it best by breaking ours up. 
12. If our atoms were as small as these supposed ones they 
would go through glass, and perhaps through all our com- 
mon matter, as these finer are supposed to do. 13. If our 
so-called atoms are complex, they are probably compressible 
to a certain extent, and changeable in shape. 14. Atoms 
of more primitive form will be less so, and probably infi- 
nitely hard, as we have supposed ours to be, and as ours 
would be if they were primordial. 15. If there are any 
which by pressing forward cause common matter to gravi- 
tate, they themselves must, if they do not gravitate, have a 
power of direction. It is very hard to imagine this, although 
it has been supposed to have been explained. 16. If so, 
they cannot aCt merely on the surface, as the weight of a 
body does not depend on its surface ; they may aCt on 
every atom, and when they penetrate our matter they can 
so aCt, and by this means we obtain a force immeasurably 
multiplied, i.e., multiplied according to the number of atoms 
in a body. 17. These ideas connect the finer substance with 
our coarser matter ; it is not fair quite to sever them ; they 
do not, however, convert the finer matter into forces, because 
even that we can separate from force, and are compelled 
to do so by our reason. 
We must some day think more of this. 
