MOLECULAR FORCES.
Conditions of Matter--Variety of organized
Forms--Inorganic Forms--All matter reducible to the
most simple conditions--Transmutation, a natural
operation--Chemical Elementary Principles--Divisibility of
Matter--Atoms--Molecules--Particles--Molecular Force includes
several Agencies--Instanced in the Action of Heat on Bodies--All
Bodies porous--Solution--Mixture--Combination--Centres of
Force--Different States of Matter (Allotropic Conditions)--Theories
of Franklin, Æpinus, and Coulomb--Electrical and Magnetic
Agencies--Ancient Notions--Cohesive Attraction, &c.
In contemplating the works of nature, we cannot but regard, with
feelings of religious admiration, the infinite variety of forms under
which matter is presented to our senses. On every hand the utmost
diversity is exhibited; through all things we trace the most perfect
order; and over all is diffused the charm of beauty. It is the
uneducated or depraved alone who find deformities in the creations by
which we are surrounded.
The three conditions of matter are--the solid, the fluid, and the
aëriform; and these belong equally to the organic and the inorganic
world.
In organic nature we have an almost infinite variety of animal form,
presenting developments widely different from each other, yet in every
case suited to the circumstances required by the position which the
creature, occupies in the scale of being. Through the entire series,
from the Polype to the higher order of animals, even to man, we find a
uniformity in the progress towards perfection, and a continuity in the
series, which betrays the great secret, that the mystery of life is
the same in all,--a pervading spiritual essence associated with matter,
and modifying it by the master-mechanism of an Infinite mind.
In the vegetable clothing of the surface of the earth, which fits it
for the abode of man and animals--from the confervæ of a stagnant pool,
or the lichen of the wind-beaten rocks, to the lordly oak or towering
palm--a singularly beautiful chain of being presents itself to the
contemplative mind, and we cannot but trace the gradual elevation in
the scale of organization.
In the inorganic world, where the great phenomena of life are wanting,
we have constantly exhibited the working of powers of a strangely
complicated kind. The symmetrical arrangement of crystals--the
diversified characters of mineral formations--the systematic
aggregations of particles to form masses possessing properties of a
peculiar and striking nature--all prove, that agencies, which science,
with all its refinements, has not yet detected, are unceasingly at
work. Heat, electricity, chemical power--whatever that may be--and
the forces of cohesion, are known to be involved in the production of
the forms we see; but contemplation soon leads to the conviction that
these powers are subordinate to others which we know not of. We know
only the things belonging to the surface of our planet, and these but
superficially. The geologist traces rock-formations succeeding each
other (from the primary strata holding no traces of organized forms,
through the Paleozoic series, in which, step by step, the history of
animal life is recorded,) to the more recent formations, teeming with
relics, which, though allied to some animal types still existing, are
generally such as have passed away. The naturalist searches the earth,
the waters, and the air, for their living things; and the diversity
of form, the variety of condition, and the perfection of organization
which he discovers as belonging to this our epoch--differing from,
indeed bearing but a slight relation to, those which mark the earth’s
mutations--exhibit, in a most striking view, the endless variety of
characters which matter can assume.
We are so accustomed to all these phenomena of matter, that it is with
some difficulty we can bend ourselves to the study of the more simple
conditions in which it exists.
The solid crusts of this telluric sphere--the waters and the
atmosphere--the diversified fabrics of the vegetable kingdom--and the
still more complicated structures of men and animals--are, altogether,
but the aggregation of minute particles in accordance with certain
fixed laws. By mechanical means all kinds of matter may be reduced to
powder, the fine particles of which would not appear very different
from each other, but each atom has been impressed with properties
peculiar to itself, which man has no power to change.
To nature alone belongs the mysterious property of transmutation. The
enthusiastic alchemist, by the agency of physical forces, dissipates a
metal in vapour; but it remains a metal, and the same metal still. By
the Hermetic art he breaks up the combination of masses; but he cannot
alter the principles of any one of the elements which form the mass
upon which his skill is tried.
Every atom is invested with properties peculiar to all of its class;
and each one possesses powers, to which in mute obedience it is
compelled, by which these properties are modified, and the character of
matter varied. What are those properties? Do we know anything of those
powers?
The earth, so far as we are acquainted with it, is composed of about
sixty principles, which we call elementary. These are the most simple
states to which we can reduce matter, and from them all the forms of
creation yet examined by the chemist are produced. These elementary
principles are, some of them, permanently gaseous under the ordinary
temperature, and others exist as solid masses; the difference between
the two conditions being regulated, as it appears, by the opposing
forces of heat and cohesive attraction.
Matter has been regarded by some as infinitely divisible; but the known
conditions of chemical combinations lead to the conclusion that there
are limits beyond which matter cannot be divided.[25] The theory of
atoms having determinate characters, and possessing symmetric forms,
certainly has the advantage of presenting to the human mind a starting
point--a sort of standing ground,--from which it can direct the survey
of cosmical phenomena. The metaphysical hypothesis, which resolves all
matter into properties, and refers all things to ideas, leaves the
mind in a state of uncertainty and bewilderment.
Adapting the views of Dumas, with some modifications,[26] it will be
found more satisfactory to regard the _ultimate atoms_ of matter as
points beyond the reach of our examination; which, according to a law,
determined by the influences of the so-called imponderable forces,
unite to form _molecules_. Again, these molecules combine to form the
_particles_ of the mass which we may regard as the limit of mechanical
division. The particles of solid bodies are solid, those of fluids
fluid, and those of gaseous bodies are themselves aëriform; but it does
not follow that the molecules of any body should be necessarily solid,
fluid, or aëriform, from the circumstance of their having formed the
particles of a body in one of these states.
As this planet--a molecule in space--is formed of aggregated atoms, and
enveloped by its own physical agencies--and as it is involved in the
infinitely extending influences of other planetary molecules, and thus
forms part of a system--so the molecules of any mass are grouped into a
system or particle, which possesses the great characteristic features
of the whole.
In an aëriform body the particles are in a state of extreme tenuity,
the molecules being themselves, by the influence of some repulsive
force, just on the verge where cohesion exerts its decaying power. In
fluid bodies the attenuation of the particles is less--the particles
and also the molecules are nearer together,--whereas, in the solid
body, the forces of cohesion are most strongly exerted, and all the
molecular conditions brought more powerfully into action.
Under the term molecular force, we include several agencies,--not
alike in the phenomena which they exhibit, but which are all-powerful
in producing the general characteristics of bodies. These require a
somewhat close examination. All the particles of even a solid mass may
be brought under conditions on which they are free to move. By heat we
can increase the length and thickness of a bar of iron, or any other
metal, and at length produce the fluid state,--a melted metal flows as
freely as water in a stream. Fluids, and gases in like manner obey the
dispersive influence of caloric. From these and other analogous results
we learn that all bodies have a greater or less degree of porosity.
The distance at which the particles of fluid bodies are maintained is
strikingly proved by the fact, that hydrated salts dissolved in water
occupy no more space than that which is equal to the water contained
in the crystalline body; while anhydrous salts dissolve without at
all increasing the bulk of the fluid. All the solid matter of the salt
must, in these cases, it would appear, go to fill up the interstitial
spaces which we suppose to exist in the liquid.[27]
The conditions which regulate the solubility of bodies, and the power
of solution, regarded either as a mechanical or a chemical process, are
very obscure. We might be led to suppose, that those bodies possessing
the largest amount of unoccupied space were capable of holding the
greatest quantity of soluble matter dissolved. This, however, is far
from being the case, the denser fluids generally having the greatest
solvent power.
The peculiar manner in which hydrogen gas appears to dissolve solid
substances,--as iron, potassium, sodium, sulphur, phosphorus,
selenium, and arsenic, may be explained by regarding the results as
a manifestation of the powers of chemical affinity over the forms of
bodies. In like manner, the solution of salt in water, or the mixture
of alcohol in that fluid, may be viewed as chemical phenomena, although
usually considered as simple cases of solution or mixture: alterations
of temperature and other physical changes taking place in either. If
two masses of metal,--either tin and copper, for example,--are melted
and combined, the united mass will not equal the bulk of the two
masses. If a pint measure of oil of vitriol and an equal quantity of
water are mixed together, the combined fluids will not fill a two pint
measure.[28]
In these instances a large quantity of heat is rendered sensible, as
if it had been squeezed out by the force with which the particles
combined, from interstices, which were filled with, what we may be
allowed to call, an atmosphere of heat. Hence we conclude that, amongst
the influences determining the molecular constitution of a body, heat
performs an important part. All these facts go to prove that the atoms
which form the compound body, whatever may be its character, are
disposed of as so many centres of force, which act by influences of a
peculiar character upon each other. That these influences are dependent
upon known physical forces is certain; but the laws by which the powers
of the ultimate atom are altered remain still unknown.
In the great operations of nature, changes are produced which we cannot
understand, and variations of condition do certainly occur, which may
be regarded as instances of transmutation.
Amongst others, we may adduce the different states in which we
know carbon to exist. We have the diamond with its beautiful
light-refracting property, its hardness and high specific gravity,
capable of being converted into graphite and coke.[29] Charcoal,
graphite, and the diamond, are totally unlike each other, yet we know
they are each composed of the same atoms. Charcoal is a black irregular
substance, light, and readily inflammable; graphite is crystallizable;
but the forms of its crystals cannot be referred to those of the
diamond, and it burns with difficulty. The diamond occurs in the most
regular and beautifully transparent forms; and it can be burned only
at the highest artificial temperatures. We are, however, convinced by
experiment that the brilliant and transparent gem is made up of the
same atoms as those which go to form the dull black mass of charcoal.
From diamonds, as is above stated, coke has been formed by the heat
of the voltaic battery, and recent experiments have proved that the
volatilized carbon constantly passing off from one of the poles of a
sufficiently powerful battery, is deposited in a crystalline powder,
possessing most of the properties, as it regards hardness, &c. of true
diamond dust. What is the mystery of this? We know not. The peculiar
conditions have been the subjects of anxious study; but science has not
yet let in a ray of light upon the mystery. That a different state--it
has been called an _allotropic_ condition--is often induced in the
same class of atoms is certain; and hence the variety of the resulting
compounds. To continue our illustrations with carbon--may not its
combinations, in uniform proportions with oxygen and hydrogen,[30] owe
their differences to some allotropic change in the ultimate atoms of
this element.
We know that silicon--the metallic base of flint--is capable of
assuming two or more different states; and that sulphur, selenium,
phosphorus, and arsenic, are susceptible of these remarkable changes
in which, without the slightest variation in the chemical character, a
complete change in the physical condition is produced. Copper, iron,
tin, and manganese, are known to exist in at least two states of
physical dissimilarity, and many of the rarer metals exhibit the same
peculiarity.[31] Hence, may we not infer that some of those substances,
which we now term elementary, are but altered conditions of the same
element? The resemblance between many of those bodies strengthens
the supposition. Iridium and platinum,--iron and nickel,--chlorine,
bromine, iodine, and probably fluorine,--are good examples of these
similarities, although these bodies are all distinguished by physical
and chemical differences.
The light-refracting gem, which glistens on the neck of beauty, and is
valued for its transparency, differs only from the rude lump of coke in
its molecular arrangement. Chemistry teaches us that we may, without
producing any disarrangement of the affinities, but by merely setting
up molecular disturbance, effect decided changes, as is strikingly
shown in the colour of iodide of mercury changing from red to yellow
under slight influences of heat, and back again to red by a gentle
mechanical disturbance. By a slight change, merely molecular, iron may
be made to resemble platinum in its physical properties.[32] An iron
wire plunged into nitric acid is attacked by the acid with violence;
but if one extremity of the wire is heated in the flame of a spirit
lamp, such a change of state is produced throughout the entire length
of the wire, that if it be now plunged into nitric acid no effect is
produced upon it. On studying this question, we find good reason for
supposing that bodies which, though physically different, resemble
each other in some of their properties, iodine, bromine, &c., are the
results of different _allotropic_ conditions which have been impressed
upon the ultimate atoms, similar to those observed in the substances
named. This hypothesis appears to be more in accordance with the great
principles which we must conceive guided the labours of an Infinite
Mind, than that which supposes a vast number of individual creations.
It will be seen in the sequel that light, heat, electricity, and
chemical action, have the power of producing yet more striking changes
in the forms of bodies. Is it not probable that, according to the
operations of these agents, either combined or separate, acting over
different spaces of time, and under varying circumstances, in relation
to the molecular forces, all those _allotropic_ states may be produced?
Hence bodies may be discovered, which,--from the imperfections of
science,--resisting our means of analysis, must, for a time, be
regarded as new elements, whereas they are possibly only altered states
of the same substance.
The experiments of Faraday and of Plücker prove that all matter exists
in certain polar conditions, having powers of mutual attraction
and repulsion.[33] Are the molecular forces, so called, to be
referred to any of those powers which are involved in the general
term magnetic-polarity? Are they not probably the result of some
ultimate principle of which these properties are but the modified
manifestations? These questions will now be generally answered in
favour of magnetism; but in our ignorance we should pause; the next
generation will without doubt find another solution for the problem.
Franklin supposed the ultimate atoms of bodies to be surrounded by
a subtile fluid or ether, which they have the power of condensing
upon their surfaces with great force--and we have experiments showing
that this is probable[34]--whilst he regarded the atoms of the ether
itself as mutually repellent, thus establishing an equilibrium of
forces. Æpinus reduced the hypothesis of Franklin to a mathematical
theory; and Coulomb _proved_ that the force with which the repulsion
of the ethereal atoms and the attraction of the material molecules
are produced, is, like universal attraction,--to whatever power that
may be due,--regulated by the law of the inverse ratio of the square
of the distance. These views are found, upon minute examination, to
hold true to the phenomena with which inductive science has made us
acquainted; and the striking manner in which, when submitted to the
rigorous investigations of geometers, they agree with known conditions
of electricity, appears certainly to favour the opinion that this power
may be materially connected with these molecular arrangements.
Many of the phenomena which are connected with the magnetic influences
also bear in a remarkable manner upon this inquiry. But, without
the necessary proof of direct experimental evidence, it were as
unphilosophical to refer the binding together of the molecules of
matter to the agency of electricity, as it would be to adopt the theory
of the hooked atoms of Epicurus, or the astrological dream of the
sympathies of matter.[35]
Science, however, enables us to infer with safety that the mechanical
powers which regulate the constitution of a cube of marble, or a
granite mountain, are of a similar order to those which determine the
earth’s relation to the other planets in the solar system, and that
solar system itself a unit, in the immensity of space, to the myriads
of suns which spangle the stellar vault.
In fine, cohesion, or the attraction of aggregation, is a power
employed in binding particle to particle. To cohesion, we find we have
heat opposed as a repellent force; and the mysterious operations of
those electrical phenomena, generally referred to as polar forces, are
constantly, it is certain, interfering with its powers. In addition,
we have seen that in nature there exists an agency which is capable
of changing the constitution of the ultimate atoms, and of thus
giving variety to each resulting mass. What this power may be, our
science cannot tell; but our reason leads us, with firm conviction,
to the belief that it is a principle which is, beyond all others in
its subtile influences which equally universal with, appears to rise
superior to gravitation; and which, like a spirituality, shadows forth
to our dwarf conceptions the immensity of the divine power of the
omniscient Creator.
The molecular forces involve a consideration of all the known physical
powers, the study of which, in their operations on matter, will engage
our attention. But it is pleasant to learn, as we advance step by step
in our examination of the phenomena of creation, that we may study
the grand in what externally appears the simple, and learn, in the
mysteries of a particle, the high truths which science has to tell of a
planet.
It may appear that the forces of gravitation and cohesion are regarded
as identical. Many phenomena, which we are enabled to reach by the
refinements of inductive inquiry, certainly present to us a striking
similarity in the laws which regulate the operations of these powers;
but it must be remembered that their identity is not established. So
far from this, we know the law of gravitating force. Newton determined
with surprising accuracy, that the action of this power diminishes with
the distance as the universe square, but cohesive force is exerted only
at such distances that it is impossible to determine whether or not it
is subjected to the same law. To quote the words of Young: “The whole
of our inquiries respecting the intimate nature of forces of any kind
must be considered merely as speculative amusements, which are of no
further utility than as they make our views more general, and assist
our experimental investigations.”[36]
FOOTNOTES:
[25] “The divisibility of matter is great beyond the power of
imagination, but we have no reason for asserting that it is infinite;
for the demonstrations which have sometimes been adduced in favour
of this opinion are obviously applicable to space only. The infinite
divisibility of space seems to be essential to the conception that we
have of its nature, and it may be strictly demonstrated that it is
mathematically possible to draw an infinite number of circles between
any given circle and its tangent, none of which shall touch either of
them except at the general point of contact; and that a ship following
always the same oblique course with respect to the meridian,--for
example, sailing north-eastwards,--would continue perpetually to
approach the pole without ever completely reaching it. But when we
inquire into the truth of the old maxim of the schools, that all
matter is infinitely divisible, we are by no means able to decide so
positively. Newton observes that it is doubtful whether any human means
may be sufficient to separate the particles of matter beyond a certain
limit; and it is not impossible that there may be some constitution
of atoms, or single corpuscles, on which their properties, as matter,
depend, and which would be destroyed if the units were further divided;
but it appears to be more probable that there are no such atoms, and
even if there are, it is almost certain that matter is never thus
annihilated in the common course of matter.”--_The Essential Properties
of Matter_: Young’s _Natural Philosophy_; ed. by Rev. P. Kelland.
[26] “Two very different hypotheses have been formed to explain the
nature of matter, or the mode of its formation; the one known as
the _atomic_ theory, the other, the _dynamic_. The founder of the
former and earlier was Leucippus: he considered the basis of all
bodies to be extremely fine particles, differing in form and nature,
which he supposed to be dispersed through space, and to which his
follower Epicurus first gave the name of atoms. To these atoms he
attributed a rectilinear motion, in consequence of which such as
are homogeneous united, whilst the lighter were dispersed through
space. The author of the second hypothesis was the famous Kant. He
imagined all matter existed, or was originated, by two antagonist and
mutually counteracting principles, which he called attraction and
repulsion, all the predicates of which he referred to motion. Most
modern philosophers, and foremost amongst them Ampère and Poisson, have
adopted an hypothesis combining the features of both the preceding.
They regarded the atoms as data, deriving their origin from the Deity
as the first cause, and consider their innate attractive and repulsive
force as a necessary condition to their combination in bodies. The
main features of this hypothesis are borrowed from Aristotle, inasmuch
as he supposed the basis of all bodies to be the four elements known
to the ancients, the particles of which, endued with certain powers,
constituted bodies. According to Ampère, all bodies consist of equal
particles, and they again of molecules that, up to a certain distance,
attract each other. Their distance from each other he supposed to be
regulated by the intensity of the attractive and repulsive forces,
the latter of which preponderates.”--Peschel’s _Elements of Physics_;
translated by E. West, 1845.
[27] This was first proved by the researches of Dr. Dalton: the subject
will be again alluded to under the consideration of atomic volumes.
[28] These peculiar phenomena may be studied advantageously in the
works of most of the eminent European chemists. In our own language the
reader is referred to Dr. Thompson’s _Outline of the Sciences of Heat
and Electricity_, 2nd edition; Brande’s _Manual of Chemistry_--Art.
_Specific Heat_; Graham’s _Elements of Chemistry_; and Daniell’s
_Introduction to the Study of Chemical Philosophy_.
[29] The conversion of the diamond into graphite and coke was first
effected by the agency of the galvanic arc of flame, by M. Jaquelini,
and communicated to the Academy of Sciences in 1847, in a Memoir
entitled, _De l’action calorifique de la pile de Bunsen, du chalumeau à
gaz oxygène et hydrogène sur le carbon pur, artificiel et naturel_. See
_Comptes Rendus_, 1847, vol. xxiv. p. 1050; also _Report of the British
Association_, for 1847, (_Transactions of Sections_) p. 50.
[30] “In the annual report on the progress of chemistry, presented
to the Royal Academy of Stockholm, in March 1840, I have proposed to
designate by the term _allotropic state_, that dissimilar condition
which is observed in certain elements, and long known examples of which
are found in the different forms of carbon, as graphite and diamond.
“Although these dissimilar conditions, which I have here called
allotropic, have long since attracted attention in one or two elements,
still they have been regarded as exceptions to the general rule. It
is at present my object to show that they are not so rare; that it
is probably rather a general property of the elements to appear in
different allotropic conditions; and that although we have hitherto
been unable to obtain several of the elements when uncombined in
their allotropic states, still their compounds indicate the same with
tolerable distinctness.”--_Berzelius on the Allotropy of the Elementary
Bodies_, _&c._: Poggendorff’s Annalen, 1844. Scientific Memoirs, vol.
iv. p. 240.
[31] “Copper, when reduced by hydrogen at a heat below that of
redness, on exposure to air soon becomes converted throughout its
mass into protoxide; and when it is triturated for some time with
an equivalent quantity of sulphur, it combines with it according to
Böttcher’s experiments, producing flame, and forming sulphuret of
copper. If, however, the copper be reduced by hydrogen at a red heat,
still considerably below the temperature at which it softens and
begins to melt, it remains for years unchanged by exposure to air,
and cannot be made to combine with sulphur without the application of
heat. Iron, cobalt, and nickel, when reduced by hydrogen below a red
heat, inflame after they have cooled, if exposed to the air; and if
they are immediately placed in water to avoid their taking fire, they
inflame when they are again removed, and have become nearly dry. If we
compare this behaviour with that of iron reduced by heat, and with iron
in that state in which it forms the conductor of a galvanic current
without becoming oxidized, it would appear that these peculiarities
depended upon something more than a difference of mechanical
condition.”--_Berzelius on the Allotropy of Elementary Bodies._ See
_On the Isomeric Conditions of the Peroxide of Tin_: by Prof. H.
Rose.--Chemical Gazette, Oct. 1848.
[32] On this curious subject, and its history, see Bergman’s _Dissert.
de Phlog. quantitate in Metallis_, 1764. Kirwan, _On the Attractive
Powers of Mineral Acids_: Philosophical Transactions. Kier’s
_Experiments and Observations on the Dissolution of Metals in Acids_:
Phil. Trans. 1790.
From these valuable papers it will be seen that the peculiar states
of iron had already attracted attention, particularly those “inactive
conditions” noticed in a “_Note sur la Manière d’agir de l’Acide
nitrique sur le Fer, par J. F. W. Herschel_,” Aug. 1833; and previously
indicated by M. H. Braconnot, _Sur quelques Propriétés de l’Acide
nitrique_, Annales de Chimie, vol. lii. p. 54. Reference should also be
made to the Memoirs of Sir John Herschel, _On the Action of the Rays
of the Solar Spectrum on Vegetable Colours_, _&c._: Phil. Trans. vol.
cxxxiii. p. 221; and _On the Separation of Iron from other Metals_:
Phil. Trans. vol. cxi. p. 293; and several papers by Schönbein, in the
Philosophical Magazine, from 1837.
[33] Faraday, in his memoir _On new Magnetic Actions, and on the
Magnetic Conditions of all Matter_, says:--“By the exertion of this new
condition of force, the body moved may pass either along the magnetic
lines or across them, and it may move along or across them in either
or any direction, so that two portions of matter, simultaneously
subject to this power, may be made to approach each other as if they
were mutually attracted, or recede as if mutually repelled. All the
phenomena resolve themselves into this, that a portion of such matter,
when under magnetic action, tends to move from stronger to weaker
places or points of force. When the substance is surrounded by lines
of magnetic force of equal power on all sides, it does not tend to
move, and is then in marked contradistinction with a linear current of
electricity under the same circumstances.”--Phil. Trans. for 1846, vol.
cxxxvii.
[34] _New Experiments and Observations on Electricity made at
Philadelphia, in America._--Addressed to Mr. Collinson, from 1747
to 1754. By Benjamin Franklin. Of these Priestley remarks:--“It is
not easy to say whether we are most pleased with the simplicity and
perspicuity with which the author proposes every hypothesis of his own,
or the noble frankness with which he relates his mistakes, when they
were corrected by subsequent experiments.”
[35] “The atomic philosophy of Epicurus, in its mere physical
contemplation, allows of nothing but matter and space, which are
equally infinite and unbounded, which have equally existed from all
eternity, and from different combinations of which every visible form
is created. These elementary principles have no common property with
each other; for whatever matter is, that space is the reverse of; and
whatever space is, matter is the contrary to. The actual solid part of
all bodies, therefore, are matter, their actual pores space, and the
parts which are not altogether solid, but an intermixture of solidity
and pore, are space and matter combined.
“The infinite groups of atoms, flying through all time and space in
different directions and under different laws, have interchangeably
tried and exhibited every possible mode of rencounter: sometimes
repelled from each other by concussion, and sometimes adhering to each
other from their own jagged or pointed construction, or from the casual
interstices which two or more connected atoms must produce, and which
may be just adapted to those of other figures,--as globular, oval, or
square. Hence the origin of compound and visible bodies; hence the
origin of large masses of matter; hence, eventually, the origin of the
world itself.”--Dr. Good’s _Book of Nature_.
[36] Young’s _Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts_.
Lecture 49, _On the Essential Properties of Matter_.