AETHER AND ELECTRICITY
ART. 79. _Electricity, a Mode of Motion._--The question as to What is
Electricity? is one of the greatest problems of modern times. In view of
the electro-magnetic theory of light, however, science is able to give a
better definition as to what electricity is, than it was able to do
previous to the introduction of the theory by Maxwell, and its practical
establishment by Hertz.
If that theory teaches us anything at all with regard to the nature of
electricity, it teaches us that electricity is due to certain motions of
the universal Aether, that not only fills all so-called Space, but
surrounds all particles and atoms of all Matter.
The question has been asked by various scientists, "Is Aether
Electricity, or, in other words, are Aether and Electricity one and the
same?" Let us look at the question from the standpoint of the analogy
from the phenomena of light and heat. As we have already seen (Art. 61),
heat is due to a particular kind of motion of the universal Aether,
generally known as vibratory motion, which motion is communicated to the
Aether by a luminous or heated body.
So that we learn that heat at any rate has an aetherial basis, as it is
a particular kind of aetherial motion. From Art. 70 we learn also that
light is due to an undulatory or wave motion in the Aether; the waves,
however, in this case being shorter, and of more rapid vibration than
those waves which give rise to heat.
Thus light and heat both have an aetherial basis, being due to
vibrations of that medium. From these analogies, therefore, we come to
the conclusion that electricity and magnetism have an aetherial basis,
and are also due to certain kinds of motion in the Aether.
That motion may be rotatory motion or vibratory motion, as the case may
be, but whatever definition we give of electricity, we cannot as yet say
definitely that Aether is electricity.
We may assume, and indeed prove, that Aether has an electrical and
magnetic basis, in the same way that it has a thermal or heat basis, or
a luminiferous or light basis; but while we admit such a hypothesis, we
cannot admit as yet that Aether and electricity are one and the same
thing. It is not within the province of this work, however, to prove
what electricity is, or show the relation of Aether to all the various
forms of electricity with which we are conversant, but I think I may
venture to make this statement, that all forms of electricity, whether
it is electro-static, that is electricity at rest, or current
electricity, or electro-magnetism, are due to certain forms of motion
of the universal Aether, in the same way that light and heat are also
particular forms of motion of the same medium. I need hardly point out
that it is an absolute impossibility for me to deal with such a subject
as Electricity in all its details and various aspects in one chapter; so
that I shall have to assume that the reader is familiar with some of the
elementary truths of the subject.
At the same time, I will endeavour to make clear most of the technical
terms used as we proceed. From the Electro-Magnetic theory of light,
therefore, we learn that Aether has an electrical or electro-magnetic
basis, so that, wherever we get Aether, there we have the bases and
conditions which will produce all the phenomena with which we are
conversant in the sphere of electricity. Given the required motions in
the Aether necessary to produce any particular form of electricity, then
that form is produced as soon as the motions of the Aether are generated
by any charged or electrified body. Produce a circular current in any
way in the Aether, and you will have a circular current of electricity;
produce radiations from a radiating body, and you will get electric
radiations which speed away with the velocity of light.
This phase of the Aether is entirely in harmony with Dr. Larmor's
Hypothesis of Electrons, which has already been referred to in Art. 44.
Dr. Larmor in his work indicates that electricity has an atomic basis,
and further states that "the atomicity of electricity is coming within
the scope of direct experiment."[22]
Now, if electricity, as I have indicated, be due to certain motions in
the Aether, then it can easily be seen that postulating atomicity for
electricity will be the same as postulating atomicity for the Aether.
Dr. Larmor[23] definitely and clearly states, "that each electron has an
effective mass of aetherial origin, which forms part, and may be the
whole, of the mass of matter to which it is attached;" and again points
out (p. 64) that "an electron is nothing more than a point singularity
or pole in the electro-dynamic and optical Aether." Thus we see that Dr.
Larmor's hypothesis as to the atomicity of electricity is a further
proof of the atomicity of Aether, and is also in harmony with the
electro-magnetic theory of light.
Now in dealing with electricity as a mode of motion, it will be
necessary to show that electricity is also a form of energy in the same
way that heat and light are forms of energy.
If it can be demonstrated that electricity is a form of energy, then it
can easily be demonstrated that work can be done by it, and that that
work may take a mechanical form in the same way that the energy of heat
and light may produce mechanical results. Clerk Maxwell has given us, in
his greatest work, his conception of the two kinds of energy due to
electricity and magnetism. On the subject he writes: "In the theory of
Electricity and Magnetism accepted in this treatise, two forms of energy
are recognized, the Electro-Static and Electro-Kinetic (paragraphs 630
and 636), and these are supposed to have their seat not merely in
electrified or magnetized bodies, but in every part of surrounding
space, wherever electric or magnetic force is observed to act. Hence our
theory agrees with the undulatory theory of light in assuming the
existence of a medium which is capable of becoming susceptible to two
forms of energy."[24] The question has arisen many times as to what is
meant by the terms Electro-Static and Electro-Kinetic energy used by
Maxwell, and various hypotheses have been advanced to explain the same.
Electro-static energy is said to be that phase of electricity in which
we deal with stresses set up in the Aether by an electrified body at
rest, whether that body be small or large. It further deals with the
process of induction, that is, the action of an electrified body upon
another body, such action taking place through the medium between the
two bodies. Electro-kinetic energy is the energy due to electricity in
motion. On this point Maxwell says: "A conducting circuit in which the
current has been set up has the power of doing work in virtue of the
current, for it is really and truly energy. It appears, therefore, that
a system containing an electric current is a seat of energy of some
kind; and, since we can form no conception of electric current except as
a kinetic phenomenon, its energy must be kinetic energy, that is to say,
the energy which a moving body has in virtue of its motion." (Arts. 551
and 552.)
It is not our purpose to deal with the electro-kinetic form of energy
referred to by Maxwell in this chapter. We shall deal with that form of
energy due to electricity in the succeeding chapter. We will consider
first the effect of the electro-static energy in relation to
electrified bodies, but I wish it to be distinctly understood, that in
all the different kinds of electric phenomena manifested, the Aether
plays the chief part, and without it, none of the phenomena observed
could be produced; because, what Aether is to light and heat, so it is
to electricity, being that medium which by its motions propagates and
gives rise to all electrical phenomena.
This being so, we have now to apply some of the facts taught us by
electricity, and especially by the electro-magnetic theory of light, to
our solar system, with the hope that we shall find further evidence of a
Centrifugal Force which is physical in character, and whose action can
be traced throughout the whole realm of space. Let us, in starting to
apply some of the truths already learned, recall some of the facts
concerning light, its production and its propagation. We recall the fact
that light is produced by the action of the sun upon the Aether, giving
rise to waves which speed away from the generating source with a
velocity of 186,000 miles per second. We further remember that Hertz has
definitely proved that these light waves are identical with
electro-magnetic waves, as they ought to be if the Aether possesses an
electrical basis, as Dr. Larmor and Professor Lodge suggest.
In order that there may be no mistake on this point, let me quote from
one of Hertz' papers, where, in his conclusion, he says: "The
experiments described appear to me, at any rate, eminently adapted to
remove any doubt of the identity of light, radiant heat, and
electro-magnetic wave motion." Now, what I want to point out regarding
this fact is this. If the sun gives rise to the aetherial light waves,
and these light waves are identical with electro-magnetic waves as
proved by Hertz, then the sun must either be an electrified body or else
a magnet.
It must be one or the other, because, if it were not, we should then
have an anomaly in Nature of a body emitting electro-magnetic waves
which is itself neither electrified nor a magnet. Therefore, according
to our second Rule of Philosophy, such a body would be incapable of
giving rise to these waves, as such a result would be contrary to
universal experience and experiment.
We know that the earth is a magnet, but up to the present it has never
been proved that the sun is a magnet, although, as I shall show later
on, Lord Kelvin and others have suggested such a possibility. If we
assume that the sun is a magnet, our grounds for assumption would not be
so strong at this point, and our reasons so philosophical, as they are
if we assume that the sun is an electrified body.
We have philosophical reasoning to prove that the sun is an electrified
body in the fact that it emits or gives rise to electro-magnetic waves
in the Aether, and no other hypothesis can be made other than that the
sun is an electrified body, in order to prove the connection between the
two.
Thus we affirm that the sun is an electrified body, which like any
other electrified body is capable of generating electric waves, and
speeding them through the Aether with similar velocity to that of light.
Not only so, but, like any other electrified body, it must have its
electric field and possess the ability to electrify any other body by
induction, that may happen to be in its electric field, as we shall see
later on.
Further, being an electrified body, the electric density will be
greatest near the sun's surface, and this fact fully accords with our
statement in Art. 45, that Aether is gravitative. As pointed out in that
Art., if Aether be gravitative, it must be densest nearest to the
attracting body; and, as Aether has an electric basis, then with the
denser Aether there must be an increased electric density, which can
only happen provided the sun is an electrified body.
Sir G. Stokes was also of this opinion, for in his Burnet Lectures on
Light he writes (p. 212): "There is nothing, therefore, unreasonable
in supposing that the sun may be a permanently charged body."
So that all the reasoning that has led to this result seems to harmonize
and confirm each several hypothesis which has been advanced. There can
be little doubt, therefore, that the sun is an electrified body, and it
is for us now to carry out this fact to its logical and philosophical
conclusion, by applying all the truths which circle round it to the
solar system, when we shall find greater confirmation of the statement
just advanced than any we have yet adduced.
According to Professor Young of America, the sun is not only an
electrified body, but is also the abode of living and sentient beings.
This astronomer has suggested that the sun is the centre of electric
force, and that converging streams of Electricity are ever flowing to it
as a centre; but on meeting with the atmosphere they give rise to
brilliant discharges, which thus gives the appearance of a solid
incandescent body.
Now, whether this hypothesis is correct or not, it is absolutely
certain that the sun is an electrified body, as it gives rise to
electro-magnetic waves in the Aether, as philosophically proved by
direct experiments.
[Footnote 22: _Aether and Matter_, p. 8.]
[Footnote 23: _Ibid._, p. 64.]
[Footnote 24: _Magnetism and Electricity_, by C. Maxwell, Art. 782.]
ART. 80. _Aether and Electric Fields._--Before proceeding to apply some
of the facts of Electricity to the solar system, let us find out what is
meant by an Electric Field. An electric field is to an electrified body,
what a thermal or heat field is to a heated body, or a luminous or
lighted field is to a luminous body. If a lamp, for example, be lighted,
its light waves spread out on every side, and extend for a considerable
distance unless impeded by such obstacles as the wall of a room.
The extent to which the light waves reach and flow might well be called
the lighted or luminous field, and in that field the effect of the
aetherial light waves would be manifested and seen.
Now, in a similar manner, when any body is electrified, the electric
waves spread out on every side of the electrified body, and the extent
to which the waves spread out form what is known as an electric field.
So that an electric field may be defined as any region or space in which
electric energy is manifested by means of the aetherial electric waves,
and across which induction may take place.
[Illustration: Fig: 9.]
Thus, for example, let _E_ be an electrified body (Fig. 9), then it will
generate electric waves which will speed from the body with a velocity
equal to that of light. If the body be a sphere, then the waves will be
spherical in shape, and will proceed from the generating source in the
shape of concentric spheres as indicated in the figure. Before
proceeding any further, it is necessary that we should look at the
electric field from the physical aspect, with a view to discover
something of what takes place therein. As has already been indicated,
all electric phenomena are due to motions of the universal Aether.
It was left for Faraday to give us a true conception of an electric
field, and for Maxwell to perfect that conception and give us a physical
aspect of the same. Faraday conceived that stretching out from a magnet
or electrified body through space, that is, through the Aether, were
what he called "Lines of Force," and that these lines of force indicated
not only the direction of the magnetic and electric forces, but also
their intensity or power.
Where the lines of force were closest together, there the electric or
magnetic energy was the greatest and most intense; and where they were
the farthest apart, there the field was weakest in energy. An
illustration of the magnetic lines of force may be obtained by placing a
piece of paper over a magnet, and then strewing iron filings over the
same, when it will be seen that the iron filings will arrange themselves
in certain curved lines, which Faraday called Magnetic Lines of Force.
In this way Faraday mapped out the lines of force, relative not only to
single magnets, but also to magnets with poles placed in various
positions relatively to poles of other magnets.
Now as there are lines of force which reveal the intensity and direction
of the magnetic energy, so there are lines of force radiating out from
electrified bodies which reveal the intensity and power of the electric
field. The electric lines of force are radial, and are shown in the
figure (Fig. 9) by the straight lines _D_ _F_, _D_ _H_, _D_ _K_.
If an electrified pith ball, for example, be hung up in a room, then the
lines of force, which extend from the ball, indicate the stress in the
Aether surrounding the pith ball, so that if a hair be placed across
these lines of force, any movement of the pith ball will be indicated by
the motion of the hair.
It was Clerk Maxwell, however, who gave to the world a true physical
conception of Faraday's Lines of Force, in his paper on "Physical Lines
of Force."[25]
In the opening words of that paper he writes as follows: "We cannot help
thinking that in every place where we find these lines of force, some
physical state or action must exist in sufficient energy to produce the
actual phenomena." Maxwell then went on to show what these physical
actions were, which took place in the dielectric--that is, the medium
surrounding the electrified body which we now know to be the Aether.
This electric field, he pointed out, was "in a state of stress, which
consisted of pressures or tensions different in different directions at
the same part of the medium. The relation of these forces were
threefold, and consisted in the most general type of stress of three
pressures or tensions in directions at right angles to each other."
Thus, in Maxwell's opinion, the existence of a medium, which by its
physical character was able to exert energy on material bodies, was one
of the fundamental hypotheses of his theory as to the physical character
of Faraday's Lines of Force.
This physical medium was to be capable of certain motions, and both
electric and magnetic forces were produced by its motions and its
stresses. Maxwell's conception, however, of the physical lines of force
was more or less hypothetical, and up to the present, as far as I can
learn, has not received that authority from science that such a
hypothesis requires to make it an accepted theory in science.
But what I venture to point out is, that with the view of the aetherial
medium that is submitted in this work, Maxwell's hypothesis remains a
hypothesis no longer, and that the hypothetical character of his theory
ceases to exist. For, by our conception of an atomic and gravitative
Aether, we are able to see that his physical lines of force are indeed
physical, and that his brilliant hypothesis now receives a true physical
foundation which otherwise it would not receive from a frictionless
Aether.
There is nothing, I venture to predict, in Maxwell's hypothesis which
cannot be accounted for on a truly physical basis, by the conception of
the Aether as given in this work. So that when Faraday saw in his mind's
eye lines of force traversing space, he saw by his imagination that
which was actually the real state of affairs, and when Maxwell enlarged
the conception by giving to those lines of force a definite atomic and
cellular structure, he, too, but anticipated the real nature and
character of the Aether as given in Chapter IV., which theory is the
direct outcome of Newton's philosophical rules, and the result of
discarding everything that is not in accordance with experience and
observation. Thus the lines of force which exist and surround a magnetic
or electrified body are as real as ocean currents, or the waves of the
sea, in that they are the manifestations of the motions of the universal
Aether, which is as truly matter as air or water.
Let us look at the analogy which exists between the lines of force and
the gravitative Aether, and we shall see that a gravitative Aether fully
agrees with the conception of an electric Aether as revealed to us by
the lines of force in an electric field.
As is well known, the lines of force are closer together in that part of
the electric field where the intensity of the field is greatest; and the
intensity of a field being greatest at the surface of an electrified
body, the lines of force are therefore closer together nearest to the
surface of such a body than further away.
Now according to Art. 45 Aether is gravitative, therefore the Aether
nearest the surface of a body is densest, and the aetherial atoms are
therefore more pressed upon than the layer immediately above it. Such a
result is exactly what should happen provided that Aether has an
electric basis, and that Aether is gravitative. For, in Art. 45, we have
seen that because Aether is gravitative, therefore it must possess
various degrees of density, being densest nearest the surface of an
attracting body.
In electricity we find a similar phenomenon which corresponds to
aetherial density, which is known as Electric Density, by which term is
meant the amount or quantity of electricity spread over a certain area
or surface. If we double the quantity of electricity on that given
surface, then we double the density, and we say that the electric
density is doubled, while if we halve the quantity of electricity, then
we say the electric density is halved, and so on.
But this is exactly what happens in the case of aetherial density, as
proved in Art. 46. We have only to picture the number of aetherial atoms
being doubled on a given area, and at once the physical conception of
electric density is furnished, if we remember that Aether has an
electric basis as suggested by Maxwell and proved by Hertz. Thus we see
at once why it is the lines of force should be closer together nearer
the electrified body than farther away.
_Electric Potential._--There is another aspect of the electric field
that I wish to call the reader's attention to, and that is the Electric
Potential of such a field.
Electric potential is to electricity what temperature is to heat, or
pressure is to any medium of different densities. We have already seen,
according to the laws of thermodynamics, that heat will flow from a
higher temperature to a lower one, with the result that work is done. In
the case also of water at two different levels, work can also be done by
the water flowing from a higher to a lower level.
A similar thing happens in electricity; where we have two conductors or
two parts of an electrical fluid at different potentials, electricity
will flow from the place of higher potential, until the potentials are
equalized, in the same way that the temperature of two bodies at
different temperatures would be equalized by the flow of heat.
So that electric potential agrees with our conception of a gravitative
Aether in that, being gravitative, it is denser in those parts nearest
to the attracting body than farther away, and as the elasticity or
pressure is proportionate to the density (Art. 47), therefore we learn
that the electric potential of the Aether, and the thermal condition of
the Aether, if I may use such a term, both agree and coincide with the
density and elasticity of the Aether.
Any equipotential surface which represents a particular aetherial
density, would also correspond with a particular elasticity or pressure
of the Aether, while it would further correspond with a particular
temperature, if such a term is applicable to the Aether.
_Equipotential Surfaces._--The fact that in an electric field there are
different points at different potentials, leads us to the truth that in
an electric field there are also equipotential surfaces; that is to say,
there are surfaces where the electric density or the aetherial density
are equal at all points on such a surface. If, for example, _E_ be an
electrified body (Fig. 9), and _A_ _A'_, _B_ _B'_, represent equipotential
surfaces around the body, then all the points on _A_ _A'_ would be of
equal potential--that is, of equal energy, or pressure.
We have to remember that _A_ _A'_, _B_ _B'_, are sections of a sphere, so
that when the body as _E_ is a sphere, then the equipotential surfaces
are spheres also. This agrees with Art. 77, in which we saw that the
pressure around any body due to aetherial density also possessed
equipotential surfaces.
It could equally be shown that there were equipotential surfaces so far
as the phenomena of heat and light are concerned, as these also are
subject to the same laws. Having now very briefly considered the meaning
of the Electric Field, Electric Potential, Electric Density, and
Equipotential Surfaces, we are now in a position to apply these facts to
our solar system, at least as far as the sun is concerned.
In the foregoing Art. we arrived at the conclusion that the sun was an
electrified body, therefore, in accordance with all experiment and
observation, it, too, must have an electric field. Not only must it have
an electric field; but that field must possess different potentials,
possessing a higher potential the nearer the field gets to the sun, and
a lower potential the farther away the field is.
Further, around the sun there must also exist not imaginary but real
physical lines of force which indicate the electric and magnetic forces,
and which are made real by the atomic character of the Aether that
surrounds it; and those lines of force would be closer together the
nearer they got to the sun on account of the electric density of the
electric Aether, which coincides with the density of the Aether from the
gravitative standpoint. There would also be aetherial equipotential
spheres, or rather oblate spheroids around the sun, as the sun is not
strictly a sphere, its polar diameter being less than its equatorial
diameter.
[Illustration: Fig: 10.]
Let us therefore endeavour to picture the sun under these conditions as
the centre of our solar system. Let _S_ be the sun (Fig. 10), and the
lines _A_ _A'_, _B_ _B'_, _C_ _C'_, etc. represent Equipotential
Surfaces, Fig. 11 being a vertical section and Fig. 10 being an
equatorial section. In Fig. 11 the sections of the equipotential
surfaces would be vertical, while in Fig. 10 the sections of the
equipotential surfaces would be horizontal, while the electric lines
of force would be radial, as all electric radiations take place in
straight lines, as we shall see was proved by Hertz, later on. We
will suppose that the sun is stationary, as the question of the
movement of the sun, both axially and through space, will be
considered in a subsequent article.
[Illustration: Fig: 11.]
Then the question arises, How far does the sun's electric field extend?
That is rather a difficult question to answer, but the correct answer
would be, "As far as the sun's light extends, so far does the sun's
electric field extend." From the electro-magnetic theory of light we
know that wherever there are light waves, there are electro-magnetic
waves, though at the present moment we are only dealing with the
electric aspect of those waves.
We know that the aetherial light waves reach at least as far as Neptune,
a distance of 2,750,000,000 miles, therefore we know that the sun's
electric field must also extend to that distance. How much further in
space it extends we cannot tell, because the data on which to form a
basis is inadequate.
[Illustration: Fig: 12.]
Thus we learn that the sun's electric field extends east and west for
that enormous distance, but we cannot say that it extends the same
distance north and south. Now why is that? The first reason I should
give is the well-known experiment of a revolving body, by which we learn
that when a body is revolving, as the sun for example, the atmosphere
around it would seek to extend itself east and west, owing to the
Centrifugal Force so called. But a better reason than that will be found
from an analogy of a magnetized body. Faraday has shown in his drawings
illustrating lines of force, that if a spherical body is magnetized, the
magnetic lines of force extend in circles east and west, but go out into
space in almost straight lines north, and south as the preceding figure
shows.
Therefore, accepting Faraday's experiment as the basis for our
conception of the magnetic lines of force in the sun's electric field,
we come to the conclusion that the electric field around the sun extends
east and west, while the lines of force, north and south, are more or
less radial into space as depicted in the figure.
Throughout the whole of the field, the electric potential, at different
distances from the sun, would differ in accordance with all experiment
and observation. The greatest electric potential would therefore be
nearest the sun's surface, and would be greatest in the equatorial
regions of the sun, in accordance with a well-known rule which
determines electric density and electric potential on conductors.
As we proceed from the sun's surface east and west into space, we should
pass equipotential surfaces of different potentials. Thus the pressure
on every point of equipotential surfaces would be regulated by the
electric density of the Aether, which would coincide with the actual
aetherial density at that point; and as the aetherial density is the
measure of its elasticity or pressure, so the electric potential would
correspond with the elasticity or pressure at the same point.
Thus it is possible to map out the electric field east and west by
ever-increasing and widening circles which would be at lower potential
the further they receded from the sun. So that by carrying out the
electro-magnetic theory of light to its logical conclusion, we are able
to bring the whole of the solar system into line with electric
phenomena; and, as we proceed, we shall see that all other facts
relating to electricity, and magnetism also, are equally as applicable
thereto, otherwise this theory of light must fall to the ground.
That this conception of the universal Aether in its application to solar
space is not extravagant may be proved from the writings of Prof.
Tyndall and Clerk Maxwell. Tyndall, writing on the subject of Faraday's
Lines of Force, says:[26] "The aspect of these curves so fascinated
Faraday that the greater part of his intellectual life was devoted to
pondering over them. He invested the space through which they run with a
kind of materiality, and the probability is that the progress of
science, by connecting the phenomena of magnetism with the luminiferous
Aether, will prove these 'Lines of Force,' as Faraday loved to call
them, to represent a condition of this mysterious substratum of all
radiant action."
While Clerk Maxwell,[27] writing on "Action at a Distance," says: "These
Lines of Force _must not be regarded as mere mathematical abstractions_.
They are the _directions in which the medium is exerting tension like
that of a rope_, or rather like that of our own muscles." I therefore
premise, that both these statements will find a literal fulfilment in
the conception of the Aether advanced and perfected in this work.
[Footnote 25: _Phil. Mag._, 1861.]
[Footnote 26: Tyndall on _Light_.]
[Footnote 27: _Collected Papers_, by Niven.]
ART. 81. _Aether and Induction._--We have seen in the preceding Arts.
that the sun is an electrified body, possessing an electric field, which
field possesses different intensities at different distances from its
surfaces.
If such be the case, the question at once confronts us, as to what is
the effect of such an electrified body with its electric field upon all
the planets which revolve around it; for, if its electric field extends
as far as Neptune, then all the planets and meteors, that revolve
around the sun, must revolve in the sun's electric field.
Such a question can best be answered from the consideration of
experiments and theories advanced first by Faraday, who gave to the
world his theory of Induction, which we shall now consider.
Let _A_ be an electrified body (Fig. 13), and _C_ be a body not
electrified, but situated within the electric field of _A_. Then it can
be experimentally proved, that _C_ will also become an electrified body
by induction. As is well known, there are two kinds of electricity,
Positive and Negative. We will suppose _A_ to be charged with positive
electricity. Then it can be proved that _C_ will also be charged with
negative electricity on the half nearest to _A_, while the other half
will be charged with positive electricity.
[Illustration: Fig: 13.]
Now how has this result been brought about? According to Faraday's
theory the particles of air, the dielectric, between _A_ and _C_ play a
most important part in the process. As a matter of fact, each atom or
particle of air is polarized, as the process of separating the two kinds
of electricity is termed, so that every atom has one half of it covered
with positive electricity, and the other half with negative electricity.
For example, let _A_ and _C_ be the same brass balls with the particles
of air between them, _A_ being the positively charged ball and _C_ the
unelectrified ball, the shaded parts representing positive electricity
and the unshaded parts negative electricity.
Then _A_ will act inductively on the unelectrified ball _C_ through the
medium of the particles of air _d_, _e_, _f_, _g_, _h_. The electrified
ball _A_ will act first on the layer of particles next to it, attracting
their negative electricity and repelling the positive according to the
well-known law that "Unlike electricities attract, like electricities
repel each other."
The positive electricity in the first layer then acts in the particles
of the next layer in the same way, and thus the inductive action is
transmitted through the particles, from layer to layer, until we come to
the last layer of particles next to the ball _C_.
As the half of each atom or particle nearest to _C_ is positively
electrified, then the half of the ball _C_ nearest to the layer becomes
negatively electrified, while the half further away is positively
electrified. Thus we say that _C_ has become electrified by induction
through the polarization of the particles of air which lie between the
two bodies. Faraday on this point says: "Thus induction appears to be
essentially an action of contiguous particles, through the
intermediations of which the Electric Force, originating at a certain
place, is propagated or sustained at a distance, appearing there as a
Force of the same kind exactly equal in amount, but opposite in its
direction and tendencies."[28]
While again he states:[29] "Induction appears to consist in a certain
polarized state of particles into which they are thrown by the
electrified body sustaining the action, the particles assuming positive
and negative parts which are symmetrically the lines of Inductive
Force." Thus in the case of any electrified body, acting on an
unelectrified body at a distance, it has to be definitely understood
that _the action at a distance_ is alone communicated and propagated by
the dielectric or medium which exists between the two bodies. Though in
the case of Gravitation it has been mathematically assumed, that action
at a distance is possible, yet experimentally and physically such an
assumption is philosophically incorrect, as all experience and
experiment go to prove that there is no such thing as action at a
distance manifested, except such action is propagated through the
intervening medium, as stated and proved by Faraday.
In order to bring Gravitation, therefore, into line with our experience,
it will have to be demonstrated that it, too, is the result of the
action of the intervening medium, that is, the Aether, which is a result
we are being led up to.
We have already seen that the sun is an electrified body, possessing an
electric field, and as all electrified bodies can act on other bodies in
their field inductively, then a similar result should happen in the
solar system, that happens in any electrical experiment on induction,
with the result that all the planets should become electrified bodies by
induction, such action taking place, as Faraday points out, through the
medium which divides the sun and the planets, that is, the Aether.
Of course with a frictionless and non-atomic Aether such a result would
be an impossibility, but with our conception of an atomic and
gravitative Aether the result is now attainable. We have therefore to
think of the sun, the centre of the solar system, being an electrified
body, and for illustration we will suppose it to be a positively charged
body.
All around the sun is the atomic Aether, which is polarized in the same
way that the particles of air were polarized; that is, the two kinds of
electricities in the aetherial atom are separated, the negative being on
that side nearest to the sun, and the positive on the side further away.
In this way the whole aetherial medium would be polarized, and any body
in the field would be electrified by induction, with the result that the
side nearest the sun would be negatively charged, and the opposite side
positively charged.
Thus let _S_ (Figs. 10 and 11) be the sun, and the circles represent
equipotential surfaces, then one half of every surface would be
negatively electrified and the other half positively electrified, that
is, assuming the sun to be a positively electrified body.
If _M_ represents Mercury, _V_ represents Venus, and _E_ represents the
Earth (Fig. 10), then it can readily be seen that all these would be
negatively electrified on the side facing the sun; and, as they rotate
on their axes, each part of the planet would be positively and
negatively electrified once each day.
We are assuming that the medium is at rest, but according to our
conception in Art. 44, all the aetherial atoms are in rotation on their
axes, in the same way that the earth rotates on its axis, so that each
of these aetherial atoms would present different parts of its surface to
the sun as it rotates on its axis; but, as that does not affect the
principle of induction, such a fact need not now be fully considered.
Let us now ask, What is the result of all the planets becoming
electrified bodies in the same way that the sun is an electrified body?
Arguing from experience, we come to the conclusion that each planet must
also possess its electric field, which also must have its lines of
force, its different potentials at different distances, and its
equipotential surfaces. So that Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have their electric fields,
with their own lines of force, and with their equipotential surfaces.
If we carry the analogy further still, then it can also be proved that
the Earth, and those planets which have moons or satellites, also act
inductively on their satellites, with the result that they too become
electrified bodies, with their own smaller electric fields and lines of
force. This may seem at first sight a little confusing, but the
confusion will gradually disappear if we will look at it carefully for a
moment or two. Let us endeavour to picture the solar system from this
new standpoint, and map out the equipotential surfaces, which this idea
suggests. Let _S_ represent the sun (Fig. 14), the initials of all the
planets and satellites representing the various planets; then we get the
following plan of the solar system with the various equipotential
surfaces shown by the circular lines.
We are now supposed to be looking down on all the solar system from
above it, so to speak, so that we should be looking at what we call the
North Poles of the sun and planets.
[Illustration: Fig: 14.]
Thus we see that the equipotential surfaces around the sun are huge
circles which stretch out as far as Neptune or even beyond, but within
those circles we find each of the planets revolving round the sun, each
with its own equipotential spheres, which are circles also, while around
the various planets are the satellites, from the moon of our Earth, to
the two satellites of Mars, five of Jupiter, eight of Saturn, each with
its own lines of force and electric fields.
Of course we must not forget that all these revolve round the sun, and
the question may suggest itself to the reader's mind, if such a result
is possible. I shall prove later on, that according to Maxwell such an
event is possible, but at present we will consider them stationary.
Now let us see how such a conception compares with our hypothesis of a
gravitative Aether. If Aether be gravitative, then the sun must have an
attraction for the Aether, and its aetherial field would stretch out
into space as far as Neptune at least.
So that it can readily be seen that the aetherial field of the sun's
attractive power coincides with the electric field which the sun
possesses as an electrified body. Again, if Aether be gravitative, then
all the planets must also have an aetherial field, which will be
co-extensive with their electric field also. The same principle applies
to each of the satellites, with the result that they too will possess an
aetherial field which will be equal in extent and limit to their
electric field.
As the satellites revolve around their primary planet taking their
electric fields with them, so the planets with their associated
satellites revolve around the sun taking their electric and aetherial
fields with them. Thus we get a glimpse, though at this point very
shadowy and indistinct, of those motions of the universal Aether, which
help to constitute the harmony, beauty, and order of the universe. We
have seen, therefore, that as the sun is an electrified body, so all the
planets and satellites are electrified bodies also, each possessing its
own field, with all that such a field implies.
We shall find that such a conception is borne out by experience and
observation, when we come to deal with the Earth as a magnet; because we
shall afterwards learn that the Earth is an electro-magnet, possessing
its magnetic field, which is co-existent and equipollent with its
electric field.
[Footnote 28: _Exp. Res._, 1297, 1298.]
[Footnote 29: Par. 1298.]
ART. 82. _Energy of the Field._--We have seen in Art. 79 that every
electrified body has an electric field. We have further learned, in
carrying the electro-magnetic theory of light to its logical conclusion,
that all the planets and satellites together with the sun must be
electrified bodies, each possessing its electric field.
We have now to determine the effect of such a truth from its dynamical
aspect upon the bodies within the field, that is to say, we have to
consider the energy of such electric fields, and endeavour to find out
the effect of such energy upon other bodies within that field.
Maxwell,[30] in his introduction to a paper on "The Dynamical Theory of
the Electro-magnet Field," writes on the matter thus: "It appears
therefore that certain phenomena in electricity and magnetism lead to
the same conclusion as those of optics, namely, that there is an
aetherial medium pervading all bodies and modified only in degree by
their presence; that the parts of this medium are capable of being set
in motion by electric currents and magnets; that this motion is
communicated from one part of the medium to another by forces arising
from the connection of these parts; that under the action of these
forces, there is a certain yielding depending upon the elasticity of
these connections; and that therefore energy in two different forms may
exist in the medium, the one form being the actual energy of motion of
its parts, and the other being the potential energy stored up in the
connections in virtue of their elasticity."
The two forms of energy he gives us in his work on _Magnetism and
Electricity_, where, in the quotation already given in Art. 79, he
states them to be electro-static and electro-kinetic energy, while in
paragraph 792 of the same work he adds: "The intrinsic energy of the
medium is half electro-static and half electro-kinetic, that is, half is
due to electricity and half is due to magnetism."
We are, however, only dealing at this point with the electro-static
energy in the electric field, as we shall deal with the electro-kinetic
energy in the following chapter.
We have, therefore, to conceive of an electrified body generating
electric or electro-magnetic waves, which speed away from the generating
source on every side with the velocity of light. Now we have already
seen that the aetherial waves which give rise to heat and light possess
a repulsive power, that is, they exert a pressure on the body with which
they come into contact.
If, therefore, in the electric field there is this energy manifested as
proved by Maxwell, and that energy takes partly the form of a pressure
as stated by Maxwell, then we have in the electro-static energy of the
electric field, another indication of that centrifugal force for which
we are looking, and whose existence was so satisfactorily demonstrated
to Herschel by the phenomena of comets' tails.
That there is this pressure in an electric field was conclusively proved
by Maxwell, and experimentally demonstrated by Professor Lebedew (Art.
77). Maxwell distinctly states on this point, "that the combined effect
of the electro-static and electro-kinetic stresses is a pressure equal
to 2 P. in the direction of the propagation of the waves," that is, away
from the electrified or charged body.
He continues: "Thus, if in strong sunlight the energy of light which
falls on one square foot is 83.4 foot-pounds per second, the mean energy
in one cubic foot of sunlight is about .0,000,000,882 of a foot-pound,
and the mean pressure on a square foot is .0,000,000,882 of a pound
weight. A flat body exposed to sunlight would experience this pressure
on its illuminated side only, and would therefore be _repelled_ from the
side on which the light falls."[31]
This pressure only gives the result due to the pressure of one cubic
foot of sunlight. What must be the pressure, therefore, due to the whole
of the sunlight received by the flat body from the sun? The total
pressure, whatever it may be, would be equal to 2 P. according to
Maxwell, and half of that is due to electricity, and half due to
magnetism. Now such a result is entirely in harmony with the conception
of the Aether as given in this work. For, if Aether possess an electric
basis as suggested by Maxwell, and it is also gravitative as suggested
in Art. 45, then it must follow, as pointed out in a previous Art., that
throughout the field there is a varying difference in the potential of
the field; the potential being regulated by the electric density, that
density being equivalent to the aetherial density. Further, as the
elasticity of the medium which regulates the pressure is proportional to
the density, so the pressure must decrease, as the elasticity
decreases--that is, as the electric potential decreases, or the electric
density is diminished. Therefore, if the sun be an electrified body,
ever generating electro-magnetic waves which speed away from it on every
side, then, whenever any of these waves come into contact with a planet
or comet, that planet or comet would be repelled from the sun by the
pressure of these electro-magnetic waves to which the sun gives rise in
its electric or electro-magnetic field.
Thus we again come to the conclusion that the sun is not only the centre
of a centripetal force due to Gravitation, and subject to certain laws,
whose physical cause is unknown, but it is equally the centre and source
of a centrifugal force, in that it is an electrified body, and gives
rise to electric waves which produce a pressure on any body upon which
they fall, in the sun's electric or aetherial field. It has only to be
demonstrated, therefore, that this centrifugal force satisfactorily
fulfils all the laws required as laid down in Art. 24, that is, that its
course is along the same path as the Centripetal Force of Gravitation,
that it is subject to the same law of intensity, which is inversely as
the square of the distance; and further (what is the most important at
this stage), that the combined effect of the pressure of two bodies is
equal to the product of their masses, then we shall have discovered that
which we set out to discover, viz. a complementary force to the
attractive force of Gravitation.
Unlike the centripetal force, however, the centrifugal force will be
purely a physical one, due to a purely physical medium, the Aether,
whose properties and motions can be accounted for on a physical, and not
on a hypothetical basis.
Further, as the planets are also electrified bodies (Art. 81), they too
will possess an electric field, and will generate electric waves, which
will also exert a centrifugal force upon all bodies upon which the waves
fall. So that, like the sun, the planets are not only the centre of a
centripetal force, which ever acts towards their centre; but they are
also the centre of a centrifugal force, due to the aetherial electric
waves to which they give rise in the Aether.
The application of the same principle may be extended to every satellite
that exists in the solar system, and indeed to every particle and atom
of matter that exist throughout the universe, for wherever we find the
Aether, there we find this centrifugal force, which is due to the
electric aetherial waves generated by the atom or particle of matter, or
by any combination of atoms, as a meteor, satellite, planet, sun or
star.
[Footnote 30: _Collected Papers_, by Niven.]
[Footnote 31: _Magnetism and Electricity_, Arts. 791 and 793.]
ART. 83. _Electric Radiation._--We learn, therefore, that the sun,
together with every planet and satellite in the solar system, is the
centre of a centrifugal force, which is due to the radiation of electric
waves by an electrified body. We have now to prove that this force
fulfils all the laws required, in order for it to become the
complementary law to the Centripetal Force of Gravitation. We will first
show that this centrifugal force which proceeds from the electrified
body is radiated out into space in straight lines with the velocity of
light and radiant heat.
As we have already seen, it was due to the genius of Hertz to show the
identity between electric radiation and radiant light and heat. In his
paper on Electric Radiation he says:[32] "I have succeeded in producing
distinct rays of electric force, and in carrying out with them the
elementary experiments which are commonly performed with light and
radiant heat." We have seen in Arts. 65 and 76 that radiant heat and
light are propagated in straight lines, so that, according to Maxwell's
electro-magnetic theory, a ray of electric radiation should also be
propagated in straight lines.
This Hertz proved, and gave his results in his paper "On the Action of a
Rectilinear Oscillation upon a Neighbouring Circuit," in which he fully
demonstrated that when electric action takes place between two charged
bodies, the electric force is radiated out into space in straight lines
in the same way that light and radiant heat are radiated. In his paper
on "The Finite Velocity of Electro-magnetic Actions," he showed that the
velocity of the electro-magnetic waves was the same as that of light. In
the summary of this paper (paragraph 3) he states: "There are many
reasons for believing that the transverse waves of light are
electro-magnetic waves; a firm foundation for this hypothesis is
furnished by showing the actual existence in free space of
electro-magnetic transverse waves which are propagated with a velocity
akin to light."
Again, in his paper on "Electric Radiation," he not only showed how the
radiation was propagated in straight lines, like light, but also proved
that while it was reflected by metals, the electric beam was able to
pass through doors and stone walls, and adds, "that it was with
astonishment that one saw the electric beam appear inside a closed room
after its passage through the door."
Thus Hertz has shown that both electric and magnetic effects are
propagated through the Aether with finite velocity, and that that
velocity is exactly the same as the velocity of light. He further proved
that this propagation takes place in straight lines, in the same way
that radiant heat and light are propagated. This being so, it is
necessary for us to apply these truths to the solar system, with a view
to find out what such a result teaches us.
We have seen in a preceding article, that the sun is an electrified
body; therefore it, too, must generate these electro-magnetic waves, and
radiate them into space on every side with the velocity of light. Let us
try to picture the scene. Let _S_ represent the sun, and the circle
round it represent the equipotential spheres which exist round the sun.
(See Figs. 10 and 11.) As the intensity of the electric force is greater
nearer the sun than further away, these equipotential surfaces will be
closer nearer the sun than further away.
Then let the straight lines which radiate out from the sun represent the
path of an electric ray. It can be easily seen that these electric rays
cut the equipotential surfaces at right angles, as they pass from the
centre of the sun outwards into space. Now these lines not only
represent the path which the electric ray takes in its journey through
space, but exactly coincide with the electric lines of force as
conceived by Faraday. This great thinker and experimentalist not only
conceived lines of magnetic forces existing in the dielectric or medium
between two electrified bodies, which in this case is the Aether, but
also conceived lines of electric force which started at a conductor, or
an electrified body, and radiated out into space.
Thus a line of electric force has a definite direction, and always
starts from an electrified body. If it were possible to move a planet
along one of these lines of force, its path would be that of a straight
line. If on the other hand a planet moved at right angles to one of
these lines of force, that is, along the surface of an equipotential
sphere, then no work would be done against the electric force, as on
such a sphere the electric force would be of the same intensity.
So that from Hertz' experiments it can be demonstrated, that if there be
any electric force existent in the Aether, due to the action of the sun
upon the Aether, then such a force is directed along the path of a
straight line into space with the velocity of light, which, as already
pointed out, is the path taken by a ray of radiant heat and light, and
coincides with the path taken by the centripetal force.
It has been demonstrated that such electric force is accompanied by a
repulsive force, or more correctly a pressure, so that here we have
further evidence of the existence of a centrifugal force which finds its
generating source in the sun, which is also the centre of the attractive
force of Gravitation in the solar system.
The application of Hertz' experiments may be made not only to the sun,
but also to every planet and satellite that exists in space with the
same result; and, further, may be extended to every particle and atom
that exists throughout the universe. For, according to Art. 43, we have
learned that Aether is universal, and we have seen that it is
gravitative, and have learned from the electro-magnetic theory of light
that it has an electro-magnetic basis. Therefore, to be thoroughly
consistent, we must not stop in the application of this principle at any
point in the whole universe.
Either the whole principle is of universal application, or it ceases to
be a universal law. Therefore, if there is this centrifugal force
operating along a straight line from the centre of an electrified body,
such centrifugal force must be in its application universal, in order to
be complete, and in order to satisfactorily form the counterpart of the
centripetal force which is also universal, and operates along the
straight line joining the centres of gravity of any two bodies.
[Footnote 32: Hertz on _Electric Waves_.]
ART. 84. _Law of Inverse Squares._--We have learned therefore from the
preceding Arts., that the solar system may be looked upon as an electric
field, with the sun as the electrified body occupying the centre. We
have also seen that there is a centrifugal force in all electric fields,
which is due partly to electric waves, and partly to the magnetic waves
of the Aether.
It will be interesting to find out, what law governs the intensity of
this force in any part of the field, or at a given distance from the
central body. We have seen (Art. 66) that the law governing the
intensity of heat at any distance from the sun, is the law of inverse
squares. Further, from Art. 75 we have also learned that light is
subject to the same law of inverse squares, as indeed it should be, if
it be due to one and the same medium, the Aether.
If, therefore, electricity is also due to certain motions of the
aetherial medium originated by the action of an electrified body as the
sun, in the same way that light and heat waves are originated, then it
ought to follow that the repulsive power of electricity is also subject
to the same law of inverse squares. As a matter of fact, that is exactly
the state of affairs, so that we find the intensity of the repulsive power
in the Aether from any central body, due to the electric waves, or the
pressure due to the wave motions of the electric Aether, in relation to
that body, is governed and controlled by the same law that governs light
and heat.
It may be suggested that such a coincidence is not a very strong
argument, as all forces emanating from a central body are subject to the
same law of inverse squares. In reply to that, I should like to point
out, that even that objection only strengthens the conception of the
Aether that we are endeavouring to complete. Our contention is, that all
physical forces, whether they be light, heat, electricity, magnetism or
Gravitation, are all due to the motions of the aetherial medium; which
motions may be generated by a heated or luminous or electrified body,
and are radiated from such a body in waves of concentric spherical form,
and are all subject to the laws of inverse squares.
So that the fact of the intensity of the centrifugal force due to the
repulsive power of electricity falling into line with the law governing
light and heat is, to my mind at any rate, only a clearer proof of the
one common origin of all the physical forces. The law of inverse squares
in relation to electricity may be thus stated. The Centrifugal or
Repulsive Force between two charged electrified bodies acts inversely as
the square of the distance between them.
This law was proved by Coulomb by means of an instrument known as
Coulomb's Torsion Balance, and I must refer the reader to any work on
electricity for a full establishment of this law. Suffice to say, that
it has been experimentally demonstrated that the law holds good in
relation to the phenomena of electricity; and, wherever we get the two
kinds of electricity present in any medium or conductor, owing to the
polarization of its particles, there we have this law operating in
relation to the intensity of the repulsions of the two bodies directly
concerned.
We have already learned that the sun is an electrified body, and from
that hypothesis we have arrived at the conclusion that the earth and all
the other planets are electrified bodies. This being so, it naturally
follows that the intensity of the centrifugal force between any two of
these bodies, as the sun and the earth for example, or the sun and
Jupiter, is subject to the law of inverse squares; and that the
repulsion of the sun and the earth for each other is always regulated by
their distance, being inversely as the squares of the distance between
them.
Thus, if the distance between the sun and any planet is reduced to
one-half, which is an exaggerated view, the intensity of the centrifugal
force is increased four times; if the distance be doubled the force is
reduced to four times its former intensity, and so on.
Whatever the distance may be between the sun and any of the planets, if
that distance be increased or decreased, then the intensity of the
centrifugal force due to electric waves is increased or decreased in
accordance with the law of inverse squares. This agrees with the
centripetal law of Gravitation, as the Attraction of Gravitation is also
subject to the same law of inverse squares, and, as we have seen (Art.
83), its path coincides with the path of centrifugal force, as it
pursues the path represented by the straight lines joining the two
bodies.
So that, whenever, and wherever, at any point in space in relation to
the central body, the sun, the intensity of the attractive force is
increased according to the law of inverse squares by the distance from
the central body being diminished, at exactly the same time and in
exactly the same manner, the repulsive force due to aetherial electric
waves is also increased. If the attractive force is doubled, then the
repulsive force is doubled. If the attractive force is halved, the
repulsive force is halved. If the attractive force is lessened
gradually, then the repulsive force is lessened gradually; and if
quickly, by the quicker motion of the planet through space, then the
repulsive motion is also increased with a quicker motion.
Further, like the repulsive power of light and heat, the repulsive power
of electricity takes exactly the same path as the attractive power of
Gravitation.
Thus we learn that the sun is the centre of two forces: first, a
centrifugal force due to the pressure of the aetherial medium which is
ever directed away from the sun, and which may either be produced by
electric or thermal or light waves; and second, it is the centre of a
centripetal force known as the Law of Gravity, whatever that may be due
to. Further, the centrifugal force is also subject to the same law of
intensity as the centripetal force, and moreover takes exactly the same
path which the centripetal force takes.
So that we have only to prove that they both agree in another
particular, viz. that their power is regulated by the product of their
masses, and then we shall have discovered a real physical force, which
is the exact complement and counterpart of the centripetal force due to
gravity.
ART. 85. _Second Law of Electricity. (Product of Masses.)_--We have now
to prove that the centrifugal force exerted by any electrified body
operates upon another electrified body in the same proportion and with
exactly the same force which governs the centripetal force. From Art. 21
we learn that the centripetal force which is exerted by one body upon
another is equal to the product of their masses. In order, therefore,
for any centrifugal force to be the exact counterpart of that force, it
too must be subject to the same law of proportion, that is, the
repulsive force between any two bodies must be equal to the product of
their masses.
We have shown that there is a repulsive force exerted by the Aether from
the phenomena of heat, light, and electricity, and that that repulsive
force or energy fulfils every condition required by a centrifugal force
or motion, with the exception of the part referring to the fact that
such a force must be proportionate to the product of their masses. What
we were unable to accomplish, however, from the phenomena of heat or
light we are now able to accomplish from the phenomena of electricity.
For in the phenomena of electricity we find a law which runs thus: "The
force of repulsion" (which is the part of electricity we are now dealing
with) "between two electrified bodies is equal to the quantities of
electricity with which the body is charged." This law was established
and proved by Coulomb by means of a delicate instrument known as the
Torsion Balance, with which he also established the law of inverse
squares.
It will be seen at a glance that there is a slight difference between
stating the law of proportion with reference to the centripetal force,
and the centrifugal force or motion. In the former we state the
proportion is equal to the product of the masses, while in the latter we
say that the proportion is equal to the product of the quantities of
electricity.
In the one case we deal with the mass of the body, whether it be atom,
molecule, planet or star; in the other case we deal with quantities of
electricity. At first sight it may seem that there is little, if any,
connection between the two laws, but a careful reflection of the
hypotheses laid down with regard to the aetherial medium will show that
there is not only a close connection between these two laws of
proportion, but also that the law governing the repulsive power of the
aetherial electric waves is the direct outcome of the law of proportion
governing the centripetal force. Let us restate our case in regard to
the aetherial medium.
We have learned that the Aether is gravitative, and that it also has an
electro-magnetic basis is proved from Maxwell's electro-magnetic theory
of light. Let me ask the reader this question therefore. If the Aether
be gravitative, what must be the rule governing the extent and density
of the aetherial atmosphere surrounding any planet or sun or other body?
If the Law of Gravity teaches us anything at all, it distinctly teaches
us that the gravitating power of any body is regulated by the mass of
the body, as the law states that the attraction is proportionate to the
product of the masses. It states nothing about volume or condition of a
body.
The exact size or state of a body has no direct result bearing on
gravitation attraction; the underlying principle being that the
attractive force is dependent on the mass, and only on the mass of a
body. So that if the volume of any body, whether atom, planet, satellite
or sun, be doubled, its attractive power remains the same, simply
because the mass of the whole body remains the same. Mass, we are told
by mathematicians, is equal to the volume multiplied by the density, and
whenever we increase the volume of a body we decrease the density, the
total mass of the body remaining the same.
If the volume be doubled, then the density of the body would be halved,
and _vice versâ_, but through all the changes of volume and density that
may arise from the addition of heat or diminution of heat, the total
mass of a body always remains the same. Looked at from the atomic
standpoint, taking hydrogen as unity, an atom of oxygen would always
weigh sixteen times an atom of hydrogen, and this principle applies
throughout the whole realm of the atomic world. Further, the same
principle or law, that the mass is equal to the volume multiplied by the
density, is true of the planetary or even the stellar world. Thus the
great regulating principle of the attractive force of gravity is mass,
and not volume, or density, or any other condition.
Now as Aether is subject to the attractive force of gravity, the extent
of the aetherial field, and the density of the Aether near the surface
of any body, must be subject to the same law regarding mass. That is,
the aetherial atmosphere of any atom, or molecule, or satellite, or
planet, or star is dependent upon the mass of the atom, the molecule, or
the planet, or the star as the case may be.
Thus an atom of oxygen would have a larger or denser aetherial
atmosphere than an atom of hydrogen, exactly proportionate to their
respective masses. A planet whose mass was represented by 1,000,000 tons
would have twice the quantity of Aether around it, compared to a planet
weighing only 500,000 tons, and so on, the aetherial atmosphere always
being proportionate to the mass of the planet, or the satellite, or the
sun, or the star. The fact which we learn from these considerations is
that the quantity of Aether, which is attracted by any body, is always
proportionate to the mass of the body attracting it.
But we have learned from Art. 78 that Aether has an electro-magnetic
basis, and that the density of the Aether is co-equal with electric
density, so that the quantity of Aether which is attracted and held
bound by any body is really equal to the quantity of electricity that
such a body is covered with, or is charged with. If the quantity of
Aether around any body is doubled because its mass is doubled, then the
quantity of electricity is also doubled, but as long as the mass remains
unaltered, the quantity of electricity held bound by that mass remains
unaltered also. The area of the mass may be doubled, and in that case
the density of the electricity would be halved, but as long as the mass
remained the same, the quantity of electricity would remain the same
also. So that we learn from this reasoning that the mass of a body, and
quantities of electricity on that mass, are always proportionate to each
other, because of the fact that Aether is gravitative, and also has an
electro-magnetic basis.
If we wanted further evidence of the hypothesis that has just been
advanced, such evidence is to be found in the hypothesis suggested by
Faraday as to the electro-chemical equivalents of all elements.
According to this hypothesis every element has its exact
electro-chemical equivalent, or definite quantities of electricity are
to be found in association with each and every particular atom of each
element. Writing on the subject in his _Exp. Res._, par. 852, he says:
"The theory of definite electro-chemical action appears to me to touch
upon the absolute quantity of electricity or electrical power belonging
to different bodies. Although we know nothing of what an atom is, yet we
cannot resist forming some idea of a small particle which represents it
to our mind, and though we cannot say what electricity is, so as to be
able to say whether it is a particular matter or matters, or mere motion
of ordinary matter, yet there is immensity of facts which justify us in
believing that the atoms of matter are in some way endowed or associated
with electrical powers to which they owe their most striking qualities,
and amongst them their chemical affinity." Further, in Art. 857, he
states: "I can have no doubt that, assuming hydrogen as 1, and
dismissing small fractions for the simplicity of expression, the
equivalent number or atomic weight of oxygen is 8, of chlorine 36, of
bromine 78.4, and of lead 103.5, etc., notwithstanding that a high
authority doubles several of these numbers."
Then, writing upon the definite relationship of these equivalents in
compounds, he states (Art. 835): "Electro-chemical equivalents are
always consistent, that is, the same number which represents the
equivalent of a substance _A_ when it is separating from a substance _B_
will also represent _A_ when separating from a third substance _C_. Thus
8 is the electro-chemical equivalent of oxygen, whether separating from
hydrogen, tin, or lead; and 103.5 is the electro-chemical equivalent of
lead, whether separating from oxygen, or chlorine, or iodine."
Here, then, from the pen of one of the greatest thinkers and
experimentalists of modern times we have confirmatory evidence that the
mass of any body is practically synonymous with the quantity of
electricity associated with that body. For if the principle is true in
its application to atoms, it is true in its application to molecules;
and if it is true in relation to molecules, it is equally true in
relation to small bodies composed of molecules. And if it holds good in
relation to small bodies, the principle is equally true in its
application to larger bodies, as the earth, and therefore is of
universal application and proves the statement already made, that the
masses of bodies and quantities of electricity in association with that
mass are always proportionate to each other.
We are now in a position to compare the proportion of the centripetal
and centrifugal forces. The attractive power of the former, between two
bodies, is equal to the product of their masses; the repulsive power of
the latter is equal to the product of the quantities of electricity
bound to them, and that, as we have seen, is regulated by the respective
mass of each body. Let us apply this fact to the solar system and see
how it works.
Taking the mass of the earth as unity, we find that the mass of the sun
is 324,000 greater, so that the attractive power of the two bodies would
be represented by the product of the two numbers; but because the sun is
that number of times greater, its aetherial and, therefore, its electric
field would be so many times greater, with the result that the
proportion of the repulsive forces between the two bodies would be
exactly the same as the attractive forces between the two bodies, that
is, if the mean distance remains the same.
In the same way, it can be shown that the attractive forces between the
earth and Jupiter exactly equal the repulsive forces between the two
planets at their mean distance, or the attractive forces between any two
planets or satellites are exactly counterbalanced by the repulsive power
of the centrifugal force at their mean distances.
Thus the centrifugal force of every body is the exact opposite of its
centripetal force at their mean distance, because the laws governing the
centrifugal force are the exact counterpart of the laws governing the
centripetal force. A comparison of the two will prove this. From Arts.
20, 21, and 22 we have seen that the centripetal force is exerted along
the straight lines joining the attracting bodies, that the intensity of
the attracting body is inversely as the square of the distance, while
the total force is proportionate to the product of their masses.
From the phenomena of light, heat, and electricity, we learn that the
centrifugal force due to aetherial pressure is exerted along straight
lines, that the intensity is inversely as the square of the distance,
while the total force between two bodies is equal to the product of the
quantities of electricity, which are regulated by the product of their
masses.
Thus, if every planet and satellite could be conceived to be motionless
in space, and these two forces could be set in operation without
producing rotation or translation in space, which is impossible, then
every planet and satellite would occupy, by the joint exercise of these
two forces, the same position in relation to the sun represented by
their mean distances, as long as the solar system existed as a separate
system in the realm of aetherial space. We have therefore discovered by
strict philosophical reasoning, based on Newton's Rules of Philosophy, a
real tangible centrifugal force existing throughout the universe;
because it is entirely due to the pressure of an universal Aether, whose
operation is ever directed from a central body, which force was
indicated by Herschel, and its existence to his mind was demonstrated by
the repulsion exhibited in connection with the tails of comets.
We have now to go a step further, and show that the same pressure also
includes the magnetic phenomena, as indicated by Clerk Maxwell, and that
magnetic phenomena are also due to the aetherial medium, and then we
shall have linked together in one common medium the majority of the
forms of energy, as light, heat, electricity and magnetism, with which
we are familiar.
If it be demonstrated that these two forces, the centrifugal force and
the centripetal force, can conjointly account for all the motions of the
celestial bodies, then we shall have conclusive evidence that one of the
forces is physical and due to the pressure of a physical medium. After
that it will be comparatively easy to show that the centripetal force is
also due to the same aetherial medium, and then we shall have
accomplished that which we set out to accomplish, viz. the establishment
of a physical cause for universal Gravitation, which physical cause is
alone to be found in the pressures, tensions and motions of an universal
Aether.