Thomas Bassnett

“ If the Newtonian philosophy is literally true, space has no temperature, and the surface heat of the planet Neptune is nearly 1,000 times less than on our own globe. Again, on Mercury it is seven times greater, which heat would scorch and consume every organic substance on the earth, and speedily envelope the boiling ocean in a shroud of impermeable vapor. Granting even that space may not be a vacuum, and yet the law of gravitation be true, we may still be allowed to consider both Saturn and Uranus and Neptune, as inhospitable abodes for intelligent creatures ”

“ If astronomy is so perfect as to determine the parallax of a fixed star, which is almost always less than one second, why is it that the mass of the moon is not more nearly approximated? Every two weeks the sun’s longitude is affected by the position of the moon, alternately increasing and diminishing it, by a quantity depending solely upon the relative mass of the earth and moon, and is a gross quantity compared to the parallax of a star. ”

“ Yet this heat puts our atmosphere in motion, impels onward the waves of the sea, wafts our ships to distant climes, grinds our corn, and in various ways does the work of man. If we expose a mass of metal to the sun’s rays for a single hour the temperature will be raised. To do the same by an artificial fire, would consume fuel, and this fuel would generate the strength or force of a horse. Estimate, therefore, the amount of force received from the sun in a single day for the whole globe, and we shall find that nothing but a material medium will suffice to convey this force. ”

“ If we entertain the idea that electricity is a mere disturbance of natural condition, wherein two fluids are united, and that an excess of one is necessarily attended by deficiency in the other, we depart from the first rule of philosophy, which teaches us to admit no greater number of causes than are sufficient to explain the phenomenon. For we fearlessly assert that not a single fact exists in electrical science, which can be explained better on Dufoy’s theory than on Franklin’s ”

“ If an atom were isolated in space it would have no weight. If influenced by other matter, there must be some physical medium to convey the influence, or gravity is not in accordance with the laws of force and motion. Which horn of the dilemma shall we take? Let us first admit that there is a principle of gravitation, affecting all planetary or atomic matter, and that there exists a highly elastic medium, pervading all space, conveying to us the light of the most distant stars, and that this medium is not affected by gravity. ”

“ Astronomy can make no distinctions between the orbit of a planet and the orbit of a satellite. And, we might also ask, why the tangential resistance to the comet of Encke should not also produce a retrograde motion in the apsides of the orbit, instead of diminishing its period? To the honor of Newton, be it remembered, that he never resorted to an explanation of this phenomenon, which would vitiate that fundamental proposition of his theory, in which the major axis of the orbit is shown to depend on the velocity at any given distance from the focus. ”

“ If we grant the Newtonians a plenum, they still cling to attraction of all matter in some shape. If we confine them to a vacuum, they will virtually deny it. Is not this solemn trifling? How much more noble would it be to exhibit a little more tolerance, seeing that they themselves know not what to believe? We do not offer these remarks as argument, but merely as indications of that course of reasoning by which we conclude that the upholders of the present systems of science are not entitled to any other ground than the pure Newtonian basis of an interplanetary vacuum. ”

“ But that, on the contrary, we are taught by every analogy around us, as well as by divine precept, to use the visible things of creation as stepping stones to the attainment of what is not so apparent. That we have the volume of nature spread out in tempting characters, inviting us to read, and, assuredly, it is not so spread in mockery of man’s limited powers. As science advances, strange things, it is true, are brought to light, but the more rational the queries we propound, in every case the more satisfactory are the answers. ”

“ We shall consider, (as a faint shadowing of the glorious empire of Omnipotence,) that the whole infinite extent of space is full of motion and power to its farthest verge; and it may be an allowable stretch of the imagination to conceive that the whole comprises one infinite cylindrical vortex, whose axis is the only thing in the universe in a state of absolute unchangeableness. ”

“ And we will extend the principle further, and contend that all the phenomena of nature are consequences of the constant tendency of matter to conform to this principle of equilibrium, when suffering temporary derangement from the operation of other laws. That throughout the system of nature, equal spaces possess equal force. That what we call temperature, is nothing more than the motion of equilibrium or atomic momentum of space; or, in other words, that if all space were fluid, and in a state of equilibrium, the product of each atom of equal volume, by its motion would be a constant quality. ”

“ And it is not wonderful that the popular mind should expect a result which is so much in accordance with the wants of mankind. Who is there whose happiness, and health, and comfort, and safety, and prosperity, may not be more or less affected by reducing to law, the apparently irregular fluctuations of the weather, and the predetermination of the storm? To do this would be the crowning triumph of the age; and the present theory has pioneered the way for its speedy accomplishment. ”

“ We are too apt to confound the precision of the laws of nature, with the perfection of human theories. Man observes the phenomena of the heavens, and derives his means of predicting what will be, from what has been. Hence the motions of the heavenly bodies are known to within a trifling amount of the truth; but it does not follow that the true explanation is always given by theory. If this were so, the mass of the moon (for instance) ought to be the same, whether deduced from the principle of gravitation or from some other source. This is not so. Newton found it 1 ⁄ 40 of that of the earth. ”

“ In extending the theory to other phenomena, he has only fearlessly followed out the same principles which have conducted him to a knowledge of a disturbing cause, to which atmospheric storms owe their origin, and in doing so he has conferred with no one. For whatever of merit or of blame may therefore justly attach to these views, he alone is responsible. If he has charged the scientific with inconsistency, or with sometimes forgetting that the truth of their unnecessarily abstruse investigations depends on the truth of the data, he at least is conscientious ”

“ If we are chargeable with overweening pretensions, let it be attributed to the fact that for the last fifteen years we have treated the weather as an astronomical phenomenon, calculated by simple formulæ, and that the evidence of its truth has been almost daily presented to us, so as to render it by this time one of the most familiar and palpable of all the great fundamental laws of nature. True, we have neither had means nor leisure to render the theory as perfect as we might have done, the reason of which we have already communicated. ”

“ Under the law of gravity, a planet may revolve at any distance from the sun, but if we superadd a centripulsive force, whose law is not that of gravity, but yet in some inverse ratio of the distances, and this force acts only superficially, it would be possible to make up in volume what is wanted in density, and a lighter planet might thus be found occupying the position of a dense planet. So the planet Jupiter, respecting only his resisting surface, is better able to withstand the force of the radial stream at the earth than the earth itself. ”

“ How prone is philosophy to cling to that which is enveloped in the mist of uncertainty, rather than embrace the too simple indications of nature. As if God had only intended her glories to be revealed to a favored few, and not to mankind at large. Blessed will be the day when all will appreciate their own powers and privileges, and no longer regard the oracles which emanate from a professional priesthood, whose dicta have so often tended to darken the simple counsels of truth! ”

“ It will now be perceived that the fluid of the vortex, which we shall still term ether, is neither more nor less than the electric fluid,—the mighty energising principle of space,—the source of motion,—the cause of magnetism, galvanism, light, heat, gravity, of the aurora, the lightning, the zodiacal light, of the tails and nebulosities of comets, of the great currents of our atmosphere, of the samiel, the hurricane, and the earthquake. It will be perceived that we treat it as any other fluid, in relation to its law of motion and condensation. ”

“ Sir John Herschel, in speaking of the solar spots, says: “We may also observe that the tranquillity of the sun’s polar, as compared with his equatorial regions (if his spots be really atmospheric) , cannot be accounted for by its rotation on its axis only, but must arise from some cause external to the sun, as we see the belts of Jupiter and Saturn and our trade winds arise from a cause external to these planets combining itself with their rotations, which alone (and he lays an emphasis on the word) can produce no motions when once the form of equilibrium is attained.” ”

“ The present doctrine of light teaches that light is an undulation of an elastic medium necessarily filling all space; and this branch of science probably rests on higher and surer grounds than any other. Every test applied to it by the refinements of modern skill, strengthens its claims. Here then the Newtonian vacuum is no longer a void. If we get over this difficulty, by attributing to this medium a degree of tenuity almost spiritual, we shall run upon Scylla while endeavoring to shun Charybdis. Light and heat come bound together from the sun, by the same path, and with the same velocity. ”

“ In summer, this falling of the upper layers in front of the storm is so apparent, that every part is seen to expand under the eye by perspective,—swelling, and curling, and writhing, like the surface of water or oil when just commenced boiling. ”

“ Let us for a moment admit the idea of an infinite ocean of fluid matter, having inertia without gravity, and rotating around an infinite axis, in this case there is nothing to counteract the effect of the centrifugal force. The elasticity of the medium would only oppose resistance in a vortex of finite diameter. Where it is infinite, each cylindrical layer is urged outward by its own motion, and impelled also by those behind. ”

“ It may be thought by some, who are afraid to follow truth up the rugged precipices of the hill of knowledge, that this theory of an interplanetary plenum leads to materialism; forgetting, that He who made the world, formed it of matter, and pronounced it “very good.” We may consider ethereal matter, in one sense, purer than planetary matter, because unaffected by chemical laws. Whether still purer matter exists, it is not for us to aver or deny. ”

“ The mere fact of the surface water of the ocean being lighter than that of the bottom, cannot on any known principles of science cause any movement of the surface waters towards the equator. When such an acute and practical physicist is driven, by the palpability of the fact that the polar waters are continually tending towards the equator, to seek the cause in the tropical evaporation, it shows that the dogma, which teaches that rotation can produce no motion, is unsound. ”

“ This premised, we see that as the axis of the vortex traverses the surface of the earth, there is a tendency to derange the electric state of the parts travelled over, by bringing the atmosphere and surface of the earth under the rarefied centre of the vortex. For it is not the ether of the atmosphere alone that is affected. It is called forth from the earth itself, and partakes of the temperature of the crust,—carrying up into the upper regions the vapor-loaded atmosphere of the surface. The weather now feels close and warm; even in winter there is a balmy change in the feelings. ”

“ If then, we cannot trust the parallax of Mars, à fortiori, how can we trust the parallax of Jupiter, and say that his mean distance exactly corresponds to his periodic time? Let us suppose, for instance, that the radius vector of Jupiter fell short of that indicated by analogy by 10,000 miles, we say that it would be extremely difficult, nay, utterly impossible, to detect it by instrumental means. Let not astronomers, therefore, be too sure that there is not a modifying cause, independent of gravitation, which they will yet have to recognize. ”

“ Who could have anticipated that the position of Jupiter in his orbit had anything to do with the health of this remote planet, or with the mildness of its seasons? In this we have a clue to the origin of that astrological jargon about planetary aspects being propitious or malign. Philosophers are even yet too prone to wrap themselves in their mantle of academic lore, and despise the knowledge of the ancients, while there is reason to believe that the world once possessed a true insight into the structure of the solar system. ”

“ Condensation in every elastic medium is as the compressing power, according to all experiments. In the case of our atmosphere under the law of gravitation, the density of air, (supposing it to be infinitely expansible,) at a height only of ten semidiameters of the earth above its surface, would have only a density equal to the density of one cubic inch of such air we breathe, if that cubic inch was to be expanded so as to fill a globular space whose centre should be the earth, and whose surface should take inside the whole visible creation. ”

“ The history of science proves how few have practically respected the adage of the ancients, which we have chosen for our motto; words which ought to be written in letters of gold in every language under the sun. Descartes, by considering the mechanical impulse of the ether sufficient to explain the planetary motions, failed to detect the force of gravity in the heavens. Newton, on the other hand, feeling that his law was sufficient to explain them, and requiring a vacuum for its mathematical accuracy, rejected the notion of an ethereal medium. ”