Correspondence.
The Constitution of Matter and its Motions.—Universal Gravitation Produced by the Motions of Ether.—Hypothesis of M. L’Abbé Leray.—M. Riche on the New Chemical Notation.—New Sensitive Pigment Paper.
In one of my recent letters to this Journal I was deploring the want of some grand hypothesis which would embrace in one general law all the mechanical phenomena of nature—universal gravitation, cohesion, chemical affinity, electricity, magnetism, light, heat, &c.—and lo! just such a hypothesis has turned up and been explained to me by its author—a man whom I am compelled to regard, without any exaggeration, as one of the great geniuses of the present day. I allude to M. L’Abbé Leray, author of a work to which I referred in a recent letter, entitled Constitution de la Matière et ses Mouvements.
I will endeavour to give an outline—but it can only be an outline—of this startling hypothesis, which makes universal gravitation an effect of the motions of ether, and dispels the idea hitherto entertained that it is an attractive force inherent in particles of matter, by which they are enabled to exert a pull upon other particles at a distance from them in space.
Sir Isaac Newton, the immortal discoverer of the law of universal gravitation (which asserts that every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force which varies directly as the mass and inversely as the square of the distance), himself believed that this law would be found, at some future time, to result from the motions of a subtle fluid which occupied space, the atoms of which, by impinging against ponderable matter, produce the observed effect of weight or gravitation. He could not conceive of ponderable matter possessing any inherent property by which it was enabled to act upon other ponderable matter at a distance. He could not really believe in an inherent central force of attraction residing in a material atom, by which it could draw towards itself another such atom situated at a distance, or that it could affect other matter in any way than by the impact of intervening atoms; and he predicted that some day the cause of universal gravitation would be discovered. That day seems now to have arrived, and the discovery to have been actually made.
I had read M. Leray’s extraordinary work with a great deal of interest, but there were still some unexplained points in his hypothesis which remained to be cleared up and some difficulties to be discussed. As he resides at an ecclesiastical institution within an easy walk of Redon, I visited him a few days ago, by appointment, for the express purpose of having a long talk over his hypothesis; and a very pleasant afternoon I had with him, leaving more deeply impressed than ever with a sense of his great abilities and originality. In fact, I seem to have made the acquaintance of a second Sir Isaac or Laplace.
The following is an outline of his theory; but of course no demonstration of any part of it can be made within the limits of this letter:—
Space is filled with a subtle ether, consisting of atoms in motion. These atoms are elastic—a property which they possess in virtue of being able to change their form, though not their volume, during impact and to recover it again. Their form is spherical, they are all equal, and their diameter is very small compared with that of the atoms of ponderable matter, and also with their general distance apart. This ether is, therefore, an exceedingly rare medium. When the atoms impinge against each other they rebound like billiard balls, and in all their motions they obey the common mechanical laws of inertia and impact, and no other laws whatever. They cannot act upon each other at a distance, and therefore no attractive or repulsive force exists between them.
If only one of these atoms were to exist in space it would move in a straight line with uniform velocity until it reached the limit of space; that is to say, the boundary by which creation is limited—the boundary which separates entity from nonentity. Here, being elastic, it would be reflected, and would then follow another rectilinear course until it again encountered in another point the boundary of space, where it would be again reflected; and so on for ever!
If we imagine space filled with an enormous number of such atoms it will follow that at every point in space there will be small parallel currents of them moving in all directions. Their distance apart being great in proportion to their size, two contrary currents will not annihilate each other, but by far the greater number of atoms in one current will pass those in the other current without impact. Those atoms which do impinge against opposite atoms, at various angles of incidence, will rebound and join other currents which are moving in their new direction.
The state of things above described constitutes what is called “mobile equilibrium;” for what one current loses by meeting another in an opposite direction will be imparted to surrounding currents, and these, in their turn, will give back equal to what they have acquired, so that compensation will be made, and thus the laws of conservation of force, and of vis viva, will be satisfied.
The velocity with which the atoms move is enormous, and millions of times greater than the velocity of light.
The reader will observe that there is a vast difference between the mobile equilibrium of this ether and the equilibrium of air or gas confined in a closed vessel. The reason why particles of a gas appear to repel each other is because the ethereal undulations of heat are vibrating between them. By reducing the temperature and increasing the pressure gases may be liquified or solidified, in which states no repulsion exists between their particles.
All ponderable matter is porous; its ultimate atoms are spheres much larger than the atoms of ether, and much farther apart; the currents of ether can, therefore, pass through a ponderable body in all directions.
When a current of ether passes through a ponderable body some of the atoms of ether strike the atoms of the body and rebound; the current, after passing through the body, will, therefore, be weakened, according to the number of its atoms which have rebounded in altered directions—that is to say, according to the number of atoms of the body which have been struck by atoms of ether. The greater the mass of a body the greater will be the weakening of the currents of ether which have passed through it. A current of ether weakened by passing through a body will gradually regain its original strength by passing through space, since it will be continually reinforced by other atoms moving in the same direction as itself.
A single ponderable atom in the midst of currents of ether will be in equilibrium under their action, because it will be struck equally in all directions.
But the atoms of a ponderable body will be put into vibratory motion by the passage through it of currents of ether; these internal motions may enable us to account for light, heat, magnetism, &c.
When two ponderable bodies exist in space, and currents of ether pass through them, the two bodies will be impelled towards each other, because the currents of ether that are between them and tend to keep them apart are weakened by having passed through the bodies, and are, therefore, weaker than the currents which impel them towards each other. This explains what has been called the “attractive force of gravity.”
It will be observed that since currents of ether pass through the bodies in all directions, the weakened currents between the bodies will be included within a sort of conical space. The law of attraction according to the inverse square of the distance is thus accounted for.
Since the weight of a body is the same, no matter how it is turned about, it follows that the ultimate atoms of all ponderable matter must be spherical. It follows also from the hypothesis that all the spherical atoms of ponderable matter are equal, and that there is, chemically speaking, but one simple substance—the apparent variety depending upon the mode of aggregation of the atoms into molecules.
Crystals are formed by arranging these spheres in the same way as you may arrange marbles or pile up cannon balls.
There is nothing in the hypothesis to interfere with the undulating theory of light, or with any theory that reposes strictly upon observed facts; but this we may discuss on a future occasion.
I need hardly say that it is in consequence of their great velocity that the atoms of ether acquire sufficient momentum to communicate sensible motion to ponderable matter.
Ponderable matter may possibly be composed of the aggregation of ethereal atoms; but M. Leray thinks not. He can see no good reason why it should be so.
Cohesion and chemical affinity may be explained on this hypothesis. Its leading feature is that it explains how such natural phenomena as do not involve vital or mental action may be explained on the simplest mechanical principles, and without involving that “bugaboo,” action at a distance. Of course, Dr. Frankland’s ideas of “bonds,” “active and latent atomicities,” &c., are inadmissible on this hypothesis.
The demonstrations are rigorously given, and the work involves a good deal of high mathematics. It is utterly impossible to do justice to the theory in the above brief sketch of it. The theorems of Euclid, if thus stated, would many of them appear improbable and absurd. The work itself can be procured from M. Gauthier Villars, 55, Quai des Grands Augustins, Paris, price three francs. It is copiously illustrated with woodcuts. A new edition has just appeared.
Some idea of the distance between the atoms of ponderable matter, when in the form of gas, may be gathered from a remark of Dr. Mann’s in his Guide to a Knowledge of Life, at page 13, where he says:—
“It can be shown to be highly probable that the ultimate atoms of gases are at least one hundred times their own diameter asunder even when those gases are held in confined vessels.”
The earth and the moon are, therefore, about three times as near together, in proportion to the diameter of the earth, as two atoms of a gas are, if the above remark be true.
In Sir Isaac Newton’s corpuscular theory of light the atoms emitted from the sun were supposed to follow one another at a distance of about a thousand miles apart! Under such circumstances the impact of two atoms of intersecting rays of light would be a comparatively rare event.
M. Leray asserts that the law of gravitation is only an approximation to the truth, and that it is modified by the volumes of bodies. The proof of this he expects will be found some day in the motions of comets, which rapidly change their volume.
Elective affinity he supposes to depend upon the different forms of crystals, two crystals which present plane faces towards each other being more easily pushed together by the atoms of ether than two crystals in which a solid angle or an edge of one is presented to a plane face of the other.
The sun, planets, fixed stars, nebulæ, &c., are, of course, perpetually riddled through and through, in all directions, by currents of ether. That is why the heavenly bodies gravitate towards each other, as explained in a preceding paragraph.
With respect to reflection at the boundary of space, it is an idea which grows upon you the more you think of it. Enormous as creation is it is impossible to conceive of its having no limit. What, then, is beyond that limit?—Nothing. Not even space in which matter can exist; no place even for matter. On reaching the boundary which separates an entity (for space is an entity) from a nonentity matter must be reflected, if elastic; or it must roll for ever against the boundary of space, if inelastic. This conclusion seems to me inevitable; there is no escape from it.
In the new edition of M. Leray’s book he modifies the theory which I have endeavoured briefly to explain in the foregoing paragraphs by supposing that, instead of one ether, there are two in a state of mixture, the second being a grosser fluid, and its atoms larger than those of the other. It is these larger atoms of the grosser fluid which, by their transversal vibrations, produce the phenomena of light, heat, &c. These larger atoms do not suffer the same swift motion of translation through space as the smaller atoms of the subtler fluid. They have no greater motion of translation than ponderable atoms have.
It may be asked—What is the difference between ponderable and imponderable matter, and why are the atoms of ether imponderable? To this query a satisfactory answer is given; but I must refer the reader to the book for it. Were I to enter upon any demonstrations an entire number of this Journal would not contain half that could be said.
I have proved in an independent manner, and different from that of Père Leray, that two equal, penetrable spheres of ponderable matter, existing in space at a distance apart which is large in proportion to their diameters, will be impelled towards each other by the impact of ethereal matters, according to a law which is approximately that of the inverse square of the distance. When the spheres are brought to within a much shorter distance of each other the law ceases to be approximately true. The law of gravitation may, therefore, be only approximately true for particles of matter at a great distance apart in proportion to their diameters. The only observations which appear to confirm the law are those which have been made upon the heavenly bodies; and here we have a case of a distance apart many times the diameters of the bodies, even between satellites and their primaries.
But before any one can seriously accept this new hypothesis a vast deal more thought and study must be bestowed upon it than I have yet had time to give it.
I will send the demonstration referred to for insertion in a future number of this Journal if our Editors think fit. The subject is not foreign to photography, but intimately connected with it as a science.
According to the new hypothesis, new definitions must be given of Mass and Density. According to M. Leray, “the mass of an atom is equal to its volume, and the mass of a body is equal to the sum of the volumes of its atoms.”
“If we call M the mass of a body, and V its apparent volume, the fraction M/V is the absolute density of the body. The absolute density is, therefore, unity for an atom, and varies from 0 to 1 for all bodies.”
If two bodies have the same apparent volume, their densities are proportional to their masses.
I have been looking through a capital French work on Chemistry, published in 1870, by M. Alfred Riche, lecturer at the Polytechnic School at Paris. He uses the old notation and table of equivalents; but strongly advises a change to the new, which he explains very nicely, and pretty much as our lecturer has done. Whenever the atomic weight of an element is given according to the new table its symbol has a bar drawn across it. Something of this sort should always be observed, in order to avoid confusion between the old and new formulæ.
I have just received a letter from Mr. J. R. Johnson, containing a most beautiful carbon print. He asks me what I think of it. My reply is simply this—that it is the most wonderfully fine print I have ever seen upon paper.
Thomas Sutton, B.A.
Redon, January 26, 1872.