The conclusion which is arrived at from their experiments is, that the Aether is carried along with the earth as it rushes on its journey through space. Of course such a result is altogether opposed to the ordinary conception of a frictionless medium, and indeed to any conception of the Aether except to that submitted in this work, which is also in harmony with Young's Fourth Hypothesis ([Art. 45]).
So that Michelson's and Morley's experiment is a direct experimental demonstration of the fact that Aether is gravitative, and because it is gravitative, it is carried along with the earth, as that planet journeys through space. It further conclusively proves that not only is the Aether carried along with the earth, but that the Aether circulates round the earth in the same way that the atmosphere circulates round the earth.
This result naturally follows from the experiment, because, if it were carried along by the earth and yet did not rotate with the atmosphere, then we should have a result opposed to all experience and experiment, as these teach us that when a body revolves in a medium which is held bound to that body by Gravitation, the medium so held bound participates in the rotation of the revolving body.
So that in Michelson's and Morley's experiment we have experimental evidence of the fact, already stated, that the Aether circulates round the earth, and therefore, in view of the electro-magnetic character of the Aether, this circulation results in the production of magnetism in all the planets, and other bodies around which it circulates.
Thus not only does the Aether circulate round the earth, but it also circulates around every other planet, and not only round every other planet, but equally so around every sun and star, as stated in [Art. 91].
These results are perfectly consistent with philosophical reasoning, and any other result would be inconsistent with the analogies presented to us by the phenomena of the Aether in relation to our earth as ascertained by experiments made by the scientists referred to. Thus for the first time the experiment is brought into harmony with our Philosophy, which up to the present has not been the case, a result which at once stamps the experiment with that validity of truth and fact which will ultimately win for it universal acceptance and favour.
We are now in a position to answer some queries regarding the motions of the Aether asked by Herschel in his work on Astronomy, p. 345. These I give with the answers opposite.
| QUERIES. | ANSWERS. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What is the law of density of the resisting medium which surrounds the sun? | The Law of Gravitation ([Art. 45]). | |
| 2. Is it at rest or in motion? | In motion. | |
| 3. If the latter, in what direction does it move? | Rotates round the sun. | |
| 4. Circularly round the sun or traversing space? | Both, as it circulates round the sun while that body traverses space. | |
| 5. If circularly, in what plane? | The plane of the ecliptic. |
Art. 95. Physical Explanation of the Vibration in the Electro-Magnetic Theory of Light.--In [Art. 78] we learned that light was an electro-magnetic disturbance in the Aether which was propagated through the Aether, with a finite velocity; and from this we gathered that light waves were nothing more or less than electro-magnetic waves, which were radiated from the sun, out into the Aether on every side.
We were unable, however, at that time to give a definite physical conception of the aetherial vibrations, or of the relation of the various types of vibration to each other. Since, however, the development of the Aether from the electric and magnetic standpoint, which has led us up to the fact that the Aether possesses a circulating motion round the sun ([Art. 91]), the solution of the problem appears probable. I am of the opinion that the physical conception of the various vibrations to each other is now within the region of possibility, and in this article I wish to endeavour to give what seems to me to be a correct and philosophical explanation of this part of the electro-magnetic theory of light, the physical conception of which up to the present has not been generally understood.