Aether and Gravitation

by William George Hooper

The seven colours seen in the spectrum are called the Visible Spectrum. There are, however, rays of light beyond both ends of the spectrum which do not affect the optic nerves of the eye, and therefore are invisible to sight. The rays in the spectrum which lie beyond the red are termed ultra-red rays, while those beyond the violet are called ultra-violet rays. It can be proved the former are rich in heating power, while the latter possess great chemical power. By means of an instrument known as the thermo-electric pile, or thermopile, the various heating power of the whole spectrum, visible and invisible, can be determined.

Let us look for a moment at these invisible or dark rays. Strictly speaking, all light is invisible, as we cannot see light itself, we can only see it by reflection. We have seen that light is due to a wave motion in the Aether, but we cannot see that wave motion, neither can we see the Aether itself, so that it is not strictly correct to call a ray visible or invisible. We have, however, accepted the terms in relation to the rays of the spectrum, to distinguish between the invisible or obscure rays of the spectrum and the visible rays. It was Sir W. Herschel who first discovered the existence of these invisible waves. He passed a thermometer through the various colours of the solar spectrum, and then noted the temperature of each colour. He did not, however, stop at the limit of the visible spectrum, but experimented with his thermometer beyond its limits, and then found that beyond the red rays there were other rays, the ultra-red rays, which possessed greater heating power than any other rays of the spectrum. Thus his experiments proved, that side by side with the luminous or light waves, there were other rays, which, though they possessed greater heating power, yet were not able to excite the optic nerve, and so produce the sensation of sight.

From these facts we learn that the solar spectrum may be divided into three parts--

1. The red or ultra-red end of the spectrum which possesses the greatest heating power.

2. The central part, yellow and green, which is the greatest in luminous power or light waves.

3. The violet or ultra-violet end, which possesses great chemical or actinic power as it is sometimes termed.

We have already seen ([Art. 69]) that the same aetherial waves which give rise to heat, also give rise to light, and that the only physical difference between heat and light is, that the waves which cause the phenomena of heat are of slower period, and of greater length, than those which cause the phenomena of light. From the solar spectrum we learn that there are a third class of Aether waves, which are of more rapid vibration, and therefore shorter in length than either the aetherial heat waves or the aetherial light waves. As already stated, these are called chemical or actinic waves, because they possess a greater chemical power than either the heat or the light waves that form the central part of the spectrum.

Now this question suggests itself to us in relation to these chemical waves. What are these so-called chemical waves that are produced in the aetherial medium by the activity and heat of the sun? It must be remembered that the aetherial waves which give rise to both light and heat, and also these chemical waves, are first set in motion by the sun, at least as far as our solar system is concerned. We are perfectly conversant with the phenomena and characteristics of both heat and light. We are able to exactly determine what their particular effect will be on matter, and to describe that effect in a perfectly straightforward manner. The same, however, cannot be said of these so-called chemical waves that lie chiefly in the violet and ultra-violet end of the solar spectrum. What, then, is a chemical wave, its particular nature, and its exact properties? That we know it can decompose certain compounds, as Carbonic Acid Gas, CO₂, and so give rise to chemical decomposition, has been proved by Professor Tyndall and others, but I have never yet seen any record of any attempt to find out what these chemical waves are. There may have been such attempts made to discover their origin and character, but I have not seen any such record. I purpose, therefore, to offer an explanation as to the character and origin of these chemical or actinic waves, which I hope to prove by philosophical reasoning. We have already seen ([Arts. 54] and [59]) that both heat and light are convertible, or can be transformed into electricity, so that the same aetherial wave motion which can produce light can also produce heat, and that in its turn can produce electricity. Thus we learn that there is a very close identity between light, heat, and electricity; indeed it can be demonstrated that the same aetherial wave motion which produces electricity can produce the other two.

Lorentz,[13] in an article on “The Identity of Light Vibrations with Electric Currents,” states that “the vibrations of light are themselves electric currents.” Now if this is true, and I believe it to be true, as I hope to prove later on from Clerk Maxwell's works, then it necessarily follows, that wherever we get aetherial light waves, we must at the same time also get aetherial electric waves. If that be so, then in the solar spectrum we ought to have revealed to us, not only indications of the presence of the heat and light vibrations, but equally so the presence of electric waves. This, I believe, is actually the case, and the electric waves are the so-called chemical waves in the violet and ultra-violet end of the spectrum. I think that we shall find sufficient arguments and analogy to support this hypothesis, as we look further into the matter. One of the greatest scientists of the past century, Clerk Maxwell, has given to the world the genesis of what he termed the Electro-Magnetic Theory of Light, in which he proved that light was nothing more nor less than an electro-magnetic phenomenon. He pointed out that the same Aether which was concerned in the propagation of light and heat through space, must therefore be equally concerned in the propagation of electric displacements in the free Aether; as he states, it would be philosophically wrong to assume that there was one aetherial medium for light, and another for electric phenomena. If, therefore, there is such a theory as the Electro-Magnetic Theory of Light, and there undoubtedly is, as has been proved by the researches of Hertz on electric waves, then it follows, either that light waves are themselves electric currents, as suggested by Lorentz, or that the light waves are directly associated with electric waves in the same way that they are associated with heat waves. So that the only difference between them would be one of period of vibration and of length, the electric waves of the Aether being of greater rapidity and therefore of shorter length than either the light or heat waves. The only conclusion, therefore, that it seems possible to come to regarding these chemical waves is, that they are the electric waves of the spectrum. Thus, in the solar spectrum, there are three classes of waves indicated by the various colours, and beyond the limits of these colours, viz. (1) Thermal or Heat waves in the red or ultra-red end of the spectrum; (2) Luminous or Light waves at the middle of the spectrum; and (3) Electric or Chemical waves in the violet or ultra-violet end of the spectrum. Now in looking at this hypothesis from the standpoint of our Rules of Philosophy, I venture to assert that all the three rules are satisfactorily fulfilled, and that being so, the hypothesis advanced is philosophically correct. In the first place, such a conception that the chemical waves or violet waves are really electric waves is simple in its hypothesis, and so fulfils our first Rule of Philosophy. It is simple, because it puts in the place of unknown chemical waves, a certain kind of aetherial waves with whose action we are definitely familiar, and whose origin and effect can be satisfactorily accounted for, as proved by Hertz. Chemical waves are not simple in conception, because we do not know exactly what they are, or how they are originated. Besides, as Newton points out, there is nothing superfluous in Nature. If one cause can effect the desired end, as electric waves, then another cause as chemical waves is superfluous and unnecessary. Further, in our hypothesis of the electric character of these chemical waves, we have a solution which satisfactorily fulfils the second Rule of our Philosophy. Experience and experiment teach us, that there are electric waves constantly being generated in a thousand ways. Indeed, it is an absolute impossibility to perform the simplest act of ordinary life, as brushing a hat, or wiping the boots on a mat, cutting an orange, or any other act of simple everyday life, but that these aetherial electric waves are generated. But as for these so-called chemical waves, experience has little to say about them, and experiment still less. If we decompose water, dividing it up into two gases, Oxygen and Hydrogen, we do it by passing a current of electricity through the water. If we want to decompose or split up a binary compound, as HCl, into its two elements, Hydrogen and Chlorine, then we can do it by electricity--that is, by the decomposing action of these electric waves. In all these experiments and results we know definitely what we are doing, and what the effect will be. There is no vagueness about the terms used. When we speak of chemical action we look to a definite source for that action, and we do not say that such action is produced by chemical waves, but rather by electricity. So that all experience teaches us, and all experiments made by such men as Faraday, Davy, Maxwell, and Hertz confirm the statement, that these aetherial electric currents can accomplish all that the so-called chemical waves accomplish, and that being so, the third Rule of our Philosophy is also fulfilled, as we have in the aetherial electric waves a satisfactory explanation for the fact which we seek to explain, viz. the character and origin of the chemical waves that exist in the violet end of the spectrum. Thus, we learn, that not only is the sun the source of all heat and light, in that it gives rise to the vibrations of the Aether which are propagated through it in waves, but that it is also the source of all electric waves in the solar system, in that electric currents are primarily due to the wave motion set up in the Aether, those electric waves also traversing space with the velocity of light.

[13] Phil. Mag., 1867.