AND OF THE
ELEMENTS, FORCES, AND PHENOMENA
OF
NATURE, AND OF MIND.
BY
EZRA C. SEAMAN,
AUTHOR OF ESSAYS ON THE PROGRESS OF NATIONS' AND
OF A WORK ON THE AMERICAN SYSTEM
OF GOVERNMENT.
NEW YORK:
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG, & CO., 654 BROADWAY.
ANN ARBOR: GILMORE & FISKE.
I873.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
EZRA C. SEAMAN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Michigan.
COURIER STEAM PRINTING HousE, ANN ARBOR.




PREFACE.
HAVING carefully considered the phenomena of
nature, and studied for years the great questions and
problems of science, and come to conclusions and
formed theories in many respects very different from
the commonly received opinions of the age, I have
thought it fit and proper to present my views to the
consideration of my fellow-citizens, in the hope-perhaps a vain hope-that they may awaken inquiry upon
the subjects referred to; and be productive of good. I
am well aware, that in presenting views and theories
in matters of science, different from those thiat are
sanctioned by high authority-entertained by great
numbers of men of science, and taught in the highest
seminaries of learning, I shall subject myself to se'ere,
and perhaps harsh criticism; but knowing also, that
false assumptions and erroneous theories lead to fallacious reasoning and wrong conclusions, an unmanly
fear of criticism shall not deter me from an honest
effort to aid in promoting an increase of useful knowledge among men.
The mystical philosophy in relation to heat, light,
and a supposititious luminiferous ether, which has recently crept into science, and also much of the doctrines in relation to the correlation of the forces, ignore
the real forces of nature, as well as the spiritualism of
the Bible, and tend directly to Materialism and Pantheism.
I have endeavored to combat as unsound, the solar emission theory, as well as the vibratory-ether theory of heat and light-the chemical theory of combustion-the chemico-mechanical theory of life and organ



iv                   PREFACE.
ization-and the material, or chemico-mechanical theory of mind; and have presented as worthy of consideration, the old material theory of caloric-the attraction theory of light, and of the action of caloric-the
terrestial theory of the sources of caloric —the calorific
theory of ignition and combustion-the vital theory of
life and organization-and the spiritual theory of mind.
By spiritual theory of mind, I mean the Christian theory-not the theory of Andrew Jackson Davis, and
the spirit rappers. The terms spiritual, spiritualism,
and spiritualist, are used in contradistinction to the
words material, materialism, and materialist; and in that
sense, every Christian, and every person who'believes
in the immortality of the soul, is a spiritualist. The
use of the words spiritualism and spiritualist, by spirit
rappers-pretending to have communication with the
spirits of the dead, is a modern abuse of the wordsresulting from delusion and false pretenses.
Much of my reasoning, and of all human reasoning, in relation to the phenomena of nature and of
mind, and the causes and *forces which produce them,
is necessarily based upon inferences and assumptions of causes and forces, which  are beyond the
reach of our senses, and also beyond the reach of scientific investigations and tests-and are matters of inference only; but, as effects and phenomena can not be
produced without adequate causes and forces, every
person who reasons upon such subjects, must infer
some cause for them-the principal difference between
my mode of reasoning and that of other scientific reasoners is, that my reasoning is based upon one set of
inferences and assumptions, while theirs are based
upon other sets-each class or school of scientists and
philosophers, having their reasoning and views based
upon a class of inferences and assumptions peculiar to
themselves. Different men take different views from
different standpoints, and draw different conclusions,
from the same facts and evidence.
Perhaps the question may be asked-who is Mr.
S., that he shlould question the soundness of the opin



PREFACE.                    V
ions and theories of the most scientific men of the age,
and presume so much as to present to the public the
peculiar views and theories of his own in matters
of science? Is he a practical chemist, geologist,
or engineer-a distinguished professor of physics-or
has he experimented extensively in any branch of natural science? Nothing of the kind is pretended. But
while I do not claim to be learned in the details of any
of the natural sciences, I do claim to have observed
and studied carefully the general laws of chemistry
and physics, of the vegetable and animal economy, of
the forces of nature, of dynamical geology, and the
philosophy of mind. I have made law  and power,
cause and force, the study of a life time. And though
I have made the laws, usages, and customs of man,
and the practice of courts of justice, in connection
with human rights and natural law, my principal
study; yet I have studied with great care, the subject of intellectual and moral, as well as political and
physical force aLd power. I have carefully observed
the phenomena of nature-observed and studied the
experiments in Nature's Great Laboratory-and read
and considered great numbers of the experiments and
views of practical chemists, physicists, and men of
science, and witnessed many of their experiments. I
think, therefore, I am as well qualified to form opinions and theories of the elements, forces, and laws of
nature, and of the causes which produce the phenomena of nature and of mind, as I should have been, if I
had practised in chemical laboratories, and lectured on
chemistry, geology, or physics, for a quarter of a century.
I think the work will be tound to have at least one
merit-that of definiteness, clearness, and freedom from
vagueness and mysticism, in its assumptions and its inferences, as well as in its statements and argumentsso that the reader can comprehend my meaning, and
understand my views of the forces which produce the
phenomena of nature and of mind. If it have that
merit, others can see and distinguish its errors from its
truths, and point them out.




vi                  PREFACE.
In the preparation of this work, I have become
indebted to numerous authors, for materials and facts,
as well as for views and arguments-but more especiallytto Prof. Tayler Lewis, whose writings have aided
me more, than those of any other living man, in the
formation of my opinions.
Let no one be deterred from the study of natural
science, because he is wanting scientific apparatus and
the means of experimenting. Books on science and
Nature's Great Laboratory, will furnish sufficient materials and experiments, for study and contemplation.
With such views and purposes, the following pages
are respectfully submitted to the consideration of the
public.
E. C. S.
ANN ARBOR, MICH., March, I873.




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL VIEWS OF MATTER AND SPIRIT-THE DIFFERENT
MODES IN WHICH THEY ACT-COMPARED AND CONTRASTED
I-5.
Matter and spirit, I.
Moving powers or forces, 4.
CHAPTER II.
ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES, AND THEIR GENERAL PROPERTIES
-MECHANICAL, OR MOTION AND FRICTION THEORY OF HEAT
-PECULIAR PROPERTIES AND ACTION OF CALORIC, ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM, AND THE VITAL PRINCIPLE, 6-24.
Elementary substances, 6.
Mechanical, or motion and friction theory of heat, 7.
Caloric or fire, an element of matter, Io.
Electricity, 14.
Magnetism, 14.
The vital element, 14.
Limited tendency of caloric to diffusion, I8.
Ignition and combustion-flame and fusion, I9.
Curious consequences of heat, 22.
Fires from steam-pipes, 23.
CHAPTER III.
THE FORCES OF NATURE-THEY ARE INHERENT IN SUBSTANCE
-POWER AND MOTION-CAUSE AND EFFECT-MATTER AND
MOTION-LAW AND GOVERNMENT, 25-34.
The forces of nature-inherent in substance, 25.
Power and motion-cause and effect, 26.
Matter and motion, 27.
Repellent forces-are there any, 28.
Radiation of caloric, 29.
Law-what is it, and what are its functions and limits, 30.




Viii                CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
MYSTERIES-AND THE BASIS AND LIMITS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE, 35-42.
Forces of affinity and attraction, 41.
CHAPTER V.
SOURCES OF CALORIC, OR FIRE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE
SUN UPON ITS ACTION, 43-49.
CHAPTER VI.
A NEW THEORY OF LIGHT, BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF
ATTRACTION, AND THE ACTION OF CALORIC? 50-62.
CHAPTER VII.
THE UNWARRANTED ASSUMPTIONS AND FALLACIES, MYSTICISM AND SOPHISTRY, INVOLVED IN THE VIBRATORY-ETHER
THEORY OF HEAT AND LIGHT-AND ALSO IN THE SOLAR
EMISSION-THEORY, TAUGHT IN BOOKS OF SCIENCE, 63-76.
Mechanical philosophy of nature, 63, 65, 66, 67.
Ganot's Physics, 64.
Comments on Ganot's Physics, 65, 66, 67.
Balfour Stewart's Physics, 67.
Comments on Stewart's Physics, 67.
Tyndall on heat, 7I.
Ganot on the theory of exchanges of heat, 73.
Solar radiation of heat, 74.
Comments on the solar radiation theory, 75.
CHAPTER VIII.
VIEWS OF THE ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE-OF THE FORMS OF
LIVING ORGANISMS-AND OF LIFE AND INTELLECT, 77-83.
Elements of the human system, 77.
The vital element, and forms of living organisms, 77.
Distinctions between matter and force, organization and intellect, 8I.
Two or more causes necessary to produce physical action, 82.
Intellect distinguished from unintelligent matter, 82.
CHAPTER IX.
VITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, AND MATERIALISM-AND THEIR
ACTION COMPARED AND CONTRASTED, 84-96.
The vital principle, intellect, and materialism, 84.
Molecules, germs, and animalcules, 86




CONTENTS.
Natural solvents, 87.
Digestion, assimilation, and nutrition, SS.
Materialism, 89.
Views of Dr. Maudslev of London, 9o-9i-92.
Comments on Maudsley's views, 90-9I-92.
CPAPTER X.
CREATION-THE NEBULAR STATE-THE CHEMICAL AND FORIMATIVE PROCESSES OF NATURE-SPONTANEOUS GENERATION'
AND MAN, 97-I40.
The subsidences, upheavals, and breaking up of the earth's
crust, IOI.
Seams or veins of metallic ores, and of quartz rock, volcanoes and earthquakes, Io6.
Upheavals at and near Pike's Peak. io8.
Spontaneous action of matter, and spontaneous combustion,
112
Spontaneous generation, and the spontaneous production oi
vegetation, 113.
Prof. Tayler Lewis's views, I 14.
Spontaneous vegetation, II9.
Prof. Winchell's views, I23.
Spontaneous generation, I25.
Prof. Wyman's experiments, 126.
Characteristics which distinguish mnan friom other animals.
132.








CHAPTER I.
GENERAL VIEWS OF MATTER AND SPIRIT-THE DIFFEREXT MODES IN WHICH THEY ACT, COMPARED
AND CONTRASTED.
THE origin of matter, and the mode in which it
was created or came into existence, are beyond the
domain and scope of man's knowledge and power to
investigate. Even the development theory does not
attempt to account for the origin of matter —but takes
the universe as it is, and from the evidences of change
in the crust of the earth, infers that the vast and innumerable systems of worlds, which constitute the universe, have been developed from a nebulous state, and
that animal and vegetable organisms have been developed from its elements. Man can know nothing
whatever of the origin of matter, except from Divine
revelation-and nothing of its properties, except what
can be deduced and inferred by human reason, imperfect as it is. Hence all human reasoning and science,
except whlat relates to abstract numbers and quantities, must necessarily be more or less defective, imperfect, and uncertain.
It is difficult for man to form or have any clear
conceptions of the nature and characteristics of either
matter or spirit, or of the differences between them,
without first analyzing and ascertaining their modes of
action, and contrasting the action of matter with the
action of mind. Their nature and characteristics we
can determine only by inference from their action.
By spirit, I mean not only the Divine Mind, but
also a principle of intelligence, so blended in man
with the organization of the brain, as to form the human mind. It constitutes the power of consciousness,
the power to take cognizance of external things -




2              MATTER AND SPIRIT.
-the power of thought, and of action. For aught we
know, it may emanate from the Supreme Being.
So far as intellect or mind is concerned, the starting point of all human reasoning must be intuitive
cognizance, and human consciousness. So far as matter is concerned, our knowledge of it must depend
upon the limited powers of the human mind to take
cognizance of the almost infinite minuteness of the
atoms of matter-altogether beyond the reach ot the
senses, even with the aid of the microscope, and any
instruments which man can invent-and must content
ourselves with observing aud studying matter a,.d its
action, in its combinations and masses, and must infer
its properties, forces and powers, from its action, and
from the phenomena of nature. The theories we
form, and our processes of reasoning, should be corrected at every step, by comparing them with the phenomena of the world, and of the universe.
Matter is moved and controlled in its action, by
its affinities for other matter, and by the affinities and
attractions of other matter for it-whereby atoms and
elements of matter mutually act upon and attract each
other. Tile affinities of matter form the principle of
universal attraction-which, deriving its powers from
the inherent properties and forces of matter, acts with
uniformity as a secondary power in the government of
the universe. On the contrary, spirit or mind is not
controlled by its affinities, but by intelligence and volition, to attain some end or purpose.
Matter can act only in accordance with its affinities; and under given circumstances it can act only in
one mode. It always acts ex necessitate, and must act
in accordance with its affinities, and the affinities,
powers of attraction, and local position of the elements and bodies of matter acting upon it-having no
power to resist or refrain from such action. On the
contrary, mind, and especially the Divine Mind, does
not act from necessity-may act or refrain from acting,
and is not constrained or impelled by its nature, affinities, or. condition, to act in any particular rhode —but




MATTER AND SPIRIT.               3
may exercise creative power, conservative power, or
any other power, in any mode, and for any purpose,
in accordance with its arbitrary purpose and volition.
Man must attain the elements of knowledge mostly
through the senses, and through his own consciousness
and feelings, appetites and wants; whereby he is governed mostly by his physical wants and appetites-but
within a certain narrow sphere, the minds of men, and
especially the higher orders of the human intellect, act
in accordance with their own arbitrary volition, and
are not controlled in their action by external things,
nor by any fixed or definite modes, forms, or rules of
action, as matter is. This independence of mental
action is especially manifested in the exercise of the
inventive faculties —in experimenting-and in studying
the order and laws of nature, and tracing the relations
between cause and effect.
The. affinities, powers and forces of matter, act
with uniformity; but mind does not act with uniformity. Two minds seldom act precisely alike. Matter
is always affected in the same manner by physical
causes; while mind is often quiet under the most powerful influences; and what excites one mind, does not
disturb another, under the same or very similar circumstances.
Mind often acts whimsically, arbitrarily, and from
mere fancy, in search of novelties and new thingswhile matter acts with uniformity, and in accordance
with law.
Though the intellect is so mysteriously blended
with the organization of the brain and nervous system
that neither the chemist nor the anatomist can detect
it, yet the manifestations of its influence and power
are so great and various, and the consciousness of its
action so clear and vivid, that it requires a strange degree of incredulity and skepticism, to doubt its existence as a real entity, distinct from the elements which
form the brain. Human action, considered in connection with the condition of a dead body, clearly indicates that the living brain contains two elements-an




4              MATTER AND SPIRIT.
intellect, as well as a living principle, not contained
in a dead one.
Intellect is distinguished from matter, and put
into a class called spiritual-not because it is not substance-not because it does not possess many of the
properties of matter, hut because it is endowed with
the powers of consciousness and intelligence, and is
exempt from the chemical affinities and other properties by which unintelligent matter is governed. Mind
or spirit is called immaterial-not because it is not
substance, but because it is not controlled by the affinities, attractions and properties, by which all the elements of the material world are governed. God is a
spirit, but has never been represented by any intelligent person as not occupying space; on the contrary,
the Divine Being is represented by Christian theologians, as filling, to a large extent, the infinity of space.
Moving Powers, or Forces.
Every change, movement and action in the natural world, as well as in the animal kingdom, requires
a moving power, force or cause, to produce it. The
forces of nature consist of the attractions of the elements of matter for each other. The force of spirit is
a power inherent in intellect to originate action, and
to act of itself as a cause, guided by its own intelligence and will. Intellect is self-acting, and can act
without being propelled by external influences. Unintelligent matter acts very differently, and can act
only when moved by spirit, or when two or more elements mutually attract each ofher.
No mechanism can be so constructed and arranged
as to move itself, without a moving power, derived
from the forces of nature. The moving power of a
watch is its mainspring. Every machine must have a
moving power to operate it. So with animal and vegetable organisms. They must have a motive power to
operate them —a power very different from the inherent
properties and powers of the ponderable elements of




MATTER AND SPIRIT.                  5
which their organs are composed. The motive powers of vegetable organisms, are the vital principle and
caloric; and the motive powers of animal organisms,
are the vital principle and caloric, electricity and intellect.
Perhaps caloric and electricity should be regarded
rather as stimulants, than as motive powers, though
caloric is as necessary to vital action as the vital principle itself.




CHAPTER II.
ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES, AND THEIR GENERAL
PROPERTIES —MECHANICAL, OR MOTION AND FRICTION THEORY OF HEAT-PECULIAR  PROPERTIES
AND ACTION OF CALORIC, ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM,. AND THE VITAL PRINCIPLE.
Elementary substances.
CHEMISTS have succeeded in decomposing and
analyzing many compounds, which were once thought
to be simple elementary substances, until they now
recognize in nature, more than sixty different elements
or classes of atoms-each having properties and affinities peculiar to itself-which differ from those of every
other element of matter. Oxygen, which forms a
part of water, of atmospheric air, of rocks and stones,
and of all animal and vegetable organisms, constitutes
the most abundant element in nature; while caloric,
or fire, the basis or cause of the sensation of heat, is
the most universally diffused of all the elements of the
universe.
The smallest division of any element of matter is
called an atom. The atoms of many of the elements,
and particularly of the metals, have a strong affinity
for each other, which causes them to unite and adhere
together, by what is termed the attraction of cohesion
-which is much stronger in iron, than in any other
element or combination of elements. When different
classes of elements combine (as oxygen and hydrogen
to form water), the attraction or force which brings the
atoms together and holds them in combination, is
called chemical affinity. The lowest combination so




MECHANICAL THEORY OF HEAT.            7
formed is called a molecule; the lowest combination
of atoms from which animal or vegetable life can be
developed, is called a germ.
The chemical affinities and gravitation are not
distinct elements of matter, but mere forces inherent
in and constituting properties of matter, which cannot
be separated from the matter of which they are properties; but in addition to them, there are certain subtle
elementary substances, which, in common parlance,
are called forces-on account of their extreme mobility and power, and their peculiar affinities and action.
They are caloric or fire, electricity, and perhaps magnetism,which mav,or may not be identical with electricity.
To that list I shall add the vital principle-as a distinct
element of matter-believing it to be an organizing
element, which attracts, unites, and forms certain elementary substances into germs and cells, and living
organisms, and finally moulds them into plants and
animals.
AMechanical, or motion andfriction theory of heat.
A theory was fortned more than two centuries
since,.that caloric or fire, the element of heat, is not an
element of matter, but th4  mere effects of matter in
motion. That theory was suggested by the fact that
heat and flame can be produced, and a fire kindled
with combustible materials, by means of friction-by
rubbing together two sticks of dry wood-or by striking a flint stone with steel, over tinder or gun-powder.
It is also well known that heat is produced by the friction of machinery-by wheels running swiftly over an
axle; and it has been observed in boring cannon.
The theory obtained very little credence until a
comparatively recent period; and very likely it would
have sunk into oblivion, if it had not been supported
by the distinguished name of Lord Bacon. It is difficult to account satisfactorily to many minds, for the
production of heat and flame by friction; and during
the last fifty years, the theory in question has been re



t~8      MECHANICAL THEORY OF HEAT.
vived, and so elaborated, that it is now believed and
maintained by great numbers of scientific men. But
it should be borne in mind that the quantity of heat
produced by friction is very small, and generally by a
very slow process. Perhaps fifty times as much heat
can be produced by burning two sticks of dry wood, as
by rubbing them together for half an hour. It has been
suggested that the heat p;roduced byfriction is caused
by the caloric pressed out of the wood or metal,
or out of the atnospheric air surrounding them, at
the place of friction and compression.  That explanation seems to my mind more consonant to reason
than the theory that heat is produced by motion-for
the theory assumes that heat and flame aire produced
by motion only, without even friction-except such
firiction as may be produced by the motion of a solid
body moving through atmospheric air-or by the internal motion of the atoms of iron or other metal in a
heated furnace or crucible-or by the motion of a supposititious ether contained in such metals.
I think it may be truly affirmed, that heat is never
produced by motion alone, nor without friction with
something more dense than the atmosphere of this
earth. Experience shows, that it requires the friction
of two solid substances, and the compression of such
friction, to proJuce heat and flame; and the heat then
produced is very trifling —though it is sufficient to fire
gun-powder, or tinder. The only way to produce fire
or heat to any great extent, is to communicate fire directly to dry wood, coal, oil, gas, or some other comcombustible material, and thereby produce combustion, and set free the caloric contained in the materials consumed. The friction theory of heat overlooks the obvious general causes of combustion and
heat, and fixes upon the mode of their origin in occasional cases, as their cause. It is very true that combustion and a blaze may be produced with dry combustible materials, by friction-but they are not often so
produced. They are generally produced by the direct
agency of fire, as the cause. Before the invention of




MECHANICAL THEORY OF HEAT.              9
fiiction matches, fires were kindled perhaps a million
times, by the direct agency of fire, where they were
once by friction; and when a blaze is once produced,
friction is never necessary to the propagation -and contitnation of combustion. Caloric is developed by combustion-which spreads, and propagates, and continues
the combustion; but when a blaze is produced by
friction, it is propagated, not by friction, but by the
caloric developed and set free by combustion.
It was known more than fifty years ago, that heat
and fire can be developed from  atmospheric air, by
compressing it, but the reisoning of Count Rumford in
relation to the development of heat by friction, indicates that he was not aware of that. philosophic truth.
Prof. Amos Eaton, wlho was professor of chemistry
and natural philosophy in the Rensselaer School at
West Troy, N. Y., in his Chemnical Instructor, publishled in IS26, in a note (page 27), says:  "Some
chemists consider heat as the effect ot a vibratory motion in the particles of matter. This hypotheses is
chiefly founded upon the fact that a flame may be excited and continued by friction, greatly disproportioned
to the combustible substances consumed. If a stick is
put in the state of rapid motion in a lathe, and another
stick held against it, a great flame will be produced by
the compression of' the air, which is forced between
the sticks by this rapid motion." Again, in a note (p.
39), he says:  "I have treated caloric as a material
fluid; which I suppose I may now venture to do, since
Professot Hare has had the imloudence to demonstrate
the absurdity of Davey's vibratory theory. See An.
Jour. Science, vol. 4, p. 142."  In the article referred
to, Prof. Hare says:  " How inconceivable is it that
the iron boiler of a steam engine should give to the
particles of water a motion so totally different from
any it can itself possess, and at the same time be capable
of such wonderfuil eflects, as are produced by the
agency of steam."




IO           CALORIC, A SUBSTANCE.
Caloric orJfre, an element of matter.
The fact that fire or caloric expands iron and all
metals, wood and all solids, atmospheric air and all
gases, and so expands water as to convert it into steam
and vapor, furnishes conclusive evidence that it is a
distinct elementary substance-having the properties
of extension and resistance, and occupying spacelike the ponderable elements of matter. It must expand solids and liquids by permeating them —entering
between the atoms of which they are composed, separaling them, and pushing them asunder, very slightly.
Such effects are not consistent with the theory that
what we call fire is.only the effect of matter in motion
-a mere vibratory movement of a subtle ether, or
other matter.
The phenomena attending the great fire in Boston,
which commenced in the evening of November 9th,
1872, and the report of the Observer of the Signal
Service of the United States at that place, serve to
show the material character, as well as the action and
great power of fire, or caloric. The report is as follows: Boston, Nov. I3th, I872. To the Chief Signal
Officer of the Army, Washington, D. C.
General-In reply to your telegraphic dispatch
received this morning, directing me to make a ifull
report of the meteoric phenomena attending the recent
great fire, I would respectfully say: The wind at this
station during the progress of the fire, varied from
north north-west to north, with a velocity of from five
to nine miles per hour-the weather being clear, cool,
and pleasant. On approaching the fire on the north,
or windward side, as close as the heat would allow,
the draft of air through the burning streets assumed
the character of a brisk wind, probably sixteen or
eighteen miles per hour, while the heat was so intense as to cause the smoke, steam, etc., to be carried
up in spirals, to a great elevation. On the south or
lee side, the induced currents of air were very strong,
probaply thirty to thirty-five miles per hour, carry



CALORIC, A SUBSTANCE.             I I
ing the fire bodily to windward. This state of affairs appears to have been the reverse of the Chicago
fire, where the strength of the wind was sufficient to
overcome the induced current, and the fire burned to
leeward. It appears as if the hiih wind permittedthe
indraught to raise at a considerable angle, after reaching the fire leaving a large space of highly rarified air
in its front, inducing stronger currents to flow, which,
meeting the indraught, gave a spiral or whirlwind
motion to the ascending current.  During the fire a
flock of ducks passed at a great height overhead, and
the light reflected from their plumage made them appear as fire balls passing rapidly through the air.
Many who saw them called them meteors, and likened
them to balls of fire said to have been seen in the
Northwest, during the great fire in that region. As
an example of great heat diffused, I would state that
during the night I exposed a thermometer in the observatory to the fullglare of the fire, when it rose
nearly five degrees, although placed upward of
2,000 feetlfrom the burning district, and dead to
windward of it. No other phenomena occurredthe barometer rising slightly, and the weather remaining unchanged. I have the honor, etc.
(Signed) H. E. COOLE,
Observer Sirnal Service U. S. A.
Such were some of the meteorological phenomena
of the great fire of Boston. The combustion of buildings and goods produced such an ocean of flame, and
set free such a prodigious amount of caloric, that the
caloric diffused itself in every direction for a great distance-heated and rarified the whole atmosphere in
and around the city-induced strong currents of inflowing air from even the leeward side of the firegave an upward and spiral motion to the whole atmosphere in, around, and over the city —and sent it up to
a great elevation-and so permeated the air and diffused itself, even in opposition to a strong wind,
blowing at the rateof from five to sixteen miles per hour,




12           CALORIC, A SUBSTANCE.
that it raised the mercury in the thermometer nearly
five degrees, at a distance of three-eighths of a mile
from  the consuming flames.  Will any one pretend
that such phenomena and effects were produced by the
mere motion of ether, or of any other element or thing
-without the agency of any such elerrent of matter
as has been for centuries called fire, or caloric? What
but such a subtle element of matter as caloric has been
generally understood to be, could permeate the whole
atmosphere-move in every direction —contrary to a
strong wind as well as with it, and in such quantity as
to raise the temperature nearly five degrees, at a distance of more than 2000 feet from the burning buildings?
Fifty years ago caloric, electricity, and light, were
almost universally recognized by chemists, and very
generally by natural philosophers, as distinct elements
of matter-though they were classed as imponderable
snbstances. All the other elements recognized by
chemists, were classed as ponderable substances-because the latter classes all tended to gravitate towards
the centre of the earth, and can be weighed in scales,
and their exact weight ascertained-while caloric,
light, and electricity, have no such gravitating tendency, and therefore no weight. Though the whole earth
as a body has a gravitating tendency towards the sun,
as the centre of the solar system, by reason of the sun's
power of attraction, and the affinity and power of attraction of the matter of which the earth is composed
for that of the sun-yet the atoms, elements, and compounds of the earth, have so much stronger affinities
and attractions for each other, (that are in immediate
proximity or nearly so), than for the sun, which is
millions of miles distant, that they gravitate strongly
towards each other and towards the centre of the
earth, and to a comparatively trifling extent towards
the sun —while electricity is so subtle and mobile,
has such peculiar affinities, and moves from the earth
to the atmosphere with as much facility as from the atmosphere towards the earth, that it has no such gravi



CALORIC, A SUBSTANCE.              I3
tating tendency towards the earth as to give it any appreciable weight; and caloric is so mobile, and has so
much stronger affinity for the sun than for the earth,
that it is constantly drawn by the sun's attraction from
the-side of the earth turned towards the sun, into the
atmosphere —though that great source of attraction
and power is more than ninety millions of miles distant fiom the earth. Hence, caloric has no weight,
and is properly classed as an imponderable element.
Light I can not regard as an element of matter,
distinct from caloric —but consider the sensation of
light as produced by the attractive force of calorieoperating directly upon the optic nerve of the eyeas is hereinafter explained.
Those who deny that fire or caloric is a distinct
element of matter, and insist that heat is only a mode
or form of motion, are driven to the necessity of assuming the existence of an elastic fluid pervading
the universe, which they call ether; the action of
which, in different modes, and under different circulnstances, constitutes both latent and sensible heat, light,
and electricity.  It is beyond the power of man to
prove or disprove the existence or non-existence of
such a supposititious ether —fir it is heyoid the reach
of the senses with the aid of the microscope, and beyond the power of the chemist to detect. It is therefore a pure assumption or hypothesis-without proof,
or the possibility of proof to sustain it.  On the contrary, caloric, or fire, may be so concentrated and accumulated as to produce light, and the eye can see it;
and whether free or latent, it operates upon the sense
of feeling, and may be measured by the thermometer.
It was known and tolerably well understood before the
age of chemistry, and when nothing was known of
ally of the other simple elements of matter except a
few of the metals-and when it was not known that
even the metals were distinct elements of matter.
Nothing was known of the component parts of air or
water, earth or rocks, plants or animals, of oxygen or
hydrogen, nitrogen or carbon, until late in the i8th




14         PROPERTIES OF ELECTRICITY
century; and yet the element of fire, and most of its
properties, were well understood.
Electricity.
Electricity is the most In(bile of all the elements
of the material world, of which we have any knowledge.  While caloric always moves comparatively
slowly, electricity often moves with wonderful velocity-as is shown by the operations of the electric telegraph.  Though much is known of the action of electricity-mnuch is unknown of its action, as well as of
its nature and properties; and there is still a dispute
among chemists and natural philosophers, whether it
comprises towo different fluids-a positive and negative
fluid, or only one.  It is diffused through the atmosphere and the crust of the earth-is present in all living animal organisms and vegetable substances; and
there is reason to believe that it is the agent of the
brain and nerves, to aid in commnnicating volition
from the brain, and sensation to the brain through the
nervous organization-but that is not susceptible of
proof.
There is reason to believe that caloric is generally
so combined and blended with electricity, that the two
act together. Either caloric is blended with electricity, or else the latter has some of the properties of the
former, which enable it to emit a spark, and to generate combustion in materials that are dry and combustible.  The fact that the electricity in the atmosphere is in a quiescent state, during the cold weather
of winter, when it contains very little caloric, indicates
that the two act together, and that the electricity does
not show itself, because there is not sufficient caloric
in the atmosphere to give it activity.
The fact that lightning often makes visible marks
upon trees and buildings, ond sometimes rends them
in pieces as effectually as if it were as solid as a cannon ball. furnishes irresistible and conclusive evidence
of its material character-and shows that it is a sub



THE VITAL PRINCIPLE.               15
stance, and not a mere vibration or force, without substance.
Magnetism..
Magnetism is in many, if not all cases, blended
with electricity; and less is known of its essence and
nature, than of any thing in the vocabulary of chemistry. There is reason to doubt that it is a distinct elementary substance.  The experiments with electromagnetism  give reason to believe, that magnetism is
only a imode of action of electricity.
The vital element.
Chemists have not recognized the vital element or
living principle, because they are unable to collect it
and confine it in their glass jars, as they do electricity, the gases, and all the grosser elements of nature;
but physiologists, physicians, and writers on medicine,
have very generally recognized it as the organizing
principle and basis of life-without which it is impossible to account satisfactorily and rationally, for vegetable and animal organisms, and their development
and growth. Believing that there is such a substance
in nature as a vital organizing element, which attracts,
unites, and holds in combination the various elements
of matter, which compose animal and vegetable organistns, I class it as one of the elementary substances of
nature. Though we can know nothing of it except
from its effects, its existence as well as its irnponderable nature, is shown, as intellect is shown, by its
effects, and by the manifestations of its power. Its organisms, by means of its power, collect from the earth
and the atmosphere, food and materials which they
form into the sap of trees and plants; and it raises the
sap from the roots, and carries it up through sap vessels or tubes' into the body, limbs and leaves, converts
it into fibre and leaves, and thus sustains them, and
causes their development and growth.  All of which




I6           PROPERTIES OF CALORIC.
is done, in antagonism  to the laws of gravitation,
and generally in antagonism also to the chemical affinities of the elements and compounds, thus raised and
assimilated.  It also constitutes the healing power of
nature.  Such manifestations of power should be sufficient to satisfy any rational mind, of the existence of
a living principle, as a distinct element of nature The
subject hqis been more elaborated by Dr. Martin
Payne, of New York, than by any other author with
whose writings I am acquainted.
Pope, in his Essay on Man, says:
"See through this air, this ocean and this earth,
All matter quick, and bursting into birth,
Above, how high progressive life may go!
Around, how wide! how deep extend below!
Vast chain of being! which from God began,
Nature's ethereal, human, angel, man,
Beast. bird, fish, insect! what no eye can see,
No glass can reach; from infinite to thee,
From thee to nothing."
Properties of caloric.
In seems to me no assumption, nor presumption,
to say, that there is such an element of matter as
caloric, or fire, that it is a subtile fluid, and one of the
best and longest known of all the elements of the mnaterial world.  It is the great solvent of nature; and
the fact that it enters into all solids, all fluids, and all
gases, and expands them, proves very conclusively its
material nature.
Caloric and electricity permeate all bodies, whetnher porous or solid. They permeate solid iron as much
and readily as they do porous wood, brick, and stone;
all of which are equally expanded by them.;Water
permeates porous wood, brick, and stone, and all other
porous substances, and expands wood and most other
things; but it never penetrates solid iron, nor metals
of any kind, and therefore cannot expand them.
Hence the conclusion is forced upon us, that though




ACTION OF CALORIC.               I7
caloric is more subtile than water, it is equally material. It passes through bodies slowly, like a fluid.
Caloric has affinities for other elements of matter
-for some much stronger than for others-for elements
and articles called poor conductors, much greater than
for those called good conductors. Greater for compound substances than for simple elements of matter.
Greater for the aqueous vapor in the atmosphere, than
for the oxygen and nitrogen of which the atmosphere
is mostly composed.  Greater for inanimate vegetable
products, than for the metals or the earths-but much
greater for living organisms, either animal or vegetable, than it has for inanimate matter.
Though caloric is drawn from the earth into the
atmosphere by solar attraction, yet nearly  all solids
and liquids within the direct influence of the sun's attraction, become warmer than the atmosphere which
surrounds them; and the higher we ascend into the
atmosphere, the less heat we find, until we come to
the region of constant frost and snow, upon elevated
mountains, even in the torrid zone. These facts show
that caloric has greater affinities for, and is more
strongly attracted by solids and fluids, than by atmospheric air, and that it has less affinity for the rarified
air upon mountains, than for the more dense air in
lower situations, and on the sea. The indications are
that caloric never exists, otherwise than in connection
with other matter-that it never exists in the regions
of space that are destitute of grosser matter.  This is
indicated by the fact, that caloric can not be obtained
separate ftom other matter, and bottled up, or confined in glass jars, as electrici ty and all the grosser elemrIents of matter can.
Caloric permeates everything, but combines chemically with nothing-though the union of caloric with
the vital element, and also with electricity, must be
analagous to chemical combinations.
Caloric seems to have a strong affinity for combinations or compounds of the elements of nature; but
not for the elements themselves —except the vital ele2




I8             ACTION OF CALORIC.
ment and electricity. It seems to have something analogous to chemical affinity for the vital element, and
also for electricity; with each of which it combines,
and forms a union and combination analogous to
chemical combinations. It never forms anything like
a chemical combination with any of the ponderable
elements of matter; and yet it has so strong an affinity for the chemical compounds and nmixtures of ponderable matter, that it adheres to them  with great
tenacity-permeating  the  interstices  between  the
atoms, separating them, and expanding the compound,
and tending to an equilibrium-to equalize itself in all
parts of the compound.
My theory and mode of reasoning lead me to the
conclusion, that not a particle of caloric, ntor any combination of it, exists in the universe, except in combination or contact with other matter. The use of the
spectroscope has shown, as clearly as is practicable
with the scientific instruments now in use, that the sun
and its atmosphere is not constituted of the elements
of heat and light alone, but of all the metals and elements of this earth, in a liquid or gaseous state.
Limited tendency of caloric to diffusion.
Caloric has no cohesive power. Being destitute
of the attractive power of cohesion, some have supposed that it has a self-repelling power; but such is
not the case. The mistaken idea has arisen from the
fact that cold substances attract caloric more strongly
than heated ones do-and hence its tendency to escape
from the latter to the former-to diffuse itself to a limited extent, by what is termed radiation-to flow from
hot stoves, furnaces, seats of combustion, and other
places and articles in which it is accumulated and in
excess, into the surrounding atmosphere, and into all
bodies in the vicinity, which are not so hot as the
place from whence it is radiated. Hence some have
supposed that it has a natural tendency to diffusionto diffuse itself through the universe, and to seek what




ACTION OF CALORIC.                I9
is termed an equilibrium, or equality of heat, in all
parts of the universe. But such is not the case.  The
fact that the sun contains a thousand times as much
caloric as all the rest of our solar system, is of itself
evidence that its tendency to concentration and accumulation in other matter, is much stronger than its
tendency to diffusion; and the fact that even in the
torrid zone there is constant snow  and ice upon the
mountains, less than twenty thousand feet above the
level of the sea, indicates that caloric never exists except in connection with other matter, and that it is not
diflused through the realms of space.
Ignition and combustion-flame and fusion.
Webster defines ignition,-" as I, the act of kindling, or
setting on fire; 2, the act or operation of communicating
fire or heat, till the substance becomes red or luminous; 3,
the state of bVeing kindled; or heated to redness or lumi)lousness." 
Wood, when in a coftfined place, where there is
no atmospheric air, or very little if any, may be gradually permeated and saturated with caloric, until it is
browned and partially charred, and its texture and
strength nearly destroyed-before it becomes red, and
ignition and combustion commence; and it may burn
for hours and days, and gradually consume away
without flame, if it be covered up by ashes or earth,
or otherwise kept from circulating air. The origin of
fires in beams, ioist, floors, and partitions of buildings,
near flues of cfhimnies by which they are warmed,
shows in many cases, that caloric has passed through
four inches or more of brick or stone and mortar,
before it reached the wood, which it permeated and
gradually saturated and heattcd, for hours, and perhaps
(lays, and in some instances weeks, in succession-before the accumulation of the caloric in the wood was
so great as to produce ignition and combustion-which
often goes on for hours and days before it burns
through to a place where it receives a current of air



20              ACTION OF CALORIC.
when a blaze or flame is produced by the air coming
in contact with the burning fire. While a current of
air is necessary to produce rapid combustion and flame,
very little if any is necessary to produce a slow
smothered combustion, without flame.
Iron may be so heated and saturated with caloric, as to become scarlet red and then white, and
will instantly give off caloric and ignite combustible
materials which touch it-without itself burning. Iron
and most other metals never burn in common atmospheric air, until after they have been melted, reduced
to a fluid state, and the intensity of the heat increased,
until they are converted into vapor.
Woolen cloths mav be so heated and saturated
with caloric, as to have their texture and strength destroyed, before ignition and combustion take place;
and leather, india rubber goods, and many other
things, may be partially melted without ignition. In
fact animal products with the exception of their fats
and oils, produce very little name in burning.
Many chemists and physicists treat combustion
as a chemical process, caused, commenced, and maintained, by chemical affinities, and chemical action;
but my reasoning being in a different channel-based
upon caloric as an elementary substance, and an active
agent, it leads to very different conclusions. Some
who have not fallen into the vibratory-ether theory of
heat, have had their reasoning tinctured and warped.
by its false doctrines.
Prof. Porter, of Yale College, in his Principles of Chemistry, says: " Combustion may be defined as a combination
of any two substances, attended by light and heat. Metals
which will not burn in the air, because it is diluted oxygen,
burn brilliantly in pure oxygen."
Johnston in his Manual of Chemistry, says: " Ordinary combustion consists in the union of combustible mattelwith oxygen, and is usually attended by the evolution of heat
and light."
Ganot says: "Combustion is chemical combination,
attended with the evolution of light and heat."




ACTION OF CALORIC.               21
My understanding of combustion is, that its commence nent is an entirely calorific process —that
neither oxygen nor chemical action has any agency in
the process, until after caloric has permeated and decamposed the wood, coal, or oil, and separated their
constituent elements-when, if oxygen be present, it
attracts the carhon and combines with it; and if there
be a current of air, it aids in carrying off the new
compounds-and thus renders the combustion more
active and rapid. I therefore regard ig nition and tlhe
comnmezcemnent Of combustion, as a phurely calorjftc
process, and the maintenance of active and rapid
combustion, as a compound process-mostly calorific,
but promoted by the co-operative agency of oxygen,
and chemical action.
The conversion of water into steam  and vapor,
and the melting of iron and other metals, and their
conversion into a liquid form, is a purely calorific
process-in which the chemical affinities and chemical action have no agency whatever. The great fire
in Chicago, in October, I87I, SO melted the surface of
iron, and of stone, glass, and earthenware, as to fuse
them, and run them into conglomerates; and the great
fire in Boston, partially  melted and destroyed the
largest granite columns, and the most massive granite
walls.  Such wonderful effects were produced by a
process purely calorific.
So far from  ignition and combustion being a
chemical process, dependent upon chemical action
-chemical action is in many cases dependent upon
caloric, as a necessary stimulant-to excite it, and
carry it on.  Caloric is a necessary stimulant to aid in
exciting chemical action —whereby the combination
of many substances is formed, which can not be
formed without it.
Porter says: " Simple contact of a metalloid and o —ygen, is not generally sufficient to produce an acid. Heat is
one among the additional means employed."
Again, he says: " Heat is often essential to chemical
combination. This is almost always the case where both




22              ACTION OF CALORIC.
substances are a solid. Besides heightening their chemical
affinity, heat has the effect of bringing the'particles into
closer and more general contact, and within the range of
affinity, by the melting or fusion which it accomplishes.
Sulphur and iron, for example, require the aid of heat to
bring about their union. The sulphur melts, and then combines with the iron."
Chemists and Physicists have been inclined to
attribute too much  influence and power to chemical
affinity and chemical action —and quite too little to
caloric, and thermal or calorific action.  Physicians
are the only class, who have attached due i mportance
and influence to heat and thermal action.
" Curious conseqnences of heat.
"The following, on the effect of intense heat upon different substances in the great fire in Boston, comes from
Rev. Christopher Cushing, D. D.:
" A brick vault was built up from solid foundations,
and stood like a tower amid the ruins. The walls of the
vault were about 20 inches thick, with an air-chamber on all
sides of four inches space. Inside of this vault there was a
heavy steel safe. The interior of the vault, that is, the space
not occupied by the safe, was filled with rolls of broadcloths,
placed there during the raging of the fire, for safety.' The wooden lining of the vault was so charred, that
when water was poured upon it, it crumbled to atoms. The
rolls of cloth were partially consumed, and entirely ruined.
A tin box back of the cloths, which contained the manuscript reports of the Commissioners of the Charity Fund of
Amherst College, was so heated as to melt off the lock on
the inside, and yet the-papers in it were preserved.
"' Inside of the steel safe there was a wooden trunk,
covered with leather, and wrapped in several thicknesses of
paper, sealed with common sealing-wax. The wrapping
paper was in good condition and the sealing-wax also, but
the leather covering of the trunk inside of the pafier, was
melted. The wood of the trunk showed no marks of fire,
but a leather ortfolio inside of it was reduced to a crisp. In
this portfolio there were numerous compartments, each bound
with leather, a quarter of an inch wide; this leather bindtng
was so melted as to seal all the compartments. When these
were separated with a knife, the cloth lining of the compartments was found unaffected by the fire, and the papers
enclosed were in good condition.'




ACTION OF CALORIC.                  23
"From this case, leather proves among the poorest of
materials in case of fire, even poorer than sealing-wax; and
where there is intense heat without ignition, paper is among
the best."
PFi7es from steam pt'ies.
The possible, or probable, danger of fires from steam
pipes, is attracting considerable attention in connection with
the gen -ral subject of the causes of combustion, and the belief is held by many that wood work near such pipes, is very
often insuffciently protected, by reason of the prevalent idea
tPiat hot water pipes will not cause wood to takefire. On
this point a report made by a committee of the Franklin
Institute, at Philadelphia, will be of interest. This report
was made in x856, and was on a case of apparently spontaneous tgnition of sawdust occurring in the factory of Joseph
S. E'kinton & Son. " Mr. Elkinton states that he observed
a mass of sawdust, which had been confined for about nine
months by a wooden box around one of Wilson's patent
tanks for rendering grease, heated to a red heat like a mass
of live coal, apparently ready to burst into dames, although
at a distance of forty feet from any fire
"' The tank is a cylindrical vessel of boiler iron, about
ten feet high, and four feet in diameter; it is made steam
tight, having openings which can be closed at pleasure near
the top and bottom, for the admission and discharge of fatty
matters to be melted. Heat is applied by introducing steam
through a pipe opening into the bottom of the tank; the
pressure used is about fifty pounds to the square inch (equal
to 280 degrees Fah). The heat is applied from six to nine
hours in succession, and the apparatus used two or three
times a week.
"When he fire was first dz:scovered, an inch boardforming lpart of the bottom of the box, had been burned through.
The fire appears to have begun near the bottom ot the box,
but in several other places cwhere the sawdust touched the
sides of the tank, it was charred. Mr. Elkinton attributes
the entire destruction of his father's factory in I853, to a
similar accident.
" Day & Martin's Blacking Factory, in I-igh Holborn,
was heated by hot water circulating in tubes, the temperature
never much exceeding 300 degrees Fah. Ir. December, 1848,
the wooden cas'ng and other wood work about the uipright
p ipes, were found to be on firA and on examination it was
found that wherever the pipes touched the fioor,the boards
were charred.
" It is also a fact, distinctly pointed out by Mr. Braid



24              ACTION OF CALORIC.
wood, Chief of the London Fire Brigade, that wood long e x
2Posed to tentheratnres but little above that of boiling water,
will become, after a time, charred, and will actually inflame.
Numerous instances of accidental fires thus.caused, have
been adduced.
" The fact is established, that such combustion will occur
under the circumstances indicated, and is of importance,
from the liability to recurrence of the accident under like
circumstances-as in cases of joist running near flues or
through hot-air chambers; wood work on steamboats near
the boiler, steam drum, or smoke-stack; jacketing of boilers,
in ordinary situations, etc."
Upon the calorific theory of heat, ignition, and
combustion, it is easy to account for fires originating
from steam pipes and hot flues of chimneys; but how
can they be accounted for upon the vibratory-ether
theory of heat?
Tihe other elements of matter, their properties
and affinities, being treated ot by chemists, without
many great differences of opinion, ldo not come within the scope and object of this woik.




CHAPTER III.
THE FORCES OF NATURE, THEY ARE INHERENT IN
SUBSTANCE-POWER AND MOTION-CAUSE AND EFFECT-MATTER AND MOTION-LAW AND GOVERNMENT.
Ahe forces of nature; inherent in substance.
Tile forces of nature consist of the chemical affinities of the elements of matter, of the attraction'of
cohesion, of the universal attraction for each other, of
all the elements and bodies in the universe-which is
called gravitation-and the peculiar affinities of such
elements as caloric, electricity, and the vital principle.
These forces constitute the causes of action, and the
powers which produce all the motion and change in
the universe-except what is produced by mind, and
by the immediate agency of the Deity. Caloric and
electricity are the most mobile and active of all the
elements, and their peculiar affinities, and that of the
vital principle, constitute the most powerful and efficient forces in nature.
The words force and cause are often used in a
vague and mystical sense, without any definite meaning. It is impossible for me to conceive the existence
of force, power, or cause of action of any kind, except as an inherent property or attribute of matter, or
substance. We can not have any clear conception of
even a Supreme Being, as existing without substance.
It is to my mind an absurdity to suppose, that force or
power, spirit or intellect, or entities of any kind, can
exist without, and independent of substance —or in




26           THE FORCES OF NATURE.
any mode other than as a property, quality, or active
attribute of substance. The principal distinction between matter and spirit or intellect is, that the latter
is not controlled in its action by, nor subject to, the
affinities, forces, and powers, which govern the material world.
The active properties of matter are not perceptible to the senses. Tile chemical affinities and the
property of gravitation are matters of inference only
-mere deductions of human reason, from the phenomlena of the material world, and the effects produced
by  different elements  acting  upon  each  other.
Though not visible to the eye, the chemical affinities
and other active properties of matter, are none the
less real. They are as latent and hidden friomr the
senses as the vital principle or the intellect, and yet no
educated intelligent person can doubt their realityand there is just as little reason to doubt the existence
of either the vital principle or the intellect.
Power and motion-cause and efect.
Power and motion are nearly synonymous with
cause and effect.  Motion can not be produced with-'
out a power being exerted to produce it; which
power is tile cause of the motion. Nor can there be
motion without matter or substance, which is moved
-the motion being the first effect, and the change in
the matter or thing moved, the second, antd generally
more permanent effect produced by the action of the
power or cause. The change referred to must be a
change of some atom  or atoms, or coinbinatioai of
atoms of mattei.  Effect or change presupposes
power, acting as a force or cause, which produced
motion and the change.
A cause must be a power or force, inherent in
substance.  We can have no conception of force,
power, or action, without and independent of substance. Force and power to act must be inherent
properties or attributes of substance. All causes nmust




THE FORCES OF NATURE.               27
be persons or things, havingl inherent forces and powers, capable of action-and which have acted, and
l)roduced effects; and all effects must be the results of
action, and the changes produced by it. Action is
the first and immediate effect of a cause; and though
it is the antecedent of every effect immediately foilowing it, yet, strictly speaking, it is never the cause
of such eflect.
Some have supposed that cause was simply an
antecedent fact or action, state or condition,-forminmg
a link in the great chain of natural events and developments succeeeding each other-each of which has
been, in soine way, tile cause of its successor. But
that mode of reasoning overlooks thle action of the
forces of nature, which are the real causes that produce  the succession of events that we witness in
the universe,-and supposes  that one event in somne
mysterious mode, produces the one which succeeds it.
Such reasoning is fallacious. A cause is something
more than a mere antecedent-it is an active force,
capable of producing by action, motion and change in
the things upon which it operates.
AJlalter and mtotion.
The atomns of matter of which the universe is
composed, have an existence in some measure independent. They never cease to exist. The properties
of matter are the qualities and forces inherent in the
atoms, and are as real and unchangable as the atoms
themselves-though they have no independent existence. On the contrary, motion is a mere condition of
matter when not at rest-but -noving.  Hence nmotion
ceases, and has no existence when tile matter, of
which it is a condition, ceases to move, and is at rest.
Matter is necessarily permanent and continuous, and
never ceases to exist. Motion is not necessarily permanent, nor continuous, but often ceases.  The atmosphere, or the atoms of which it is composed, have a
permanent existence; but its motion is wonderfully




28           THE FORCES OF NATURE.
irregular, and often ceases entirely, or nearly so, in
large districts of country. The surface of the sea is
moved rapidly by winds as well as by tides,-but
with great irregularity-while the great body of water
in the ocean is generally nearly at rest.
Atoms of matter may be concentrated and accumulated.  Atoms of caloric may be concentrated and
accumulated by combustion, until a wonderful intensity of heat is produced-capable  of melting and
reducing to vapor, iron and other metals; but it is
impossible to accutnulate motion in like manner-because it is a mere condition of matter, and there is no
room for the atoms of matter, of which it is a condition, to move and keep in rapid inotion when concentrated and accumulated.  As mobile as caloric and
electricity are, they are at rest when accumulated in
considerable quantities; and yet they do not lose their
qualities and forces by being at rest; but when motion
ceases, all its qualities and forces cease with it.
Hence motion can not produce much heat, nor be a
constant and permanent source of it.
Repellenl fvrces-are there any?
Some of the language used by authors on science
indicates that there are repellent, or repulsive, as well
as attractive forces in nature; but this may well be
doubted.  My belief is that what are called repulsive
forces are apparent only, and not real. Some authors
have treated caloric or hieat, as a repelling force; but
I do not so regard it.  They treat the expansion of
solids, liquids, and gases, by caloric or heat, as evidence of a repelling force existing in it-but I view it
in a different light. Caloric could never enter into
solids if it had not a strong affinity for them-a
much stronger affinity for iron (for instance) when
cooler than the fire or atmosphere surrounding it,
than  the  atoms of iron have for each other-so
that the affinity or force by which the iron attracts
caloric, is stronger than the cohesive attraction




TIlE FORCES OF NATURE.              29
)f the atoms of iron for each other-whereby caloric.s drawn into the iron, and by means of the space
Dccupied by the atoms of caloric, and their power of
resistance, they force asunder, to a very small extent,
the atoms of iron between which they enter.  The
force, by the action of which caloric enters iron, is
the force of attraction, and not a repelling force; and
the atoms of iron are forced asunder by the properties
of caloric which are common to every element
matter.
Every other apparent repulsion of one element or
compound of matter by another, may be accounted
for in a similar manner.  The repulsion is apparent
only-and is produced by some stronger attraction in
a different direction. The wonderful activity of caloric and its tendency to permeate and expand all solids, liquids, and gases, must arise from  its strong
affinity for every element of matter in the universe-affinities which must be much stronger than
any of the chemical affinities of different elements of
matter for eaci other-stronger also than the'attraction of cohesion between the atoms of any of the
metals-and much stronger- for cold than for heated
substances.
Rcadiation of caloric.
What is called radiation of caloric or heat from
an open fire, stove, or furnace, is caused by the atraction of caloric by the substances and atmosphere surrounding the fire or stove-whereby it is attracted and
drawn by the former from the latter-by the colder or
cooler from the fire or heated things. The caloric is
not driven out of the fire or heated stove by a repelling energy, but drawn out by an attractive force, or
affinity.
The sun is the great attracting power in our solar
system. It constantly attracts all the elements of matter in the universe.  It attracts,.moves, and keeps in
their orbits, the earth and all the planets. It attracts




30           THE FORCES OF NATURE.
and draws caloric from the crust of the earth during
the day, which is absorbed again by the earth at night.
Is it possible for the sun to act as an attracting andrepeling force also, to attract caloric, electricity, and
all other elements of matter-and at the same timne
radiate and repel from it caloric, or any other element
of matter? Does not sucli supposed action involve a
contradiction?-and is it not therefore impossible?
a-aw-what is ti-and wAt are its functions and
lini/s?
We often hear it sail that every thing is governed
by law-that our system of worlds, and the whole universe, is governed by law. The Duke of Argyle has
written a volume entitled the reign of law.
All such expressions are metaphorical and have
no definite meaning.  They imply that law has a governing power —that the physical laws of nature have
an inherent force and power, by which they are executed. But such is not the case. Law is not a force
-not a power-not a cause of action-but simply a
mode or rule of action. The laws of a country do
not execute themselves; they are mere rules of action
and of property-nmere modes and customs, usages
and rules, in accordance with which business is transacted-rights actquired, determilned, and adjustedwrongs remedied-and crimes and oflenses punished.
They require administrative, executive, and police
powers to execute them, and judicial officers to interpret and apply them.
What are called the physical laws of nature are
simply the modes of action of the inherent properties
and forces of different elements ncf matter-acting upon
each other. Thley are not the forces themselves-not
the powers which produce action-not the causes of
action.  On the contrary, they assume more the character of results than forces or causes.  All motion and
change in the material universe. not caused directly b~y




THE FORCES OF NATURE.                31
spirit, is effected by the properties and forces inherent
in the elements of matter-and not by law; and when
it is said that the universe is governed by law, the
word law is used in a metaphorical sense-meaning
the properties and forces inherent inl the elements of
matter, acting upon each other.
The properties and forces inherent in the elements
of the material world, act with uniformity-always the
same; and hence what we call the laws of nature,
(speaking metaphorically), meaning the action of the
forces of nature, act with perfect uniformity fiom age
to age.  The action is uniform and invariable, because
it is produced and determined by the properties of
matter, and the forces inherent in the material world
-which are and must always remain the same-unless
changed  by the Supreme  Being-whose supreme
power, as Creator and (Governor of the universe,
places him  above nature; and his action,s therefore
called super-natural.
The laws of nature may be divided into two
classes —physical and moral.  The physical laws of
nature are the modes in which the forces of nature act;
or in common parlance, they are the forces of nature.
The moral laws of nature are rules of action for nan,
to be dedluc.ed fiomn  his constitution and nature, and
from the nature of things; and they should be framed
accordingly as rules of action, fir his guidance; they
shoulcd be adapted to his constitution and nature, condition and circurmlstonces; and when so frinied and
followed, their natural tendency is to promote his welare.
The principle of life-the organizing element of
animal and vegetable life, firms an element of the material world, an(l is governed by its own inherent
properties and forces, tendencies and affinities-like
other elements of matter. It acts blindly and uniformly, without intelligence-thoutgh it forms the connecting link between ponderable inanimate matter and
spirit, or intelligent substance; and its action is the
same as if guided directly by intelligence. But the




32           THE FORCES OF NATURE.
most of the action of the animal economy is determined by the natural tendencies and forces of unintelligent
matter, and not by intellect; for the mind of man can
take no direct cognizance of the action of the animal
economy within him, and has no knowledge of it, except the inferences of reason.
There is the same manifestation of apparent intelligence, and of action in accordance with a purpose,
in the germination, development, and growth of plants
and trees, as in animals and man; but it requires a
great siretch of the imagination  to suppose that
plants and trees are endowed with intellect, knowledge
of their situation and wants, and of the proper modes
of supplying them!)y forming sap, and forcing and directing it into the proper organs, and parts of the organism-nto nourish them. It is more conceivable that
the vital principle acts like other elements of nature,
in accordance with its inherent properties, tendencies,
and forces, withiout intell.gence; and that its affinities
and forces tend to produce, develop, and sustain animll and vegetable organisms-in accordance with the
types of the germs of the organisms, from which they
are developed.
The living prinlciple-like all the other elements
of nature, acts firom necessity-in accordance with its
inherent properties, forces, and tendencies; but the
wonderful organismrs which it forms, and their various
powers and uses, all indicate that its forces, the plan
and purposes of its action, and all the higher types of
organisms, were devised by Divine agency.
As the forces of natare spring from the inherent
properties and affinities of the elements of matter, they
act from necessity; and therefore they act with uniformity. In common parlance, their action is governed
by law-the term law, as generally used, being synon
imous with the forces of nature.
Some have gone so far as to affirm that not only
the material world and the mind of man, but that God
also is governed by law. Such are the results of the
doctrines of necessitarianism; but they lead directly to




THE FORCES OF NATURE.               33
fatalism and pantheism-and are totally inconsistent
with the idea of a Creator-acting as an intelligent
and free moral agent.  God must be supra-nature and
above law; that is above the forces of nature, Wvith
power to act upon and control them-th lugh they
have no power to act upon him; otherwise he must be
destitute of creative power.
The intellect of man being blended with the vital
principle and with ponderable elements of nature, the
forces of nature act upon the mind, through the nervous system and brain, as its organs; an I so tar as its
action is directed by such influences and agencies, it is
governed by law-that is by the forces of nature; but
so far A.s it originates action and acts of itself, whlen
the senses are at rest and do not act upon it, it acts independently, and without law.  It then acts within a
limited sphere, as a cause-as a centre and source of
action and of power, and is directed by its own wrill
and intelligence.  Its action is then assimilated, in
some respects, to that of the Deity.
As the mind is more or less influenced by its own
intelligence and ideas, theories and opinions, rmaxiims
and dogmas, rules of action and purposes of life-all
of which are more or less defective and erroneous, its
reasoning must necessarily be more or less tainted
with error. Hence mental action is not uniform, as is
the action of the forces of nature; and hence all human reasoning is uncertain-except what relates to
mathematical subjecti. No two persons reason alike,
tipon all subjects and questions.
The human intellect as well as the Divine Mind,
belongs to the domain of the supernatural, and is not
subject to law, so far as it acts from its own inherent
powers and intelligence. Hence I come to the conclusion that the domain of law has limits; that it does
not extend to the Divine Mind; and that it only parti3




34           THE FORCES OF NATURE.
ally, and indirectly, directs and governs the human
mind.
Alexander Pope, in his universal prayer, says:
" Yet gave me, in this dark estate,
To see the good from ill;
And binding nature fast in fate,
Left free the human will."




CHAPTER IV.
MYSTERIES-AND THE BASIS AND LIMITS OF HUMAN
KNOWLtVLDGE.
Man finds in existence the earth upon which he lives,
and also innumerable bodies floating in the realms of
space, moving in their respective spheres-forming systems of worlds-each and all composed of various atoms
and elements of matter, which have inherent properties and forces that tend to produce action. Hulman
reason suggests to the mind various queries in relation
to the origin, creation, changes in, and government of
the vast systems of worlds, which form the universe.
To suppose them to have been eternal and self-existent
-without any beginning, seems like an absurdity.
To.suppose them to have come into existence either
gradually or otherwise, without a Creator or Supreme
Cause, seems still more absurd. And, to suppose
them to have been called into existence from nonentity
or created out of nothing, seems to. the human mind
like all impassibility-for we can have no clear and distinct conceptions of the powers and modes of action of
the Deity. Each of the modes suggested presents a
dilemma to our limited understandings. The whole
subject of creation-of the origin and government of
the universe, is veiled in mystery. It is beyond man's
knowledge and comprehension-beyond the reach of
scientific investigation-and beyond the sphere of
what is called science. Every theory and hypothesis
which we can form upon the subject, is unsatisfactory;
and yet the great fact of the existence of these systems
of worlds forces itself upon the attention, and commands the assent of the mind.




36           MYSTERIES IN NATURE.
The creation and the origin of things lying beyond the domain of man's knowledge, faculties, and
comprehension, he should take things as he finds
them; acknowledge his incapacity to determine their
origin and causes; and contefnt himself with their action and phenomena, and with analyzing and studying
their nature and properties, forces and tendencies,
which come within the reach of his faculties. Though
the facts of geology and of natural history give him
much valuable information of the changes which the
earth's crust has undergone, they cannot teach him,
and he can never know, the origin of matter and of the
universe. The scriptures do not attempt to teach the
modes and methods of creation; but declare only the
the general fact, that'" God made the heavens and the
earth, and all that in them is."
Nor do mysteries cease with the creation-with
the existence of our solar system, and the vast systems of
worlds forming the universe in full operation-nor even
with the admitted existence of a Supreme Being,in addition thereto. But with such a standpoint admitted as
true, as the foundation of our reasoning, we get within
the sphere and domain of investigation and human science, and can then overcome many of the minor difficulties and mysteries which beset our path —can partially overcome many others, and can arrive at certainty
in many things, and at reasonable probabilities in many
others.
Chemistry has been prosecuted with such intelligence, energy and success, by great numbers of persons, during the last two hundred years, that we have
reason to believe nearly all compound bodies have
been decomposed and analyzed, and the elementary
substances of nature ascertained, with a close approximation to accuracy; and yet we know nothing of the
ultimate atoms and properties of matter, except the inferences of human reason. So numerous have been
the experiments of chemistry by different persons,
with such uniform results in most particulars, that
there are very few differences of opinion among chem



MYSTERIES IN NATURE.              37
ists and scientists at the present day,lin relation to any
of the elements, properties, and forces that exist in
the universe, except heat or caloric and light, electricity and magnetism, the vital element, and the
princziple of intelligence.  But in relation to these six
elements and principles, and their respective forces,
powers and modes of action, scientists are as much divided in opinion at the present day, as they ever were.
Though scientific investigations and experiments have
settled many questions, they have, in some cases, led
only to new controversies.
Though electricity has been studied and experimented witli, for more thon a century, by numerous
persons, with great diligence -and success, and has
been made by the invention of man, a most wonderful agent for the transmission of intelligence —yet dwe
know nothing of its ultimate atoms and nature, very
little of its connection with, and how it cooperates in
action, with caloric on the one hand, and magnetism
on the other; and its mode of action, in transmitting
influences thousands of miles in a second, is a profound mvstery. Of magnetism still less is known than of
electricity-and the whole subject of it is involved in
in mystery.
Though caloric-the cause of combustion and
heat, is the best known to the common mind of all the
elemnents and forces of nature, yet the reasoning of
some distinguished men, has recently involved the
whole subject in mysticism and sophistry. Some of
the action of caloric, and the influence of the sun in
warming the atmosphere and the surface of the earth,
are truly mysterious. The sources of caloric, and the
influences of the sun upon its action, are discussed in
the next chapter.
Of the essence, nature, and mode of action of
what is called light, nothing is, or can be known with
certainty. All our knowledge upon the subject consists of the inferences of human reason, and depends
upon our limited faculties, the imperfections of the huiman understanding, and the uncertainties of all humhan




38            MYSTERIES IN NATURE.
reasoning.  Scientific experiments have thrown much
light upon the action of both heat and light, but they
leave the causes of such action still involved in mystery. There has been mulch dogmatism upon the subject of both heat and light-based upon mere assuImption, without any solid foundation. The subject is
treated of more at length in Chapter VI.
The vital princifple, and the whole subject of the
origin and development of life, is involved in controversy, as well as in mystery.  All our knowledge upon
the subject arises from  the inferences, and depends
upon tlie imperfections of human reason.  The subject
has been mystified, by being associated with materialism, which must be examined in connection with it.
There are several classes or schools of materialists; one of which can scarcely be distinguished from
Pantheists-though Pantheism  is not consistent with
the existence of a personal Deity. Another school of
materialists recognize a vital principle, or element in
nature, which is the active agent that attracts, unites,
combines, and holds in (ombination certain elements
of matter, and forms them into vegetable and animal
organisms-and by a process called spontaneous generation, produced plants and animals upon the earth,
when it was fitted for tlhem.
A third school of materialists ignore not only the
the intellectual principle, but also the vital principle,
and the doctrines of vitalismi; and have adopted what
has been aptly termed the mechanical theory of 1ife,
and of the formations of living organisms —holding
that all "matter has a tendency to orgazize itsef —to
grow into shape-to assume definite forms in obedience to the definite action of an (tll-pervadingforce"
-that"the lormation of a crystal, a plant, or an animal, is a purely mechanical problem "*-produced
*See Prof. Tyndall's lecture on Scientific Materialism,
in his Fragments of Science.




MYSTERIES IN NATURE.              39
by the same forces, or by forces of the same characte"r;
and that there is no vital organizing principle which
forms plants and animal organizations, that does not
apply to crystals, and chemical combinations. This
school also believe, not only in the development theory, and the theory of the spontaneous generation of
both plants and animals, but they believe that all such
results are produced by the action of the forces of inanimate matter-without the agency of a vital element endowed with organizing powers, which distinguish it from other elements of matter.
The theory of a vital organizing element, and
many of the doctrines deduced from it, is not by any
means inconsistent with the existence of a Divine Creator and Governor of the universe-for, if secondary
causes are recognized at all, as agencies established by the Deity to effect his purposes, no more appropriate agency, than that of a vital organizing principle
can be imnagined. But, for fear of recognizing a principle which might in the view of some minds, give
support to one of the schools of materialism, many
intelligent religious men unwittingly join with the mechanical school of materialists, in denying the existence of a vital organizing element.
To suppose that God has endowed matter witl
active properties and forces, as secondary causes and
agencies, with which to-operate the universe and produce the phenomena thereof, does not, in the least degree, derogate from  the supremacy of his power. To
deny the existence of secondary causes, and affirm that
all the action in the material world is caused by the
immediate agency of God, is equivalent to affirming
that matter has no active properties-that there are no
forces in nature otlier than the power of God-moving
atoms and comprounds as well as worlds of matterand that what we call chemical affinities, attraction of
cohesion, gravitation,and magnetic influences, and the
apparently active forces of caloric and electricity, are
all only manifestations of the direct acts of God. To
assume such positions is to reduce the Deity to a mere




40            MYSTERIES IN NATURE.
mechanical or natural agency, and to get down to Pantheism-pure and simple. It seems to me impossible
to ignore the vital principle. without falling into materialism in some form-of either the Pantheistic or the
mechanical school. If persons seek to avoid Pantheism by recognizing secondary causes, and still deny
the existence of a vital element, they must supply its
place by attributing to other elements of nature the
same organizing forces and tendencies, which the vitalists attribute to a vital element-and thus they fall
into substantially the same views as the materialists of
the mechanical school-for the same course of reasoning which disposes of and ignores a vital element, will
also dispose of an intellectual principle, and make
mind, as well as life, the mere result of organization.
The theory of a vital organizing element, carried
out to its legitimate consequences, many think leads to
spontaneous generation; but whether it does so or not,
it is necessary to the development of living organisms
from seeds and germs, or by means of sexual generation, and to their subsequent support and growthunless other elements of nature supply its place-in
accordance with the mechanical theory of life. But
the theory of spontaneous generation of plants and the
lower grades of animals, is by no means inconsistent
with the idea that God established the types of the
higher grades of animals and of man, and gave them
intellects appropriate to their respective types, and
spheres of action.
The subje(ct of the vital element is discussed more
at length in Chapter VIII.
The origin of man's intellect is equally mysterious
and incomprehensible, as that of the universe, and the
manner, in which the intellect is blended with the
physical organization of the brain, is also mysterious,
and beyond the reach of our investigations and limited
conceptions; but the great fact of the existence of the
intellect with various capacities, is attested by the consciousness of every individual. It is attested by the
same evidence which attests the existence of the mate



MYSTERIES IN NATURE.             41
rial world. The physical senses-the sight, the hearing, and the feeling or touch, would communicate no
knowledge to the brain without the intellect.  Without the intellect, the senses would convey impressions
only-like caloric and electricity, in the material world
-which would affect vitality and growth, but could
produce no perceptions and no knowledge-no consciousness and no ideas.
Chemical combinations often neutralize some of
the properties of their elements; but never produce
properties or forces not possessed by any of their elements when in a separate state. To me it seems like
an absurdity, to suppose that the combination and organization in any form, of several elements of unintelizgent matter, can produce intellect and intelligence
-which would be the production of a force, faculty,
or property, not possessed by the several elements in a
separate state. It seems irrational to suppose that the
human mind can be the tIiere result of tile combination
of uninteiizgent matter. Consciousness and intelligence never can result, as it seems to me, from the
unintelligent forces of nature. Consciousness and
perceptions, ideas and knowledge, can be caused by
impressions made upon an intelligent principle, or
spiritual entity; but not by those made upon unintelligent matter.  Plants have organization, but, for
want of intellect, have no perceptions, no consciousness, and no knowledge of the impressions made upon
them.
Forces af affinity and attraction.
The mode of action of the principle or force of
affinity anti attraction, is also mysterious. It is less
difficult however to conceive the mode of action of the
attraction of cohesion and the chemical affinities of
atoms of matter which are in contact, or very near to
each other, than it is to conceive how the celestial
bodies can attract each other at the distance of millions of miles. How  physical forces can operate at




42            MYSTERIES IN NATURE.
such immense distances, is wonderfully mysterious,
and beyond the comprehension of man; and yet the
movement of the planets, comets, and other celestial
bodies in their respective orbits, leave no room to doubt
that they are all moved by the force of attraction-ex
erting its influence at vast distances.
Whenl the theory of attraction and gravitation as
governing forces was first suggested, it was difficulc for
the human mind to conceive how it was possible for
celestial bodies to operate upon and attract each other
at the distance of hundreds of millions of miles; and
when the doctrine of gravitation was first presented,
and it was taught that the sun as the centrc and great
orb of our solar system, governed the whole, and by
the power of attraction kept the planets in motion and
in their respective paths, at distances varying from
thirty-six millions to several hundred millions of miles
-the human mind very generally revolted from the
idea as. an impossibility, and an absurdity; but after
such men as Kepler, Newton, and LaPlace had revolved the subject in their minds for years, and found
that upon the theory of gravitation and the universal attraction of the heavenly bodies towards each
other, the phenomena of the solar system could be understood and explained, and that they could be accounted for in no other manner, the theory was generally admitted to be true —lowever great the mystery.




CHAPTER V.
SOURCES OF CALORIC, OR FIRE, AND THE INFLUENCE
OF THE SUN UPON ITS ACTION.
Ganot says in his Physics, that our globe possesses a heat peculiar to it, which is called terrestrial
heat; and that the variations of temperature which
occur at the surface gradually penetrate to a certain
depth, at which their influence becomes too slight to
be sensible.  Hence, he says it is ccncludled, that the
solar hieat does not penetrate below a certain internal
layer, which is called the layer of constant or uniform
temperature (the same in winter as in sumlner;)
which depth below the earth's surface varies of course
in different latitudes and paits of the globe; but at
Paris it is about thirty yards below the surface, where
the temperature is constant at about II degrees Centigrade; that below  the layer of constant temperature,
the heat is observed to increase on an average I~ Centigrade for every 90 feet; and that this increase has
been (,bserved in mines and artesian wells.
Now let us suppose that in the temperate zones
the point of uniform temperature be generally reached
at a depth of Ioo feet below the surface of the earth,
that it is there Io~ Centigrade (equal to 50 Fahrenlheit)
and that the increase is equal to I~ Centigrade for IOO
feet in depth-the point where water would boil
would be reached at 9.Ioo feet, or less than two miles
below the surface-tin would melt at a depth of 22,ooo ficet-silver at less than Ioo,ooo feet-anad iron at
I49,000 feet, or less than 30 miles b(,low the surface of
the earth.  This is probably as near an approximation
to the truth as it is possible to attain.  Hence we may




44             SOURCES OF CALORIC.
reasonably infer, that the crust of the earth at the
equator is only about 25 or 30 miles thick, and not
over 40 or 50 miles thick at the poles.
Though it is generally admitted that the interior
of the earth is an igneous mass of melted metals and
earths, yet the commonly received opinion is, that all
the heat at its surface and in the atmosphere, is emitted and radiated from the sun, as the great source of
heat and light, from which the whole solar system is
supplied-and that heat and light are constantly emitted from the sun, and radiated from it into space, in
every direction. If such were the case-if all the
heat at the surface of the earth and in the atmosphere
came directly from the sun, as appearances at first view
indicate, the heat of the atmosphere and ot the ground
and rocks would be as great upon the tops,of lofty
mountains as it is at the level of the sea-when we
know that there is perpetual snow and ice, even in
the torrid zone, at elevations less than twenty thousand
feet above the sea. This well known fact is totally
inconsistent with the received opinion, that the caloric
or heat which warms the atmosphere and the surface
-of the earth, comes from the sun.
Upon the hypothesis that the heat which warms
our atmosphere comes directly from the sun —as the
heat of the atmosphere at 2 o'clock in the day will
average about 20~ Fahrenheit greater than it will from
2 o'clock at night till daylight-how  can the question be answered, what becomes of the heat at night,
which is received from the sun during the day? It is
impossible, (upon the commonly received doctrines
of physics) to give a rational answer to that question.
The only rational answer that can be given to the
general question-what becomes of a portion of the
caloric or heat, at night, which warms the atmosphere during the day, is, that it is absorbed by the
earth-that the sun's attraction during the day draws
caloric from the crust of the earth, which is absorbed
by the earth's crust at night, when that attraction
ceases to operate-and thus the same atouns of caloric




SOURCES OF CALORIC.               45
warm the earth's crust and its atmosphere from day to
day —from  year to year-and from century to century
— except so far as it may be affected by volcanic
action, and other extraordinary causes.
Porter, in his Chemistry, says, heat is radiated into space
from the atmosphere and the earth also. His words are:
"At night when the sun is below the horizon, the waste by
radiation takes place very rapidly, and the earth and air
grow colder in consequence. * * * As the earth, being
solid, is a better radiator than the air, it cools most rapidly,
sending out its heat through the air into space."
Such statements are based upon the false assumption and hypothesis-that caloric has no more
affinity for matter than for vacant space, but has an
unlimited tendency to dffusion throughout the regions
of space, and to form an equilibirum therein. If such
were the case, not only the earth and all the planets,
but the sun and the stars also, and all their planets,
would, in a comparatively few years, lose nearly all
their heat, and cold and frost would reign throughout
the universe. The theory which I have suggested
seems to me to be the only one consistent with the
stability and permanency of our earth and solar system, in their present condition; and they have undergone very little change, in temperature or otherwise,
during many thousands of years.
Above the 42d degree of latitude the ground in
our Northern and North-western States, generally
freezes in winter from two to three feet deep. The
frost comes out of the ground, mostly in March, but
some of it the last part of February; and many facts
indicate that the frozen ground is thawed mostly from
the under side, by reason of the internal heat of the
earth. It is often found that there is no frost, or
scarcely any in the woods, the latter part of the winter, when the snow is deep; and it is a common remark among farmers, that the snow has drawn the
frost out of the ground-when in fact the ground has
been thawed by the internal heat of the earth. Warm
rains sometimes melt the frozen earth at the surface




46              SOURCES OF CALORIC.
for a few inches in depth,-when there is frost lower
down; but persons employed in digging graves at all
seasons of the year —-(in winter and early spring, as
well as in summer), when digging graves early in the
spring when the firost is coming out, have generally
found some frost at and near the surface-when there
was none below eight inches or a foot in depth.  If
the frost were taken out of the ground by solar heat,
coming directly from the sun, or from the atmosphere,
a foot or more upon the surface would often be foun d
thawed, when there was a foot or more of fi'ozen
ground lower down-but such has never been found
to be the case.  The ground often he.aves in winter,
raises posts several inches out of their places, throws
down or shatters stone walls, and makes great cracks
in thi ground.  The forces which produce such effects,
must be internal-not external.
The following statement of curious facts, showing that
deep snows melt from the underside-from the effects of the
heat of the earth, and not from the heat of the sun, is taken
from a communication published in the New York Observ r,
of January I6th, I873, entitled, LUMBERING IN NORTHERN
MAINE. The writer says: "Our winter snows are usually
from four to seven feet deep, and it takes an Aristook horse
and driver both to keep the track; and then sometimes in
the coldest weather, the bottom drops, or the teams break
through, when the heat of the earth has melted away the
once trodden' andfi-ozen path. I have seen these deep snows
itn the woods beg n to run at tha bottom, so as to raise the
water in the rivers, and cut away the ice in the coldest
weather."
The roots of maple trees spread out near the surface of the earth, and do not run very deep into the
ground-rarely more than two feet deep.  The sap
riuns fi-eely the latter part of February, and early i.n
March, when it thaws during the day and freezes at
night; but long before the firost is all out of the
ground; and yet the frost must be all out where the
most of the roots are situated.  Nothing but the internal heat of the earth, drawn forth by the sun's
attraction, could so affect the roots as to make them
send the sap up into the bodies of the trees; and it




SOURCES OF CALORIC.                47
would be impossible for roots, situated in frozen
ground, to send up sap.  Hence the conclusion, that
while there is still a few  inches of frozen ground at
the surface of the earth, there is none lower down,
where the most of the roots of the trees are situated.
My reasoning leads to the conclusion, that though
the sun is composed of the same elements of matter
as the earth in a molten state of liquid fire, it never
emits, radiates, nor sends to the earth, nor into space,
either fire, or any other element or substance; that
while it operates upon and attracts every thiing within
the sphere of the solar system, and occasionally draws
to itself and swallows up meteors and small bodies of
nebulous matter floating in the realms of space, it
sends out and emits nothing; and instead of constantly diminishing by radiating heat, it is actually
increasing by-swallowing up small bodies which, in
their erratic course, come so near the sun that they
can not resist the influence of its attraction; that the
earth and all the planets and floating bodies within
our solar system, as well as all the stars and planets in
the universe, have supplies of caloric-each having a
supply proper to itself; that neither caloric, light, nor
any other element-nor heat in any shape or iorm,
ever passes from  the sun or the stars to the earth;
but that the interior of the earth being a great reservoir of liquid fire-the most subtle and mobile of all
the elements of matter (except electricity), and the
most powerfully influenced and attracted by the sun,
the sun's attraction constantly draws from the interior
of the earth, firom the side turned towards it, streams
of caloric to the surface, and into the atmospherewhich to the eye look like rays or streams of light,
coming from the sun, and to the sense of feeling seem
like streams of heat; and that when the sun goes
down and the attraction ceases, caloric, having a
stronger affinity for the earth than for the atmosphere,
a large pArlt of it is absorbed by the earth, to be again
yielded to the force of the sun's attraction, the succeedilig day.




48             SOURCES OF CALORIC.
The caloric that is near the surface of the earth,
as well as that in the atmosphere, is subject, during
the day, to two oposite inflaences-one, the stronger
and predominant influence which draws it towards
the sun, and the other, a weaker influence, which
tends to draw it towards the earth-but is overcome
by the attraction of the sun; while on the side of the
earth opposite to the sun, the caloric near the surface
and also that in the atmosplhere, is subject to only one
influence-the attraction of the earth, which tenJs to
draw and absorb it in the earth's crust.  During the
day, when it is subject to the attraction of both the
sun and the earth —the former attraction being so
strong as to overcome the latter, and to draw caloric
from the crust of the earth into the atmosphere and
towards the sun-its affinity for the earth, firom which
it is drawn, is so strong, that it tends to draw the earth
with it-as the attraction of the moon and sun also,
operates upon the surface of the ocean, and cause the
tides.  As more caloric is thus drawn from the crust
of the earth during the forenoon, when any given
meridian is rolling towards the sun, than in the afternoon, when the same meridian is rolling from it, and
as this action of caloric is upon one side only of the
earth at a time; and the force is most strongly exerted
upon only about one-fourth part of the earth's surface,
the tendency of its influence is to turn the earth on its
axis. To this action of caloric, caused by the sun's
attraction, I attribute the diurnal revolution of' the
earth and planets upon their axes. I know of no
other force which constantly operates in such a mode,
and with sufficient power-to produce such revolutions of the earth and of the planets, which revolve
around the sun-and I can account, in no other mode,
for the dual revolution of each-once daily, and once
annually.
The caloric which is thus drawn from the crust
of the earth daily by the sun's attraction, carries with
it more or less aqueous vapor, which supplies the
atmosphere with clouds and the earth with rains and




SOURCES OF CALORIC.               49
dews. By that operation, which is often visible to
the eye, the sun in common parlance is said to draw
water; and thus the moisture is drawn from the ocean
and supplied to the earth-which is necessary to support both vegetable and animal life-and the earth is
thereby rendered capable of supporting a vast population of rational beings. If the attraction of the sun
be the sole agency which moves the earth and the
planets, in their respective paths around that central
orb, the caloric proper, and belonging to each, constitutes a great and necessary co-operative agency, which
aid, in turning them upon their axes, and fitting them
for the abodes of living beings.
4




CHAPTER VI.
A NEW THEORY OF LIGHT, BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF ATTRACTION, AND TIlE ACTION OF CALORIC.
Twro theories of light have been forlned, xuliich
in some measure divide the scientific world —one
known as the corpuscular theory-that light is constituted of elements of matter similar to caloric-constantly emitted by the sun, thle stars, and by all burning bodies and flames of fire, and radiated into space
at the inconceivable velocity of nearly two hundred
thiousand miles per second. This was, until within a
few years, the commonly received theory; and vet if
it were true, the sun and stars would gradually lose
their light and heat, and their substance also, and
eventually become exhatisted-and  both  light and
heat would finally be equally diffused through the
realms of space.  If that theory were true, there
would and must be a tendency to a constant and universal diffusion of both light and heat; and to a rapid
destruction of the sun, and of the present systems of
worlds which constitute the universe.
knothler and more modlern theory, is based upon
the assurged existence of an imponderable elastic
lumniniferous ether, pervading all bodies and infinite
space, which is capable of transmitting a vibratory
motion with great velocity —and that both liglht and
heat are mere results of the undlulations and vibratory
motions of that ether-or the ether itself in motion.
The theory denies the existence of caloric as well as
light, as distinct elements of matter, as not proven;
and yet it substitutes in their stead, by mere assumption and without proof, the existence of a subtle ele



ON LIGHT.                    51
ment of matter, which the chemist can not detectthough it is assumed to plervade the whole universe,
and to be the principal force therein; and some atsuine it to be the only force. Some who hold to the
theory go so far as to make the assumed ethifer not
only a substitilte for caloric and light, but also for
electricity —and the tendency of the reasoning of those
who adopt the theory is, to make the supposed ether
a substiiute for all the forces of nature-including the
chemnical affinities as well as gravitation, magnetistn,
and tile vital forces.
My theory ot light is very different from  any
which has been heretofre presented to the public
mind.  It is based uponl the principle of attraction
and( the action of caloric.  It is that the sensation of
lirght arises from the attractive force of the sun, stars,
or any bi:lze of fire-or of any subs'ance or elemnent
of matter upon which the sun, stars, or a blaz,. of
fire, or matter in tlie process of combustion in the
atmosphere, is operating and illuminating  by  its
power of attraction. The theory is, that the sensation
of ligilt arises from the action upon the organs of sight
of free caloric-e iitted by the blaze of the suin or
stars, or b;, a burning lamp or flaine of fire. That it
is caused by the direct attractive power of caloric in a
state of flame, or in a very concentrated state, which
produces a white or red heat in iron-or by the attractive force of any substanlce in nature, upon which
such blaze is operating.
The principle of attraction is universal.  Its operation between all the bodies and compounds as well
as between all the elements of the uiiverse, is recognized by science and( scientific men. It constitutes the
forces severally known as the power of cohesion between elements of matter-as the chemical affinitiesas gravitation-sas nlagnatismn an(l electro-magnetism
-and as the vital forces; and to say that it constitutes the force which causes objects illuminated by a
blaze of fire or free caloric, to stamp their image or
picture upon the organs of vision, is only making a




j52                  ON LIGHT.
new application of a well known principle or power.
It is only extending the principle of attraction to explain the phenomena of sitht-of which no satisfactory explanation has been heretotbre given.  It serves
to explain also the images and pictures formed by the
daguerreotype and photograph processes, as well as
those of a more temporary character —made upon
mirrors and the polished surfaces of marble and various metals.
That there are intimate relations between caloric,
or fire in a state of blaze, and what we term  light, is
obvious to all. The real distinction between them
may be illustrated as follows:  Whether the blaze of
a burning fire be confined in a stove or nothing intervene between it and the person, atoms of caloric are
emitted from it in all directions-which often come in
contact with persons, or with other living animal organisms; and when they do so, they excite sensations of heat; while light is only the attractive force
of a blaze of fire, or of the sun-operating directly
upon the optic nerve of the eye. Caloric is an element of tuatter —while light is only the attractive force
of that same element.
Clear transparent glass, intervening between a
blaze of fire and the eye, obstructs nearly all the
atoms of caloric emitted by it, and prevents any or
much sensation of heat arising from  such emission;
but it does not obstruct the operation of the attractive
forces of the blaze, upon the nerves of vision.
The use of' the spectroscope in eclipses has established the fact, that the surface of the sun and the
atmosphere surrounding it, are in a blaze, and constitute a blaze of tire-arising from  the combustion of
such metals and elements as compose the crust of the
earth.  To light our houses and other buildings,
streets,  vessels, railroad  cars, and  engines, we
burn oil, tallow, coal-gas, and light fagots of wood.
Any thing that will burn, and make a blaze, produces
by burning, what we term light-that is the blaze so
operates upon our organs of vision as to excite the




ON LIGHT.                  53
sensation of light; and it is difficult to conceive how it
can be done, except upon the principle of attraction
-by supposing that a blaze of fire so operates upon
all objects within the reach of its influence, as to
cause them, by the power of attraction, to print their
images upon the organs of vision —as they mnake more
permanent images upon the metal plates of the photographist.
The church which I attend has a triplet window,
or three long  narrow  windows of stained glass,
over the front door, at the west end of the building.
WVhen standing in my seat in the forenoon, with my
back to them, some forty or more feet distant, I often
see those three windows pictured in miniature in one
of my glasses before my eyes-with all their various
colors, figures, and forms. The phenomenon can not
be accounted for on the principle of reflection of the
sun's light from  the windows, or its tr;insmission
through them; for it occurs when the sun is not shining on them, and often when the sun is so obscured by
clouds, that it does not shine upon the building at all.
It seems to me impossible to account for such phenomena, except upon the principle of attraction-that
when the sun is acting upon the atmosphlere upon tile
outside of the windows-though not shining directly
upon them, or when obscured by clouds, yet the affillity between the glass windows and my eye glsses, is
such, and the power of attraction so strong, as to forml
a picture of the windows uponI my eye-glass; which
is conveyed to the mind by the direct action of the
picture upon the organs of sense-by means of the
power of attraction.
Mv table in my study stands before a north window, and often when I sit with my back to the table
and window, I see in the edge of one of my glasses
a picture of the houses, fences, yards, and persons on
the opposite side of the street, from 1oo to 150 or
more feet distant.
Stand upon a sidewalk in a city or village, before
a window of a building upon the south or east side of




54                  ON LIGHT.
the street, in the forenoon, when the sun is shining, or
upon the south or west side of the street early in the
afternoon, and look into the window  upon a level
with you, and you will see before you not only the
contents of the room  into which you look, but also
your own picture, and a picture of buildings, fences,
yards, and landscape (if any in view), behind you,
upon the opposite side of the street.  That such an
effect may be produced in a striking manner, the sun
should not shine upoil the window throllgh which you
look, and there should be much less light upon the
inside than upon the outside of the window.  It is
easy for any one to test the correctness of this statement, and to see for himself how  vivid, bright, and
perfect the pictures ar —thus formed and presented to
the eve; and he may thus realize the truth of the theory, that pictures of objects ale formed, and human
vi-ion caused-not by the reflection or action of any
substance called light-nor by the undulations of a
supposed ether-but by tile power that anv object
upon which the sun is shining, has to operate upon,
and form  its picture upon the polished surface of
such substances as glass and other metals, and also
upon water, and to make the picture so vivid, th~at the
picture itself operates directly upon the organs of
vision.
Some wouldt attempt to account for such phenomena upon the principle of the reflection of light
from one object to another-from  objects to mirrors,
polished plates and glasses, and back again to the
organs of vision; but if lirlmt be a material essence or
element, capable of,eing reflected in that mo(le by a
sufficient force, what is the force which puts it in
motion and causes the reflection, and when put in
motion, how is it possible to conceive that any element reflected in all directions from  objects, could
bring with it to tLe organs of sight images or pictures
of both forms and colors of the objects from which it
comes? and how is it possible to conceive that undulations or waves of ether can bring with them to the




ON LIGHT.                   55
eye, images of the objects from which they come?
No one to my knowledge has ever given a rational
explanation, or even attempted to explain how images
or pictures of objects are, or can be conveyed to the
organs of sight, by particles of light reflected firom
themn —nor upon the theory of the undulations of a
supposed ether.  But upon the theory of attraction,
the etiect of objects upon the organs of sight can be
understood, and rationally accounted for.
It is laid down as a rule in optics that the angle
of reflection of light corresponds with the angle of
incidence.  This is very true; but the rule applies
only to those images of objects which come to the
eye firom mirrows, from the smooth surface of glass,
or from the polished surface of marble, or some of the
metals. The sensation of light which conies directly
fromn objects to the eye, comes from all directions,
without any regard to the angles of incidence with
which light may -trike them. This fact of itself shows
very satisfactorily to my mind, that the objects themsalves act directly upon the organs of vision, by
the power of attraction, without the intervening
agency of any medium whatever. It is said that the
moon shines by means of light coming from the sun,
which is reflected from the moon to the earth; but it
may be observed, that the light at fiull moon, appears
to come from all p:rts of the moon's disk, or halt
globe presented to the eye, and Nwithout any regard
to the angles of incidence with which it may come
from the sun to the moon, or the former may act upon
the latter, by its power of attraction.
Though the nature and properties of caloric, light,
and electtricity, the vital forces, and many of the forces
of nature, have never been fully ascertai-ned; and
many doubts and differences of opinion in relation to
them  exist among scientific and learned men; yet
there is at this day, no doubt, among intelligent men,
of the principle of Universal Attraction, and that
it is the governing force and power of the Universe
-except so far as the Universe is governed by the
direct action of the Divine Mind.




56                  ON LIGHT.
The attraction theory of light involves no new
mystery. On the contrary it is based upon principles
of science well established, and acknowledged by
astronomers and chemists, philosophers and physicists, of all classes. It explains and obviates many diffictllties, which are inexplicable upon either of the theories of light which have been heretofore suggested.
When the sense of sight can perceive, that by means
of some physical agency, power, or force, every material object acted upon directly by the sun or a blaze
of fire, so acts upon the surface of water, glass and
every polished metal surface, as to form upon it a picof itself, the mind can easily conceive and understand
how the same power can make a similar impression,
and form a similar picture, upon our organs of sightwhereby we perceive the object; and that such power
or force must be the same, or analogous to the powers
which we term gravitation, chemical affinity, and
attraction.
Ganot in his Physics, gives the law of the intensity of light as follows:-The intensity of illumination on a given surface, is inversely as tile square of
its distance from the source of light-Other authors
have stated the law  of the intensity of light in the
same manner, illustrated it by practical examples, and
proved it by a mathematical process.
The law of Universal attraction of distant bodies
for each other, is the same, that is to say, the
power of attraction diminishes as the square of
the distance of two bodies from each other increases.
Why is the intensity of light and the power of attraction the same, unless light is one of the phenomena
of attrac:ion?
Caloric, like liquids and gasses of all kinds, will
pass through crooked tubes and passages in any and
every direction-and so do sounds-and so would
lighzl, if it were mere vibrations, or was caused by
vibrations of ether-but we know that light, and the
attractive force of the sun, stars, and pli:nets, all operate only in direct and straight lines. And hence we
have eclipses-because the sun's attractive force,




ON LIGHT.                     57
which causes light, can not pass around the moon and
operate upon the parts of the earth's surface immediately be hind it.
Tile decomposition of light and its division by
means of the prism, into seven distinct classes-each
having a distinct and different color, tends to prove the
material character of the element or substance whith
produces in the eye, tile sensation of light. How is it
possible for a wave of ether to be divid(ed into several
distinct classes-each having a color difterent front all
the others?
When a prism is held towards the sun, and the
rays of caloric pass through it, they appear to be refracted and bent oot of their direct course-that is,
effects are re-produced  by the force of attraction,
which present, according to the different degrees of
their retraction, the seven primary colors of light; and
also heat, at the same time.
Put the end of a bar or rod of iron into the fire
of a forge, or into a blacksmitlh's fuilrnace, raise the
heat, and take it out occasionally and examine its condition, while in tile process of hteating, and it will be
found to have, first, a reddish blue color, indicating a
small degree of heat-then a yellowish color-then a
bright red color, indicating a high degree of heat, snifficient to render it malleable, and fit for hamnmering
and welding-and by continuing the iron in the fire,
and increasing the heat, it finally attains a white hreat,
before it fuses.  Such experiments show, not only that
heat and light are caused( by the same element of natter, but that the difeirent quantities of caloric contained in the iron at different perio(ds, during the process of heating, give it different colors, and change the
color from violet or blue to red, and finally to a white
heat.
The color of light depends upon various thingsIst, upon the quantity of caloric contained in thle thing
radiating the light, or in its surface.  2d, On the degree or angle of its refraction-in the clouds, or in a
prism.  3d, On the medium throughl  which it comnes




58                   ON LIGHT.
-whether through stained glass, or pure- white glass
-through a clear sky, or through a cloudy or hazy atmosphere. 4th, On the character of the burning material that produces the flame, which causes the light
-and whether it is perfectly or imperfi ctly consulmed.
The spectrum of the sun, during an eclipse, is believed
to show the materials of which its burning atmosphere
is composed-and to reveal to the eye of man, the existeince of some of the same metals whiclh are coinmon in the crust of the earth.  Could waves of ether,
coming millions of miles, show such things?
The division of rays of light by the prism, or
clouds, into seven distinct colors, is not a real division
of molecules of matter, into seven distinct elements.
On the contrary, it is only an appearance of division,
produced by the attractive force of rays of caloric
passing through the prism, or through vapors and
clouds in the atmosphere, and being thereby refracted,
or the impression reproduced-the greater the degree
of retraction, the darker the color produced.
It the decomposition of light, and its division by
means of the prism, or clouds, into seven distinct
classes or elements, each having a distinct color, were
real, it would prove most conclusively the material
character of light, and that it is a compound. composed of seven distinct elements of matter. The different colors of light, produced by clitfi.rent degrees of
refraction, are not consistent with the vibratory-ether
theory of light.
Tile theory that light is the mere undulation of a
luminiferous ether, was suggested by the fact, that
sound is produced by vibrations of air and other substances. The sensation of sound is produced by the
vibration of substances, of which our senses can, and
do take cognizance —while the elastic, luminiferous
ether upon which the undulatory theory of light is
based, is a pure assumption-a mere hypothesis, that
something exists, and fills all space, which is so subtle
as to be not only beyond the reach of the senses, but
also beyond the reach of chemical analysis-and be



ON LIGHT.                   59
yond the power of the microscope and spectrosf ope,
and all the philosophical instruments invented by man.
There is, in fact, no analogy between the nature of
sound, and that of light.
Let uis examine the propagation of sound, and
compare it with that of light.  Sound is usually transmitted throllah atmospheric air at the rate of only
1,093 feet in a second-through water, over 4,700 feet
per second-and through iron, I6,822 feet per second
-the velocity depending npon the density and elasticity of the material by which it is propagated.  Apply this mode of action to light.  It light be propagated like sound, and by means of ether so subtle as
to be beyond the reaclh of the senses, and of all human tests and powers of investigation, the velocity of
its transmission, in such an attenuated Inedium, would
be only a few feet to the second-instead of being instanter, or about I86,ooo miles to the second, as
astronomers affirm it to be.
Careful experiments, made by scientific men, have
satisfied them that sound cannot be propagated through
a vacuum, and that both heat and light can be so
propagated.  Such results being flatly contradictory
to their favorite vibratory theory of heat and light,
they adopted the tar fetched hypothesis of a luminiferous ether, filling all space —-a..d thus filling the supposed vacuum, and propagating the supposed waves
of heat and light. The supposed ether is so subtle
that the air-pullmp cannot affect it-so subtle that it is
beyond the capacity of man, with all his inventive
powers, to produce a real vacuum.  The theory is so
fine spun and fanciful, tlhat it resists all the tests of
common sense, which Lenders it impossible to refute
it, to the satisfaction of its votaries, however absurd it
may 1be.
But let us assume all space to be filled with an
extremely subtle and attenuated elastic ether, the vibrations and( waves of which are supposed to caluse the
sensation of light, the difficulty is not overcome by
such an hypoticsis; the question then arises, and




60                  ON LIGHT.
forces itself upon our attention, what power puts the
ether in motion, and maintains its constant vibrations
in every direction, from every point to every other
point in the universe, (as light is manifested,) at the
wonderful velocity of I86,ooo  miles per second?
Nothing short of the direct aztion of the Divine
Mind, or the animus mundi of the Pantheists, would
be sufficient to maintain the constant vibration of the
assumed ether, and to produce the effects and phenomena which we call light. The assumption and existence of an elastic ether does not warrant such conclusions as to its vibrations and effects, as have been de
duced by its advocates.  The hypothesis involves a
series of assumptions, which seem  to me not only
without proof, but inconsistent with the phenomena
of nature, with human reason, and with the results of
science.
If the sun be refereed to as the cause of the vibrations of the ether, which are said to cause the sensation of light, the question may be asked-How can
the sun produce such action?  Does the sun move the
ether by the power of attractiol-by repulsion —or by
the emission of corpuscles of matter, which pervade
the ether, move it, and keep it in motion?  If the sun
act upon the ether only by means of eorpuscles of
matter constantly issuing from  it, then the waves of
ether could only move in one direction-from the sun;
and how does tihe theory, in such case, liffer Ftiolr the
old corpuscular theory of light?  Light co'nes to the
eye from all directions-from the north and the south,
the east and the west-and fi-om all points of the compass, at the same time. It comes not only from
towards the sun, but from the opposite direction.  It
comes horizontally and perpendicularly, and firon all
grades of angles with the plane of the horizon. It
comes not only firom the sun, but fi'om  all substances
upon which the sun's power,f attraction is directly
acting.  It comes, also, firom artificial blazes of firefrom lamps, candles, and gas-burners, lighted by man;
and its illuminating power radiates in all directions




ON LIGHT.                    6 
from such artificial sources.  What secondary cause,
other than universal attraction, exists in the universe,
which can act in every direction, at the same instant
of time, as light comes to the eye?  How  is it possible to conceive that waves of ether can move in all
directions, at the same instant of time? And if so,
what can move them?
Is the assumed ether a self-acting element?  Can
it act except when, and as it is acted upon and attracted by other elements of the material wvorld?  If
so, it acts differently from all known material elements
of the universe, and can be likened in its action only
to the Divine Mind, and to the intellectual substances
which form mind, as distinguished fiom matter. Such
an ether could not be distinguished from  the animus
munzd' of the Pantheists.
Perhaps electricity may be referred to as analagous in its character and action to ether.  But even
electricity is not a self-acting element.  It acts only by
means of its affinity for, and as it is attracted by, other
matter; and it moves only in one direction at the same
instant of time-and not in every direction, as light
comes to the eve.  Electricity has several known and
striking characteristics-none of w}hich can be affirmed
of the assumed ether.
ist. Electricity is a material, imponderable element, which the senses can take cognizance of, and
which the chemist can collect in glass jars, and accunulate for use.
2d. It is an element which has wonderful force
and power inherent in it, by means of its active affinities for other matter.
3d. It can be moved by human agencies, by
mneans of a battery and certain machinery, through an
iron or copper telegraph wire, with great velocity;
but its velocity in a less dense medium, in the clouds
and in the atmosphere, is not ordinarily so great.
The existence as an element of matter, and the
inherent force of electricity, and the velocity with
which it is transmitted, are all matters of fact, well




62                   ON LIGHT.
ascertained, and not mere assumptions; while the
supposed ether, and the undulatory theory of light
based upon it, involve at least three assumptions:
Ist. The existence of an elastic ether, filling all
space, is assumed-there being no proof of it.
2dC. It is assume(d that the supposed ether is in
constant motion —by reason of its own inherent forces
and tendencies, or by reason of some other power or
force acting upon it; which has not been, and cannot
be pr-oven.
3(1.  It is assumed that the sensation of light is
cause(l by the vibrations and undutllations, or waves, of
the aissutmed ether.
Assuming the existence of an elastic ether, is not
of itself sufficient to account for the phenomena of
light. It is necessary to assume, also, an inherent or
external l)ower or force sufficient to move the ether,
and to produce constant undulations and waves.  The
theory is based upon a series ot assumptions.  It may
be remarked, also, that elastic substances are always
destitute of active force, and have a tendency to incriia.
This subject is worthy of examination, and of the
consideration of scientists. and of the public.  If my
vicavs prove correct, they will have a material influence upon the progress of physical science.




CHAPTER VII.
THE UNWARRANTED  ASSUMPTIONS AND FALLACIES,
MYS'TICISM AND SOPHISTRY, INVOLVED IN THE VIBRATORY-ETIIER THEORY OF HEAT AND LIGHTA.N'D ALSO IN THE SOLAR-E]MISSION THEORY-AND
TAUGHT IN BOOKS OF SCIENCE.
AMechanical pzhilosophy of nature.
The mechanical philosophy of nature teaches that the
sensation of light is caused by the vibrations of a
lumnizzfer'ous ether, which pervades the universe and
fills all space-that heat is produced by motion and
friction, witthout the agency of any such elementary
substance as caloric-that vegetable and animal organisms, and life itself, are produced and operated without the agenicy of any such elementary principle as the
vitalists term the vital principle-and that mind itself
is the results of organization, and is produced with all
its filculties, powers, and phenomena, by the forces of
naturle-operating upon  mechanical and chemical
principles-without the agency of any such element or
entity, is an intellectual principle, or intelligent substance.
The mechanical philosophy of nature is based. to
a large extent, upon unwarranted assumptions and fallacies, is vague and incoherent in its principles, unsatisfactory and mystical in its mode of reasoning, and
arrives at conclusions which are inconsistent witi the
experience, and with the common sense of mankind.
It might, therefore, very property be termed, thle mystical philosophy. It is based upon a supposititious




64              GANOT S PHYSICS.
ether, and upon motion-the existence of the former of
which is assulmed, and can not be proved, and the latter can not be produced and maintained, without active forces, which the theory ignores. The motion,
which constitutes the chief corner-stone Of the theory,
cannot be produced and maintained, unless the assumed ether is the great cause of motion in the universe, and constitutes what was called by the anlcients, the animus mandi, the soul of the world-or
the Pantheist's substitute for Deity.
The foices and causes of action, motion, and
change, as I maintain, are —Ist Universal attraction.
2d. Caloric. 3d. Electricity. 4th. The vital ortanizing element. And 5th, the intellectual principle-and
perhaps magnetism should be added. It seems to me
impossible to account for the phenomena of the universe, and for the faculties and action of the human
mind, withLout the existence and cooperative action of
all the five forces which I have enumerated, or the existence of something like, and equally efficient, as the
animus mundi of the ancients, as a substitute for them.
Neither chemical nor vital action —ignition and combustion, nor evaporation-fermentation nor decomposition, can commence or be maintained, without caloric; and yet the mechanical theory of 1heat repudiates
caloric, and furnishes no sufficient substitute for it.
Motion (as has been shown in Chapter III) is not a
cause, but an effect, and must be supported by an active force as a cause, and cannot be a substitute for caloric, which is, itself, an active force, and an efficient
cause of action.
Ganot's physics.
Ganot's Physics is used as a text-book in the University of Michigan, and is recognized as a work of
high authority upon the subject. It teaches the mechanical philosophy of nature. In the first chapter,
upon MATTER, FORCE, AND MOTION, he says:
"In our attempts to ascend from a phenomenon to its




GANOT S PHYSICS.                  65
cause, w' assume the existence of pfhysical agents or natural
forces. acting upon matter; as examples of such we have
gravitation, heat, light, magnetism, and electricity
"Since these physical agents are disclosed to us only by
their effects, their intimate nature is completely unknown.
In the present state of science, we cannot say whether they
are properties inherent in matter, or whethfer they result
from movements imapressed on the mass of subtle and imnponderableforms of matter difused through the universe. The
latter hypothesis (I W is, however.generally admitted. This being
so, it m iv be Iurther asked, are there several distinct forms of
imponderable matter, or are they, in reality, but one and the
same? It would seem that the latter op.'nidti (2) tends topreva,'i, as the physical sciences extend their limits."
Comments.
i. Tile hypothesis of the mechanical school, which
attributes all power to motion, ignores and denies the
existence of any active properties or forces in common
matter, and refers all force aud action to some " subtle
and imponderable forms of matter, dijfused through
the universe "  This is very vague- but what can
that universally ditfused subtle and powerful substa ice
be other than the animus mundi of the ancients-the
Pantheistic substitute for God?
2. Again he says: "The opinion tends to prevail,"
that all the five imponderable forms of matter which he
enumerates, to wit: gravitation, heat, light, magnetism,
and electricity, are one and the same-constituting the
same essence, which,in subsequent chapters of the work
(on heat and light), he characterizes as an elastic luminiferous ether. That ether then is the great power which
moves the universe,and causes all the action in it. I again
ask-what can that ether he, but the Pantheistic substitute for Deity? Such is the mechanical philosophy of nature, which is substantially, thoughl very vaguely, taught
in many of the schools of the present age.
In Book VI., on Heat, Ganot says:
"Two theories as to the cause of heat are current at the
present time; these are the theory of emission, and the theory
of undulation. On the first theory heat is caused by a subtle,imponderable fluid, which surrounds the molecules of bodies, and
which can pass from one body to another. * * * On the second
5




66                GANOT S PHYSICS.
hypothesis the heat of a body is caused by an oscillating or vibratory motion of its material part cIes, and the hottest
bodies are those in wh ch the vibrations have the greatest
velocity, and the greatest amplitude. Hence, on this view,
heat is not a substance, bat a condition of matter, and a condition which can be transferre I from one body to another.
It is also assumed that there is an imponderable elast c ethe/cr,
ih;ch pervades all bodies and nfinite space, and is capable
of transmitting a vibratory motion with great velocity. A
rapid vibratory motion of this ether Pfroduces heat, just as
sound is produced by a vibratory motion of atmospheric air;
and the transference of heat from one body to another, is aftected by the intervention of this ether. * * * In accordance with it (this hypothesis) hent zs a form of mot on."
In Chapter VIII, on heat, treating of radiant heat,
he says:
"In order to explain these phenomena, it is imazined
that all space, the interplame aiy spaces, as well as the interstices in the hardest crystal or the heaviest in tal in short,
matter of any kind is permeated by a med umm having t e
piroperties of a #uid of nfinite tenuity, called ETHER. The
particles of a heated body, being in a state of intensely rapid
vibration, commnnicate their motion to the ether around
then, throwing it into a syFcmn of zwaves, which travel thr. ugh
space and pass from one body to another. with the velocity
of light. When the undulatclions of the ether reach a given
body, the motion is again delivered up to the particles of that
body, which in turn begin to vibrate, that is the body becomes heated. This passage of motion through the hypothetical ether, is termed radiation, and a so-called ray oftheat,
is merely the direction of the motion of one series of waves."
Comnents.
That it is a mere hypothesis, based on the assumed existence of an elastic ether pervading the
whole universe, zs admitted; and yet, the whole process and action of thle assumed ether, seems fanciful
and impossible, because palpably inconsistent with the
common phenomena of the production of heat by
combustion; and it does not even attempt to explain
the process of combustion, and how it usually coin
mences-nor how it is naintained.
In the Book on Light, Ganot says:




STEWART' S PHYSICS.                 67
" In order to explain the origin of light, various hypotheses have been made, the most important of which are the
em ssion or corpuscular theory, and the undulatory tk. ory. * * *
On the undulatory theory, all bodies as well as the celestial
spaces, are filled by an extremely subtle elastic medium, which
is called the luminiJerous eth r. The luminosity of a body is
due to an infinitely rapid vibraory motion of its molecules,
which, when communicated to the ether, is propogated in all
directions in the form of spherical waves, and this vibratory
motion, being'thus transmitted to the retina, calls forth the
sensation of vision."
Comments.
It would seem from the foregoing extracts, that the
sensation of light does not depend upon the action of
either comnbustion or the sun, but is independent of
both-depending only on the assumed ether-and  the
vibratory motion of the molecules of a body, and of
the ether. Not only the assumption of the existence
of the ether is unwarranted. but all the reasoning in
relation to the vibratory motion of the ether, and of
the Inolecules'of bodies, is fanciful-mythical-entirely artificial, and does not carry with it even the semblance of truth-because it is contrary to the phenomena of nature.  It is impossible for the molecules of a
body to have a rapid vibratory motion, when the body
itself is at rest.
Stewart's Plhysics.
Balfour Stewart, in his Lessons in Elementarv
Physics, says:
" When a body is greatly heated, we have reason to believe that'ts part cles are in a state of inten'e motion among
tkemselves, although the body as a whole is at rebt."
Comments.
There are self-evident falsehoods, as well as selfevident truths.  The proposition that two and two are
four, is a self-evident truth; but the proposition that




68             STEWART S PHYSICS.
two and three are six, is a self-evident falsehood, It requires no process of reasoning to show the falsity of
the latter proposition, and the man who cannot perceive its falsity at once is incapable of reasoning correctly.
There are in mathematics and philosophy many
propositions and maxims, which are properly called
self-evident truths; but Mr. Stewart has presenited one
which may very properly be termed a self-evident falsehood, or error-because it involves contradictory and
impossible action, which is obvious to the iind at.irst
view, and no process of reasoning can make its falsity
any clearer. The atoms and particles of a solid body
-such as a stick of wood or a bar of iron, are held together by the attraction of cohesion; and while the
body itself is at rest, is is impossible fbor its particles
to be in a state of intense m-tion among themselves,
as is affirmed by Mr. Stewart. That the particles of
a body, while they are held together by the attraction of
cohesion, and remain parts of the body, cannot move
except as parts of the body itself, and when it is in
motion, is a self-evident truth; aid it is idle and useless
to reason with any one who denies it. Such incoherent ideas as are involved in Mr.Stewart's proposition,
are scarcely wortly of serious consideration; and yet they
form the chief corner-stone of the motion and fiiction
theory of heat. Although Ganot has not clearly, and
in so many words, affirmed any such proposition, yet
it is involved in his system of reasoning, as well as in
his conclusions.
The question may be very properly asked-is
there any absurdity too great to be conceived and believed by the human mind, and moulded into form and
system by the fallacies and vagaries, the subtlety and
sophistry of human reasoning? Before anyone attempts
to answer this question, even to himself, he should consider well the religions and the theologies, the mythologies and the philosophies of the world, in the past as
well as the present-and also what has been dignified
with the name of science.




STEWART'S PHYSICS.               69
WChen iron is put into a furnai(e and heated, how
is it done? Is it heated by exciting motion in its particles and in the medium around it, as the mechanical
theor'y assumes? And, if so, how is it done? The
particles of the iron are held together by the attraction
of cohesion-so that they cannot move, until the attl action of cohesion is destroyed, by melting the iron; and
even then it merely settles down into the bottom of the
furnace in a liquid form, and is there at rest, until the
heat is raised so high as to reduce the iron to a state of
vapor. The particles of the iron do not attain a state
of intense motion among themselves, (as is affirmed by
Mr.Stewart),during any portion of the process of heating
or melting, for it would be imposstble for them to m,ve
until the attraction of cohesion is destroyed by melting
the iron, and that does not take pla.e until the heat is
-raised to  I,5oo  deg. Cent.   Hence the  motion
of the particles of iron (as stated by Mr. Stewart)
could not possibly cause the heat —because the particles could not move at all, until the heat was raised to
a great degree of intensity.
The phenomena of the crust of the earth and its
geological history, all attest that the interior o)f tt e
earth consists of molten matter-held in a liquid state
by what we call fire; and yet the mechanical theory of
heat affirms. that there is no such thing as fire, as a
distinctt element of matter-that wh}at we call ire is
heat caused by matter in motion. How is it possible
for the particles of matter, composing the interior of
the earth, to be in such a state of rapid motion as to
generate sufficient heat to melt them, and keep them
in a liquid state, when the crust of the earth is cold,
much of it frozen, and its particles are in a state of
rest-except so far as they participate in the motion of
the whole earth on its axis, and around the sun. If the
heat in the interior of the earth be caused by motion,
the question then arises, What causes the motion?
Collbustion is the direct effect of fire or caloric,
permeating combustible materials. Thongh friction
may, by compression, develop a small amount of ca



70              STEWART S PHYSICS.
loric from the surface of the things rubbed together, or
from  the atmosphere at the points of friction-and
thereby originate combustioa-it is the fire itself. and
the combustion produced by it, an(l not the friction,
which consumes wood, coal, and other materials, and
maintains and propogates the combustion. No such
effects can be produced directly by motion and friction,
without the agency of caloric as well as of combustion.
If it were possible to conceive, that motion and friction can maintain as well as originate combustion, the
question would then arise-what causes the motion?
The marvellous effects of great cenflagrations
could never be produced by motion and friction, upon
the vibratory theory of heat. 7b maintain that theory,
it is not suzffcient to ftccount tor the origin of heat
and combustion in a few exceptional cases; but it is
necessary to be able to show that heat and comnbustionare originated and maintained in all cases, by motion andfriction —without the agency of any such
elementary substance as caloric,
That caloric (:an be absorbed, and remain in a latent state, until drawn out by strong attraction, is beyond all questien.  The earth itself is a great receptacle of caloric; but it is diffi,.ult to canceive how tmere
motion, or the vibrations of ether or anything else, can
be so absorbed, remlain for a time inert, and then be
drawn out again into action, as caloric is.  If the adherents of the vibratory ether theory of heat anid light
held that ether is i/self Ca substance, known as heatand that it produces light by a vibratory motions, I
could conceive how it acts. But in such case, they
would abandon the vibratory theory of heat, and admit its material character; and wouldl only chanlgo its
naine, and give the nam-le of ether to a material fluid,
which tlie Rotnans called calor (heat), and  ignis
(file), more than two thousand years ago.
It is adu;uitted by the adherents of all the theories
of bieat, that it possesses great force and energy, andll
that it often exhibits wonderful power.  Is it possible
to have any clear conceptions of force and energy, or




TYNDALL ON HEAT.                  71
of the cause of motion, as existing independently of
substance?
Tyndmal on heat.
A  work was published in London some years
since, which has been republished in New York, entitled, " Heat, Considered as a Mode of Motion," by
John Tyndall, F. R. S., etc.
It is based upon thle assumned existence of a luminiferous elastic ether, pervading the whole universe,
and filling stellar space; igno,res tile existence of any
such elementary substance as caloric-man's most familiar friend andl usefill agent; ard presents and illustrates in detail, the vibratory, or mechanical theory of
heat and light.  It discourses with an air of learning
of natural forces and lowers-of the motions and vibrations of the assumed ether-of tile atoms arcid molecules of matter-of mechanical processes, potential
energy, dynanmical energy, and solar energy,-of the
generation of heat, and the emission of heat and light
from  thie sun, and their radiation into space, as mere
vibratory motion, not substance.  The title itself, as
well as inany of the views, and nuch of the reasoning
contained in it, sounds like ia burlesque on commton
sense, antd on the common experience of mankind.  If
that be science, it is science rutn into the ground; and
yet it has been received with fiavor by great numbers
of scientific men.  It exposes to view in detail ttie absurdities of the vibratory -theory of heat, by ca-trying
out its principles to their consequences, and attempting
to illustrate their operations in practice.
Many of his illustrations are brilliant and beautiful.  Tney formin quite a curiosity shop-well adapted
to please the conmmon mind, andt amnuse a popular audieilce, but of very little value in a scientitic point of
view-for the reason that the plrin,.ipal views taken are
falltacious, much of the reasoning incoherent and unsound, and many of the conclusions arrived at unwarranted.  To build upon et:ier foundations and vibrato



72              TYNDALL ON HEAT.
ry corner-stones, is like building upon blowing and
drifting sands. A fabric built upon such foundations,
cannot stand the test of time.  It is quite time to have
the principles of natural scieiice reviewed-some new
corner-stones and new landmarks established, and new
foundations laid, upon which to build the great fabi4c
of human science.
As an Am.erican citizen I am gratified by the fact,
that the vibratory-ether theory of heat and light, did
not originate in America-t}hat none of its vagaries
were first conceived by citizens of my country-and
that though many American authors have not had sufficient courage to repudiate it directly, as fanciful and
unsound, very few have based their reasoning upon it.
Prof. Porter, of Yale College, in his Principles of
Chemistry, substantially repudiates the vibratory-ether
theory.  After stating both theories of light, he says:
" The first, or Newtonian theory, enables us to explain
the leading facts more simply Uln(l clearly, and is therefore employed in this work for this purpose. The definitions and laws of light are stated in the language of that theory." After stating the materi/al
theory of heat, and also the vibratory-ether theory of it, he
says: " In the present volumle, the former of the views
which have been mentioned, is adopted, and heat, like
ltl/t, is assumed to be an exceedingly subtle, ittpoznerable
fluid. "
Dr. Comstock, in his philosophy, adopts the Inaterial theory of heat and light also, and bases his reasoning and illustrations upon it.
Prof. Johnston, in his Manual of Chemistry, treats
the subject in a very delicate manner, without committing himself to either theory. He says: " Heat cannot
be obtained separately from matter; it is invisible, etc.
*  *  *  It is not, therefore, believed to be material;
but in describing its effects, and its relations to matter
in general, we speak of it as an exceedingly subtle
fluid, the particles of which constantly repel each
other, but are attracted by other substances, as capable
of beinll transmitted through space and the interior of




GANOT' S PHYSICS.                 73
bodies, and of being accumulated in quantities in them."
Such lanruage does not properly apply to mere motion, which cannot be accumulatedl in quantities, in solid
bodies, and can not be transmitted through them.
Prof. Johnston states the material theory of light,
and also the vibratory.ether theory, but says: " The
whole language of optics is founded on this (the material) theory."
American authors have generally stated the vibratory-ether theory, but have not attached much importance to it.
Ganot's Physics.
Ganot's 355th paragraph, on the radiation of heat,
is entitled, "' Mobile equilibritum-Theory of Exchanwres,"
in which he says:
"Prevost of Geneva, suggested the following hophthesis
in reference to radiant heat, known as Prevosts'theory of exchanges,wh ch is g.nerally admt te:. All bodies,whatever their
temperature, constantly rad ate heat,n all directions.  If we,
imagine two bodies at different temperatures placed( near one
ano her. the one at a higher temperature will experience a
loss of heat, its temperature will sink, because the rays it
emits are of greater intensity than those it receives; the
colder body, on the contrary, will rise in temperature, because it receives rays of greater intensity than those which it
emIts. Ultimately the temperature of both bodies becomes
the same, but he it is st'll exchanged between them, only each
receives as much as it emits, and the temperature remains
constant. This state is called the mobile eqail brium of temAeratu re."
Tie samine theory of exchanges of heat is stated
by Tyndall in the language of the wave theory.
Conmments.
Such are some of the strange theories and doctrines taugrhl in books and schools of science.  That
caloric is dr'awn by the force of attraction from heated
bodies and fires, by and into cold and cooler substances
and the surrotunding atmosp lere, is evident from coln



74                GANOT S PHYSICS.
monl observation; but the hypothesis of Prevost, that
two currents of caloric or! heat is runninc in the same
chiannels or places in opposite directions at the
same  time-one  of them   from  a  hot place  or
body. to a cold one, and another in the opposite direction, from thie same cold body to the hot one, involves
inconsistent and contradictory action, and is, therefore,
a self-evident impossibility.
We know that calo, ic, to a certain extent, tends to
seek an equilibrilrn of heat, and is attracted by cold
bodies, which attract and (iraw it from hot or warmer
ones; but what force or lower can attract and (traw or
force it in the opposite direction-from the cold to a
hot or warnm bod)-as the Prevost theory of cxchanges
asserts? \ hat evidence is there to support such a theory! Is not co:mmon sense, and all the evidence we
have upon the subject, in opposition to that theory?  I
have not observed that any American author has affirmed, or stated with approbation, the Prevost theory
-but Gallot say, " it is now universally admzitted,"by men of science I suppose he nllst mean. Catl science
hing command the respect of men of commonseltse, it
it sanction and affir-l such strange and absurd theories?
Solar radfiation of heat.
Ganlot says:
" The most intense of all sources of heat is the sun.
The cause of its heat is unknown; some have considered it to
be an ignited mass experiencing immense irruptions-while
others have regarded it as composed of layers act zng chenmically on each other, like the coaples of ta voltaic batte-y g'ivinR rise to electrical curr, nts, which produce lfght and solar
heat. On both hypotheses the incandescence of the sun
would have a limit"' "Different attempts, (Gantot says), have been made to
determine the quant ty of heat annually enmitt d by t/he sun.
M. Pouillet, by mneans of an apparatus which he calls a pi-rheliometer, lhas c lculat: d that if the total quantity of heat
which the earth receives from the sun in the course of a year,
were employed to melt ice, it would be capable of melting a
layer of ice all round the earth of 35 yards th ckn ss. But
from the surface which the earth exposes to the solar radia



GANOT' S PHYSICS.                 75
tion, and from the distance which separates the earth from
the sun, the quantity of heat wh'ch the earth receives can
only be         p U()O. art of the heat emitted by the sun."
Porter says:
" The sun sends enough heat to the earth every year to
melt a shell of ice enveloping the earth, a hundred feetdthick.
* * * It is ascertained (he says) that a quantity of heat is
g ven out from the sun in a year, which, if it all came to the
earth. would melt a crust of ice nearly 4,000 miles thick."
Substantially the same facts and results are stated
as philosophical truths by other authors.
Comments.
Let us consider such calculations and their results,
and the necessary consequences if true, of the causes
which produced them.  The evidence of balloonists,
as well as. the vegetation upon the sides of the mountains, and the want of vegetation and the existence of
eternal snows npon the tops of lofty mountains, all attest to the fact, that heat diminishes rapidly as you rise
above the level of the sea —upon mountains, or into
the atmosphere-indicating that no caloric, or heat in
any form, comes from the sun, or is radiated from the
earth into space.  I have stated, in Chapter V, that all
the caloric which is radiated or drawn by the sun's attraction from the earth into the attm,,sphere by day, is
absorbed again by the earth at night-and that the
same process is repeated from clay to day, from year to
year, and firoma century to century.'P;ie Calorifi e theory,
stated in that chapter, is the only one which is consistent with the phenomena of nature, and with the harmony and permanency of the solar system, and of the
universe.
WViat would be the necessary effects of the solaremission and radiation theory of heat, stated by Ganot
andl other authors as scientific trut Is, and of the enormous
quantity of heat and matter emitted from  the sun annually, which their calculati6ns illvolve-sufficient to
melt a crust of ice Ioo feet thick, surrounding the




76               GANOT'S PHYSICS.
earth, when only a small fraction of the whole quantity emitted can reach the earth? Would not the first
effect be, the gradual diminution of the sun's substance
and power; and would not its complete exhaustion,
and the dispersion into space of its substance andt energies, be only a question of time? Secondly, would
not the tendency and the final effect be, to produce an
equilibrium of heat throughout the realms of space,
and to raise, gradually, the temperature of all interstellar space?  WVould not a third effect be,,to accumulate rapidly upon the surface of the earth and the
planets, the heat which they receive daily fiom the
sun, until they become as hot as the sun itself? Would
not the magnitude and heat of the earth and planets
increase, as the sun loses its heat and substance, and
diminishes in size? Would not the sun's power of attraction diminish with the decrease of its substance
and heat,.until it ceased to have a controlling influence
over the motion of the earth and planets-and would
not the regular action of the solar system then cease,
and the whole system fall into confusion?
All these are pertinelzt questions for the solar. emission theorists to answer, and to dispose of satisfactorily,
before they can maintain their theory. Authentic history reaches back nearly 3,000 years-monu mental
history extends back many ages farther; and the evidences of geology extend back for an indefinite period,
prior to the existence of nman  and.11 these evidences
attest that the surface of the earth and its tem!,erature
have not materially'changed, since it was first inlhabited by man; and that the apparent size, heat, and power of the sun are the same as they were 3,000 years
ago. In the face of suclh facts, as evidences of the
unsoundness of their theories, how  utterly worthless
they are. In fact they serve only to mislead inquiring
minds, and are worse than a firank acknowledgment of
total ignorance upon.uch subjects.




CHAPTER VIII.
VIE\N'S OF THE  ORGANIZING  PRINCIPLE-OF THE
FORMS OF LIVING ORGANISMS-AND OF LIFE AND
INTELLECT.
Elements of the human system.
The constituent elements of the human body, and
of all animal bodies, which tile chemist can detect, are
oxygen anid hydrogen, carbon andl nitrogen, lime and
phosphorus, iron and chlorine, and small quantities of
a few other elements. All these exist in chemical
comnbination-forming the texture of the solid parts
and organs of the body, or float, like iron, in the blood.
Every living organism, whether animal or vegetable,
is also pervaded by caloric, as wvell as by an unknown
element, which we call the principle of life, or the
vital element. Electricity is also very generally diffused through animal organisms.
Both caloric and electricity, as well as the vital
element, are latent, and cannot be detected by the anatomist, nor the chemist. They can be determined
only by their effects-by reasoning upon the subject,
and by our knowledge of the tact that caloric pervades
the earth and its atmosphere, and everything upon the
face of the earth; and that neither animal nor vegetable life can exist without it. Electricity is much
less abundant, but seems to, be nearly as generally dif
fused as caloric, and pervades the nervous and muscular systems, if not the whole animal economy; and
yet, if it were not for the fact that caloric and electricity can both be so concentrated and accumulated as




78             THE VITAL PRINCIPLE.
to be visible to the eye, and to the sense of feeling, we
should have no stronger or other evidence of their existence in living orgflnisms, than we have of the vital
principle.
Caloric is a solvent —not a cement.  It holds no
elements together; but permeates everything, enters
between the atoms of all substances, separates them,
and expands the whole mass or compound; and when
very much of it is concentrated in substances, it disintegrates and melts them, and converts them  first into
fluids, and finally into gases and vapor. Though a
certain amount of caloric must accompany the elements of matter that aie fornmed, or are ready to be
formed into living organisims, to keep them  in the
right temperature andl condition to receive the plastic
influence of the vital principle, yet caloric itself is
not an organizing element.  On the contrary, it is a
disintegrating. dissolving, destroying element and force.
Similar remarks will apply to electricity.  It is a destroying, not an organizing element.  A sb~ft of lightning is often as (lestructive as a cannon bail.
The vital element, and forms of livinSg organisms.
The vital principle is, in somc respects, analagous
to caloric and electricity.  Like them, it has no gravitating tendencies.  It has peculiar inherent, active
powers, forces, and properties of its own-having a
strcng affinity for caloric, and for all the elements
which enter into animal and vegetable organisms.  It
is an organizing element, which attracts and acts upon
certain elementary substances; overpowers their citemn7
ical affinities; unites with them; arranges and moulds
them into cells and tubes; forms them into living organisms-adapted to various activities, growth and
development; and preserves them in life and activity
for months and years.  It overcomes'the attraction of
gravitation, and carries the blood of animals upwards,
and the sap of plants and trees fromn the roots to the
branches.




THE VITAL PRINCIPLE.                79
The organs of animals consist of tubes and cells,
with muscular sides, in which fluids circulate, for the
formation of animal fibre, and the Inaintenance and
preservation of the animal economy.  Not only the
arteries and veins, nerves and spine, are tuhular, but
all the orrgans of digestion and nutrition, secretion and
excretion, are also tubular.
Plants are formed in a similar manner- vith a
succession of tribes in the roots, trunks, and branches,
for the absorption, circulation, and transmission of
fluids and food, fiom thle roots to the leaves.  On the
contrarTy, inanimate, earthy, mineral, and fluid substances, held together by the force of chemical affinities, are never tubular nor cellular, muscular nor
fibrous-but the same, or nearly the same, in density
and texture, in a111 their parts.
There is no similarity between the form  and texture of cr-ystals and stones, metals and earths, and
those of living animal and vegetable organisms. Henice
we may safely conclude that living organisms contain
somie Lnknown element, whicll inanimate matter does
not.
It has been said that tlhe existence of a vital element is:1 mere assumption, an hypothesis or theory of
life-uncertain in its nature, and incapable of positive
proof.  That is in sonme respects true.  The essence
and nature of both life and intellect are mysteriesbeyond the full comprehension of man; and so are
the properties of matter, and the forces of nature.  As
we infer the properties of matter and the forces of nal
ture firom the phenometla.,f the material world, and
the experimental tests of chemistry-so we can infer
the existence of a vital element, from the peculiar texture, forms, and action of anitnal and vegetable organisms.
Dr. L. S. Beale, of London. in the preface to his
Essay on the Mystery of Life, says:
" Facts and observations on things living, support the
idea of vital ty, and are not favorable to any mechanical or
chemical hypothesis of life yet proposed."




So             THE VITAL PRINCIPLE.
In the Essay, (p. 63,) he says:
"I hold it, because I cannot escape from it; because
the facts I know cannot be explained without the hypothesis."
This is no new theory.  Dr. Paine, in his Institutes of Medicine, devotes no less than seventy-seven
sections to the subject of the vital principle, and vital
properties. In section I64, lie says:
" There is not, indeed, in the whole range of medical
literature, one author, however devoted to the physical and
chemical views of life, who does not evince the necessity of
admitting a governing vital principle, as a distinct entitydistinct from all other things in nature.'
In section I72, D1I. Paine says:
"The principle of life, or life itself, may be summarily
defined as a cause. * * * The principle is creative, so
far as it combines the elements of matter in peculiar modes,
and arranges the compound molecules into tissues and organs-in modes identical with those which came originally
from the creative energy of God, who thus far imparted to
the principle of life a formative endowment."
It may be said thiat such action of the assumed
organizing element, implies intellect, knowledlge, and
wisdomn-working for the accomplislhment of definite
ends and purposes.  That is very true.  Grant, that
to accomplish such ends anrd purposes, mIust require
intellect and wisdom.  In fact, nothing slhort of infinite knowledlge, wisdom and power wouild seem  adequa;te to prodl ce such mysterious action, and to the
attainment of suich ends.  But if we admit the existence of a Supreme Being, possessed of infinite creative power and wisdom, lind suppose that the Divine
Mindl invested an element of matter with tile properties and qualities, affinities and powers, necessary and
adequate to constitute it an organizing agent-tending
to forrm and support such organisms as plants and animals, and to maintain an(l multiply them  under certain circumstances, in accordance with certain prescribcd types stnd forms —the main difficulty vanishes;
and it is as easy to conceive that God creates plants




FORMS OF ORGANISMS.               8I
and animals, and supports animal and vegetable life,
by such means and methods, as by any other.
Distinctions between matter and force —organization and intellect.
The vital principle and caloric are causes-not
results. Organization is the result of the operations
of a living, organizing principle. Organization is not
the cause of life, but the effect and medium by which
it acts, and is manifested.
The chemical affinities are forces or properties
inherent in matter-not original elements.  So also is
gravitation; but caloric, electricity, and the vital, organizing principle, must be original elements of matter-each having its own peculiar powers, forces, and
tendencies. And such, we have no reason to doubt,
is the case with the cause of intelligence.
Cognitions and perceptions, ideas and opinions,
are all the results-not of organization alone —)ut of
the action of an intelligent substance or spirit-the
material organization being only the medium in which
an intelligent principle acts.
Sensation, and the cognition or consciousness of
sensation, are very different things. The first is a vital
action, caused by objects operating upon the nerves;
but the latter is an action of the intellect.  Physical
impressions upon the brain are very different things
from the intellectual perceptions and cognitions of such
impressions; and conceptions and ideas which arise
from the workings of the intellect, are different from
those which are the results of physical impressions
upon the senses. The distinctions between sensations
and impressions, which are physical in their nature,
and the perceptions and cognitions which result from
sensation, have been very generally overlooked by
philosophers of the various schools of materialists.
6




82          INTELLECTUAL PRINCIPLE.
Two or more natural causes necessary to produce pijyszcal action.
No one element of matter can act of itself, and
by means of its own inherent powers and properties.
Motion, and all change and action produced by physical causes, require two or more physical agents, elements or substances-having such affinities as to act
upon each other. All chemical action arises from the
affinities of two or more elements or substances, which
mutually attract each other. Gravitation depends
upon attraction. The sun, the earth, and the planets,
all mutually attract each other, which causes their
movements in their respective, paths. No one could
move, if it were not for others acting upon it, and reciprocating its action. Even such mobile elements as
caloric and electricity are set in motion by the reciprocal attraction between them and the sun, the earth, the
atmosphere, and the clouds. They can act only by
means of such mutual attraction; that is, by the concurrence of two or more elements, acting upon each
other.
Intellect distinguished from unintelligent matter.
Nothing in existence but spirit-pure intellectcan act of itself alone, without the exciting influence
of anything else acting upon it. On the contrary,
much of the phenomena of human action indicate
that the mind is an active principle-capable of originating action, without any external influence acting
upon it-and of acting, not only in accordance with
its own intelligence and knowledge, but of resisting
external influences-of refusing to follow the beaten
paths to which it is accustomed-of refusing to att in
accordance with its own knowledge and informationof acting arbitrarily, and in search of new truths and
e w methods-of forming new theories, and acting in
accordance with them.
The freedom of the human mind arises from its




INTELLECTUAL PRINCIPLE.            83
capacity to originate action, and to act of itself-without external influences. Its freedom is exhibited most
conspicuously in its negative acts.
Physical action is uniform, always the same, when
the circumstances and the elements acting are the
same —for matter must act in accordance with its inherent properties.
Intellect acts with no such uniformity; for while
it generally acts in accordance with its knowledge and
information, it often acts arbitrarily-forms theories
and opinions, dogmas and rules of action of its own,
upon which it acts; and it frequently acts, not only
upon mistaken views of the facts, and false theories,
acquired by reading, and in the process of education,
but also upon erroneous theories and opinions formed
by itself. Hence there is no uniformity, and no certainty, in human reasoning upon any subject that does
not fall within the domain of mathematics. Two
minds rarely take the same views of things; and never
reason precisely alike upon questions, other than those
of a mathematical character. Physical action is uniform, but mental action is not uniform.




CHAPTER IX.
XrITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, AND MA'rERIALISMI, -AND
THEIR ACTION COMPARED AND CONTRASTED.
The vital principle, (as understood by those who
believe there is such a thing), is a distinct imponderable element of matter, too subtle for the chemist or
the anatomist to find; for it disappears when an organism dies. It is an unknown organizing principle,
having affinities for oxygen and hytrogen, carbon and
nitrogen, caloric and certain other elements of matter,
on which it acts and exerts such a force as to overcome their affinities for other substances-to combine
and organize them, and hold them in a state of organization. It exists in the tissues and organs as well as
in the blood and other circulating fluids of man and
animals; and in the living tissues and sap of plants;
and is the builder and preserver of all living organisms.
Spiritualism in its philosophical and Christian
sense, is the doctrine that the intellect is a distinct intelligent entity or spiritual substance, mysteriously
blended with the material organization of the brain,
endowed with consciousness and capacity to take cognizance of things, to act, to acquire knowledge, aid
to exist and retain some of its faculties after its separation fromn the body. It is not subject to the laws and
forces of the material world, except so far as it is
acted upon through the brain and nervous system.'We know its existence only from its acts, and from
personal consciousness. Neither the chemist nor the
anatomist can find it. It is beyond the reach of their
investigations.
Materialism, in the proper acceptation of the
term, is the doctrine that mind is the result and effect,




MATERIALISM AND VITALISM.           85
and forms the functions of the organization of elements of matter, of which the chemist can take cognizance-and not a distinct entity or substance.  The
effect of such a doctrine is, that the mind cannot exist
after the death of the body; and if man's spirit cannot
exist separate from the body, it is impossible to conceive how God can exist as a spirit; and hence materialism runs directly into atheism.
The doctrines of vitalism have not been much developed except by physicians, in connection with
medicine. Though they are entirely consistent with
spiritualism-yet, because they uphold, to some extent, the development theory, many reject them.
The functions of life result from, and are constantly sustained by the living or vital principle; the
organization being only the instrument and meansnot the cause of such functions and powers. The evidence of this is, that the organization continues after
death-but the functions of life cease when the vital
element leaves the body.
Tne vital principle holds a certain amount of
caloric in living organisms, as necessary to vital
action, and resists its escape; and thus it strongly resists the effects of extreme cold.  It overcomes many
chemical affinities, and dissolves many substances and
dead tissues of plants and animals, and converts them
into food, to form living organisms. It also overcomes the action of gravitation-and carries the blood
and fluids of the human system up as well as down;
and carries the sap of plants and trees, contrary to the
laws of gravitation, from their roots in the ground, to
their tops and branches in the air. These are conclusive evidences to my mind, that living organisms
possess properties very different from the imponderable
forces, and the ponderable elements with which the
chemist is acquainted; and that it must be a distinct
element of matter.
All living organisms-vegetable as well as animal,
are cellular, tubular, or vascular-having fibrous sides
and a hollow centre, to hold and convey fluids to sup



86         VITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, AND
port life, and produce growth and increase.  On the
contrary all combinations of inanimate matter, not organized by the vital principle, whether they be crystals
or other solids, liquids or gases, are uniform, or nearly
so in density and substance, from centre to circumference. They are never tubular nor vascular; and
have no means of increase except by external accretions; by the action of chemical affinities. Living
organisms grow from the inside-by means of food
prepared and conveyed in their tubes and vessels; but
combinations of inanimate matter, having no tubes nor
vessels to hold and convey liquids and food, increase
from the outside only. These facts, are of themselves,
strong evidence that the former must contain an element of matter which the latter do not; and if so, it
must be an imponderable element, which chemical
analysis cannot find, or has not yet found.
Dr. Payne in his Institutes of Medicine, section
I64, says:
" A vital or peculiar governing principle or power, in organic beings, has been recognized by all the most distinguished medical philosophers, at all ages of the science. It
is the fundamental cause of growth, nutrition,and of all other
phenomena of organic beings. It is in all but the vulgar
acceptation, synonmyous with life; and life is therefore a
cause and not an effect-as has been assumed by many distinguished physiologists."
In section 2I6, Dr. Payne says:
"The elements of organic compounds are very differently combined from those of inorganic. Hence has arisen
the term vital a(ffinity, as denoting a property peculiar to
plants and animals, by which all their elements are united
and maintained in combination. When death takes place,
chemical affinities operate, and resolve the organic into inorganic compounds, or into their simple elements."
Molecules, germs, and animalcules.
Molecules, germs of life, and animalcules floating
in water, or in the atmosphere, are not chemical comnbinations of unorganized atoms of matter-but living
organisms-having in some instances living parents



MATERIALISM COMPARED.             87
though often formed by the vital organizing element,
as the first stage of organization, and the first step in
the process of spontaneous generation.  Many of the
phenomena of nature indicate that such organisms are
formed by the inherent properties, affinities and forces
of the vital element, acting upon inanimate matter.
Natural solvents.
Caloric is the most universally diffused and powerful solvent in nature. When so concentrated in
combustible materials as to produce a flame, or consuming fire, it destroys the texture of substances and
dissolves them very rapidly. It dissolves, melts into a
liquid, and eventually into vapor, even iron and all
the metals. Nothing in the natural world can withstand its disintegrating and dissolving power.
The vital element is not only a cement but also one
of the most powerful solvents in the world. It destroys
the texture of both animal and vegetable substances,
and dissolves them more rapidly than boiling water
can-to fit them  for food, for new  organizations.
Steam is the third solvent in point of power-after
which comes hot and warm water; and the hotter the
water the greater is its disintegrating power-thus
showing that its power as a solvent depends mostly
upon heat, and comparatively little upon water itself.. Strong acids actindirectly as solvents-the oxygen
is held to their base by very weak affinities-by reason
of its excess-and is more powerfully attracted by
other substances with which the acids come in contact.
Carloric only when in excess, and steam, have a
direct tendency to disintegrate and dissolve substances
and compounds; while the vital element and the oxygen in water and strong acids, tend to do so by
counter action, by reason of a stronger affinity for
some of the elements of the compound, than its atoms
have for each other.
The vital element dissolves animal and vegetable
compounds, to fit them for, and form their elements




88         VITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, AND
into new organisms. The chemical affinities have no
such power. The action of caloric and steam, in permeating and destroying the texture of animal and vegetable substances, is not a chemical process, but a
process which belonos to the domain of physics,
rather than to that of chemistry.
Digestion, assimilation and nutrition.
Digestion, assimilation, and nutrition, are all vital
processes, and very different from chemical processes.
Digestion destroys the texture of food, dissolves it, and
reduces it to a pulpy mass; assimilation selects and
secrets the parts fit for chyle and blood-and rejects
the feculent matter; while nutrition appropriates and
forms first into blood, and finally into tissues of the
system, and into nervous matter, the parts fit for such
purposes.
The vital process of digestion operates in direct
opposition to the chemical affinities, for it dissolves,
while they tend to unite and hold together —and it
effects the dissolution of food in from two to four
hours, which could be dissolved by the slow process of
fermentation and putrefaction, only in as many weeks,
and in some instances in as many months.
Salt, vinegar, pepper, and other condiments, and
alcoholic liquors, all tend to preserve meats and vegetable substances from  putrefaction and decay; but
when they are taken into the stomach'in moderate
quantities with food, they stimulate the action of the
stomach-and instead of resisting the dissolution of
food, they aid and promote it, by stimulating vital action
and the digestive powers.
These illustrations show the differences between
vital processes and chemical processes. They serve
to show that neither animal nor vegetable organisms
could exist, without agencies very different from the
chemical and ordinary physical processes of nature.
They also furnish as satisfactory evidence of the existence in nature, of an organizing vital element, which




MATERIALISM COMPARED.             89
is the constructor and supporter of living organisms
-as human consciousness and mental actionfurnish
of the existence of a soul or intellect, distinct from,
but mysteriously blended with the material organism
of man. The evidence of each is of a similar character; and the existence of each is denied by one of
the schools of materialists.
Materialism.
The materialists of the chemico-mechanical
school, assume, without proof, and contrary to reason
and all the evidence we have upon the subject, that
life and intellect are the results and effects of the organization of the animal system, and have no other
cause. But the question may be asked, what causes
and maintains such organization? It is very certain
that chemical affinities and forces can never form organizations adapted to the phenomena of life, growth
and development; that though a certain amount of
heat is necessary to support life, and animal and vegetable growth, yet it is of itself a solvent, and when in
excess, it is a destroying element, and never an organizing agent; and that there is in nature no element or
force, known to the chemist, which is capable of
acting as an organizing agent, with power to operate
upon and form inanimate matter into living organisms.
Hence the real question is, what forms and maintains
animal and vegetable organizations  And the further
and still more difficult question arises-if life and its
fiunctions and powers arise from the mere organization
of inanimate matter, can consciousness, knowledge and
thought be mere results of any combination or organization of the elements of matter, not having in them
the inherent properties and powers of intelligence? Is
it not absurd to suppose that the mere chemical or
physical action of elements of matter, not having in
any of them the inherent properties of intelligence, can
secrete or produce conception or consciousness, knowledge or thought?




90         VITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, AND
Views of Dr. Henry Afaudsley, of London.
In his article on the Theory of Vitality, Dr.
Maudsley says:
" The direct denial of a special vital force has been the
natural reaction against that dogmatism which assumed a
vital principle that was self-generafing, did anything it
liked, and was not amenable to investigation. That any
force should be self-generating in inexhaustible quantity, is
really an inconceiveable supposition."
Comments.
Dr. Maudsley entirely misconceives the rational
theory of a vital element. No intelligent, clear-headed
thinker ever conceived that any power except a Supreme intelligent Being, could generate the elements
of matter, or increase the quantity of matter or spirit
in existence.  The true theory of a vital element does
not assume, nor imply that it is a selfagenerating element, principle or force; for such an assumption
would be truly absurd; but it does assume, that there
is, in the material world, an imponderable element of
matter, known to man only by its effects; that it may
be in some respects similar to caloric, but much less
mobile and abundant-having its own peculiar properties, by which it acts as an organizing agent; and
by reason of its limited quantity and gentle action, is
not perceptible to the senses, as caloric is. Its existence must be determined, like that of intellect, by human reason, from its effects.
Again, Dr. Maudsley says:
"An effect need not at all resemble in properties its
cause. The qualities of a chemical compound are quite different from those of its constituents. Such a complex compound as organic matter really is, may be expected, therefore, to exhibit peculiar properties, in no way resembling
those of its constituent elements, or those of'simple compounds."
Comments.
The proposition of Dr. Maudsley is an assump




MATERIALISM COMPARED.                91
tion which seems to me without any foundation in
truth. Is it not impossible in the nature of things, for
a combination of various elements to have properties
and powers not possessed by any of them-rbut
different from all of them?   The chemical elements
formning the substance of animal and vegetable organisms, are ponderable, and constantly gravitating towards the earth. If there be no vital organizing
principle, what is it that resists the power of gravitation, carries the sap upwards in plants and trees, an d
carries the blood upwards, as well as horizonttally and
downwards, in living animals?
In his third lecture on body and mind, Dr. Maudsley says:
" I know not why the power which created matter and
its properties should be thought notto have endowed it with
the functions, of reason, feeling and will-seeing that whether
we discover it to be so endowed or not, the mystery is equally
incomprehensible to us, equally simple and easy to the
Power which created matter and its properties."
In his article on the limits of Philosophical Inquiry, Dr. Matudsley says:
"The spiritualist may deny God the power to make matter think-but the materialist need not deny the existence of
God, because he holds that matter may be capable of thought.
Multitudes may logically believe that mind is inselerab!e
from body, in life or death —that it is born with it, grows,
ripens, decays, and dies with it-without disbelieving in a
great and inteligent Power, who has called man into being,
and ordained the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser
light to rule the night."
Comments.
Sulch are the confused, inconsistent, and conflicting views of one of the most distinguished materialists
of the age. If it be impossible for the mind of,nan
to exist as a spirit, separate from  the body-it seems
to follow that it is equally impossible for a Supreme
Being to exist as a Spirit, and without a material organization-and mi terialism sinks to pure atheism.
Again Dr. Maudsley says:




92         VITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, AND
"In the assertion that mind is altogether a fuinction of
matter, there is no more irreverence than in asserting that
matter is the realization of mind; * * * To those who
cannot conceive that any organization of matter, however
complex, should be capable of such exalltedtunctions as those
called mental, is it really more conceiveable that any organization of matter can be the mechanical instrument of the
complex manifestations of an immaterial mind? Is it not
as easy for an omnipitent power to endow matter with mental
functions, as it is to create an immaterialentity, capable of accomplishing them through matter?"
Comments.
Such are the straits to which that class of materialists are driven, who wish to have it understood that
they do not deny the existence of a Supreme Being.
They find it impossible to account for the mental functions of inan,without either admitting that there is an intelitgent spiritual substance, mysteriously blended with the
nerve centres of the brain, or, assuming that God has
endowed gross matter with mental functions; and to
avoid admitting the former, they assume the latter.
The finctions of mind comprise sensation and feeling,
perception and consciousness, understanding and judgment, reflection and thought. Does the learned Dr.
Maudsley mean to affirm that the elements of matter
of which animal as well as human bodies are formed,
are endowed with properties and qualities capable of
producing mental functions? If so, as plants and animals are formed of the same material elements as
man, all living plants and trees must have sensation
and feeling, and some, if not all, the ordinary mental
functions of animals-which no rational man can suppose.
Matter is often at rest. All the action of' matter
arises from what we term the affinities of one element
for other elements of the material world-or from the
tendencies of gravitation-which is only another name
for the same thing. But much of the action of mind
arises from  a tendency to action; some of it arises
from its knowledge-some from a spirit of inquiry, to




MATERIALISM COMPARED.            93
search after information; and some from mental passions, of various kinds. These are causes of action
entirely different from those that move inanimate matter.
Even the power of the Supreme Being must be
limited by what we may term the logical rules of consistency. God cannot make an incongruous system,
having parts inconsistent with each other, work harmoniously; and hence it would be impossible for the
Deity to endow the same elements of matter with
chemical affinities, and the attraction of gravitation,
and also with the inconsistent properties and powers
which produce living organisms, and mental action,
and make them work together. To endow different
elements of matter and spirit with different properties
and powers-giving to each properties to adapt it to
fill a place, ana cooperate with other elements in producing certain action, seems to have been the policy
and method adopted by the Deity to accomplish his
purposes. We have a great variety of elements of
matter, of which chemists enume'ate over sixty that
are ponderable —beside caloric and electricity that are
imponderable; to which may be added the vital elemnent, and an intelligent -substance we call spirit —
which is the basis of mind and the mental functions —
each of which large number of distinct substances has
properties and powers peculiar to itself-that adapt it
to cooperate with other substances, in producing the
various phenomena of the vegetable and animal creations-and of the natural and spiritual worlds.
The position of Dr. Maudsly is, that intellect and
all its powers and faculties, are functions of matter in
an organized state; that God has endowed the matter
know.n to the chemist, of which the human body is
composed, with the functions of intellect; and that
such functions accompany organization-at the same
time, he virtually admits, that it is impossible to conceive how matter can have the functions of intellect,
unless God has "endowed it with the functions of
reason,feeling and will."  Considering the fact that




94         VITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, ETC.
the phenomena of nature are produced by the action
and cooperation of more than sixty distinct elements of
matter, each having properties and powers peculiar to
itself, and that the human body is composed of more
than a dozen of those elements, is it not more in accordance with reason, as well as with the analogy -of
all God's works, to suppose that he has added to the
human brain a distinct spiritual substance or entity,
endowed with the functions of perception and knowledge, reason and will, than to suppose that he has added such properties and functions to one.or more ofthe
common elements of the material world, known to the
chemist?
For any one who can form  any conceptions of a
Supreme Being, it is easy to form pretty clear conceptions of the existence of the human intellect as a spiritual substance, added to, but in some mneasure independent of the brain. His consciousness of the action
of hlis own intellect will furnish to him int,~itions and
knowledge, that it acts, to some extent, independently
of the body, and of the impressions and influences it
receives through the senses. But it is impossible for
me to conceive the possibility of God's endowing
the material elements of this earth,with such incongruous properties, forces, and faculties, as the chemical affinities and universal attraction-perception and knowledge-reason and will-and make them work harmoniously together. One property of an element of matter so constituted, would act counter to another, and
neutralize its action, or produce conflict and confusion.
Tile same course of reasoning applies to vital action; which conflicts at every step of its process, with
both chemical action and gravitation. It is impossible to conceive how the same elements of matter which
are endowed with, and governed by chemical affinities
and the attraction of gravitation, can perform the conflicting functions of vital action: and it is equally difficult to conceive, how the vital functions could be performed by such elements as caloric, or electricitywhich have certain affinities of a peculiar kind, but no




VITALISM, SPIRITUALISM, ETC.          95
such steady affinities and constant and gentle action, as
are necessary to produce and maintain animal and vegetable organisms-which are adapted to act as stimulants and disentegrating forces, but not as organizing
agents.
Some admit that there is a vital principle or element in nature, who deny the existence of ah intellectual principle; while most materialists deny both. Organization and organs are.manifestations and instruments-not the causes of life and intellect. The action
of the living principle forms ant supports the organs
of life; and the action of the mind tends to develop
and enlarge the brain, and to increase its convolutions.
The elements of life and intellect precede: organization
and living organs, as well as accompany them. The
manifestations and functions of the former are not mere
results and effects of the latter-as is erroneously assuimed by the Maudsley school of materialists. Such
are my conclusions, which are submitted to the consideration of inquirers after truth.




CHAPTER X..CREATION-THE NEBULAR STATE —THE CHEMICAL
AND FORMATIVE PROCESSES OF NATURE-SPONTANEOUS GENERATION —AND MAN.
Hitherto I have advanced step by step upon pretty firm foundations; and though much of my reasoning is based upon assumed truths and theories, which
are the mere inferences and deductions of hum,n reason; yet they are only assumned truths relating to causes of action and effects, that could not be produced
without causes —and theories of causes of processes
which could not exist without causes and modes of action; and the results and conclusions arrived at, are so
completely in harmony with the phenomena of nature;
that the whole seems to my mind, like a close approximation to absolute truth. The assumptions have been
made; and the theories adopted, to account for hidden
causes, where it is absolutely necessary to make
some assumptions, and to adopt some theories, as a
basis of reasoning, to account for natural phenomena.
I have adopted one set of theories, while other reasoners have adopted other sets, in classes of cases where
theories of some kind, are indispensable, and it is impossible to reason without them. But to look back
and attempt to speculate in relation to the condition of
the Universe in the early stages of creation,and to inquire
into the formative process of our solar system, and of
the earth and its crust, the inquirer, previous to the development of chemical and geological science, had very
slender materials, upon which to form a hypothesisand all his inquiries and reasoning were like groping
in utter darkness.
To prosecute such inquiries at the present day,




THE CREATION.                97
with the aid of the light thrown upon the subject by
Chemistry and Geology, natural history and physics,
is like groping in twilight. We have now much light
and knowledge upon which to form theories of the formative processes of creation and nature; but our
knowledge is too limited and imperfect to form them
and to reason with much assurance of accuracy, or
even approximation to accuracy; and yet the human
mind, thirsting after knowledge, is not satisfied without making efforts to inquire into such subjects.
For many centuries, and until a comparatively recent period, the whole christian world believed in the
literal interpretation of the account of creation, contained in the book of Genesis-that God created the
heavens and the earth, by a mere fiat of his will, and
called the sun into existence by simply declaring, Let
there be light. (when the sun came instantaneously into existence,) and there was light. Very few educated, intelligent christians, at this day, believe in a literal interpretation of the Scriptural account of the creation, in six days.
We do not know, and cannot know, the extent of
God's power, nor the mode in which he exercises his
creative and conservative powers; and we would not
presume to assign limits to his power; but
whatever may be his power, to call into existence instantaneously, vast systems of worlds in perfect
form and working order, fitted for action, like our solar systcm, and fitted for the abode of animals and intelligent beings, like man, it is very certain that he has
not done so. On the contrary, all the facts of geology
and natural history attest, that after a crust was form-'ed over the surface of the earth, the formative process
was going on for ages and thousands of years, before
it was fitted for land animals, or animals of any kind,
bzt fish and marine animals; and that still farther ages
and thousands of years elapsed, before the earth and
its atmosphere were fitted for the production of grasses
and grains, and for the abode of mammals and other
warm bloooded animals, and man.
7




98               THE CREATION.
Whatever power the Divine Mind may have to
call things into existence by the fiat of his will, it is
very certain that he does not usually exercise such
power; unless it be by the creation of simple elements
of matter, and their appropriate properties and forces.
It is equally certain that he acts mostly by and through
the agency of the forces of nature,.as secondary causes
and means of developing gradually, and perfecting the
universe and the crust of our earth and its atmosphere,
and fitting them for the support of animal and vegetable life, and of man.
Some have supposed that at an early period in
the history of creation, the elements of matter now
composing the universe, were diffused through space,
in an attenuated, confused, and unformed state —like
nebulae; and hence the formation of a theory of creation, known as the nebular theory. That is all speculative, in some measure uncertain, and beyond the domain of human knowledge; and yet there is reason to
believe, that the matter forming our solar system and
the universe, was once greatly dispersed and diffused
through space, in a chaotic, uncombined, and unformed state; that the sun and the earth, the planets and
other heavenly bodies, each and all occupied five or
ten, and perhaps an hundred times as much space as
they do at the present day; that not only the sun, but
also the earth and the planets, were destitute of any
crust on their surface, and had no solid parts-that
even water was not yet formed, and atmospheric air,
in its present state of purity and separation fiom other
elements of matter, did not exist. The elements were
diffused through each other in a state of chaos-or
such was probably the condition of the universe.
The action of caloric, electricity, and the force of
universal attraction, gave the elements of matter,when
in their original gaseous state, a tendency to action,and
the Divine Mind probably gave direction to their action, and gave them a circular motion-all in nearly
the same - direction-to harmonize their movementsand produce systems of worlds, moving harmoniously




THE CREATION.                9p
in the regions of space. When nuclei were once formed as centres of motion, one large central nucleus and
numerous smaller ones around it, the tendency was to
move in circles around the great central orb, which
was the centre of attraction, each attracting and drawing to itself the particles and small collections of atoms
which came within its influence; and thus they increased in size and influence, and became suns and
planets, or satelites-the two latter classes gradually
becoming regular in their movements around the former, as their central sun-and each and all becoming
more and more compact, by means of their motion on
their axes, and the formative action of universal attraction and the chemical affinities,whereby a crust was
gradually formed upon the surface of the earth,and upon
many of the planets also, as is believed by. astronomers.
There is not caloric in our solar system sufficient
to produce much heat, while the earth, sun, and planets, or the elements of matter now composing them,
were in a gaseous or very attenuated condition, diffused through five, ten, or twenty times as much space as
they now occupy. The nuclei which eventually formed the earth and planets, must have been at first in
their attenuated condition, very cold-too cold for
chemical affinities to act with much force, if at all.
Chemical action, and chemical combinations, will not
go on, when either the excess or the deficiency of caloric is very great; when matter is in a fluid or gaseous state from excess of heat, or in a congealed state
from an almost entire want of caloric. But as the
globe became more and more compact, and the caloric
which it contained was collected within a smaller
compass, it became warmer, the chemical affinities
acted with more force, and formed the chemical combinations constituting acids and oxyds, salts and metallic ores, earths and rocks, which form the crust of the
earth, and also water.
As nitrogen is one of the lightest elements of the
material world, and enters into very few chemical combinationsother than animal and vegetable organisms, it




100             THE CREATION.
was carried to and left to float upon the surface of the
earth-forming over three-fourths of the atmosphere.
Oxygen is the most abundant element in nature.
It enters into more chemical combinations than any
other substance, and after combining with all the metals and bases of earths, in such proportions as its omniverous affinities required, and combining with and
swallowing up,in forming water,all the hydrogen which
came within its influence, the surplus remaining —
being lighter than any of its compounds, very naturally rose to the surface of the earth,and floated upon fhe
surface, in a state of mixture with nitrogen and carbonic acid gas, forming the atmosphere.
Carbon also, being lighter than most other substances, floated on the surface of the earth, combined
with such proportion of oxygen as would unite with
it —forming carbonic acid gas-which vitiated the atmosphere, and rendered it unfit for the respiration of
man, or the higher order of animals, but extremely
well adapted to produce and support a luxurious vegetation. The quantity of carbon, however, being comparatively small, it was eventually mostly absorbed
and appropriated by vegetable organisms.
When the chemical and formative processes of
nature had proceeded so far as to contract the nucleus
forming the earth to nearly its present size, to form a
firm crust of earth and rocks over its surtace, and to
form large bodies of water covering the most of it,
and an atmosphere was collected around it,
it was fitted for the reception of both animal and vegetable life, of the coarser forms; but the atmosphere at
first contained great quantities of carbonic acid gasquite too much to be fit for the respiration of man or
any of the higher orders of animals —until the development of vegetation, knd the growth of vast forests,
had consumed the excess of carbonic acid gas, and
thus purified the atmosphere.
The crust of the earth must have been at first thin
— only a few hundred feet thick; chemical action was
going on in the interior, new chemical compounds




THE EARTH S CRUST.            IO1
were forming, and the formative processes of nature
were going on, solidifying the gases andfliquid matter,
immediately under the crust of the earth, and increasing its thickness. As the formative process went on,
and the gases under the earth's crust were gradually
from age to age, formed into fluids, and converted into
salts and metallic ores, earths and rocks, and
the crust of the earth increased in thickness, the
chemical compounds of earth and other substances,
occupied less space than the gases out of which they
were formed, and left something like a vacuum immediately under the crust; some portion of the crust settled down, and fell in, from time to time, leaving other,
more solid portions, in their former places; whereby hills and mountains, plains an i valleys, were formed, and also great gorges and gulfs, into which the
waters settled-forming permanent oceans; and by
draining off the waters from large districts of territory,
extensive plains, and gently undulating countries were
also formed.
Before the formation of the earth's crust, water was
formed and floatedin the gases near the surface of the
globe, in the attenuated form of clouds and vapors, but
not in the condensed form of a fluid. Watercould not exist in the condensed form of a fluid,until a crust of earth
was4formed upon the surface of the globe,to sustain it;
and large bodies of water could not exist, until the
earth's crust had attained a considerable degree of
thickness and strength.
The subsidences, upheavals, and breaking up of the
earth's crust.
When the earth's crust was so thin that the weight
of the water accumulated upon it, occasionally broke
through where it was the thinest, and the water deepest and heaviest, the water must have poured into
the breach in enormous quantities-and coming into
contact with the igneous mass of earths and metals in
a fluid state, it was suddenly converted into steam, and




I02           THE EARTH'S CRUST.
so expanded as to produce a terrible and wide-spread
convulsion and upheaval of the crust, raising up large
portions of the surface of the earth, and breaking up
millions of square miles of the crust. As the igneous
mass thrown to the surface cooled down into rocks and
earths, and the steam was condensed again into water,
the broken fragments of rock gradually settled down
with the earth and mud into the water, and filled the
breaches in the crust.
Such a volume of water flowing throagh the crust
of the earth when a breach was made in it,and coming
into contact with the igneous mass of earth and metalic
bases of the interior of the globe, would absorb a prodigious amount of caloric before it could be converted
into steam. The process would cool the igneous mass
to a considerable depth, harden it, and it would be
added to the interior of the earth's crust, and form a
part of the crust; and the melted matter thrown out
by the convulsion would cool upon the surface,
and add to the external side of the crust-whereby
the crust of the earth would be thickened on both its
external and internal sides.
The first effect of every such convulsion was, to
raise large districts of country into mountain ridges
and lofty peaks, high hills and elevated table-lands-to
elevate adjacent districts into plains gradually sloping
towards the sea-and to sink other districts and the
bottom of the sea, to levels much lower than they formerly occupied; but eventually the whole settled down
to lower levels than they occupied before the convulsion, and the diameter and dimensions of the globe
were permanently contracted.
As the chemical combinations and formative processes of nature went on, and the interior of the earth
next to its crust gradually shrunk in dimensions, geology furnishes abundant evidence that the crust cracked
and broke, and settled down in large districts, and the
diameter of the earth contracted, at several different
periods-sinking the ocean at each subsidence to greater depths, leaving the mountains at greater elevations




THE EARTH'S CRUST.            I03
above the sea, and making greater and greater inequalities in the earth's surface.
The new chemical combinations constantly pressed out from between the atoms of matter forming the
gases, and evolved caloric, and increased the concentration of caloric in the interior of the earth, in the
immediate vicinity of such chemical combinationsso that the interior of the earth grew hotter as it contracted in size, front the time the first thin crust was
formed on its surface, until the whole mass was converted from a gaseous to a fluid state, and the elements
were all formed into such states of combination, that
no extensive new chemical combinations were, or
could he formed. The earth then ceased to contract
any more, and assumed a constant temperature, and a
settled and permanent condition, nearly stationary —
though interrupted occasionally by earthquakes-by
the sea breaking through some weak and defective
place in the earth's crust, or through some fault or
crevice in the rocks, the water coming into contact
with the igneous melted matter of the interior —being
expanded and converted into steam-and producing
great convulsions of the crust of the earth.
The earth's crust was at first thinly spread over
the accumulated gases of the interior. Perhaps
the first formation of a crust may have been only a
few hundred feet thick; and as the processes of chemcal combination and formation of earths and rocks were
going on immediately under the crust, and pressing
out from the gases, and setting free the greater part of
the caloric held by them; and as the sun's power of
attraction was operating by day, and constantly operating upon one side or the other of the earth, drawing
caloric from the interior to the surface and into the atmospere, the temperature at the surface of the earth
must have been very great-very much higher than
the temperature of the torrid zone at the present day:
and hence the production of the monstrous animals of
both sea and land —and the production also of the immense amount of vegetation, and the vast forests of




104           THE EARTH S CRUST.
wood and timber, which were subsequently formed
into the coal fields of the earth.
When, by means of chemical action, a vast
amount of the gases of the interior were converted
into liquid igneous matter, earth and rock, the gases
became more rarefied and something approximating
to a vacuum was formed, the great weight of the crust,
and of the waters and atmosphere, pressing upon it,
eventually settled it down, cracked it, and broke it up
in many places, and the immense trees and forests
growing upon its surface, sank down into the liquid
fire, were charred, partially tburned, mixed with sulphur, hydrogen, and earthy matters, and converted
into beds of fossil coal, for the present and future use
of man.
The process of settling down and breaking up
the crust of the earth was performed several timesas is shown by the numerous layers of coal, and fossil
remains of shell fish and extinct animals, one above
another, in many places; and at each great convulsion
the great bodies of water forming the oceans and
seas, sank deeper and deeper into the bowels of the
earth,the waters were drained off from large districts of
the earth's surface, leaving extensive plains, hills, and
valleys above the sea,, which had been previously covered; and leaving the mountains at still higher elevations above the ocean.
Each of the great convulsions, when the earth's
crust was broken up over a large portion of its surface,
formed an era in geological history; and the time
which elapsed between each two of those eras, constitutes what is known as a geological period. The temperature of the earth's surface grew cooler and cooler,
at each succssive period, as its crust grew thicker, and
the surface and atmosphere were farther removed from
the liquid fire of the interior.
Eventually the gases of the interior were all formed into chemical combinations, and into solids and
liquids, or at least all those near the crust of the earth
were so formed, and the crust became sufficiently thick




THE EARTH'S CRUST.            I05
and strong to support the incumbent weight of oceans
several miles in depth, and of ranges of mountains
many miles in height; the temperature of the earth's
surface became constant, and nearly the same at the
same seasons of the year; and~the surface of the earth
and its atmosphere was fitted for'the abode of the
higher grades of animals-of mammals, and of man.
When the crust of the earth was first formed, its
surface was probably nearly level, and at nearly equal
distances from the centre of the globe-presenting no..such inequalities of mountains, plains, and valleys, as
now exist.
For the purposes of illustration,let us suppose that
as chemical combinations, and the solidifying processes
of nature went on, and the earth s crust was thickened
from the under side, vacuums, or large spaces of more
attenuated gases, must have been made immediately
under the crust-by reason of which the crust, pressed
by oceans of water above it, settled down at various
times, and crevices were formed —through' which the
sea flowed in,and the conversion of the Water into steam,
caused great convulsions and upheavals, after each of
which the whole crust of the earth settled down again,
filled up the vacuums below,and then became quiet; and
that all the shrinkage of the globe and the settlings of its
crust from the first formation of a'crust until the present time, has been equal to ten miles on each side —
whereby its diameter has been diminished twenty
miles —as the highest peaks of the Himalaya mountains are only about five and a half miles above the
level of the sea-if my supposition be correct, those
peaks have actually settled down below their original
places upon the earth's crust, about four and ahalf miles;
other mountains have settled from five to nine miles and
upwards; the level of the sea has settled ten miles; and
the bottom of the sea has settled from ten and a half to
perhaps twenty miles.
As the beds of the oceans and the softer parts of
the earth's crust must have settled more at each subsidence and convulsion than the' more solid rocky por



Io06          THE EARTH'S CRUST.
tions, forming the mountains, the subsidence of the
ocean at each of several great convulsions, left millions
of square miles of dry land, which had been previously
covered by the sea. The valleys of rivers and of
mountain streams, as Wvell as those across plains, were
first formed by the running off of the waters at the
subsidence of the sea, after great convulsions had
taken place; but the valleys as well as the beds of
the streams, have been gradually worn down by the
running off of the waters which have fallen upon the
earth in rains and snows, during thousands of years.
The gorges through ranges of mountains commenced
in faults, fissures, or crevices of the rocks, or at the
time of great convulsions-before the rocks had settled
down into a compact and solid state, and when there
were crevices or comparatively soft earthy matter in
them, through which the water penetrated, wpre away
the earth or soft rock, and gradually formed for itself
a channel. When the rocks were sufficiently compact
and solid to withstand the influence of the water, they
dammed it up, and formed lakes or inland seas.
Seams or veins of metallic ores and of quartz rock,
volcanoes, and earthquakes.
The seams or veins of metallic ores of various
kinds, and of quartz rock, from one-fourth of an inch
to several feet in width, which are found in feldspar
and other rocks, were probably nijected in a liquid
form, from below, through crevices in the rocks, opened by great convulsions of the earth-by reason of the
breaking through of some portion of the bottom of the
ocean, immense quantities of water flowing in, and its
sudden conversion into steam. We know of no power
in nature, other than steam, which could produce such
results. Volcanic eruptions are mostly confined to
pouring forth melted lava, ashes, and cinders; and
never produce any such eflects. Earthquakes usually
occur near the sea or great rivers, and there is reason




THE EARTH'S CRUST.            I07
to believe that they are caused by the expansive power
of steam-by water running through crevices in rocks,
and coming into contact with such a degree of heat,
that it is converted into steam. The action of the Geysers, of the valley of the Yellow Stone, and other
countries, which throw hot water high into the air, is
probably caused by the power of steam, formed in the
interior of the earth, by water coming into contact
with igneous matter of some kind.
Prof. Dana's account of volcanoes, in his Manual
of Geology, makes the whole number in the islands
and on the continents of the earth, about four hundred
-but their action is- very generally quite harmless,
when compared with that of earthquakes. They have
produced no great changes in the condition of the
earth.
The action of volcanoes, as well as that of earthquakes, probably arises from the expansive power of
steam-the former operating in most cases slowly and
moderately, because confined within a narrow sphere,
when compared with the latter-which generally produce their shocks quickly and violently, and often act
along a long line, hundreds of miles in extent. Earthquakes act much like the explosive compounds of gunpowder, and gun-cotton.
Atmospheric vapors and clouds are always filled
with electricity-which produces thunder, when accompanied with wind, and sufficient caloric-but not
otherwise. It seldom thunders in cold weather. There
is no reason to doubt that steam contains as much caloric as atmospheric vapor does, when the latter is the
most intensely heated. Hence we may reasonably
conclude, that caloric and electricity constitute the active forces of steam, and also of gunpowder, and guncotton. The elements forming water, and such compounds as gunpowder and gun-cotton, have no such
forces or power until ignited, and permeated by caloric
or electricity, which seems to be always accompanied
by caloric.




Io8               PIKE'S PEAK.
JpheavaZs at and near Pike's Peak.
Pike's Peak and the vicinity, and many other
places in the Rocky Mountains, furnish evidences of
the sudden upheaval and breaking up of the crust
of the earth. The top of Pike's Peak is elevated
more than 14,ooo feet above the level of the sea, and
more than 8,ooo feet above the edge of the great plain
at the foot of the mountain, ten miles distant.  The
upper 3,000 feet is very steep, and there are but few
places where it is practicable for even healthy and vigorous persons to toil up its steep ascents, and climb over
the fragments of rock which have crumbled off from
its rim, and fallen down upon its sides. In several
places the gorges in its sides are nearly perpendicular
from the top down, a distance of perhaps 2,000 feet or
more. The top presents a surface nearly level, but
slightly crowning in the centre, comprising an area of
60 to 80 acres, covered with fragments of a reddish
granite, weighing from an ounce to several tons, with
scarcely a square foot of sand, gravel, or earth of any
kind. The rocks and stones have straight sides, slablike, and square or sharp corners-presenting the appearance of having been broken up by some great and
sudden convulsion, and showing no signs of having
been water worn-having no such rounded sides and
edges as the water worn boulders and stones of the
beds of streams, plains, and valleys, usually have. The
gorges in the sides indicate that the whole Peak (with
the exception of the broken fragments upon the top
and sides),consists of one vast solid mass of granite,
for thousands of feet in deptli.
The air of the upper part of the mountain is so attenuated and light, and the ascent so steep and laborious,
that it tries to the utmost the lungs and the brain, as well
as the heart and the muscle. None but well and strong
persons should make the attempt to ascend to the top,
in the present condition of the mountain; without
even a foot-path,near the top. The time will come when
a mule path, and also a carriage road will be made to




PIKE S PEAK.              IO9
the top, and thousands of persons will then ascend the
Peak, every summer. I stood upon the top about an
hour, in mid-day, on the I3th of September, I872,
when the sun was shining brightly, and the air was
clear and pure-had a view of the main ridge of the
Rocky Mountains, with its snow capped peaks, from
Long's Peak, to the peaks of Northern New Mexico —
a distance of more than zoo miles-and looked down
upon the great plains at the foot of the mountains
upon the one side, and upon the famous South Park
upon the other. There were in view more than fifty
peaks, of less magnitude and elevation, raised from
8,ooo to I2,000 feet above the level of the ocean, and
from I,ooo to 6,o000 feet above the adjacent plains, valleys, and gorges of the mountains. The view was
one of the grandest and most extensive which the eye
of man ever beheld. The great gorge upon the eastern side of the Peak was filled with snow, but there
was no snow upon the top.
The eastern side of the mountain, where I ascended, several miles from the top, is, in some places, covered with boulders, many of them of enormous size,
which would weigh hundreds of tons, and some perhaps thousands of tons; and in one place there is a
large bridge of rock over a ravine and brook. Though
the atmosphere and frosts, rains and snows, during
ages and thousands of years, have produced some impression upon the surface of the rocks, they present no
appearance of being water worn; and it is difficult to
conceive, how such a Peak, and the boulders upon its
top and sides, could have been formed, except by a.
great convulsion, which raised suddenly andl broke up
the earth's crust, and raised the igneous rocks which
form the Peak and its sides and boulders, and broke
them in pieces; and when the waters had washed
away the loose earth, sand, and gravel, that was raised
with them, they assumed very nearly the appearance
and condition which they now present. Time and the
elements gradually produced some disintegration of
the softer parts of the surface of the rocks, and con



I I10        GARDEN OF THE GODS.
verted them into soil, upon which grass and trees have
grown, covering in many places the sides of the mountain, to an elevation of about Io,ooo feet above the
ocean-but they have produced very little effect upon
the top of the Peak.
Upon the sides of a gorge in one of the foot-hills
of the mountain, between the celebrated Colorado soda
springs, and the place known as the Garden of the
Gods, there are visible more than fifty alternate layers
of red sandstone, and feldspar and soda rock, generally
from one to two feet each in thickness, lying one above
another-having a pitch of not more than 15 or 20o degreys.
The place called the Garden of the Gods is situated on the plain, near the foot of the mountain-the
top of which bears the name of Pike's Peak. It presents to the view several large rocks, seeming to stand
up on their edges, rising out of the plain from ioo to
200 feet or more in height, and from one hundred to
several hundred feet in length-with a breadth of from
50 to perhaps xoo feet. Some of them are composed
of sandstone, and some of clay and soda rock. The
tops in some places present such fantastic forms, that,
looking at them from a short distance, it requires no
great.stretch of the imagination to see in them the
forms of animals and angels, Gods or demons-and
hence the place derived its name.
In the Garden of the Gods, at Glen Eyrie near it,
and along the plain near the foot of the mountains
within twenty miles north of it, there are numerous
columnar and other rocks-rising perpendicularly
above the plain to considerable heights, and presenting
to a distant view, appearances very similar to the ruins
of ancient temples, castles, and fortifications. There
is upon the ridge of a foot-hill, near the Garden of the
Gods, a long line of rocks, standing up perpendicularly like slabs or combs above the earth, on each side of
them. There are also upon the tops of two parallel foot-hills, a few miles north-easterly from Golden,
and about 15 to 20 miles north-westerly from Denver,




CLEAR CREEK CANYON.            I X I
two similar parallel lines of rock, standing up perpendicularly, and forming the culminating points of each
of the ridges, as they slope down from the mountain
to the plain. The two parallel lines of rocks upon
each ridge,look, in the distance from the railroad, very
much like the parallel rails of a railway-except that
they appear farther apart.
When we inquire into the causes which produced
such rocks and phenomena, they appear truly wonderful, as well as curious. What other than a sudden upheaval and breaking up of the earth's crust, could
have set such rocks up on their edges, and raised or
formed such an immense mass of rock as Pike's Peak?
Does nature possess any power but steam, which
could produce such wonderful effects?
The great gorge or canyon of Clear Creek, in Colorado Territory, where it cuts through the eastern
ridge of the Rocky Mountains, is one of the wonders
of the world-exceeded only by the famous Yosemite
valley, the valley of the Tuolumne river, in the State of
California, and some portions, perhaps, of the great
Colorado river. Clear creek has cut through the rocks,
very generally a thousand feet or more in depth, and
formed a channel only just wide enough for the stream
-often leaving not space enough at the foot of the
rocks, on either side, for a mule path. The bed for the
narrow gauge railroad, which has been recently made
through it, was formed much of the way, for about ten
miles, by blasting the solid rocks at the side of the
stream-leaving many points of rock hanging over the
road. Numerous veins of quartz rock, often from two
to five feet in width, are presented to the view of the
traveller; and every mile of the way presents-evidences
of the upheaval and breaking up of the-carth's crust,
at some remote period of the world's history.- The
canyon and its surroundings present wonderful views
for the study of the geologist and the physicist —-to
speculate upon and inquire, how and when such wonderful effects and scenery were produced?




I 12       SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.
Spontaneous action of matter, and spontaneous combustion.
Chemical action is caused by the affinities of two or
more elements of matter coming in contact, or within
the reach of each other's influence-when they unite
and form a compound. Chemical action is properly
called spontaneous action-because it is produced by
the properties and natural affinities for each other, of
certain elements of matter-acting without external influences, or artificial means.
Chemical action, by forming new combinations of
elements of matter, generally develops and sets free
considerable quantities of caloric, which often produces
combustion, when it comes in contact with combustible materials which are extremely volatile, or very dry.
Combustion produced by chemical action without friction or the application of fire, is called spontaneous
combustion.
When water is poured upon unslacked lime, it is
rapidly absorbed by the lime, which causes violent
chemical action, developing steam and caloric in such
quantities as to ignite combustible materials in contact
with the lime, or very near it. This is one of the most
familiar ctses of spontaneous combustion.
Cloths, and particularly cotton cloths, saturated
with oil and turpentine, paints and varnish, sometimes
produce such chemical action as to cause spontaneous
combustion, and burn paint shops and other buildings.
The waste and fine particles of cotton, tow, and
wool, in cotton, linen, andcwoolen factories, sometimes
become so saturated with oil, that after lying some
time in heaps, chemical action takes place, and causes
spontaneous combustion.
Many buildings have been burned very mysteriously, when the fire could not be accounted for upon
any principle but that of spontaneous combustion.
Bituminous coal, lying in heaps, is sometimes ignited by the caloric, developed by the decomposition of




SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.           I 13
the sulphuret of iron contained in the coal. Other
classes of cases are stated in the new American Cyclopedia, title-Combustion-Spontaneous, in volume V,
to which the attention of the reader is invited.
Fermentation is a term applied to spontaneous
changes which take place in the remains of animal
and vegetable organisms, when decomposition begins.
It is a calorific and chemical process, caused by caloric
and the action of the chemical affinities to form new
combinations, after caloric has commenced disintegrating and decomposing the organism. Caloric acts like
the yeast of the baker, and the ferment of the brewer,
to commence the process, before chemical action begins.
It is impossible to make vinegar without both heat
and ai:'. But put sweet cider or wine into a cask or
bottle, cork it up tight and make it impervious to air,
and put it in a cold place, and it will keep sweet any
length of time; but keep it where it is warm, and the action of caloric will cause it to expand, and throw out the
cork, or burst the cask or bottle. Such cases show the
agency of caloric in fermentation. In discussing the
causes and the process of fermentation as well as combustion, chemists have very generally overlooked the
agency of caloric-and hence they have been puzzled to account satisfactorily, for the causes of those
processes-and hence the differences of opinion, and
the various theories upon the subject.
Spontaneous generation, and the spontaneous production of vegetation
My observations, and my reading and study of
the experiments and reasoning of others, as well as
my own reasoning upon the subject, all lead to the
conclusion, that the vital principal in animals, and in
vegetable organisms, is an organizing element of nature,
-pervading the crust of the earth and the atmosphere,
as caloric and electricity do; and that it constitutes
8




I 14           PROF. LEWIS' VIEWS.
the seed, and nucleus of the germ, from which all animal and vegetable organisms have originated, by
means of its organizing power, cooperating with
other elements of nature, and with the more direct
agency of God, in giving such direction to its action
as to form types-and in superadding to the physical
organisms of man and the higher orders of animals, an
intellgent principle, adapted to their condition, wants,
and destiny.
It may be said, and objected to this view  of the
case, that it accords with the theory of spontaneous
generation.  But is that a sound objection?  We have
the spontaneous action of caloric and electricity-spontaneous chemical action-spontaneous combustionspoutaneous fermentation-spontaneous decomposition
of rocks and mineral compounds, as well as of animal
and vegetable substances, and the spontaneous formation
ot rocks and crystals, and of various earthy and mineral
compounds-and why not the spontaneous generation of
animals, and the spontaneous production of plants?
The following extracts from chapters XVI, XVII,
and XVIII, of a work on " The Six Days of Creation,"
by Prof. Tayler Lewis, of Union College, New York,
present the subject fairly, and throw much light upon
it. Prof. Lewis says:*
"Geology finds very ancient vegetable and animal remains, but gives us no light whatever on the questions,
whence they came, or how they commenced the origin of
their existence."
He quotes Ist Genesis, IIth and I2th: " And God said,
Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after its
kind, and the fruit tree yielding fruit whose seed is in itself,
after its kind, and it was so. And the earth brought forth,"
etc. Here (he says) are two distinct things-the going forth
of the Divine Omnific Word, as in the other creative periods,
and the productive power, energy, or energizing of the earth.
* * * The earth then was not a mere passive recipient,
nor was production by it a mere outward, unessential mode,
having no other than an arbitrary connection with the Di*Prof. Lewis is a Christian gentleman, who has a high order
of reasoning powers, and a high reputation as a Greek scholar,
and a man of learning. No one who knows him will charge him
with leaning towards materialism, in any form.




PROF. LEWrIS' VIEWS.                  I I5
vine working, or employed merely as an accompanying sign;
but the earth exerts a real causative power, and this becomes an
essential and important part in the chain of causation which
God saw fit to originate and establish. The Divine power was
exerted, but it was upon the earth and through the earth. It
was upon the nature, and through the nature,that had become
established in the previous creative acts; whilst, at the same
time, there is the beginning of a new energy, imparted to this
nature, which it did not possess before. The command is to
the earth.; but the earth is not passive. She exerts an active
obedience in the exercise of the old nature, modified by the new
force, which comes from the supernatural Omnific Word,
going forth, as it previously did, for the separation of the
light from the chaos, and the waters from the waters. Before,
it was' Let there be light,'-and now again Let there be life
-and life began to be. As in all the other periods, so here,
there was doubtless the instantaneous beginning of a new,
and at first, supernatural f)rce, put into nature."
" The only idea we have of nature is that of a regular,
constant flow of cause and effect, governed by established
laws, operating uniformly, or ever in the same manner,
under the same circumstances, and with the same accompaniments. * * * From the necessity of our laws of thinking, as well as from revelation, we say that it is a power
given originally by God. But, though thus originated, we
can distinctly conceive of it as a nature only when we regard
it as in some manner left to itself, and operating by its own laws
and methods. * * * We may suppose this original Divinforce ever present as the supporting ground, but not im-manent or per-manent as the immediate causal force in every natural effect. God is able to impart such a natural power, and
leave it in this sense to itself-thus making it something different from the immediate Divine energy. Those who hold
with Malbranch and others, that there is ever the im-manent
Divine plresence in every act of nature, do, in fact, diminish,
instead of magnifying the Divine power and dignity. It is
simply maintaining  that God cannot make a nature, and
hence, of course, that there is nothing supernatural, because,
in fact, there is nothing truly natural. It is unmeaning, too,
and absurd; since it supposes media, which are, in truth, no
media, but only arbitrary signs-having no dynamical connection with the effects. Nature, in this view, would be as
irrational as a machinery having all the appearance of mediate dynamical causation, and yet requiring the constant application of the original motive force directly to every wheel, and
cog, and strap, in the complicated structure."'Holding nature thus to be,,in some sense,a self-subsisting, self-acting power, we may next regard it in its extent and
degree. It may be the universal nature, that is the whole na



I I6            PROF. LEWIS' VIEWS.
ture of the universe, in all its connected and independent organization, as one great force-developing itself, by laws which
God has given it. Or it may be a partial nature, such, for
example, as the nature of the earth, or of some still less organism, such as-that of a tree, or an animal, developing
itself, by its own internal law, as modified by its connection
with the universal. * * * Every nature, whether of the
whole or a part, whether inchoate or advanced, must be finite.
There are limits to its working, which it cannot pass; there
is a height above which it cannot rise."
" In every nature, too, regarded by itself, there must be
continuity. The mind demands this, as involved in the very
idea of nature."
"If any one ask-why does God work in this way?
What need has he of natures? We can only say,' So it seemeth good in his sight.' He could, doubtless, have made all
things differently-but we know it would not have been the
best way, because he has not adopted it. He works through
nature, or a succession of natures-no one developing another,
yet each preparing the way for the one that is to succeed.
We see enough of the universe, to know that this is the method;
and thus considered, the general view is unaffected by the
measure of duration."
" If we thus view nature as a stream of causation-governing by a certain law, which not only regulates but limits its
movements, then the supernatural, as its name imports,
would be all above nature-in other words, that power of God,
which is employed'according to the counsel of his own
will, in originating, controlling, limiting, increasing, opposing,
or terminating nature, whether it be the universal, or any
particular or partial nature.  Thus regarded, the supernatural would assume various aspects, to which we may give
distinctive names."
"' lad we been told that instantly, by the Divine fiat,
the earth was covered with vegetation of the largest and
most perfect kind, that in a moment there stood forth in all
their physical perfection, the creeping hysop, the rose of
Sharon, and the waving cedar of Lebanon-that in the twinkling of an eye, from being a barren, inanimate, and solitary
waste, our world was swarming with animals of every size and
species, full grown, and at the maximum of their strength and
beauty, there would have been no a priori difficulty in believing it. There would have been nothing irrational or incredible in the account. Such an instantaneous production
would have been in harmony with all our ideas of the Divine
power and dignity. But it has not been so revealed.
A  different method was taken by the Divine  Wisdomthe method to which we give the name of nature-the method of




PROF. LEWIS' VIEWS.                 117
growth, of succession, of duration, of the apparent birth of
one thing out of another, and this too, through the action of
a previous nature, quickened by a new Word. into a new energy, and to the development of a new law. Both these suppositions, we say, are rational-both are pious-both are
credib.e, if clearly revealed."
" But there are other hypotheses which are not rational,
which are not credible. * * * One is, that the trees and
animals were formed directly by the hand of God, and then
placed in the earth, that it might bring them forth, or be said
to bring them forth, thus perfectly formed. Another is, that
by the same direct divine power, they were formed in the
earth, but not through any natural agvncy of the earth; the formative act not being a nature, or a growth, but as far as the
earth was concerned, outward, mechanical, or magical; the
bringing forth being by no natural power acting through any
previous or then imparted law. Another is, that the seeds of
vegetables were formed perfect by the direct Divine power, and
then planted in the earth. But they all have this feature.
They present the appearance of a causation, which is not causation. * * * The seed is as much an organism  as the
plant or tree-far more so than the bark, or branch, or root.
It has the same appearance ofgrowth, or of having grown from
a ounger state; it suggests the same idea of succession, or
natural process. Divine Omnipotence could make them,
doubtless; but so, also, it could make the perfect tree or animal. It is liable, therefore, to the same charge of unmeaningness, of inconsistency, of appparent fallacy-of having
neither the reason of the supernatural, noro the law of the natural."
As to development theories, Prof. Lewis says: " A development theory which has no Divine oriqination, or acknowledges the going forth in time of no Divine TWord, is indeed
atheism. * * * But a development theory, in the sense of
species from species, as well,as of individual from individual,
may be as pious as any other. It may have as many Divine
interpositions as any other. It may be regarded as a method
of God's working, and that too, as rationally and as reverently
as the more limited system to which we give the name of nature, in its ordinary or more limited sense. Modern theologians have been too much frightened by certain assumptions
and speculations on this field. * * * It is enough for us
to learn, without doing any violence to the language of the
(scriptural) account, that the production of the vegetable and
animal races are set forth as having been originally a growth
-a glowth out of the earth, and by and through the earth-in
other words, a nature with its laws, stages, successions, and developments."
" There was a previous nature in the earth, whether it
had been in operation 24 hours, or 24 thousand years. We




IIS              PROF. LEWIS' VIEWS.
may compare this to a stream flowing on, having its regulai
current of law, or regulated succession of cause and effect.
Into this stream we may say, there was dropped (by God) a
new power, supernatural, yet not contra-natural-varying the
old flow, and raising it to a higher law and a higher energy,
yet still in harmony with it. New causations, or new modifications of causation arise, and alter the successions and steps
required, be they longer or shiorter, a world of veqetation is the
result of this chain of causation, in the one period, and through
an anldagous, if not similar process, an animal creation arose
in another."
" The first plants grew, they were made to grow in the
earth, and out of the earth.  They were born of the earth;
they were carried in her womb during their respective periods
of gestation; their embryo or fcetal life was fed by her
warmth and moisture; and they afterwards were nurtured
and grew up, each to its perfection, on her maternal bosom.
Ihey grew; and growth is the cardinal idea of the word natu re. "
"The same thing, or a similar thing, is said of the animals. And God said-' Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life'-Genesis I, 20.
This refers to the fish and reptile races, and what would seam
more strange, to the birds, which are connected with them in
a manner which would appear to imply some community, or
similarity of origin. And again -' Let the earth bring forth
the living creature after his kind.' This refers to the quadrupeds. and land animals generally."
Again the Professor says: "The view here advocated
as the right interpretation (of the scriptural account), is very
different fiom that eternal and unbroken development which
is only another name for the darkest atheism. God's personal
sovereignty and personal interposition are as directly recognized as in the most distinct exercise of miraculous powerand that not once (only), or in some far off principium, but
in repeated and oft repeated acts. * * * There was an
exact moment when animal life began a life which before was
not in our earth, and which, but for the Divine Word sayinq,
Let it be, most assuredly never would have been. The earth,
or nature in her largest sense, through any power previously
belonging to them, never would have originated or developed, or brought it (life) into e- istence  But still it does say,
most distinctly, the earth brought them (the animals) forth,
or gave them birth. The prolific waters was the natural bed
in which, through the vivif)/ing agency of the Ruah Elohim,
or Divine Spirit, originated the first moving things."
Again Prof. Lewis says: " The seed itself, as much as
the tree, is an outward organization, the apparent product of
a living power lying back of it. as a real entity, per se, and, in




PROF. LEWIS' VIEWS.                I19
fact, better entitled to the seminal name. than the material
seminal organization; because it is this living power which
builds the outward matter of the seed into its peculiar form
and structure-thus constituting its essence-making it what
it is. Besides, if we search for this previously existing thing,
by going back of the tree to the seed, there is no reason why
we should not recede a step farther, to the vitality that dwells
in the seed itself, which, in the order of nature, as well as in
the order of ideas, is anterior to the material organization."
Quoting Hebrews,XI,;3, he says: "The outward or phenomenal entities were generated or born from the invisible,
immaterial, vital powers, principles, laws,spermatic words or
ideas; call them what we will-which are themselves, the
first and immediate creations of the Divine Word, going forth
before.any new agency of nature."
Again: "' Faith is the evidence of things unseen, for by
it we understand that in creation, the things that are seen
came out of, or were born of, things that are unseen."
Again he says: " The birth of these seminal principles
was independent of all natural agency. In this sense, it was
before the fertilizing rain, or the assiduous human culture.
However progressive and natural the after production from
the earth, the creation of these seminal types or principles, was
wholly supernatural, immediate, Divine."
Such are the views of one of the clearest-headed
Christian philosophers of the age. They are worthy of
the consideration of the reader.
Spontaneous vegetation.
In the winter of the year I869, I purchased some
green wood, four feet long, which contained a few
sticks of basswood; and had it piled in my yard. The
following season was a wet one, and one of the split
sticks of basswood lying upon the ground, at the bottom of the pile, put forth leaves and a stem the next
summer; and a round stick, about four inches in diameter, lying in the middle of the pile, more than two
feet from the ground, also put forth leaves and a stem.
Each of the stems grew out of the side of the stick,
where there was no bud, nor joint, nor limb; and they
continued to grow until the latter part of September,
when they were from  i6 to I8 inches long, and the
leaves were killed by frost.




120        SPONTANEOUS VEGETATION.
These cases show that the seminal and fructifying
power of trees consists of their vitality, which exists
in the sap, as well as in the fibre and bark; that when
a tree is cut down it often retains some degree of vitality for many months; that in these cases the basswood
sticks retained so much vitality, that when they were
saturated with rains during the spring and early summer, the moisture and heat so increased the quantity
of sap in the bark and sappy part of the wood, that
it formed a bud, and eventually burst forth in leaves
and a stem.
Observing farmers know, that white clover and
other grasses, ofter. spi ing up spontaneously, upon
lands natural to grass, when no seed has been sown;
and gardeners as well as farmers know very well, that
weeds of various kinds, as well as several species of
grass, spring up in gardens, corn fields, and other rich
cultivated grounds,in wet seasons,in the months of August and September, as well as in June and July. All
the seeds that were in the ground, would grow early
in the season or rot; and hence the weeds and grass
that spring up in Aulgust and September, must be of
spontaneous growth, growing without seed, other than
the vital element existing in the earth and the atmosphere-acting as an organizing principle and force.
Farmers, living in new countries, know that when
heaps of brush or logs are burnt in the woods upon
moist rich land, fire weeds soon spring up, and cover
the ground. As the fire would kill all the seeds of
weeds, if any, upon the ground or near its surface, and
the winds could not easily carry seeds far into the
woods, it is impossible to account for the cause of the
growth of such weeds, unless the earth, and the elements and forces of nature, produce them spontaneously without seed. The fire weed is also a peculiar
weed, which grows only where the ground is covered
with ashes; and hence it does not spread, and is
almost unknown, in old countries.
Plants and trees, and all forms of vegetation, generally grow from the seeds of parent plants, of like




SPONTANEOUS VEGETATION.               121
kind; but it is impossible to account satisfactorily for
the origin of the great amount of vegetation, plants,
and trees upon the earth-for their existence upon coral islands of comparatively recent origin-and for
their springing up in such abundance where the country has been recently desolated by fires, and all seeds,
and nearly all the roots and germs of vegetation destroyed-unless we suppose that they are often produced by the forces of nature, and spring up spontaneously-or suppose that the creative power of Cod has
been constantly exercised in forming new creations of
such things, or creating the  seeds or germs, from
which they spring.
Many facts, which constitute strong and clear evidence of spontaneous vegetation, are presented by
Prof. A. Winchell, late of tile University of Michigan,
in his work entitled, " Sketches of Creation."
Prof. Winchell says (p. 250):
" Nothing is a more common observation than to see
plants making their appearance in situations where the same
species was previously unknown, or for a long time unknown,
and under circumstances such, that the supposition of a recent
distribution of seeds is quite precluded."
Again he says (p. 251(:'Earth thrown out of cellars
and wells is generally known to send up a ready crop of
weeds, and not unfrequently, of species previously unknown in
that spot. In all these cases, after allowing for all known
possibilities of the distribution of seeds by wrinds, birds, and
waters, it still seems probable that germs must have previously
existed in the soil."
" Similar sudden appearances of new forms take place,
when a change is effected in the chemical nature of the soil.
* * * How soon does a dressing of undecomposed muck,
or peat, or saw-dust, develop a crop of acid-loving sorrell;
and how readily is it again repressed by some alkaline manure? Let the waters of a brine well saturate a meadow,
and how long before we witness the appearance of the maratime  Scirpus and Triglochin, or some other salt-loving
plant, whose germs, unless spontaneovsly developed, must have
lain dormant at a greater or less depth."
" Something of the same nature is witnessed on the disappearance of dominant species, whether through the agency
of man, or the processes of nature. It is well known that
the clearing of a piece of forest and the burning of the brush,




122         SPONTANEOUS VEGETATION.
is almost always followed by the appearance of certain unwonted plants, known as'fire-weeds.' In many cases it
would seem highly improbable that the seeds of such plants had
been recently transported to such situations, at the moment
when the disappearing forest admits the conditions essential
to their growth."  * * * Of the same nature is the
recurrence of particular forest growths upon the same soil.
Not unfrequently the second growth is of a very different nature from the first. In the old fields of Virginia and other
Southern States, the soil, cleared originally of the deciduous
forests, and then abandoned after years of continuous cropping, sends up a growth of pines, instead of deciduous
trees."
"Again he says, (p. 262): "Some well-diggers in a
town on the Penobscot liver in Maine, about forty miles from
the sea, came at a depth of about twenty feet upon a stratum
of sand. * * * This (sand) was scattered about the spot
on which it had been found. * * * In a year or two it
was perceived that a number of small trees had sprung from
the ground over which the sand had been strewn. These
trees became objects of strong interest  * * * At length
it was ascertained that they were Beach-plum trees; and they
actuzally bore the Beach-plum, which never had been seen except
immediately upon the sea shore."
" Referring on page 263 to the well and Beach-plum
story, the Prof. says: " Such a fact, so striking, and so circumstantially recorded, is only of the same nature as others
less critically noted, which daily pass before our eyes, in the
upspringing of vegetable forms, from diluvial materials, thrown
out of wells, cellars, and other excavations."
Now COMES THE SPECULATIVE, AND MARVELLOUS SIDE OF rl{E PROFESSOR'S WORK  AND VIEWS.
The common belief, inculcated by Ecclesiastics for
ages, that all such plants and trees, weeds and grasses,
sprang firom seeds of parent plants and trees, transported by winds and waters, birds and men, he could
not believe; the evidences to the contrary were too
strong; and hence lhe distinctly repudiates it. rTo assert that they were special creations of God, does not
accord with his views of science, and of the forces of
nature-beliveing as he does, that the forces of nature
act as secondary causes, and agencies of Deity. He
was puzzled, and yet anxious to show hinmelf capable
of accounting for the phenomena.




SPONIANEOUS VEGETATION.              123
He commences chapter XXIII, on page 250 by
saying:
"I venture here to enunciate a view, which to many
may appear incredible. For some years past I have been inclined to believe that the germs of vegetation which flourished
upon our continent previous to the reign of ice, and many
which must have been buried from twenty to one hundred
feet beneath the surface of the glacial rubbish, may have retained their vitality for thousands of years, or even to the present
time."
When we consider the difficulties that farmers
have, in curing, keeping dry, and preserving their
seed corn (maize), to ensure its growth-and the fact
that a large portion of the garden seeds kept over
more than one winter, will not grow-the announcement of such a novel opinion by a learned professor of
the natural sciences, is truly surprising. The facts that
I have heretofore quoted, are presented by him, to
support that novel opinion-by me, they are presented
to prove the theory of spontaneous vegetation. How
differently men reason! Oh, Science! what a ghostly
figure thou becomest, when the mind is clouded with
false dogmas and prejudices!
To account for'fire-weeds, he says (p. 252):
" It can hardly be douzbted, that the seeds existed in the soil,
ready to germinate whenever free sunlight, warmth, and atmospheric air, should be permitted to rouse their latent energy."
Quoting from the learned work of George P.
Marsh, on "' Man and Nature," Prof. Winchell continues (p. 254). He (Marsh) says, " Earth brought up
from wells or other excavations soon pr oduces a harvest of plants, often very unlike those of the local flora.
He (Marsth) goes so far as to express the opinion, that
earth ejected from considerable depths by a certain
earthquake convulsion, (t6 which reference is made),
and which soon became covered with vegetation,'never observed in that region before,' must have
brought up with it the seeds,from which the novel
vegetation sprang,-under the influence of an air and




124         SPONTANEOUS VEGETATION.
sun-from  depths where a previous convulsion had
buried them, ages before."
The question may properly be asked-ARE THERE
ANY LIMITS TO HUMAN CREDULITY?
Again the Professor says:
"From such facts as those which have been cited, it
seems to be proven that the seeds of plants may retain their
vitality in the soil and subsoil, at least for quite a number oj
years. The facts show that the germs exist in places where
we have no knowledge of their introduction, and in places
where they could not probably have been introduced during the
human epoch. Whence comes the germs of that vegetation,
which is every where springing up, in'situations in which recent seeds could not have been distributed? This question has
agitated the mind of many an inquirer, who would have
shrunk from the solution which I venture to offer"
Again he says, (p 260): "The seeds of the various'fireweeds' which spring up on a forest clearing, after the brush
has been burned off, must have reposed in a latent state, during
the existence of the forest whose disappearance is the signal
for the resumption of their vital activity. The same is true
of the seeds of the old field pines,which have probably lainfe)r
an age or more,awaiting the maturity and destruction of the
deciduous forest which usurped the soil. loaw many ages may
they have lain there?"
In explanation of the origin of the Beach-plum
trees-growing out of sand taken out of a well in
Maine, he says: " The trees had therefore sprung
from seeds which were in the stratum  of sea-sand
that had been pierced by the well diggert." It is dif-.icult to conceive a more perfect non-sequitur.
In conclusion the professor says, (p. 263):
"While, however, the case is fir from deemonstrated, it
may fa:rly be submitted, that the explanation of certain facts
afforded by this theory, is less presumptious and improbable,
than the supposition of spontaneous generation, the fortuitous distribution of seeds by any modern agency, or any other
explanation that has ever been offered."
It is really melancholy to see scientific men bending under the influences of old and unsound, relgious
dogmas and prejudices, and laboring to invent Munchausen theories, to account for the common phenomena of nature, by methods that are contrary to the dic



SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.              I25
tates of reason and common sense.  Why not stand
up to the rack, face the music, as Professor Lewis has
done, and insist that religious dogmas and prejudices
must yield to the developments and the lights of
science, and common sense? The acts, works, and
revelations of God, cannot be inconsistent with each
other; and those who believe in Divine revelation,and
believe also that God is the maker and ruler of the universe, should not hesitate to so interpret the volume of
revelation, as to render it consistent with the volume
of nature. True religion cannot suffer from interpretations of scripture, which will harmonize it with the
phenomena of nature.
Spontaneous generation.
The spontaneous generation of animals is susceptible of clearer and more direct and positive proof, by
experiment, than the spontaneous production of plants.
It has been proven by a great number of persons, by
hundreds, and even thousands of experiments, during
the last hundred years or more. The second volume
of the Encyclopedia Britannica devotes nearly a dozen
pages to the subject of animalcules, stating many experiments-showing how they are spontaneously developed, from vegetable infuisions.
It says, (p. 27):
" When paste is allowed to stand till it becomes sour, it
is then found to be the habitation of numberless animalczLles, which may be discovered by the naked eye; and though
their form cannot be perfectly distinguished, their. motion is
very perceptible, and the whole paste will seem to be animated." They are called anguilla, or eels. " The most remarkable property of these insects is, that they are viviparous."
" It says: " Animalcules of a similar kind are found in
vinegar; and like those already described, are found to be viviparous."
Again it says, (p. 31): " The Animalcula Infusoria take
their name from being found in all kinds, either of vegetable
or animal infusions. Indeed there is scarcely any kind of
water, unless impregnated with some mineral substance, but
what will discover living creatures. Mr. Leeuwenhock says,




126         SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.
that at first he could discern no living creatures in rain
water; but after standing some days, he discovered innumerable animalcules, many thousands of times less than a grain
of sand."
It gives an account of experiments made by Mr.
Ellis, in I768, and the production of animalcules, first
with an infusion of potatoes, and afterwards of hempseed. Mr Ellis says:
"I procured hempseed from different seedsmen. some
of which I put ifto new river water, some into distilled water,
and some into very hard pump water. The result was, that
in proportion to the heat of the weather, or the warmth tin
which they were kept, there was an appearance of millions of
minute animalcula, in all the infusions; and some time after,
some oval ones made their appearance."
Prof. Henry James Clark, of Harvard University,
in his work entitled," MIND IN NATURE, 1r the origin
of life, and the mode of development of animals," has
presented the subject of spontaneous generation, in a
very clear light. To support and illustrate his views,
he presents in his work several extracts from  a paper
of Prof. Jeffi'ies Wyman, ot the same University, published in I862, in the American Journal of Scienceentitled —' EXPERIMENTS ON THE FORMATION OF INFUSORIA IN BOILED SOLUTIONS OF ORGANIC MATTER,
ENCLOSED IN HERMETICALLY SEAILED VESSELS, AND
SUPPLIED W'ITH PURE AIR."
"The materials of the infusion were put into a flask,
and a cork, through which was passed a glass tube drawn to
a neck, was pushed deeply into the mouth of it. The space
above the cork was filled with an adhesive cement, composed
of resin, wax, and varnish. The glass tube was bent at a right
angle, and inserted into an iron tube, and cemented these
with plaster of Paris.  The iron tube was filled with wires,
leaving only a very narrow passage way between them."
" In the first and second methods, the solution in the
flask is boiled, and at the same time the iron tube filled with
wires is heated to redness. While'the contents are boiling, the
steam formed expels the air from the flask; when the boiling
has continued long enough, the heat is withdrawn, from beueaththe flask,and,as the steam condenses,the air again enters
through the iron tube, the red heat of which is kept up, so that
all organisms contained in the air are burned. In both meth



SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.                127
ods, the flask is allowed to cool very slowly, in order that the
entering air may be as long as possible in passing through
the iron tubes, and thus the destruction of its organic matter
insured. When cold the flasks are sealed with the blowpipe."
" The time during which the infusions were boiled, varied from fifteen minutes to two hours; and tbe amount of infusion used was from one twentieth to one thirtieth of the
whole capacity of the flask-the object being to have the materials exposed to as large a qnantity of air as possible"
" In the account, especial mention is made, in most instances, of the time of the formation of the filn. This is
always the first indication which can be had, without opening the flasks, that minute organisms are developed; it is in
fact made up entirely of them, as has been proved by repeated experiments of the microscope."
"After the flasks were prepared, they were suspended
from the walls of a sitting room, near the ceiling, where they
were exposed to a temperature of between 70 deg. and 8o deg.
F., throughout the day, and nearly the same during the
night"
After stating the details of each experiment, the
materials used, and its results-showing that in different flasks vibrios, bacteriums, monads, and  other
species of animalcules were produced, often in large
numbers, Prof. Wyman says:
" We have here a series of thirty three experiments, prepared in different ways, in which solutions of organie matter,
some of them previously filtered have been boiled at the ordinary
pressure of the atmosphere, for a length of time, varying
from 15 minutes to two hours, and exposed to air purified by
heat."
"In many instances, a solution like that in sealed flasks,
and boiledfor the same length of time, was exposed to the
ordinary air of the room, in an open flask. Although the
same forms were found in the two, they appeared much more
rapidly in the open than in the closed vessel."
"The result of the experiments here described is, that
the boiled solutions of organsic matter made use of, exposed only
to air which had passed through tubes heated to redress, or enclosed with air in hermetically sealed vessels, and exposed to
boiling water, became the seat of infusorial life."
"The experiments which have been described, throw
but little light on the immediate source from which the organisms in question have been derived. Those who reject
the doctrine of spontaneous generation in any of the forms




1 28        SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.
in which it has been brought forward, will ascribe them to
spores contained either in the air enclosed in the flask, or in
the materials of the solution."
"' Those who advocate the theory of spontaneous generation, on the other hand, will doubtless find in the experiments here recorded, evidence of their views. While they
admit that spores.and minute eggs are disseminated through
the air, they assert that no spores or eggs of any kind have been
actually proven by experiment, to resist the prolonged action of
boiling water. As regsrds Vibrios, Bacteriums, Spirillums,
etc., it has not yet been shown that they have spores: the existence of them is simply inferred fiom analogy. It is certain that Vibrios are killed by being immersed in hot water,
the temperature of which does not exceed 200 deg. F. We
have found all motion, except the Brownian, to cease even at
80o deg. F. We have also proved by several experiments,
that the spores of common mould are killed, both by being
exposed to steam, and by passing through the heated tube
used in the experiments described in this article. If on the
one hand, it is urged that all organisms, in so far as the early
history of them is known, are derived from ova, and therefore from analogy we must ascribe a similar origin to these
minute beings, whose early history we do not know, it may
be urged with equal force on the other hand, that all ova and
spores, so far as we know anything about them, are destroyed
by prolonged boiling; therefore from analogy, we are equally
bound to infer that Vibrios, Bacteriums, etc., could not have
been derived from ova since these would have been destroyed
by the conditions to which they have been subjected."
" Prof. Clarke says: "Prof. Wyman has since been so
kind as to show me some other experiments, which prove
that these same bodies which are developed in sealed flasks,
are killed at a point far below that of boiling. He placed large
quantities of each kind, viz., vibrios, bacteriums. kolpedas,
etc, each in a separate test-tube, and each tube with a thermometer in a water bath, and applying heat to the bath, he
examined, from time to time, as the temperature was raised,
portions of each set with the microscope. Some of the animalcula survived the heat up to 125 deg, and others up to 130
deg., but in no instance did any of them live wlhen the temperature was raised to 150 deg.-which is 62 deg. below boiling, 212
deg. F."
Such experiments, with such results, ought to be
regarded as settling the question beyond all reasonable grounds for doubt; but as there is no limit to
human creduilty, so there is none to caviling about
ti.e  effect of evidence.   Dogmas  and  prejudices,




SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.           I29
theories and fixed ideas and opinions, form not only
the stand-points and land-marks which guide human
reasoning-but they in some measure form parts of
the constitution of the complex machinery which we
call mind. This is shown most clearly in some cases
of insanity. Hence different minds are differently
constituted. Those who deny that God operates
through secondary causes, and believe that every birth
and every death also, is caused by his direct and immediate agency, can never be convinced of the truth
of spontaneous generation. They must be left to the
blindness which results from their erroneous dogmas
and prejudices.
In my view, the reproduction and multiplication
of plants and trees, by budding, by slips set in the
ground, and every other mode except their germination and growth from seeds grown and matured upon
parent plants, is but a mode of spontaneous vegetation; and every origin and birth of an animalcule, or
other animal, except such as are begotten by parents,
is only a mode of spontaneous generation.
The atmosphere in certain states, in hot weather,
and water also in certain conditions, when saturated
with the juices and sap of vegetation, sometimes swarm
with animalcules, and germs of living beings. Late
in summer they may have been hatched from the eggs
of flies and other insects; but our long and cold northern winters not only kill nearly all the flies and insects
of the preceding year, but destroy the vitality also of
the most of their eggs and spores-and the question
arises, how in the spring and early summer, such animalcules are, or could be formed in any great numbers? Is there any mode by which the most of them
could possibly be formed, early in the season, except
spontaneous generation, or the direct act and creation
of God?
Animalcules and all animals of every form and
nature, must originate either in germs, eggs, spores, or
as special creations of God. I can conceive of but
three possible modes, in which the germs, eggs, and
9




130        SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.
spores, of living beings of a material character can, or
at any period of the world's history, could originate.
They are,
Ist. In the bodies of parents.
2d. By means of spontaneous generation.
3d. By the direct act, and immediate creation of
God. And I know of but five modes in which living
beings of any kind, whether animalcules or the more
perfect orders of animals, can, or at any period of the
world, could originate. They are,
Ist. From germs or eggs, formed in the body of
a female parent, by means of'sexual generation —
being the product of two parents-male and female.
2d. From germs, eggs, or spores, formed in the
body of a female parent of the lowest orders of animals, without sexual intercourse.
3d. By self-division-whereby two or more living animals are formed out of onfe.
4th. By spontaneous generation without parents.
5th. By the direct act and creation of God.
The airst mode named, may properly be called the
normal mode-as it is the only one in which any and
all animals of the higher orders are multiplied. The
second and third modes named, I think may properlybe regarded as only different modes of spontaneous
generation-though of this there will be differences of
opinion. Worms often, if not generally, originate, in
the decomposition of animal and vegetable organisms.
They sometimes appear to originate spontaneously in
the bodies of living persons, as well as of animals;
and dead bodies in hot weather, soon swarm with
worms, whether they are exposed to the atmosphere,
or are buried in the earth-and even when confined in
coffins, and buried several feet in the ground. There
seems to be no reason to doubt their spontaneous origin.
The work of M. Paul Janet, a learned professor
and author of France, entitled " The Materialism of
the Present Day." first published in i864, contains
chapters on matter and motion, on matter and life, and




SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.          13I
on spontaneous generation. He is so extremely and
intensely hostile to the common views and theories of
the materialists, that his views inrmany cases run into
and blend with Pantheism, and are in some measure
Pantheistic. They are also intensely negative —and
neither affirm nor state any view or theory as in accordance with his own opinions-but onlv as antagonistic to, or inconsistent with, some other view or
theory.
M. Janet collects a great variety of opinions and
authorities, experiments and arguments, to overthrow
the theory and doct'ines of spontaneous generation.
None of them however are sufficient to destroy the
force, or to lessen materially the conclusive character
of the experiments of Prof. Wyman. He argues that
the experiments of M. Pasteur show that the infusorial
life produced by such experiments,come from germs in
the atmosphere. There can be no germs of life floating in the atmosphere, coming from living parents, except in hot weather-as late as midsummer; and it
should be borne in mind, that Prof. Wyman's experiments were made in cold weather, in winter, in the
months of February and March-when no such living
germs could be floating in the atmosphere; and his
apparatus and methods were such, as to destroy all
such germs by heat, if there had been any.
If there be any distinction between what is called
Pantheism and Necessitarianism, the former is the most
reasonable; for Pantheism may allow some freedom of
action to the sp)irit, which the Pantheists call Divinewhile Necessitarianism allows no freedom of action
whatever. Nor can I see any substantial distinction
between Pantheism, and that system of Theism, which
denies the use of secondary causes and agencies, concentrates all the forces in nature in one Supreme Cause,
and attributes all action and all motion in the Universe,
to the direct and immediate agency of that one Great
Cause.
The theory of spontaneous generation is based
upon vitalism-upon the theory of a vital organizing




132        CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.
element in nature. Both vitalism and spontaneous
generation are in harmony with the theory of a spiritual nature in man, or spiritualism, and with the existence of a Divine Creator, who governs the Universe,
mostly by and through secondary causes and agencies.
Vitalism, with spontaneous generation based upon
it, forms the only central system which I can conceive,
between the chemico-mechanical theory of materialism
on the one side, and Pantheistic materialism on the
other; and those who deny vitalism and spontaneous
generation, in order to avoid the chemico-mechanical
theory of materialism, necessarily run into the opposite extreme, and fall into Pantheistic Materialism.
It does not come within the purview of this little
work, to discuss the merits and demerits, nor the
proper limits which should be assigned to the development theory; therefore I shall not attempt to inquire
into the origin of man, but pass on to discuss the subject of his place in the Universe.
Characteristics which distinguish man from other
animals.
Though man is classed in creation as belonging to
the animal kingdom, yet he has physical as well as intellectual and moral characteristics, that distinguish
him from other animals, some of which have been
often dwelt upon by anatomists and physiologists-by
scholars and by philosophers. His superior physical
organization and faculties are,
Ist. The organs of voice, which enable him to
express his wants and his ideas, by articulate sounds,
and the use of language.
2d. The formation of the human hand, thumb and
fingers, and their adaptation to labor and industry;
and
3d. The formation of the joints of the hip, knee,
and elbow-which are adapted to an upright position,
and to labor and industry-while those of most quad



CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.           I33
rupeds and other animals are not so adapted, and those
joints of the Ape, Baboon, and Gorilla races of animals, are inferior to those of man in their adaptation
to such purposes.
All such views and arguments, which show the
superiority of man, are legitimate, and have an important bearing upon the subject; but I view the question
differently from most men, examine it from a different
standpoint, and look upon the superior physical organization of man as furnishing evidence, not only of superior physical faculties, but also of superior mental
faculties. If a horse or other animal without a hand, and
without a voice and the use of language, had as much
natural intellect as Julius Caesar or Napoleon Buonaparte, his physical deficiencies would render it impossible for him to accomplish much, other than mischief.
But the hands or fore feet of Apes and Baboons, Monkeys and Gorillas, are nearly as perfect and well fitted
for labor and industry, as those of man; and I can
scarcely entertain a doubt, that the plastic powers of
the organizing principle of nature, and of living organisms, are such, that frequent use as instruments of labor and industry, would eventually fit them for such
purposes-and so change their hip and knee joints, as
to fit such animals to walk erect with more facility
than on all fours. I think also, that if they had as
many and various ideas to communicate as the lowest
savages upon the earth have, their frequent and constant efforts to communicate their ideas, would have developed organs of speech, and led to the formation and
use of an imperfect language, by which they could be
understood by each other. I therefore regard such
physical deficiencies of the Ape, Baboon, and Monkey
species of animals, as evidence that they are more deficient in intellect, than in physical form and capacity.
Is there not reason to believe, that much of man's
physical, as well as his mental superiority, has been
produced, by the use of his physical faculties, guided
by a vastly higher order of natural intellect with which
he has been endowed by his maker-whereby all his




134        CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.
faculties, both mental and physical, have been developed and improved? Peoples, nations, and races of men,
as well as individuals, improve-but animals never do,
except when trained by man.
Man has been defined as an animal that cooks his
food. This is one of the clearest definitions that has
ever been given, to distinguish him from other animals.
Though Baboons, Monkeys, and Apes are well known
to man, and have hands sufficient for such purposes,
no one of them has ever been known to cook his food,
or to attempt to do so.
Fire is one of the most useful agents that man
possesses. It is used not only by civilized'man, but
savages use it to cook their food-to warm and dry
themselves when cold and wet-and also to burn over
and improve their hunting grounds. Though cats and
dogs learn the warming influences and comfort of fires,
and like to sit or lie down by them, no animal ever
collects fuel, and kindles a tire foi himself.
Apes and Baboons,Chimpanzee and all the various
species of monkies, have hands sufficient for labor and
industry, and in that respect are superior in their organization to all other animals; yet they do not make
their hands of any value to them for industrial purposes; and in intellect and docility, they are inferior
to dogs, horses, elephants, and several other animals.
The savage natives of hot climates as well as cold,
use fire for various purposes, and plant and cultivate
grain and vegetables of various kinds, to supply themselves with food; but nothing of the kind is done by
apes or baboons, the chimpanzee, or any other species
of animals. Many animals collect and store away for
future use, products that are useful for food; but no
animal ever had sufficient forethought and providence,
to plant seed, and cultivate for himself.
The period of the early inhabitants of Europe,
before the use of iron or copper was known to them,
is called the stone age. The people were in a savage
state, and yet they invented and made of stone, axes
and hatchets, wedges and arrow-heads, and diverse




CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.          I35
other instruments of industry and weapons of war-as
was the case also with the natives of America. But
while the Ape, Baboon, and Chimpanzee are said to
use clubs and stones as weapons to fight with, they
have never been known to invent or to make any instrument whatever, either of industry or war.
Savages, as well as civilized men and women,
choose companions for life, and live in families, as well
as in communities or tribes. Many animals are gregarious, and live in what may be called tribes. Land
animals very generally choose their mates annually,
during the breeding season, and live in what may be
termed family relations, while breeding and raising
their young; but when their progeny come to maturity, the family relation ceases, they separate, and there
is, thereafter, no more affection or regard between parents, or between parents and descendants, than there
is between other associates-not connected by any natural ties of blood or affinity.
Animals manifest cunning to steal, and to conceal
their offenses-caution and fear of punishment-and
sometimes affection and devotion, pity and sorrow, sadness and melancholy-pining away in confinement, or
for the loss of their associates; but we have no evidence that they ever feel remorse for misdeeds, or consciousness of having done wrong, or in any way manifest any conscience or moral sense. Here then is
another broad distinction between the man and the
brute. Man that is not brutalized by education, nor
by habit, has a moral sense and a conscience, that often
restrain him from doing wrong, and trouble him when
he has done it-though it must be confessed, that the
consciences of a large portion of mankind are very
weak, in this age of avarice, and of ambition for
wealth, display, and power.
The several characteristics that I have named,
which distinguish man from all other animals, form a
gulf of separation between him and them, which they
can never pass, without the Creator,s aid. However
much man may be degraded, the beast can never be
elevated to his level.




136        CHARACTERISTICS OF MAW.
Animals below man are creatures of nature-incapable of much farther development or improvement by education. Man, on the contrary, is a creature of education and habit. His mind, and his moral
faculties and nature, are all wonderfully developed, and
increased in activity, strength, and volume, by education. Acquired knowledge constitutes the great fountain and source in which the currents of thought in his
mind originate, and from which they spring; and
habit forms the channels in which they run and flow.
Habits of thought and opinions, feelings and sentiments, form the standpoints from which men reason;
and acquired knowledge and maxims constitute landmarks which guide them in their reasoning,and direct
their action.
Acquired knowledge, fixed opinions, and habits of
thought, may be said to constitute parts of the human
mind; and hence the mind is expanded, developed,
increased in volume and power, and materially
changed, by education and habit, by modes of living
and intercourise, as well as by moral and religious opinio.s. and by systems of government and law. Man's
ph) s'cal nature is also developed and changed by labor
and;niustry, by diet and drink, as well as by climate
and n,! les of living; and his mental and physical natures m,'ually acting and reacting upon each other,
have great influence in forming his constitution and
character.
By means of such influences the people of every
climate and nation, acquire to some extent, a type of
character peculiar to themselves, which has been called
national character. And hence the differences between
civilized man and savages, or barbarians-between
Catholic and Protestant peoples-between Christian
and Mohamedan nations-between Jews and Hindoos
-between different Pagan peoples-and between
peoples of cool and temperate, and those of hot climates.
But a mistaken idea has crept into the public mind
in this country, that the education of the schools tends




CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.           137
to lessen crime as well as vice. It undoubtedly tends
to elevate men in thought and action-to increase the
efficiency and productiveness of their industry-to improve their well-being-and to save them from the
grosser forms of vice and corruption-but at the same
time, it multiplies their artificial wants, tends to stimulate their ambition and avarice, and to increase the variety of crimes, and multiply the number of them. In
fact, there is scarcely any human good, which is unmixed with evil.
The wealth and the luxury, the extravagance and
the display of the rich, and of those who ape the style
and customs of the rich, tend to engender pride and
indolence, prodigality and corruption, in all classes of
people. They expose the young, the poor, and the
weak, to various temptations which they cannot easily
resist; and invite great numbers of persons to the commission of crime.
If you wish to find a community in which there
are few criminals and few  crimes committed, you
must go among plain and simple-hearted peasantry
and mechanics in the country and country villages,
who have but little scholastic education and very little
wealth, who live in A country where the most of the officers of government are not frequently elected by universal suflfrage, and where there are no political cliques
or rings, clans or trades-unions, among the people.
You must keep out of such cities as London and Paris,
New York, and other large commercial centres, where
wealth and luxury, extravagance and prodigal display
tend to corrupt all classes of the people.
And yet, notwithstanding the prevalent ambition
for display, the greed for wealth and office, and the
wide spread corruption in our country, there are persons in the large cities as well as in the country, who
are imbued with a real Christian spirit, and have a
true nobility of character-whose natural selfishness is
so moderated by a sense of justice and regard for the
good of their fellow men, that they can be just and
truthful, and can act fairly and honestly, in all their




138        CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.
transactions-who manifest a, proper degree of public
spirit, patriotism, and regard for the general good.
Such persons discriminate between the virtuous and
the wicked, and do not vote for bad men, because they
are nominees of their party. They do not manifest a sickly
sympathy for convicted criminals, and persons charged
with crime-but show a proper regard for the safety
and welfare of the community.
A proper sense of justice and regard for the public safety require that criminals should be punished
for their crimes; and it is the duty of every citizen to
expose crime and to aid public officers, in a suitable
manner, in bringing criminals to justice. The public
mind of our country has been demoralized and debauched by false sentiments of humanity, and sympathy for convicts, and persons charged with crime.
The criminal laws, the plainest evidence, and the pardoning power, have all been perverted to shield criminals from the punishment that is justly due for their
crimes.
Animal propensities and passions induce such
crimes as fornication and adultery, prostitution and
rape, gluttony and drunkenness, and sometimes homicide, without much premeditation; but it is avarice,
greed for office, and ambition for power and dominion,
for display and a show of superiority, which stir up
dissension and strife, and induce persons to lie and
to cheat, to swindle and to embezzle, to forge and tocounterfeit, to commit burglary and piracy, perjury
and bribery, and to commit murder also, in most cases,
when life is taken. It is not animal propensities and
passions which directly incite the commission of such
crimes; but intellectual passions, which are common
to man only-being in a great measure generated, developed, and fostered by education, by artificial states
of society, by wrong sentiments and opinions, by false
systems of law and government, and by Wrong views
of human rights and duties. The passions which
prompt the commission of such ciimes, are but little




CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.           139
known among savages, and among the poor peasantry
of the country, under monarchical governments.
So long as selfishness and avarice, greed for office
and party spirit, govern our politics as well as our social life, and there are ambitious and corrupt men,
having money, and willing to use it for corrupt purposes, they will find voters ready to sell their votes,
and men both in office and out of office, ready to sell
their votes, and their power and influence-notwithstanding the prating about the honesty and purity of
the people. The corruptions and gigantic frauds in
the city of New York-the corruptions in Congress,
in Kansas and South Carolina, in Florida and some
other states-and the partizan strifes and corruptions,
frauds and perjuries, usurpations of power and perversions of law in Louisiana, remind us that the frequent
election of nearly all officers of government by popular vote, with universal suffrage, is but an experiment,
and as yet a very doubtful experiment, among such a
people. It may well be doubted if such a government can
be maintained any where below the 35th degree of latitude. Such is the character of the animal called man
-when intellect, avarice, and ambition predominate
over moral sense.
Neglect entirely the cultivation of the mind, and
man approximates to the character of an animal.
Cultivate only his intellect and his physical faculties,
and stimulate his avarice and ambition, leaving his
moral faculties uncultivated and undeveloped, and his
character assimilates to that of fallen angels and demons.
Selfishness and party spirit, and the greed for
wealth and for office, have stifled the moral sense of
the country, and destroyed nearly all public spirit, patriotism, and regard for the general good.
Party organizations, party spirit, and our system
of elections, whereby minorities are virtually unrepresented in legislation and in the administration of the
government, lie at the root of many of our political
evils and corruptions. When a few votes will turn




140         CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.
the scale, one way or the other-(as is often the case),
the majority system encourages intrigue and bribery,
and every species of corruption among voters, and
party leaders and candidates, and also among officers
that receive and canvass the votes, and certify the result. With triple districts and cumulative voting, the
minority would generally elect one of the three; and
when parties are nearly equal, neither party could
gain more than one representative of the three, instead
of the whole, by getting a majority of the votes; and
hence the inducement for fraud, bribery, and corruption, would be much less than it is now —under the
majority system.
Man is by nature selfish, but not naturally so corrupt as he is made by partizan influences, and our vicious majority system-whereby politics are made a
gambling ganle-the majority taking the whole, and
the minority none.




CHAPTER XI.
ORIGIN OF MATTER-ATOMS OF MATTER INDESTRUCTIBLE AND UNCHANGEABLE-ORIGIN AND PROPAGATION OF PLANTS, ANIMALS AND MAN-THEORY
OF  EVOLUTION-MATTER  AND   FORCE-VITAL
FORCE AND INTELLECT —CAUSE AND  EFFECTUNIVERSAL  ATTRACTION-AND  AN  IMAGINARY
ETHER.
The Origin of Matter.
The origin of matter is beyond the domain of human knowledge. It is to man not only unknown, but
unknowable. His faculties are so limited that he cannot imagine, nor conceive, how matter could have
originated. He cannot conceive how it could have
been created out of nothing-how it could have been
eternal, nor how it could have come into existence in
any manner whatever. All he can know is the simple
fact of its existence, and must content himself with
studying the phenomena of its action,and the evidences
of its action in the past; and must infer its properties
and forces from its action. The scriptures do not explain the mystery. Contemplating matter as in existence in a chaotic, and perhaps a nebulous condition,
we can form some imperfect conceptions of the gradual formation of our earth and solar system, and of
some of the changes which the earth and its surface
and atmosphere underwent, before it was fitted for the
abode of man.




I42               ON MATTER.
The Atoms of Malter Indestructible and  Unchangeable.
That matter is indestructible is generally believed
by chemists, and seems to be proven by experiments
in chemistry. When compounds are destroyed by
combustion, or by chemical action, the atoms thereof
appear in new combinations, and form new compounds. However changeable compounds may be,
the elementary atoms of which they are composed are
supposed to be absolutely indestructible and unchangeable, either in form, substance, or properties.  Whatever may have been the origin of matter, and when its
orgin, we have reason to believe, that for millions of
years past, there has been no increase or diminution of
the number of atoms of any class or element of matter in the universe, and no change in the substance,
form  or properties thereof; that though new compounds were constantly forming for millions of years
perhaps, while the chaotic materials of which our
globe is composed were drawing towards each other,
becoming one body, and contracting, and the crust of
the earth was forming and growing thicker, and before
it attained a condition fit for the abode of man-not an
atom of matter was created during that long and unknown period.
[he Origin and Propctgation of Plants.
When portions of the earth's surface were raised
by internal convulsions above the ocean, and became
dry land, we have reason to believe that grass, herbs
and trees soon sprang tp, and the earth was clothed
with vegetation; but long before that period the waters teemed with shell-fish and the lower grades of marine animals.  The question arises, how did plants
and animals first come into existence. Did their origin involve the creation of new matter-of additional
atoms and elements of matter, or only new forms, or



PLANTS AND THEIR ORIGIN.            I43
ganisms and types, out of the elements and materials
previously existing?   The teachings of the book of
Genesis, as well as the deductions of human reason,
are both consistent with the latter theory-that creation in the case of plants and animals is only the production of new combinations, new forms and organisms,
from old materials. If so, were they first produced by
the direct act of God, or indir ectlyby the spontaneous
action of the elements and forces of the material world?
Were they not produced by a living principle, co-operating with other elements and forces of nature?
There is no more difficulty in conceiving that the
first vegetable organism  was produced by the spontaneous action of a living organizing principle co-operating with other forces of nature, than in conceiving
how, at this day, a blade of grass orof grain can spring
from its proper seed, grow up and produce seed in its
turn, aud thus propagate itself from year to year, and
from century to century. The how-thke modus ofperandi-and the causes and details of the pirocess, are
mysteries beyond the domain of human science; and
yet we witness the results of such processes every day
of our lives.
It will not be affirmed by any person of common
sense, that the seed of a plant or tree possesses any
creative power to originate and call into existence denovo the atoms of matter that will form the future
plant or tree, which may spring from it.  Nothing of
the kind will be pretended; and yet the seed possesses
an inherent power, which, when warmed with caloric and swelled with moisture, attracts to itself materials which it absorbs, assimilates and forms into sap
and into vessels and fibres-whereby it grows,matures,
and forms other seed in its turn. This attraction and
absorption of food, assimilation, germination and
growth, is a process of nature; and yet it is not a process carried on by chemical attraction, nor by the attraction of cohesion. It is a process very different
from that which forms water and crystals, rocks and
earths. It is impossible to conceive how vegetable pro



144        PLANTS AND THEIR ORIGIN.
cesses can be carried on without some element and
force unknown to the chemist-without a vital organizing principle-co-operating with other forces of nature.
The vital organizing element, existing in the earth
as well as in plants, is itself the germ of the plant, the
life and active element of the seed, without the shelland when that is admitted, there is no more difficulty
in conceiving how plants can be developed from the
natural seed existing in the earth, than in conceiving
how they are produced from seeds grown upon other
plants.
The same course of reasoning applies to the origin, propagation and growth of animals, so far as their
physical organization is concerned; but as every animal has intellect, it is more difficult to conceive whence
come their intellects.
Geologists and the science of Geology inform us,
that the surface of the earth has undergone many
changes, and suffered many revulsions and upheavals;
that it was once wholly covered with water; and that
its continents and islands rose above the waters of the
ocean at different periods. Whether matter itself be,
or be not, eternal, the land animals and vegetation
must have had a beginning-an origin. They must
have been created at different periods, upon different
continents and islands, or been produced spontaneously
by the properties and forces inherent in matter. Many
islands have been formed in shallow seas and great
rivers, within the era of authentic history, which have
been very quickly and rapidly clothed with vegetation
of various kinds, and covered with large trees,-according to the climate and soil —w hich cannot be accounted for upon any principal but new and special creations by Deity, or by spontaneous generation. The
theories that they spring from seeds transplanted to
such islands by winds, waters and birds, are too irra
tional and whimsical to be worthy of serious consideration.




MAN AND ANIMALS.                145
The Ozigin of Alan and Animals.
The origin of man, with his wonderful intellectual faculties, is equally obscure as that of the earth.
After some rude type of man originated, we can conceive how the mere physical organization of the species
was propagated and gradually developed and improved,
from generation to generation, under improved conditions and an improving atnosphere; but it is difficult
to conceive his origin, and still more difficult to form
any clear conception of the origin of the wonderful intellect of every member of the human family,-unless
it be an emanation from a Divine Spirit.
There is no difficulty in conceiving that vegetable
germs and organisms may be formed by the spontaneous action of the vital organizing element, co-operating with other forces of nature; but it being undeniable that animals, and even the lowest grade of insects,
manifest some degree of intellect, we cannot conceive
how their intellects could originate, or how they can,
at this day, be multiplied by propagation-each animal lhaving its own intellect-except under one of the
following conditions:
st. That intellect, and the degree of intelligence
which animals have, is the result, effect and product of
the organization of unintelligent matter-or
2d. That some element of' matter, pervading the
crust of the earth or the waters of the earth, having a
strong affinity for the vital element, is endowed with
the property of intelligence, and readily unites with
the germs and organisms formed by the vital element,
and thus forms the intellect of the animal; or
3d. That each animal intellect is specially created and communicated to the organism by the Deity.
The first supposition-that a combination of unintelligent atoms of matter can produce intelligence and
intellect, is to my mind inconceivable. It seems to involve an impossibility, and a self-evident fallacy. This
supposition is in accordance with the materialistic view
of the question.




146            MAN AND ANIMALS.
The second supposition is conceivable. It seems
rational, in accordance with the phenomena of nature,
-with the mode in which the earth has been changed
from a state of chaos to its present condition,and clothed with vegetation-and with the mode in which God
governs the universe, by means of secondary causes
and agencies.
It by no means follows, that the origin of the intellects of rational and moral beings like man, is the
same as that of the brute creation.  The wonderful
reasoning powers, great inventive faculties, and elevated moral character of man,when compared with the
limited faculties of the brute, occupied with matters of
sense only, indicate that the intellect of the former had
a higher origin, and has a nobler destiny than that of
the latter. The immortality of the soul of man, does
not involve nor indicate the immortality of the mind of
the beast and insect
The Production of Plants and Animals, not the
Creation of lVew Matter.
We may state the proposition as an absolute truth,
(if there be any truth in human science,) that no process of nature, no germination of a plant, and no propagation and production of an animal, can create or
originate an atom of matter, or add to the atoms or
quantity of matter previously existing in the universe.
All such processes are only modes in which changes
are effected-by wlhich latent elements are attracted by
natural affinities and forces, drawn forth, developed,
and presented in new combinations and new  forms.
Friction produces heat; but it does not, and can not,
create an element of matter, nor add to the atoms of
matter existing previously. It merely developes and
makes sensible elements of heat which were previously latent; it does not create nor add any element o
heat to the previously existing stock.




EVOLUTION THEORY.               I47
The Evolution Theory.
The theory of evolution has been supposed by
some to solve the mysteries of creation.  Evolution is
not a creation of matter, but a mere change in its condition and combinations  It produces no new atoms
of-matter, but merely forins new conmbinations of the
atoms of matter in existence.  It is not the origin of
things, but a mere change in their forms and modes of
existence.  It is not in any sense a powZer or cause,
which creates, orig'inates, produces, or increases the
stock of matter in the uzniverse; but merely a process
whereby matter is changed in itscombinations, and organized into living animal and vegetable organisms.
Not being a cause of the origin or action of matter, but
a mere process of action, a power, force or cause of
ac/ion must lie behind it, or be inherent in matter itself-which causes atoms and bodies of mlatter to move
and produce the changes involved in the process.
Forces and powers, acting as causes, are necessary
to originate the process of evolution, and to carry on
and continue it, after it originated. It is like a complicated machine, which works admirably when put
into operation, and its action maintained by a competent motive power; but has no power to move itself.
HEence the theory of evolution throws no new light upon either the creation of matter, the fornmation of the
earth, the origin of vegetation, animals, or man, or upon tlie science of animal and vegetable physiology. It
does, however, throw much light upon the changes in
animnals, the multiplication of varieties, and the origin
of new varieties and species-arising from the mixture
of breeds, changes of climate and food, and different
circuinstances and modes of living.
Tlhe theory of a vital elemneint in nature, distinct
and different from all the other elements —acting as an
organizing force, to unite and form other elements of
matter into living organisms, if made a basis of the
theory of evolution, as thie cause and motive power
required to originate and carry on the process, would




4 8           PYNCHON ON MATTER.
give the theory a basis of action, and some degree of
consistency, so far as regards vegetation and the brute
creation.
The forces of nature recognized by chemists and by
the school of materialists-comprising the chemical
affinities and the attraction of cohesion, the action of
heat and electricity, gravitation and magnetism, are
not sufficient to account for either vital or mental action.  Other forces are required to produce the complicated, various, and wonderful action and phenomena, exhibited in plants and animals, as well as by man.
Matter-How Defined by Professor Pynchon.
Prof. Pynchon says: " The name matter may be
given to any substance which is cognizable by any one
of the senses. Everything not cognizable by the senses
(he says) passes under the name immaterial."  His
definition is imperfect, for it would exclude from the
category the vital element-the living organizing principle-because the chemist cannot separate it from the
organism which it has formed, and make it manifest to
the senses, as a distinct element, though it may have
nearly all the properties which he assigns to the coarser
elements of matter.
Prof. P. says: " All matter possesses the four
properties of Extension, Impenetrability, Inertia
and Weighzt.  We know  (he says) that a body possesses extension from its occup) ing a portion of space;
we know that it possesses impenetrability, from its not
allowing another body to occupy this space, at the
same time with itself; we know that it posseses inertia, from its want of power to change its state, to move,
if at rest, to cease to move, if in motion."  His statement of the properties of matter, aid some of his illustrations in support of it are unsatisfactory to my mind,
and very defective. Not only the action of the chemical affinities, but the movements of the heavenly 6odies in their orbits, the germination, development and




PYNCHON ON MATTER.                149
growth of vegetation and animals, and all the physical
action in the universe, attest the activity and active
properties of matter, and are inconsistent with the assertion that matter is inert.
While the intellectual principle is self-acting, and carl
originate action in and of itself,andgive motion to itself,
independently of all other elements-unintelligent and
inanimate matter is not self-acting, and cannot originate action in and of itself alone, nor give motion to itself without the concurrent attraction of some other
element or body acting upon it-the mutual affinity
and concurreut attraction of the two co-operating to
produce motion and change. This incapacity of any
element of matter to originate action in and of itself,
and to move independently of other elements or bodies,
is called inertia.  Alatter is inert in no other sense.
What is called inertia is a purely negative quality
or condition, and not, strictly speaking, a pro]erty
of mcttier.  It is no more a property than cold is,
which is merely the negation or absence of heat.
Again, the learned Professor's statement-including weight as a necessary property of matter, excludes
from that category electricity as well as caloric or heat.
The fact that electricity, exhibited in flashes of lightning, rends in pieces trees, buildings and other material things, is sufficient to establish its material nature;
and the equally significant fact, that caloric or heat
(call it by whichever name you please) expands all
metals and fluids which it permeates, proves beyond a
doubt that it occupies space, like the grosser elements
of matter.  The action and various phenomena of
heat, electricity, and the vital organizing element, all
show that gravitation or weight is not a necessary
property of matter-and that those three elements of
matter, and perhaps others, exist without any such
property.
Prof. P.'s views of matter are tinctured and warped by the mystical philosophy, which has grown up,
permeated, and in many respects perverted the physi
cal science and literature ot this age.




I50          PROPERTIES OF MATTER.
Mfy Views of the Properties of Miatter.
The properties of matter are:
Ist. Substance-or in common scientific parlance, extension and impenetrability, by reason where
of it occupies a certain portion of space, and no two
atoms or particles of matter can, at the same instant of
time, occupy the same space.
2d. Every atom or particle of matter, as well as
every combination of atoms, must have form  as well
as substance.
3. We have reason to believe that every atom or
particle of matter in the universe has active properties,
which we call affinities and powers of attraction, bv
means whereof single atoms as well as compounds and
large bodies, virtually act upon and attract each other,
and thereby produce constant action and change.
The active properties of matter may be classed as
follows:
Ist. That power of attraction known as chemical affinity, is the affinity or attraction of atoms of
different elements of mattter for each other, which
causes them to unite and form  compounds-either
liquids or solids.  The affinities of oxygen are so numerous, that it will combine either singly, or in union
with other elements, with nearly every element of the
material world; while the affinities of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, all the metals and all the earths, are very
few  and limited, each to a small number of other
elements; but the chemical combinations of matter
are so numerous as to numbeir thousands.
2d. The attraction of cohesion-by virtue of
which certain elementary substances and also the molecules of certain compounds are drawn together and
adhere together and to each other, with greater or less
tenacity. All the metals have great cohesive power;
the power of attraction, which holds their atoms together, is very great, which makes them very compact
and tough, and renders iron and copper very hard and
peculiarly tough and strong.   The gases in their




PROPERTIES OF MATTER.            15 
elementary state as gases, have no cohesive power
whatever.  Neither oxygen, hydrogen, nor nitrogen,
in its original or separate state, has any cohesive
power; but when oxygen and hydrogen are combined
in forming matter, the particles or molecules of the
fluid have a slight cohesive power, as all fluids have.
3d. The mutual attraction between compounds
of matter and bodies at greater or less distance
from  each other, known as gravity, or gravitation.
Gravity operates at distances of hundreds of millions,
and even thousands of millions of miles, and keeps
the planets in their orbits-revolving around the sun.
On the contrary, the chemical affinities and the attraction of cohesion operate only at insensible distances.
Of caloric, electricity, magnetism and the vital
element, I may say, that each has affinities and powers of attraction peculiar to itself-neither of them having any such affinity or power of attraction as cohesion, gravity, or chemical affinity; and hence they are
properly classed as imponderable elements.  Caloric
has strong affinities for, and permeates all the compounds of the material world, and yet it forms no chemical or permanent compounds. Though the vital element, and caloric also, co-operate with the chemical
affinities in forming chemical compounds, as parts of
animal and vegetable organisms, yet they merely perteate and act with and upon such chemical combinations, without forming any permanent part thereof;
for they escape at the death of the animal or plantwhile the texture of the bones and muscles of animals,
and the woody fibers of trees, may last for hundreds,
and even thousands of years.
Though caloric,electricity,and magnetism have certainl affinities for other elements of matter, each peculiar to itself-yet they seem to be mostly governed by
their own inherent properties and powers to act upon
other elements, which have very little power to act
upon them. Not being under the influence of the attraction of gravitation, they are known as imponderable elements, and are often called forces-on account




152                ON FORCE.
of their great mobility and power, their peculiar action,
and the impossibility of confining them in vessels and
jars, as you can confine all the ponderable elements
known to the chemist.
Force- What is it?
The chemical affinities, the attraction of cohesion
and gravitation, are each and all properties and forces
inherent in matter, and inseparable from the matter of
which they are properties. This is very generally believed and taught by chemists; and if it be not true,
there is no certainty nor truth in chemistry, nor in any
of the natural sciences.  It is, to my mind, a self-evident truth, that all force, power, energy, and causes
of action bnd change, are inherent properties of
substance of some kind, and cannot exist distinct
from and independent of substance. I cannot conceive the possibility of a force or cause of action existing separate and distinct from substance. Call it in
some instances spiritual substance, if you please, to
distinguish it from the grosser elements and combinations of matter; but it must have at least one of the
properties of matter-it must occupy space.
It is true that the active properties of matter-its
chemical affinities and other forces of attraction, cannot be seen by the eye, distinct from matter itself, and
are matters of inference only-mere deductions of human reason, from the phenomena of the material
world and the changes which the earth and its inhabitants have undergone, and which its atmosphere and
its vegetation do undergo during the different seasons
of each and every year; and yet such natural affinities
and forces are as real to the reasoning mind, as they
could be, if we could see and feel them-measure and
weigh them. Single atoms of the grossest matter, are
so minute as to be beyond the reach of the senses.  It
is only combinations of numerous atoms which the eye
can see; and yet the fact that matter exists in too minute subdivisions to be seen, is none the less a reality



ON FORCE.                  I53
a truth which all chemists, and -all persons of cultivated
minds will acknowledge. The living body is constantly supplied with heat-permeated with caloric and
with electricity also-but both are latent, and as invisible as the vital principle or the intellect.
The forces of nature may be classed as follows:
I st. The powers of attraction between the atoms
of diftferent elements of matter, known as chemical
affinities.
2d. The attractive power of cohesion.
3d. The mutual attraction between bodies and
compounds of matter, at greater or less distances from
each other, denominated gravity.
4th, The peculiar affinities, powers of attraction
and forces of caloric.
5th. The peculiar affinities, powers of attraction
and forces of electricity.
6th.  The peculiar force, denominated magnetism.
7th.  (And lastly)the peculiar affinities and forces
known as the vital forces.
Forces are Simple and Compour d.
The forces of nature are simple and compound.
Every element of matter has properties peculiar to itself, differing from the properties of every other element.
The properties of elements constitute the simpeieforces
of nature, which are as indestructible and unchangeable as are the atoms of matter of which they are properties. When two or more elements are combined,
forming a compound, the forces inherent in the several
elements of the compound are blended togetherforming a compound force.
Compound forces, being the result of many simple forces varying from each other, and often in some
measure conflicting, and thus neutralizing and balancing each other, are as changeable as the compounds
from which they result, and upon which they depend.
The simple forces are not very numerous, as the




I54                ON FORCE.
elemnents of matter are limited in number; but the
compound forces, resulting from combinations of matter, are almost infinitely numerous and various.
The Forces of Nature Multifarious and  Conflicting.
The forces of nature are many, and not one only,
as some are inclined to think. They are various and
multifarious-numerous and complex-not few, nor
simple; conflicting and in some respects antagonistic
-not harmonious.  Their action results from  their
variety, and their approximation to general harmony
and uniformity of action results from great variety in
detail, of antagonisms balanced.
Every action and change in the universe, intellectual as well as physical, must be produced by the
affinities and properties, powers, and forces inherent
in substance of some kind-each element and force
producing its appropriate action. As every element
has affinities for imore than one other element-oxygen
having affinities for nearly all the elements of the material world, and the vital element affinities for nearly
twenty other elements, the various combinations of
elements, and the forces resulting therefrom, are almost
infinitely various. It required a great number as well
as a great variety of powers and forces to produce the
infinite variety of chemical and physical, vital and
mental action, which is exhibited in the universe. It
would be impossible even for God to endow any one
element of matter with conflicting and antagonistic
forces-to make it ponderable and imponderable, active and inert, and to move in all directions atthe same
instant of time, and from one and the same influence;
and hence, to insure such variety of action he has created a great number of elements, endowed each with
peculiar affinities for other elements-so as to produce
a great number and variety of combinations and forces.
Nature is not simple, but wonderfully complex.




VITAL FORCE.                I55
There is no unity, but infinite variety of force. Every
element and force acts according to its peculiar nature.
Like produces like, in all nature's organisms, and
operations. Every plant and tree, animal and thought,
feeling and impulse, comes from its appropriate germ
and force; and it would be as reasonable to expect an
oak tree to spring from a pumpkin seed, or a monkey
from a grain of wheat, as to expect any living organism
to spring from inanimate elements only, or to expect
consciousness and thought to come from unintelligent
matter.
The  Vital Force Antagonistic to  Gravitation.
All the ponderable elements and bodies of matter
on or near the surface of the earth, hlave a gravitating
tendency towards the centre of the earth, in proportion
to their density.   This tendency we call weight.
There is no element of matter known to the chemist,
on or near the earth's surface, except caloric, electricity and magnetism, which is destitute of the force of
gravity; and none which, combining with ponderable
matter, acts so powerfully in antagonism to the force
of giavity as to overcome that force, and raise ponderable elements and their compounds from the earth into
the atmosphere. Smoke and steam ascend-not that
they are destitute of gravity, or are propelled
upward   by   caloric  or  any  other  element,
but  they  ascend  for  the  same  reason  that
feathers and balloons do-because, being lighter than
atmospheric air, the latter presses down with greater
force than they do, and thus tends to displace them, to
occupy their places near the surface of the earth, and
to force them up into the rarer and lighter air of the
higher atmosphere.
The vapor which is formed upon the surface of
water and moist earth by the attraction and action of
the sun, and raised into the atmosphere to form clouds,
is lighter than the lower strata of atmospheric air-and
hence it ascends. It has a gravitating tendency, and
yet it is carried up, perhaps mostly by the sun's attrac



156               VITAL FORCE.
tion, but partly as smoke and steam are carried up,by the heavier atmosphere tending to displace it, and
to supply its place,and thus indirectly force it upwards.
On the contrary, the sap of plants and trees, though as
heavy as water, ascends in appropriate tubes and vessels, without being forced up by the gravitating
endency of a heavier element displacing it, and forcing it upward, —as is the case with smoke and other
light substances.
While smoke and other light substances are raised
by the indirect action of gravity, the sap of plants and
trees is propelled upwards by the direct action of some
element acting antagonistically to the force of gravity.
Sap is carried up in appropriate vessels to the tops of
trees, from one hundered to two hundred feet from the
ground. It could not ascend if it were not propelled
by the power of some element acting directly in opposition to the force of gravity.  It is impossible to
account for its ascent, unless living vegetation contains
some elementary substance, unknown to the chemist,
which acts antagonistically to the force of gravity, and
overcomes its powers. From  the action of living
organ isms, I infer the existence of an element having power to act ui50o other elements andcompou tzds,
to overcome their chemical affinities andg-ravitaling
forces, to unite andform them into living organisms,
and to carry their apbpropriatefood and sap upward,
contrary to the forces of gravity. The force which
accomplishes such ends and purposes, has been called
by medical men, the vital force. The element of matter, of which that force is an inherent property, may
very properly be called the vital element, or living
principle.
Though the power of attraction of the sun evaporates water, and draws vapor into the atmosphere, to
form clouds and rain, the sun never raises a large body,
nor a dense body of any size, from the surface of the
earth; but the vital element aided and stimulated by
intellect and caloric, enables animals of all sizes,
weighing from a grain to a ton, to raise themselves




VITAL FORCE.               157
from the ground, in opposition to the force of gravity,
-to carry heavy burthens-and to move in opposition
to violent adverse winds.
From lands heavily timbered, with trees from
fifty to over an hundred feet in height, zoo cords or
more of vWood are often cut from an acre; which,when
green, will weigh about a ton to the cord. This 200
tons weight, to each acre of ground-consisting of
water, carbon, silica, potash, and other elements of
ponderable matter, have been actually absorbed from
the earth, and carried up in sap vessels from one foot
to over one hundred feet in height.  How  has this
been effected, unless there is in nature some element of
matter, which acts antagonistically to the power of
gravitation?
During the life of an organism the vital element
must control-the  vital force predominating  over
gravity and the chemical forces; but when the vital
element passes away at death, the chemical forces assume its place, and dissolution soon commences. At
first, the organization is perfect, except that the motive
power which moved the machinery of life is gone.
However perfect all the parts of the organism, it cannot operate itself, nor act without a motive power.
Sap never rises in a dead tree or plant.
Fermentation is a chemical process, whereby inanimate materials operate upon each other-and cause
the lightest to rise, and the heaviest to settle to the
bottom; but I know of no element, except the vital
element, and no force other than the vital force, which
can raise so heavy a compound as the sap of trees and
plants-from  one foot to an hundred feet or more,
above the surface of the earth. The ascent of sap in
trees and plants, and of blood in animals, contrary to
the force of gravity, presents a problem worthy of consideration.
2




158 INTELLECT DISTINGUISHED FROM MATTER.
Intellect or Spirit Distinguished from  Matter
and Nature.
Nature comprises not only all the pon lerable elements of matter known to the chemist, but also the
imponderable elements which are destitute of consciousness, intelligence, or any kind of knowledge;
and it is impossible to conceive how any combination
of them can produce any property or force, power or
capacity, which none of the several elements possess.
All of those elements are distinguished from spirit or
intellect in this-that they are unintelligent matterwhile the latter must be substance endowed with intelligence, consciousness, volition and capacities to acquire knowledge-else it could not act upon, as well
as in, a material organism, and produce such effects as
it does. Its action indicates that it is a source and
cause of action, independent of matter-outside of and
above nature-acting, to a large extent, supernaturally.
Human consciousness, and all the operations of the
human mind, attest to the existence of intellect, as a
substance distinct from the organization of the brainas something existing in the living brain, which does
not remain in it after death.
Many conflicting influences act upon bodies of
matter at the same instant of time, and their motions
become resultants of the numerous forces acting upon
them.'Generally speaking, but one influence, idea, or
motive, and never more than two, act at the same instant upon the mind; and it can turn from one to another, and examine each of many, one after another,
and choose between them-its action never being determined by what, in mechanics and physics, is called
the resultant of many influences.
Mind-even the human mind-acts from forces
which we call volition. and intelligence, and not from
a natural, material, blind and unintelligent force. Intellect is believed to be an intelligent principle, capable of receiving and acquiring knowledge-of perception and conception, of reasoning and acting according




WHAT ARE CAUSES.             I59
to its knowledge-or arbitrarily. Though it is acted
upon by material forces, acting through the physical
organization of the brain and nervous system, which
very generally control the common mind; yet it is
capable of acting, and often does act, contrary to natural forces and influences-with a view to effect moral
and religious ends and purposes. The independence
of the intellect is shown most conspicuously in resisting evil influences —more conspicuously in its negative, than in its positive action; and hence the import-.ance of having the mind well stored with sound moral
principles-to enable it to resist bad and corrupt influences.
Nature, and all the elements of matter, are governed by inherent properties and forces which are unchangeable-always the same-never increased or
diminished in power-unless by the direct agency of
the Divine mind. Hence, their action is uniformalways the same. On the contrary, the human mind
is governed by volition, which is changeable and may
act arbitrary, and by intelligence, which may be
increased and accumulated-which may be true or
false, right or wrong, and is generally more or less
imperfect.  Hence the great diversity of thought,
views and opinions of mankind —no two persons
thinking alike on many questions.
Cause and Effect- What are Causes?
There can be but one proper meaning of the word
cause, and that is,fforce or power, inherent in spirit
and matter, which  produces action, motion and
change. What the schoolmen and theologians call
final causes, are not, strictly speaking, causes, but
purposes, or ends to be attained, and not causes. What
are called final causes follow action and never precede
it-whereas causes always precede action, and produce it.
The antecedents in a succession of events are not
the causes thereof,as is maintained by Hume and many




I60o           WHAT ARE CAUSES.
other philosophers; but the active forces in nature and
mind, by which the succession of events are produced,
are the real and efficient causes. The causes of human
actions are appetites and passions, wants and desires,
avarice and ambition, sympathy and affection, humanity and philanthropy, hatred and revenge.
Day and night regularly and constantly succeed
each other, but no man in his senses would say that
day is the cause of night, or night the cause of day.
High tides and low tides regularly succeed each other
twice every day, but it would be idle to pretend that
high tide causes low tide, or that low tide causes high
tide. We.must look to other things, outside of the
succession of day and night, high tide and low tide, as
the causes thereof.  We must look to the forces of
nature, which cause the motions and revolutions qf
the earth and the heavenly bodies, as the real causes
of the succession of day and nigqht.
Every effect and change in the universe must be
wrought by some cause-either by the power of mind,
or by the forc2s of nature inherent in matter-operating as causes; but the condition of things must be
such as to bring a cause or causes into operation. The
attractive power of the sun illuminates the side of the
earth turned toward it, and catses everything so operated upon and illuminated to operate directly upon the
nerves of the eye, and cause the sensation of light; but
the sun can produce such effects only upon one-half of
the surface of the earth at the same time.
To produce action, motion, and effects, there must
be a cause, and such a condition of the cause and
things to be operated upon, as to bring the cause into
operation, before any effect can be produced. For example, sparks of fire sometimes escape through defective chimneys and stove pipes, lodge in the roof, floor,
floor timbers, or other combustible Matter of or in
buildings, set them on fire,and destroy them. In such
cases the element offire is the cause, the active element
and force which destroys the building-the defective
chimney or stove pipe, and the combustible matter in




UNIVERSAL ATTRACTION.           I6I
the vicinity of it, being the conditions which enable
the cause to operate and produce the effect. The defect in the chimney or pipe is not the cause of the combustion, nor is the combustible matter which receives
the spark the cause of it —for without fire in the chimnney or stove no sparks- could escape, and no combustion could take place; and yet, with the fire in the
chimney or pipe, no such effects could take place
without both of the conditions named. Fire cannot
burn without combustible matter, nor can combustible,
matter burn until fire comes into contact with it. The
supposed defect in the chimney or pipe and the existence of combustible matter in the vicinity, are both
necessary conditions-to bring the cause into operation-to enable the spark of fire to come into contact
with something that will burn; and yet these conditions are both entirely distinct from the cause of the
combustion.
When man acts, the causes and the machinery of
his action are still more numerous and complicatedincluding appetites and passions-as exciting causessometimes purposes and ends to be attained, instruments of action, and conditions or circumstances, as
well as opportunities. When crimes are prompted
and induced, or caused by a spirit of revenge, another
element enters into the chain of causes-that is, provocation, family or national hatred, arising from some
anterior cause-that operates, excites, and causes the
spirit of revenge, which is the immediate cause of the
crime.
The forces of nature constitute the material causes
of all the action and changes in the universe.
Universal Attraction.
That combinations and bodies, as well as atoms
of matter, act upon each other by some mysterious
force or power, which we call attraction —and do so
at all distances, at great as well as at insensible distances, and even at the distance of hundreds of millions




I62         UNIVERSAL ATTRACTION.
of miles, is attested by the constant motion of the earth
and the planets, in their respective orbits around the
sun, and by all the phenomena of our solar system.
The whole science of Astonomy is based upon the theory of universal attraction. The moon, though at a
distance from the earth of nearly a quarter of million
of miles, acts upon its waters with such force as to
cause the tides of the ocean.
The surface of the earth, and everything connected with the earth, above its surface, is drawn towards
the centre of the earth by that mysterious force,which,
in that mode of its action, we call gravity or gravitation. Everything around us denser than atmospheric
air, when raised from the earth and left unsupported,
falls immediately to the gronnd. The weight of all
bodies and elements of ponderable matter, depends
upon the force which we call gravity.
The chemical affinities, by which the atoms of
different elements of matter are drawn towards and to
each other, until they unite and form a compound, constitute another mode of iction of the force of universal
attraction. The powers of cohesion and adhesion are
other modes in which the force of universal attraction
acts. The power or force by which bodies at greater
or less distances act upon the organs of sight of man
and all animals, is but another mode in which the
power or force of universal attraction acts.
In every class of cases referred to, except cohesion and adhesion. the force of attraction acts at a distance from the bodies which exert it. The chemical
affinities, by which atoms of matter are drawn towards
each other and united, must act at some distance, until
the union is formed; and then the force which holds
them together is called the attraction of cohesion.
How the force of attraction, inherent in matter,
can exert an influence at a distance from its surface, is
a mystery which man can never solve. -Like the origin
of matter and its wonderful properties, the subject
lies beyond the domain of human science —beyond the
sphere of human conception, in the obscure regions of




IMAGINARY ETHER.              I63
the unknown and the unknowable. As we must content ourselves with the simple fact of the existence of
matter, without capacity to determine its origin or
mode of creation-and must content ourselves with
such inferences as we can draw from natural phenomena and chemical experiments, of the properties and
forces of matter, and their modes of action-so we
must content ourselves with the knowledge of the simple fact of the existence and action of universal
attraction, without capacity to determine how it exists,
or how it acts.
Sir Isaac Newton, in one of his letters to Bentley,
says: " It is inconceivable that inanimate brute matter
should, without the mediation of something else,which
is not material, operate upon and affect other'matter
without mutual contact, as it must do if gravitation,
in the sense of Epicurus, be essential and inherent in
it; and this is one reason why I desire you should not
ascribe innate gravity to me   That gravity should be
innate, inherent, and essential to matter, so that one
body may act upon another at a distance, through a
vacuum; without the mediation of anything else, by
and through which their action and forces may be
conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an
absurdity, that I believe no man who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking, can ever
fall into it." Such were the views, and such the doubts
and queries of one of the most distinguished philosophers which the world has ever produced.
An Imaginary Elastic Medium, Called Ether.
In the vain attempt to obviate the difficulties suggested by Newton, as to the cause of gravity and its
mode of action, and to inquire into and understand
what the limited faculties of man are incapable of understanding, it has been conceived that all space and
the whole universe is pervaded by an elastic medium
called ether, which is the cause of gravitation, and
operates as the bond of union between the heavenly




I64            IMAGINARY ETHER.
bodies, as well as between the earth and its atmosphere,
and all the elements and combinations of matter on or
near the surface of the earth.
What a magnificent theory! But how is the supposed elastic medium to operate? If it be inanimate
matter, without intelligence and without will, it must
act blindly, from its own inzate, inherent, atnd essentialp2roperties and.forces, as the inanimate brute matter operates, which is known to the chemist, and
which our senses and intellect take cognizance of; and
if its atoms or particles do not all touch each other,arind
touch all the bodies and elements of matter in the universe, so as to leave no vacuum, the difficulties suggested by Newton, of the force of gravity acting at a
distance, would still remain.  The supposed elastic
medium, if not a part of the Divine Spirit, and moved
by the Divine Will, would have no properties,powers,
or forces different fiom those which we can conceive
inanimate and unintelligent matter to be endowed
with; and hence, it would not solve the question of
the action of bodies of matter upon each other at a
distance, nor remove any of the difficulties involved in
it.  It would be as difficult to conceive how  the
supposed ether could act with such mysterious and
wonderful powers, as it is to conceive how inanimate
and unintelligent matter can act without such medium.
The mystery would still remain.
To assume that a subtle, elastic ether pervades all
space, does not solve the mystery, nor in the least degree lessen it —unless you also assume that the
supposed ether constitutes the animus mundi of the
ancients —is the God of tile Pantheist-and constitutes
the only force in the universe-constituting not only
the force of gravity, but also the chemical affinities and
forces, the power of cohesion, and the peculiar force
of caloric, electricity, and magnetism. There is no
basis but Pantheism upon which to found the
assumed ether; and I cannot conceive how it can exist and exercise such various and mysterious powers,
unless the Pantheistic system of theology be true.




IMAGINARY ETHER.              165
If, in accordance with the views of some theological theorists, we were to suppose that all the action of
what we call gravity and attraction,is produced by the
direct act and agency of God; the mode of such action
and the instrumentalities employed, would still be
mysterious. The mode in which the Infinite Being
acts, and the instrumentalities which he uses, are, and
must be, mysterious to finite beings, and beyond their
capacitv to understand or conceive. This may as well
be admitted by scientists and philosophers, and when
that is done, they need not worry their brains and
minds to conceive imaginary mediums and instrumentalities, to account for the modes of action of gravity,
and the various other forces included in the term
attraction.  So far as finite beings can see and understand, gravity, and all the forces included under the
general terni attraction, are inherent properties of
matter, which cause distant bodies to act upon and
attract each other —by means whereof, every thing on
and near the surface of the earth is drawn towards the
centre of the earth, and the earth and the planets are
kept in their orbits, and caused to move around the
sun.
Let us consider some of the familiar facts in relation to the action of gravity.  A stone or rock rolled
from the edge of a precipice or steep ledge, bounds
down the side of the precipice with great velocity,
leaping into the air from point to point, and continuing
its course until it reaches the bottom, or some level
ground. When apples and other fruits growing upon
trees become ripe, the stems which attach them to the
trees become weak, and they fall to the ground. What
causes the descent of the stone in the one case, and the
apples in the other? Can there be any reasonable doubt
that the earth draws them by -the direct force of its
power of attraction,operating upon thenm at a distance,
and without actual contact?  Can any other rational
explanation be given of such phenomena?  Is any
other explanation consistent with chemical action?
Does the assumption of the existence of an elastic me



i66            IMAGINARY ETHER.
dium of ether aid in solving the question? If such
medium exists, and the earth's attractive power is exercised only upon the contiguous particles of ether,and
they communicate a force from one set of particles to
another, until a force reaches the stone or the apples,
the earth itself would exercise no power over the stone
or the apples; on the contrary, they would be influenced only by the force inherent in the contiguous
ether. To suppose that the attractive force of the attenuated ether in contact with the stone and apples
would be sufficient to cause their fall,is to make a supposition which violates the great cardinal principle of
gravitation-that when two bodies mutually attract
each other, the power which each exerts on the other
is in proportion to the quantity of matter contained in
it. The moon being less than one-sixtieth part as
large as the earth, its motion is controlled by the attraction of the earth-so that it is carried around the
earth nearly thirteen times each year, in its general
course around the sun-its action upon the earth being
comparatively small.
In the supposed case of the stone and apples falling, if the earth exercised no direct force upon them,
its force being exercised only on the elastic ether in
contact with it-which communicates a force from
atom to atom of the ether until the atoms of ether in
contact with the stone and apples exerts an ethereal influence upon them, it will be perceived that the stone
and apples are so much larger and denser than the attenuated ether, that it could exert no perceptible influence on them; on the contrary, they would control the
ether, as the earth and sun jointly control the motion
of the moon-and instead of falling to the ground,
stones and apples would remain suspended in space.
The supposed elastic ether is entirely too weak and
feeble to do the work assigned to it.
The August and September numbers, of the year
I874, of the Catholic World, contains articles on
"Matter," in which the ether theory is denied, and
combated with numerous arguments, and its absurdi



IMAGINARY ETHER.              I67
ties pointed out. On page 585 it is said: "That attraction excludes material contact is quite evident, for
attraction produces movement by causing the approach of one body to another; and it is evident that
no approach will be possible if the bodies are already
in immediate contact."   Hence the conclusion  is
drawn (p. 587) "That distance is a necessary condition of the action of matter upon matter," and "that
any material substance, which is any where by reason
of its matter, has within itself a power prepared to act,
where the substance itself is not present by its rmatter."
On pages 59o  and 59i it is said, "Some modern
physicists hold that what we persist in calling universal
attraction, is not sttraction, but only an ethereal pressure exercised on the heavenly bodies; *    *    *
that the ether which surrounds and presses the earth
must be denser on the hemisphere where there is night,
than on that where there is day, because the former is
more distant from the sun than the latter; and they
infer that on the former hemisphere the pressure must
be greater than on the latter; which brings them to the
conclusion that the earth must move towards the sun
with a velocity proportional to the difference between
the two pressures. Such is the theory by which some
modern thinkers tried to supplant universal attraction.
We need not go far to show the utter absurdity of this
rash conception, as the most common phenomena and
the most elementary principles of mechanics supply us
with abundant proofs of its falsity."
In the conclusion of the article,referring to the ether
theory, it is said, "It is strange, indeed, that a theory,
so preposterous in. its assrumptions and so absurd in
its consequences, can have found favor with scientific
writers, in the full light of this nineteenth century?"
Views of Prof. Grove, on the Ether Theory.
Prof. W. R. Grove, of England, is one of the
apostles of the mystical philosophy of heat, and the




I68             IMAGINARY ETHER.
mutual convertibility of the physical forces into each
other; and yet he repudiates the ether theory, and
bases the action of matter upon what he terms the
dynamical theory of forces, motion and heat. In his
preface to his work on "The Correlation *of Physical
Forces," he says: "It appears to me that heat and
light may be considered as affections; or, according to
the undulatory theory, vibrations of matter itself, and
not of a distinct ethereal fluid permeating it. These
vibrations would be propagated, just as sound is propagated by vibrations of wood (or atmospheric air) or
as waves by water. To my mind, all the consequences
of the undulatory theory flow as easily from this, as
from the hypothesis of a specific ether; to suppose
which, namely, to suppose a fluid sui generis, and of
extreme tenuity penetrating solid bodies, we must assume, first, the existence of the fluid itself; secondly,
that bodies are without exception porous; thirdly,
that these pores communicate; fourthly, that matter is
limited in expansibility. None of these difficulties apply to the modifications of this theory, which I venture to propose; and no other difficulty applies to it,
which does not equally apply to the received hypothesis."
In the work referred to, the Professor, treating of
electricity, says: " If, instead of being regarded as a
fluid or imponderable matter, sui generis, electricity
be regarded as the motion of an ether, equal difficulties are encountered. Assuming ether to pervade the
pores of all bodies, is the ether a conductor or nonconductor?  If the latter-that is, if the ether be incapable of transmitting the electrical wave —the ethereal
hypothesis of electricity necessarily falls; but if the
motion of the ether constitutes what we call conduction of electricity,then the most porous bodies, or those
most permeable by the ether, should be the best conductors; but this is not the case.  If, again, the metal
and the air surrounding it are both pervaded by ether,
why should the electrical wave affect the ether in the
metal, and not stir that in the gas?  To support an




IMAGINARY ETHER.                I69
ethe —eal hypothesis of electricity many additional and
hardly reconcilable hypotheses must be imported."
page 102.
After giving (pages IO7 and Io8) cases of the action of electricity, he says: "' These cases afford an
additional argument to those previously mentioned, of
the particles of matter being effected by the forces of
electricity and magnetism, in a way irreconcilable with
the fluid or ethereal hypothesis.'
Again he says, (p. 124):'" The transmission of
electricity through long wires in preference to the air
which surrounds them, and which must be at least
equally pervaded by the ether, is irreconcilable with
such a hypothesis."
Again he says: "' The phenomena presented by
heat, viewed, according to the dynamic theory, cannot be explained by the motion of an imponderable
ether, but involve the molecular actions of ordinary
ponderable matter. *  *  *  *  An objection that
immediately occurs to. the mind in reference to the
ethereal hypothesis of light is,that the most porous bodies are opaque; cork, charcoal, pumice stone, dried
and moist wood, &c., all very porous and very light,
are all opaque." —(p. I24 to I27.)
Again, he says; " Ether is a most convenient medium for hypothesis; thus, if to account for a given
phenomena the hypothesis requires that the ether be
more elastic, it is said to be more elastic; if more
dense, it is said to be more dense; * * * * and
so on. The advocates of the ethereal hypothesis have
this advantage, that the ether being hypothetical can
have its characters modified or changed, without any
possibility of disproof, either of its existence or modifications."-(p. I33.)
The most conclusive evidence that the various
phenomena of light are not produced by undulations
of any such medium as the supposed ether, is the fact,
that light moves in straight lines only, and does not
pass through crooked, circular, or bent tubes or passages; whereas water and all fluids, air and all gases,




17C0          IMAGINARY ETHER.
will pass through crooked and circular tubes and passages, as freely as through those that are straight.
The ether hypothesis will soon be exploded, and
regarded as an absurd heresy, and common sense people will express astonishment, that men of learning
and science ever should have been under the influence
of such delusion, as to receive the heresy as a scientific
truth. But when persons ignore the evidence of their
own senses or consciousness, disregard common sense
and the common understanding of mankind, and wander in the mazes of scholastic theories, they have no
true land-marks to guide them, and are soon lost in
scholastic subtleties and sophistry.




CHAPTER XII.
THE NEW, OR MYSTICAL PHILOSOPHY-ITS ASSUMPTIONS AND ERRORS POINTED OUT, EXAMINED, AND
DISCUSSED.
The Mystical Philosofphy- What it Comprises.
The two theories-first, that an elastic medium
called ether,permeates all matter, and fills or permeates all space-and, second, that heat is only a mode
of motion, constitute ihe two chief corner stones of the
new system of philosophy; which seem to me so
strange and mystical, that it may properly be called
the mystical philosophy, or the mystical system of
philosophy.
It comprisesIst. A denial of the existence of any such principle or force as universal attraction-operating at a
distance, upon which the whole science of astronomy
is based, and substitutes in its place an imaginary
ether,as the motive power which moves the earth and
the planets around the sun-whether by attraction or
repulsion, the advocates of the system are not agreed.
2d. It denies the existence of any such element
as caloric, and denies also that heat, or the cause thereof, is material, or an element of matter, and insists that
it is a mere mode of motion.
3d. It affirms the undulatory ether theory of
light.
4th. The chemical theory of combustion.
5th. The chemical theory of organization, life,




172          MYSTICAL PHILOSOPHY.
and mind-that life, mind, and thought, are the mere
results of organization; and
6th. The dynamical, or mystical theory of forcethat the naturol forces are not inherent properties of
matter, but an immaterial mystical agent, acting
through the imaginary or supposed ether, independent
of any matter known to the chemist; that heat, electricity, and magnetism, are like gravity-not elements
of matter, but immaterial forces of nature; and that all
the forces of nature, including light, are substantially
one and the same force, and may be transmuted or
changed, each into either of the other forces. It denies the existence of any vital organizing element of
matter-forming the basis of life; ignores the existence of any such spiritual essence as intellect-forming the basis of conscience, intelligence and thought;
and deduces the phenomena of life and mind, consciousness and thought, from the chemical and dynamical action of the forces of nature.
The new philosophy is very nearly identical with
the Pantheistic theory of the universe. The germ of
the motion theory of heat originated with Count Rumford, the last part of the I8th century; some slight
traces of the theory of an elastic medium, is of older
date-but the new system of philosophy has been
gradually developed and matured during the last fifty
years, or since the year 1820, until it has become one
of the most stupendous fabrics of assumption and
sophistry ever presented to the human mind.
A  Vague and Indefinite Use of Words.
In matters of science words should be used with
great precision and accuracy, and in senses that are
well understood and defined. They should not be
used loosely and vaguely, in an indefinite and uncertain sense. Many words and phrases are used in the
new and mystical philosophy, in senses that are indefinite and obscure, inconsistent with each other, and
sometimes in a mystical sense. Among the words




USE OF WORDS.               173
and phrases so used, are the following: heat and motion-mode and form-eforce and energy-immaterial
forces-dynamical energy or force-dynamical cause
or causes —mechanical force or forces-molecules,
molecular force, and molecular action-ether and luminiferous ether-transformation of force, and conversion of force-evolution and development.
The manner in which such words and phrases are
used in books of science, serves to obscure the subject
treated, rather than to throw light upon it. Abstract
terms are often used as if they represented a force or
power, independent of matter. The words heat and
motion, force and power, cause or causation and energy,
dynamical power and dynamical force, and
some other words, are used in the NEW PHILOSOPHY
in a mysterious and mystical sense-as if they were
immaterial agencies —existing without substance and
independent of matter. The words heat and light,
electricity and magnetism, are used as representing
one and the same mysterious agency or force, manifested under different circumstances, in different modes
-each being convertible into either of the others.
The most of the scientists of the mystical school
assume that there is an elastic ether, sometimes called
luminiferous ether, pervading all matter and all space,
which they seem to regard either as the one great force
of nature, manifested in different modes, or as the medium through and by which the immaterial agencies of
nature act. But Prof. Grove discards the ether theory as an untenable hypothesis, and relies entirely upon
the dynamical theory and dynamical forces as an immaterial agency, and the only active forces of nature.
Heat, or Caloric, and its Action.
Heat, or rather the cause of heat, (caloric) cannot
be a mere mode of motion, for many reasons. Mere
motion and the mode thereof, is of itself powerless.
It is not matter, nor material, has not the force of mat3




174            HEAT-WHAT IS IT?
ter, and is not, and cannot be, an efficient cause of action or change. Caloric is very different. It is so material in its character and properties, that it occupies
space, and expands all bodies which it permeates. It
is the great solvent, and the great stimulant of the universe. Neither combustion, chemical action, fermentation, vital action, vegetable growth and development,
animal life anw growth, evaporation, nor even the motion of the atmosphere, can be originated or continued
without it. It is radiated into the atmosphere, and can
be felt as an independent substance, and carried in
and by the winds hundreds of miles.  It passes from
one body to another, and can be accumulated and intensified by accumulation. It never ceases to exist in
any body, or compound of matter, whether such body
be in motion or at rest; but to accumulate it, and produce the greatest intensity of heat, as in a retort, or in
the coal or metal in a retort, the thing in which it is
accumulated must be at rest-and not in motion.
Rapid motion is not consistent with much accumulation or great intensity of heat. Generally speaking,
the greater the heat at or near the surface of the earth,
the stiller the atmosphere. Though the simooms of
the deserts of the Torrid zone are hot, the winds
blowing from twenty to an hundred miles an hour in
high latitudes, are generally cold. The temperature of
the winds is never increased by their velocity, but depends upon the season of the year, and the direction
_from which they come.
If heat were  a  mere  mode  of  motion,
then a state of rest, the cessation of motion, would
cause the instantaneous cessation and annihilation of
all the heat produced by the motion of the moving
body; and it would be impossible to accumulate heat
to such a degree of intensity as to melt iron, or to produce great fires, and extensive conflagrations.
Caloric and a few of the metals, are the only elements of the material world that were known to the:ancients. Caloric was known for thousands of years
before any other element was known, except some of




MOTION.                  I 75
the metals-when water and atmospheric air were
both regarded as simple substances. It is more clearly discovered by the senses than any element known
to the chemist, except some of the metals. It is the
most powerful of all the elements of the material
world-being the great solvent of nature. It permeates, expands, fuses and destroys every compouid of
nature; and yet, the very existence of this most powerful, best known, of all elements, has been thrown into doubt, by a class of scientists.  An obvious truth,
that heat is caused by an element of nature, is denied;
and a contrary proposition, that heat is a mere mode
of motion, is affimed as true, and dignified with the
title of a scientific truth-though it is based on assumptions which seem contrary to common sense, and supported by a course of artificial reasoning which appears mystical and sophistical.
_Motion.
Motion is not a force, power, or cause; but simply a condition of matter in a state of change-an
eflect produced by some active force. Motion is a
changeable and accidental condition of matter, and
cannot exist independent of matter; while the cause of
motion is the active force or power inherent in the
matter itself-being as indestructible as are the atoms
of matter. It is true that a body in motion will produce effects which a body at rest cannot do; but such
effects are secondary, the first effect being the motion
itself, which is produced by the inherent properties
and forces of the body itself, and of other bodies and
forces acting upon it, and co-operating with it —which
properties and forces produce the secondary as well as
the primary effects. Motion alone cannot produce any
effect whatever. It cannot even develop heat, without friction, nor produce any of the phenomena usually produced by caloric.
Motion not being a substance-not being material
-not being matter, nor even an attribute of matter,




1 76                MOTION.
but only a condition of matter in a state of change,the
thing itself ceases to exist the moment the moving
body ceases to move.  It cannot be preserved for a
single moment, and cannot be accumulated.  Heat
cannot be mere motion, for heat can be accumulated
and is accumulated to an almost indefinite extent in
blast furnaces, and in such fires as the great conflagration in Chicago, in i87r, and the great fire in
Boston in I872. And when accumulated in furnaces,
stoves, steam boilers and stones, heat can be preserved
for many hours, after the combustion and consumption
of the fuel which produced it has ceased.
Again, if heat were mere motion, the degree of its
intensity would necessarily depend upon the velocity
of the moving body. How does that theory of heat
agree with the fact that iron is heated in a furnace or
forge fire, first to a brown heat, then to redness, and
finally to a white heat, when the iron itself is at rest,
and the furnace is also at rest.
The velocity of the earth's motion on its axis and
in its orbit, is the same at the 50oth degree of latitude
in each hemisphere-whether the north or the south
pole be inclined toward the sun. If the earth's motion
be heat, and the great source and cause of heat upon
its surface, why is it sometimes intensely hot as high
as the 5oth degree of north latitude in summer, when
the north pole is inclined toward the sun, and intensely
cold at the same time at the south pole? If motion be
heat, why is there perpetual snow on the mountain
peaks of Mexico and South America in the torrid
zone, when it is excessively hot in the neighboring
valleys, within an hundred miles of such snow-clad
peaks?
Motion alone cannot generate matter, nor produce
any change in matter. What is said in common parlance to be produced by motion, is in fact produced
by one or more bodies in a state of change, and not by
motion itself. Nor are he properties or forces of matter in any way changed by a state of motion. By the
decomposition of a compound body, its elements are




MOTION.                  177set free to form new combinations; but the properties
of those elements and the substance thereof, remain
always the same, unchanged and unchangeable.
Neither the decomposition of a compound, nor the
combination of its elements with other elements of
matter, can generate or develop any property, force
or power, which did not previously exist in the elements themselves. This may be regarded as a selfevident truth. It must be true —unless something
can be generated and produced from nothing. It is
as utterly impossible for motion, or even the friction of
two or more bodies to generate an element of matter,
as it would be for mere space to produce such an effect.
Bodies in motion may attract more strongly such mobile and subtle elements as caloric and electricity, than
they do when at rest; and by violent friction may
press out of them,and thereby develop such subtle elements as may be in them in a latent state, or in the
surrounding atmosphere-but to suppose that motion
and friction can generate an element of matter, or can
generate a force, power, and property, like caloric or
heat, which can melt iron, stone, and all earthly substances, and reduce them to fluids, seems like a logical impossibility, and an a)surdity.
Mode.
Prof. Tyndall and his school of scientists call heat
a mode of motion-placing emphasis upon the word
mode-as if it added great force to motion, and gave
the phrase a meaning very different from the word
motion alone; but he does not point out what that
difference is. The word mode when used in its most
precise and definite sense, is applied only to action and
motion. Every action and every motion must have
mode, and therefore the phrase mode of motion, without defining or describing the mode, has precisel) the
same meaning as the word motion when used alone,
and it has no other, broader or different meaning.




I 78             MODE-FORM.
The word mode does not express any force or power,
and the manner in which it is used by Tyndall and his
disciples, in connection with the word motion, as a
definition of heat, throws no new light upon the subject, but tends to obscure in some minds, what has
been well known for thousands of years. Fire and
heat are too well understood by all persons of common
sense, to need any new definition, new description, or
scientific theory to illustrate it. It would be difficult
to conceive a more preposterous idea than that involved in Prof. Tyndall's definition of heat-that it is
a mere mode of motion, destitute of substance:
Form.
Form is an incident to substance, and bears the
same relation to substance that mode does to motion.
Every thing which has substance must have form also.
Form is inherent in substance and inseparable from it;
but the word form never can be properly applied to
the active properties, or forces of matter. Form is
not an active property of matter, is never a force, and
can never act as a cause; and yet the disciples of the
mystical philosophy often use the term in an indefinite and mysterious sense, as if it represented a force
of nature.
Force and Energy-Immaterial Force.
The words force and energy are often used by
writers in a mystical sense, as if force and energy
could and do exist, independent of matter and of
substance. What do they mean by immaterial force?
Do they mean a force inherent in and exercised by a
Pantheistic, or Divine Spirit; or what do they mean?
The vague and indefinite use of such words only serve to
cover as with a vail, the ignorance of the writer, and
carry the appearance of wisdom, by shrouding the
subject in mystery.




FORCE.                  I79
Dynamical Energy-and Mechanical Force.
What is meant by dynamical energy, as used by
Tyndall, Grove and others? Is it one of the forces
of nature which I have enumerated; and if so, which
of them? Is it the force of gravity; or is it a chemical force, a magnetic force, an electric force, or the
force of caloric or heat? Is it a physical force, pertaining to inanimate matter only,or does it pertain also
to living organisms? The manner in which the phrase
is often used only tends to involve the subject in obscurity.
What is meant by mechanical forces, when applied to living organisms? All the mechanical powers, except the expansive power of steam, are based
upon the force of gravity-to which the vital force acts
antagonistically. Hence, it would seem that the phrase
mechanical force has no proper application as an actual force, to either animal or vegetable organismsexcept that the matter composing them occupies space,
has the power of resistance, and also the property or
force of gravity; and yet the the terms are often used
as if they constituted the chief motive power of animal
organisms.
Molecular Force, and Molecular Action.
Molecular force, and molecular action, have been
applied by writers to both animate and inanimate
matter; and hence they do not mean that it is vital
force. What do they mean?  Do they mean anything different from the forces of nature-if so, what?
What do writers mean by the word molecule,
which has been much used of late, in physics? Do
they mean atoms, or combinations and compounds of
atoms; and if compounds, what kind of a compound
forms a molecule; and what forces can molecules possess which are not possessed by the atoms of which
they are composed?




i80         CONVERSION OF FORCES.
Transformation and Conversiou of Forces.
Volumes have been written of late upon the correlation and conservation of forces.  If the atoms of
matter be indestructible and unchangeable, the properties and forces thereof must also be indestructible
and unchangeable-from which the conservation of
forces would result as a consequence, and it requires
no long course of reasoning to prove it. But if the
atoms and properties ot matter be unchangeable,which
seems to be a self-evident truth, the simple forces of
nature, resulting from those properties, must also be
unchangeable-and hence the conversion of one force
into another, as is assumed by writers of the mystical
school, is an impossibility. The assumption of this
convertibility, is based upon the further assumption,
stated by Prof. Youmens, that heat, light, electricity,
and magnetism, are not "subtle fluids with peculiar
properties, but simply modes of motion in ordinary
matter; forms of energy which are capable of mutual conversion." Such strange assumptions, not in
harmony with common sense, need proof. They need
something more than scholastic subtleties and sophistry, to support them; but there is nothing too absurd
to be embraced by the human mind as truth, if it be
presented in the garb, and dignified with the name, of
religion, philosophy, or science. Prof. Tyndall is in
the front rank of a school of science, which, in its interpretation of many of the phenomena of nature, ignores common sense and the common understanding
of mankind, as unworthy of the consideration of men
of science, and bases its reasoning upon mere assnrnptions, improbable hypotheses, and fanciful theories.
Evolution and Development.
The subject of evolution and development was examined in the last chapter, and they were shown to be
a:process —not a force, power, nor cause of action;
and that they need a moving power to originate them,




IMAGINARY ETHER.                I 8 I
and carry them on. They are often used as if they
constituted a mysterious force or power, by which the
animal creation, as well as varieties thereof, were originally brought into existence.
The Imaginary Ether.
The subject of ether was examined in the last
chapter. No word was ever used by man in so many
inconsistent and conflicting senses as that of either. It
is intended to represent the hypothesis of an elastic
medium permeating all matter and all space; and the
most marvelous and conflicting forces and powers are
attributed to it. It is called elastic ether, when power
is attributed to it, to act as a substitute for universal
attraction, to move the earth and the planets, and all
the heavenly bodies. When it is said to convey the
sensation of light by its waves,it is called luminiferous
ether. It is supposed to radiate heat and light in contrary directions, and in all directions at the same instant of time-to produce motion in solid bodies-to
be the cause of intense heat of red-hot iron, and to excite no heat at all in ice. What is very marvelous in
its action is, that it brings to the organs of sight images of all the objects in front of the eye.
Whether it be a self-acting power, or is dependent
on a Pantheistic Spirit to move it, has not been explained by its advocates. If it be self-acting, it is impossible to conceive how it acts, unless it is in fact, a
Pantheistic Spirit.
The defects in its luminiferous characteristics are,
that they will not act, except under the influence of
the sun's attraction, or the attraction of some other luminous body, or of a blaze of fire. On the side of the
earth opposite to the sun the ether is opaque, and
leaves us in darkness. Unlike other gases and fluids,
it will not pass through crooked tubes and passages;
which raises the suspicion that it is imaginary only,
and does not, in fact, exist.




I82           RADIATION OF HEAT.
Accumulation and Radiation of Heat.
That heat is radiated from a burning fire, from a
heated stove, from other super-heated bodies in which
it is accumulated, and also from steam, is a fact so
well attested by our senses, and by the common sense
of mankind, that no one will deny it.
How can mere motion be accumulated and radiated as heat, in accordance with the motion theory of
heat, and thereby produce upon the senses the effect of
heat?
To suppose that motion can be radiated from a
fire or heated stove, and produce the sensation of heat,
without the emission of any substance which is the element or cause of heat,' would be a self-evident absurdity. If anything is radiated that can excite the sensation of heat, it must be matter in motion; and if matter be radiated, whether you call it heat, caloric, or
fire, the thing is the same, and the motion theory of
heat must be false.
If motion be heat, then the degree and intensity
of heat must depend upon the velocity of motion, and
upon nothing else; and a state of rest must be the entire absence of any heat whatever-that is, a condition
of rest must be a state of the most intense cold, and
there can be no such thing as latent heat.  The advo.
cates of that theory have not considered the consequences which would flow from its principles.
Heat a ball of iron in a puddling furnace to a
white heat, and the attraction of cohesion will still
hold the particles firmly together, and keep them at
rest, until the heat is raised to an intensity of about
3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before it will melt and run.
How is it possible to conceive that the fuel with which
the furnace is heated, is decomposed and consumed by
motion only,converted into motion,and the motion communicated to the iron, and the iron heated by the motion, when the fuel and the iron itself, and every part
of it, is at rest? How could we be sensible of the heat
of red-hot iron, or of a heated stove, some inches dis



HEAT BY FRICTION.              I83
tant from us, unless atoms of heat radiate from the iron
to the skin, and thus excite the sensation of feeling?
We cannot perceive that there is any more motion
in a red-hot ball of iron in a puddling furnace, than
there is in a body of ice upon the surface of a lake or
river; and it is contrary to common sense to suppose
that there is any motion in either. The motion theory
of heat involves the self-evident fallacy, that theparticles of a red-hot ball or bar of iron are, and must
be, in violent motion, while the ball or bar itself,
as a whole, is at rest; and yet, fallacious as it is, it
has been stated as a scientific truth, by a leading writer
and advocate of the theory, (Balfour Stewart). Verily,
what has been dignified with the name of Science, has
run into strange mysticisms and absurdities!
Does the thermometer measure the motion of the
atmosphere, or the degree of heat arising from an element of matter, which causes the sensation of heat? If
the heat of the atmosphere depended upon its motion,
and was increased by increase of motion, it would be
colder in ravines and valleys, than upon elevated
plains, and upon the sides and tops of mountains;
which is directly contrary to the fact.
Development of Heat by Priction.
That friction developes heat is a well-known fact.
It is shown most frequently in the journal boxes of
railroad cars, which are kept constantly oiled, to
avoid heating. I say that friction developes heat-it
cannot create heat, nor call it into existence de novo;
nor can motion alone, without friction, even develop
heat. To suppose that motion or friction can call heat
into existence de novo, create it out of nothing, or increase the quantity of heat in the universe, would be
an absurdity.
The question then arises, where does the heat produced by friction come from?  As it is difficult, and
perhaps impossible, to answer that question to the sat



I84           HEAT BY PRICTION.
isfaction of all, it becomes necessary to study the process of friction, and the nature of heat, as the only
means of solving the difficulty.
As to the nature of heat there are two theories:
Ist, That heat is a subtle,volatile, imponderable fluid —
one of the elementary substances of nature, which
chemists have called caloric,-having certain affinities
for every element of matter, and penetrating and pervading all the compounds of the world, and yet having no such affinity for any element as to form a chemical compound, or combination with it.
2d, The other-the new theory is, that heat is
not matter-not substance-but only motion, or a
mode of motion, without substance or properties; for
it can have no properties without substance, and yet it
produces real and sensible effects.
The only argument that has been presented against
the material theory of heat is this-heat is constantly
produced by the friction of the same things, as long as
the friction continues, and it is said that if it were
matter pressed out of the things rubbed together, the
supply would soon be exhausted, and the fact that it is
not exhausted but continues to be produced as long as
the friction is continued, is argued as proof that heat
cannot be material. As matter in motion communicates its motion to some extent to other bodies with
which it comes in contact, it is argued that the heat
produced by friction cannot be rationally accounted for
as matter, and must be regarded as motion only.
Such are the slender foundations upon which the
whole fabric of the motion theory of heat is based. If
the theory were true, the heat would be confined, as
the motion is, to the bodies which come in contact and
produce the friction; and no sensible effects could be
produced or felt beyond the surface of these bodies and
the things coming in contact with them; which is not
in accordance with the fact; for we know that heat is
radiated and produces sensible effects at various distances from the radiating source-and I cannot conceive how any thing, not material, can be radiated




HEAT BY FRICTION.             185
and produce such effects.  Again, heat expands all
substances which it penetrates-ind that fact furnishes
conclusive evidence that it occupies space, and has
some of the properties of ponderable matter.
As heat produced by friction must be merely developed and accumulated at the point of friction, and
cannot be thereby created or called into existence, it
would seem that it must be pressed out of the surfaces
of the things rubbed together; or 2d, come from and
be pressed out of the atmosphere which is constantly
drawn in between the bodies revolving rapidly in contact; or, thirdly, it must be strongly attracted by the
bodies in motion, and caused to accumulate at the
point of contact and friction, and thus aid in furnishing
the supply of caloric developed by friction. So far as
I can understand the subject,these are the three sources
which furnish the supply of caloric or heat developed
by friction.
There are some indications, I think, that matter
in motion attracts both caloric and electricity more
strongly than matter at rest. If any heatbe developed
by motion alone-without friction-it must be because
matter in motion attracts caloric more strongly than
matter does when in a state of rest. It would be difficult to assign any other rational cause, to account for
the fact.
Combustion is a calorific process, and not a process of motion, nor of friction; though ignition and
combustion may originate with caloric developed by
friction. How can the advocates of the motion theory
of heat explain, in accordance with their theory, the
development of heat by combustion?
A very small amount of heat is developed by the
friction of the machinery of mills and factories, and
locomotive engines; but it cannot be made available
and utilized by man —and not an hundredth part as
much is so developed, as by the combustion of the
fuel used in making the steam required to propel the
machinery of mills operated by steam. The combustion of fuel by caloric furnishes, not only all the heat




I 86               EVIDENCE.
that ever was made available to produce steam, to be
used as a moti ve power, but also all that is used to
warm factories and workshops, dwelling houses and
other buildings-to warm the people in cold weather,
and to cook their food at all seasons of the year. We
must and do look to combustion, not to motion nor
friction, as the great source of heat which can be made
available, either as a motive power, for mechanical
purposes, or for warming our buildings.
Though a very little heat may be developed by
friction, none wvas ever developed by motion alone.
Sufficient caloric can be developed by friction to ignite
gun-powder, light a friction match, or kindle a fire
with tinder, or with very dry and combustible materials; but not sufficient to heat an iron furnace to so
high a temperature as to melt iron-stone, anc the limestone used to flux it.
Evidence.
The human mind depends upon evidence, upon
which it forms its opinions; and must depend mostly
upon the organs of sense, to furnish it evidence, and
upon its understanding to interpret the evidence; and
when men disregard the evidence of their own se ses,
and the common sense and common understanding of
mankind,and rely upon mere assumptions and fanciful
theories, as the basis of their reasoning, they are in the
condition of a mariner at sea in cloudy weather in the
olden time, without a compass with which to guide
the movements of his vessel.
Difficult and doubtful questions in matters of science, as well as in courts of justice, should be determined by the weight of evidence. Apply that rule to
the motion theory of heat, and weigh in a balance
the great truths of the generation of heat by combustion in great conflagrations, and the destructive effects
of heat so generated, with the little obscure facts of
the generation of heat by firiction, and the latter will
at once kick the beam. How trifling and insignificant
the latter appear, when compared with the former!




BOOKS ON SCIENCE.             I87
What an overwhelming balance of evidence in favor
of the old theory, offthe generation of heat by the calorific process of combustion!
The great and striking facts of the conflagration
of cities and forests by the calorific process of combustion, are disregarded by the advocates of the motion
theory of heat, and not taken into the account by them,
when reasoning in relation to the origin and cause of
heat; and the obscure and insignificant fact,that some
degree of heat may be developed by friction, is made
the sole basis of their reasoning upon the subject.
They never allude to the generation of heat by combustion; and their writings do not indicate that they
are acquainted with any such phenomena.
Professors Tyndall, Huxley, and Maudsly, are at
the head of the school of materialists, in England. In
their reasoning to establish the doctrines of materialism, they ignore, or overlook, thefact and phenomena of consciousness, the distinction between the physical effects made upon the organs of sense and the
cognitions of such effects by the mind-and also the
evidences, which such cognitions, and the consciousness thereof, furnish of an intellectital element or
principle, in man. They seem to be unacquainted
with, or not to understand,the great principles of intellectual science.
Books on Chemistry and Physical Science.
Great efforts have been made during the last
twenty years, by the advocates of the ether theory and
the motion theory of heat, to infuse their doctrines into the public mind, into schools, and into books of
science-and more especially into works on chemistry
and physical science. They seem to have had almost
the entire control for many years of the British Association, and have used it as a means of propagating
their doctrines, and infusing them into the popular as
well as the scientific mind of the United Kingdom;
but, as yet, they have had no very great success in the
United States. The reception with which such doc



x88            BOOKS ON SCIENCE.
trines have met with in Great Britain, and the admistion they have gained into books on science published
in that country, have not been without their influence
here. Our authors and scientific men, however, have
very generally received and treated them as uncertain
and doubtful speculative theories which do not command their assent; but being supported by so many
leading scientists abroad, they seem unwilling to take
a bold stand against them, and to condemn them as
fanciful and untenable. All our authors on chemistry
of any standing, merely state the motion theory of heat
as a hypothesis, and present the subject in language
and arguments, and use illustrations, which are
consistent only with the theory, that heat is caused
by an element of matter.  It is so with American
books on Physics and Astronomy; in which these subjects are treated as if the world and the universe were
governed by the force of unzversal attraction, and
very liftle notice is taken of the imaginary ether.
Prof. Wilson, of Edinburgh, in his work on Inorganic Chemistry, has left out caloric, electricity and
magnetism, as not elements of matter; though they
are all treated in American works as imponderable
matter, and the most active of all the elements of the
material world.
The professor seems to have overlooked the fact,
that the chemical affinities will not act without the
stimulating influence of heat.  His work presents
chemistry emasculated. To perform experiments in
chemistry successfully, it requires in the laboratory or
room where they are performed, a temperature of
about 70 degrees, to facilitate chemical action. Fermentation will not take place when the temperature is
below 40, and will not progress very rapidly with a
temperature below 70. The chemist can do nothing
without the constant aid and stimulating influence of
caloric, and he must have it in much larger quantities
than can be furnished by friction. All the heat produced by friction in the Island of Great Britain would
not be sufficient to warm properly the laboratory of
one of her great Universities.