ponge, to which they adhere; and
finally the acid and alcaline liquids being now brought into contact
combine by their chemical affinity.

The repulsions of distant bodies are also explicable by this idea of
their being surrounded with two ethers, which we have termed masculine
and feminine for the ease of conversing about them; and have compared
them to vitreous and resinous electricity, and to arctic and antarctic
magnetism. As when two particles of matter, or two larger masses of
it, are surrounded both with their masculine ethers, these ethers
repel each other or refuse to intermix; and in consequence the bodies
to which they adhere, recede from each other; as two cork-balls
suspended near each other, and electrised both with vitreous or both
with resinous ether, repel each other; or as the extremities of two
needles magnetised both with arctic, or both with antarctic ether,
repel each other; or as oil and water surrounded both with their
masculine, or both with their feminine ethers, repel each other
without touching; so light is believed to be reflected from a mirror
without touching its surface, and to be bent towards the edge of a
knife, or refracted by its approach from a rarer medium into a denser
one, by the repulsive ether of the mirror, and the attractive ones of
the knife-edge, and of the denser medium. Thus a polished tea-cup
slips on the polished saucer probably without their actual contact
with each other, till a few drops of water are interposed between them
by capillary attraction, and prevent its sliding by their tenacity.
And so, lastly, one hard body in motion pushes another hard body out
of its place by their repulsive ethers without being in contact; as
appears from their not adhering to each other, which all bodies in
real contact are believed to do. Whence also may be inferred the
reason why bodies have been supposed to repel at one distance and
attract at another, because they attract when their particles are in
contact with each other, and either attract or repel when at a
distance by the intervention of their attractive or repulsive ethers.

Thus have I endeavoured to take one step further back into the mystery
of the gravitation and repulsion of bodies, which appeared to be
distant from each other, as of the sun and planets, as I before
endeavoured to take one step further back into the mysteries of
generation in my account of the production of the buds of vegetables
in Phytologia. With w