eric
action, such action is more readily produced at night than in the
presence of sunlight.

In the early part of 1902 Marconi made some experiments on board the
American liner _Philadelphia_, which brought out the remarkable fact
that, while it was possible to transmit signals to a distance of fifteen
hundred miles during the night, they could not be transmitted further
than seven hundred miles during the day. The same was found to be the
case by Lieutenant Solari of the Italian Navy, at whose disposal the
ship _Carlo Alberta_ was placed by the King of Italy in 1902, for the
purpose of making investigations into wireless telegraphy; and summing
up the points which he considered to have been fully established by his
experiments on board that ship, he mentions among them the fact, that
sunlight has the effect of reducing the power of the electro-magnetic
waves, and that consequently a greater force is required to produce a
given result by day than by night. Here, then, is a reason why we might
expect to see more supernatural appearances, as we call them, at night
than in the day--they require a smaller amount of force to produce them.
At the same time, it is found that the great magnetic waves which cover
immense distances, work even more powerfully in the light than in the
dark. May it not be that these things show, that there is more than a
merely metaphorical use of words, when the Bible tells us of the power
of Light to dissipate, and bring to naught, the powers of Darkness,
while the Light itself is the Great Power, using the forces of the
universe on the widest scale? Perhaps it is none other than the
continuity of unchanging universal principles extending into the
mysterious realms of the spiritual world.

CHAPTER III

MAN'S PLACE IN THE CREATIVE ORDER

In the preceding chapters we have found certain definite facts,--that
all known matter is formed out of one primordial Universal
Substance,--that the ether spreading throughout limitless space is a
Universal Medium, through which it is possible to convey force by means
of vibrations,--and that vibrations can be started by the power of
Sound. These we have found to be well established facts of ordinary
science, and taking them as our starting-point, we may now begin to
speculate as to the possible workings of the known laws under unknown
conditions.

One of the first things that naturally attract our attention is the
question,--How did Life originate