he conclusion that all forms of matter are but
different motions or strains in the Ether (perhaps, as Lord Kelvin
thought, in the form of vortices), that the different atoms of which
matter is composed are, as suggested in View Three, _apertures_ of
different complexity of outline--namely, those points at which Ether
is absent or its density attenuated. Have we not apparently here
another example of Positive and Negative, the Invisible the Ether, as
the Real, and the Visible, the Material Universe, as its Negative the
Unreal, similar to our list of Positives and Negatives in View One?
Ether itself cannot be explained by any of the known dynamical laws,
though it is probably the very root and cause of all of them; it is
absolutely beyond our plane of perception or conception. We can only
perceive certain effects of its presence when it comes into our
limited world of consciousness, under the aspects of Time and
Space--namely, in its movements, which we classify as forms of matter
and modes of energy.

It is only lately that we have been able to see clearly that the
effects known to us as Light, Heat, Electricity, and Magnetism are
caused by pulsations or rills of different rapidity in the Ether (this
will be referred to in a later View); it is also probably the cause of
what we call Gravitation, and we shall see that the action of
Gravitation may, after all, be not in the direction of a pull but must
be looked upon as a pushing force. Gravitation is common to all
matter; in common language, every particle attracts every other
particle with a force directly proportional to its mass, and
inversely to the square of its distance; it is a very weak force
compared with others we know, and difficult to measure except when a
large mass of matter is involved. Perhaps this will be clearer, and
not far from the truth, if I say that the force of Gravitation exerted
between two masses of matter compared with that which we find acting
between the constituents of matter--namely, in chemical affinity, is
comparable to the difference existing between the density of matter
and the density of Ether.

The latest calculation of the pressure of the Ether is almost
inconceivable--namely, about 25,000 tons on the square inch, or
3,600,000 tons on the square foot; it may well therefore be that, in
the degree of permeability of matter by the Ether, when we can
calculate it, will be found the explanation of what we call
Gravitation between two