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Show • 1 t!di t wm1l Not cs. hy them into each thcr's vi~·inity. hy th attrarl ion of o h e~ i on, and become condcns d ou 'a l1 Hle of the glass plan'; and then when the glass plane j withdrawn, the two de ·tri e~~thers bcinf>' n_ow in cont.a ·t ru It violcully tocrcth r, and draw ;tlouo· w1 th them the p1e<: · of moi stened sponrre, to which they adhcr ; a1ul iin;tlly the acid and alcalinc liquid · being now brought into contact ombinc by t l1 cir ·hcmical atlinity. The repulsions of distant bodic are al o xpli ·able by this id a of th ir beinoo· surrounded with two ether, whi ·h we have term 'd ma~ - culinc and feminine for the case of convers ing about them; aud have compared them to vitreous and resinous clcctri ' ity, and to arctic ~wd antarctic magn ti m. A when two parti cle of 1~1att r, or two larg r masses of it, are surround d both with th ·iL· ma. culinc th rs, th se ethers repel each other or refuse to intermix; and in on. ·qu ' ncc the bodies to which they adh rc, rcccd from ach oth r; as two cork-ball suspend ed ncar each other, and cl ctrised both with vitreou. or both with resinous ether, repel each other; or as the extrcmitic of two nc (U cs magnetised both with arctic, r both with an tar tic ether, r 'pel each _oth er; or a oil au<l wat r urrouncl cl both with th eir ma culin , or both with their feminine ethers, repel each other without touchino·; so light is believed to be reflected from a mirror without touching its surface, and to be ben t toward the clge of a knife, or r efracted by its approach from a rarer medium into a denser 011e, by the repulsive ether of the mirror, and the attractive ones of the knife-edge, a11d of the denser medium. 'I'hus a poli h 'd tea-cup slip on the polished saucer probably without th ir a tual conta t with each other, till a D w drops of water arc interposed between them by capillary attraction, and prevent its slidin o· by their tenacity. And so; lastly, one hard body in motion pu h es another hard body out of it place by their r pulsi ve eth ers without beino· in contact; as appears from their not adhering to each other, which all bodie in real contact are bdievcd to do. Whence also may be i"ferrcd the reason why bodies have been suppo cd to repel at one distance and attract at another, becau c they attract when th ir particles are in contact with each other, and either attract or r pel Chemical Theory qj' Etectricii!J and .JI;fagnetisnt . 79 when at a distan c by the intervention f' tl . . . S.l ve et l1 crs. o 1 '' attract! ve or r J>Ul- Thus have I endeavoured to take one step furth . b J • 1 _ . . . I <LCCllhOtJ1C myste1 y of th grav1tat1on and r pulsion of bocr1 1 · 1 1 - · ' ' w llC l appeared to Jc d1 stant from each other, as of t he ~un and planets, as I before cnd cav~u rc~l to take one step further back into the myste ries of g 'ncratiOn Ill my a(' 'Ollllt of th production of' tllc htt ds o(' vroo·et· ll ,, . PI 1 . . '" a J c~ m 1yt og1a: WJth what success the ·e J1avc !Jecn attc11d ·d 1 now leave to the Jndgmcnt of philosophical r ·aders, fron 1 which 1 can make no appeal. |