Excerpt from Elements of Physics, or Natural Philosophy, General and Medical, Vol. 2 of 2: Explained Independently of Technical Mathematics; Part I A majority of philosophers now incline to the Opinion here sketched, that there is at least one' such subtile fluid or ether occupying completely the space of the universe, and tend ing to uniform diffusion by reason of a strong mutual repulsion of its particles, which fluid pervades denser material substances somewhat as water pervades a sponge or a mass of sand, being attracted in a peculiar way by each substance, and which fluid may or may not have weight and inertia. They believe far ther that the phenomena above' alluded to, and which human art can exhibit with highest beauty, or with awful intensity, are produced by the motion Of other affections of that fluid, as the sensation of sound in all its varieties is produced in the delicate structure of the ear by a certain motion in the air, or in any Other body, having communication with the ear; or as the sensation ofjar is perceived by a hand held to one end of a log of wood when a blow is given to the other end. Some' philosophers again suppose that the causes Of the phenomena are material particles projected through space, somewhat as sand might be scattered by an explosion, and which particles are, pre sent only when the effects are apparent. Some combine these two hypotheses. And some hold all the phenomena of heat to be mere motions in the common matter of the bodies in whibh the heat exists. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.