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chemical , and vitnl laws : it has obeyed these laws most strictly , and is an atom still ; no waters can drown it , no fire can destroy it , no revolutions can disturb it . It is the representative of eternal power . The earth may be burned up , but the atom will not be scorched . The elements may melt with fervent heat , but the atom will exist unharmed , unchanged . When a solid body is cut , the knife slides
between the atoms ; when it is ground , or pounded , no matter how fine , the atoms roll about in their integrity , unharmed . When gold is beaten , the atoms are only spread out ; when a piece of wood is burned , the atoms simply unite with oxygen ; when a salt is dissolved in a large quantity of water , the atoms of the salt are diffused ; but
if the quantity of water be very large and the quantity of salt very small , there will at length be fewer atoms of salt in the vessel than drops of water , so that a drop of water may chance to contain not an atom of salt ; and if this drop be again diluted , of course there will be no salt in the dilution . This is knotm to be the case . Every
chemist is as familiar with this truth as with the diurnal rotation of the earth . Tet the homoeopathist will dilute this drop in a gallon of water , and £ hen take a drop out of this last gallon and dilute it with another gallon , and repeat the process ten times , and then , with an assurance which is peculiar to modern times , he will tell you that a drop out of the last gallon contains a portion , and a very efficacious portion too , of the salt , one grain of which only was dissolved in the
first gallon ! We have dwelt longer than we should have done on the nature of these atoms—first , because the whole created universe is composed of them , and of nothing else ; and , secondly , because when we use the word atom in these papers , we shall intend to signify not merely a small particle , but a chemical atom . We shall now be prepared to advance another step .
Attraction for each other is a property of these atoms , else the earth would not hold together— -a marble would drop into dust , and a bullet would melt , and so it will if sufficient heat be applied , for Heat is the antagonist of attraction . Abstract heat from water , and its atoms will cling together and form ice ; add heat , and they will again move freely in a fluid ; add yet more heat , so as to raise
the temperature to 212 , and the attraction will not only cease , but the atoms will even repel each other , and with force which no human power can resist . This repulsion has given us steam-machinery and railway-travelling . When a heavy mass of matter is at rest , it requires great force to put it in motion , as , for instance , in starting along and heavy
railwaytrain , how the engine labours and pants before it can put the huge weight into rapid motion . Also , when a heavy body is moving , it requires great force to stop it . Hence the necessity of the break in the railway-train ; hence also the necessity of reversing the engine of the steam-boat , not to put her back , but to stop her . This peculiar tendency in matter to remain in statu quo , whether in motion or at rest , is called inertia .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
chemical , and vitnl laws : it has obeyed these laws most strictly , and is an atom still ; no waters can drown it , no fire can destroy it , no revolutions can disturb it . It is the representative of eternal power . The earth may be burned up , but the atom will not be scorched . The elements may melt with fervent heat , but the atom will exist unharmed , unchanged . When a solid body is cut , the knife slides
between the atoms ; when it is ground , or pounded , no matter how fine , the atoms roll about in their integrity , unharmed . When gold is beaten , the atoms are only spread out ; when a piece of wood is burned , the atoms simply unite with oxygen ; when a salt is dissolved in a large quantity of water , the atoms of the salt are diffused ; but
if the quantity of water be very large and the quantity of salt very small , there will at length be fewer atoms of salt in the vessel than drops of water , so that a drop of water may chance to contain not an atom of salt ; and if this drop be again diluted , of course there will be no salt in the dilution . This is knotm to be the case . Every
chemist is as familiar with this truth as with the diurnal rotation of the earth . Tet the homoeopathist will dilute this drop in a gallon of water , and £ hen take a drop out of this last gallon and dilute it with another gallon , and repeat the process ten times , and then , with an assurance which is peculiar to modern times , he will tell you that a drop out of the last gallon contains a portion , and a very efficacious portion too , of the salt , one grain of which only was dissolved in the
first gallon ! We have dwelt longer than we should have done on the nature of these atoms—first , because the whole created universe is composed of them , and of nothing else ; and , secondly , because when we use the word atom in these papers , we shall intend to signify not merely a small particle , but a chemical atom . We shall now be prepared to advance another step .
Attraction for each other is a property of these atoms , else the earth would not hold together— -a marble would drop into dust , and a bullet would melt , and so it will if sufficient heat be applied , for Heat is the antagonist of attraction . Abstract heat from water , and its atoms will cling together and form ice ; add heat , and they will again move freely in a fluid ; add yet more heat , so as to raise
the temperature to 212 , and the attraction will not only cease , but the atoms will even repel each other , and with force which no human power can resist . This repulsion has given us steam-machinery and railway-travelling . When a heavy mass of matter is at rest , it requires great force to put it in motion , as , for instance , in starting along and heavy
railwaytrain , how the engine labours and pants before it can put the huge weight into rapid motion . Also , when a heavy body is moving , it requires great force to stop it . Hence the necessity of the break in the railway-train ; hence also the necessity of reversing the engine of the steam-boat , not to put her back , but to stop her . This peculiar tendency in matter to remain in statu quo , whether in motion or at rest , is called inertia .