Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1851-12-17

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s. Are not all things which we see
and feel composed of matter
F. Every thing which is the object of
our senses is composed of matter differ
emily modified or arranged. But in phi
losophical sense matter is defined to be an
extended, solid, inactive and mopsa6le sub
stance.
S. If by extension is meant length,
breadth and thickness, matter, undoubt-
edly, is an extended substance. Its So
lidity is manifested by the resistance it
makes to the touch. And the other pro-
perties nobody will deny, for all material
objects are of themselves without motion;
and yet it may be readily conceived, that
by application of proper force, there is
no body which cannot be moved. But /
remember, papa, that you told us some
thing strange about the indivisibility of
matter, which you said might be continu-
ed without end.
F. did, some time back, mention this
curious and interesting subject, and this is
very fit time to explain it.
S. Can matter indeed be infinitely d.
vided; for suppose this is what is meant
by division without end?
F. Difficult as this may at first appear,
yet l think it very capable of proof. Can
you conceive of a particle of matter so
small as not to have an upper and under
surface
S. Certainly every portion of matter,
however minute, must have two surfaces
at least, and then see it follows ofcourse
that it is divisible that is, the upper and
lower surfaces may be separated.
F. Your conclusion is just; and though
there may be particles of matter too small
for us entirely to divide, yet this arises
from the imperfection of our instruments;
they must nevertheless, in their nature,
be Invisible.
A few years ago, a lady spun single
pound of wool into thread 1853, 900 yards
long. And Mr.. Boyle mentions that two
grains and a half of silk were spun into a
thread 800 yards in length. If pound
of silver, which, you know, contains 5, 760
grains, and a single grain of gold, be mel
ted together, the gold will be equally diff
fused through the whole silver, insomuch
that if one grain of the mass be dissolved
in liquid called aqua forts, the gold will
fall to the bottom. By this experiment,
it is evident that grain may be divided
into 5,761 parts, for only the 5,761st part
of the gold is contained in single grain
of the mass.
The gold-beaters, whom you have seen
at work in the shops at Longacre, can
spread grain of gold into leaf contain
ing fifty square inches, and this leaf may
be readily divided into 100000 parts,
each of which is visible to the naked eye;
and by the aid of a microscope, which
magnifes the area or surface of body
100 times, the Tooth part of each of these
becomes visible; that is, the $4,000, 000th
part of a grain of gold will be visible, or
a single grain of that metal may be divi-
dcd into SO, 100000 of visible parts. But
the gold which covers the silver wire used
in making what is called gold lace, is
preserves, even if examined with a micro
scope, uniform appearance. 1t has been
calculated that one grain of gold, under
these circumstances, would cover sur
face of nearly 80 square yards.
The natural divisions of matter are still
more surprising. In odoriferous bodies,
such as camphor, musk and assafedita, a
wonderful subtilty of parts is perceived
for, though they are perpetually filling a
space with odoriferous parti- |
cles, yet these bodies lose but very small
part of their weight in very long time.
Again, it is said by those who have ex-
amined the subject with the best glasses,
and whose accuracy may be relied on,
that there are more animals in the melt of
a single Goldfish, than there men on the
whole earth, and that a single grain of
sand is larger than four millions of these
animals. Now if it be admitted that these
little animals are possessed of organized
parts, such as heart, stomach, muscles,
veins, arteries, &C., and that they are pos
sessed of complete system of circulating
fluids, similar to what are found in larger
animals, we seem to approach to an idea
of the infinite indivisibility of matter. 1t
has indeed been calculated, that a parti-
Gle of the blood of one of these animalcu-
lac is as much smaller than globe one
tenth of an inch in diameter, as that globe |
is smaller than the whole earth. Never
theless, ifthose particles be compared with
the particles of light, it is probable that
they would be found to exceed them in
bulk, as much as mountains do single !
grains of sand.
l might enumerate many other instan-
ces of the same kind, but these, doubt
not, will be sufficient to convince
you into what very minute parts matter is
capable of being divided.
Captain Scoresby, in his account of the |
Greenland Seas, states, in July, 1848, his
vessel sailed for several leagues in water
of very uncommon appearance. The
surface was variegated by large patches
of yellowish-green color. 1t was found
to be produced by animalcule, and mi
croscopes were applied to their examina-
ton. In a single drop of the water, ex-
amined by power of 49, (magnifed
superhcies) there were so in number, on
an AVERAGE. in each SQUARE of the micro