The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-06-30
From Evenings at Home"
Whv An Annie Falls.

why an apple rSIis.
Popa (said Iucy) have been reading IN.
day that Sir Isaac Newton was led to make
some of his great discoveries by seeing nm
apple fall from a tree. What was there ex.
traordinary in that?
p. There was nothing extraordinary;
but it happened to catch his attention and
set him thinking.
l.. And what did he think about1
p. lie thought by what means the apple
was brought to the ground.
l.. Why, | could have told him that
because the stalk gave way and there was
nothing to support it.
p. And what thcn'
L. Why, then-it must fall, you know.
p. But why must it fall that is the
point. ...s...,.s
/. Because it could not help Il.
x 3at tweL sssld II not hsld III 4
l. l don't Ehow-tbat Is an odd quss.
ton. Because there was nothing to keep
itup.
+. suppose there was not-docs II follow
that 1t must come to the ground!
l.. Yes, surely
=. Is an apple animate or inanimate'
l., lnanimatc to be sure.
p. And can inanimate things move of
themselvcsl
l.. No-I think not-but the apple falls
because it is forced to fall.
l.. Right! Some force out of itself acts
upon 1t, otherwise it would remain forever
where 1t was, notwithstanding it were loos-
ened from the tree
l.. Would itt
+. Undoubtedly for there are only two
ways in which it could be moved by its
own power OF motion, or the power Of some.
thing elso moving it. Now, the first you
acknowledge it has not the cause Of its mo.
ton must therefore be the second. And
what that is, was the subject Of the phi!os.
ophers inquiry.
L. But every thing falls to the ground ss
well as an apple, when there Is nothing to
keep it up.
T. True-there must therefore be an
universal cause OF this tendency to fall.
H. And what is it!
p. Why, il things out Of the earth can not
move themselves to it, there can be no other
cause Of their coming together, than that
the earth pulls them.
L. But the earth is no more animate
than they are so how can it pully
p Well objcctcd This will bring US
TO the point Sir Isaac Newton after deep
meditation discovered that there was law
in nature called attraction, by virtue of
which every particle Of matter, that is. eve.
ry thing of which the world is composed,
draws toward it every other particle Of mat
ter, with force proportioned to its size and
distance. Lay two marbles on the table
They have a tendency to come together
and If there were nothing else in the world.
they would come together but they are
also attracted by the table, by the ground
and by every thing besides in the room and
these different attractions pull against each
other. Now, the globe Of the earth is a pro.
digious mass Of matter, by which nothing
near Il can bear comparison. II draws
therefore with mighty force every thing
within its reach, which is the cause Of their
falling; and this is called the pravitation Of
bodies, or what gives them weight. When
! Mn up any thing, act contrary 10 thla
force, for which reason it seems heavy to
me ard the heavier, the more matter It con.
tains, since that increases the attraction of
+ the earth for it. Do you understand this,
L. think do. 1t is like loadstone
drawing needle.
p. Yes--that is an attraction, but of .
particular kind, only taking place between
the magnet and iron. But gravitation, or
the attraction Of the earth, acts upon every
thing alike.
L. Then il is pulling you and me At this
moment.
p. lis.
l.. But why do We not stick to the
ground, then'
+. Because, as We are alive, We have
power Of self-moton, which can, to Ger.
tain degree, overcome the attraction Of the
earth. But the reason you can not jump
a mile high as well as foot, is this attrac.
ton, which brings you down again after the
force Of your jump is spent
L. l think, then, begin to understand
what have heard OF people living on the
other side of the world. believe they are
called Antipodes, who have their feet turned
toward ours, and their heads in the air.
used to wonder how it could be that they
did not fall of; but l suppose the earth
pulls them to it.
P. Very true. And whittier should they
fall? What have they over their headsl
l.. ] don't know-sky, I suppose.
p. They have. This earth is vast ball,
hung in the air, and continually spinning
round, and that is the cause why the sun
and stars seem to rise and set. At noon We
have the sun over our heads, when the Anti.
podcs have the stars over theirs: and at
midnight the stars arc over our heads, ard
the sun over theirs. So whittier should
they fall to more than wes to the stars or
l.. But we are up and thew are down
p. What is up, but from The earth and
toward the sky9 Their feet touch tho earth
.,d ,h.;, hoois ,o;r. A. a. - III "