Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-11-18
A VERY TOUGH STORY.
The Vital Principle.
DIR. MEIssNER's THEORY.

The Vital Principle.
h DIR. MEIssNER's THEORY.
; DIR. Meissner's discovery of the prin
t ciple of life, which has latterly cause,
v so much discussion in the seientifi,
e circles in Europe, and which has Civ
o en- rise to sO many curious speculation.
e among sdrdRS, must be considered a.
}, undoubtedly the greatest discovery o.
4 modern times.
! Motion, DIR. Meissner claims. is moi
I simply change of place among bodies,
but an actual tangible substance: and
{ change of place" Is but the manifes-
? tatlOn of it, presence. Sir II. DaVy.
j II will be remembered, claimed the
life principle was gas but Meissner
has obtained the gas, and, by means
OF powerful apparatus, compressed il
into solid form, as was long ago done
T with carbOnic acid gas. As shown by
DIR. Meissner to the Berlin Academy,
T during the reading and expIicatiOn of
his memoir, il was in hollow glass
globe about two feet in diameter, from
which the atmospheric air had been
as FAR as possible exhausted. Owing
to the impOssibility of completely
withdrawing the air, its manifesta-
tions were to some. extent impeded.
1t was in the form of a powder, which
when at rest is white. But after suf1i-
eient air is withdrawn to enable it TO
assume its activity, the eolors of il are
those usually seen in animal and veg
etable life. The globe containing
inns powder was suspended from the
wall by a fine silken cord, about five
feet from the floor, so. that it could
readily be observed by the members
of the Academy. DIR. Meissper, when
he wished TO call attention to it, re-
moved black silk cloth by which il
was covered, and violently agitated
the powder by shaking the globe with
great force. When the powder had
become chaotic in its forms, he allow
ed the globe to hang quietly from the
feeling, and requested the audience to
watch il closely, and see how this mi
erocosm would reproduce from the
earliest times, of the universe. the va
rious changes which the micFocosm
has undergone. At first all was con-
fusion, but soon the. powder became
brilliantly prismatic. and q tremulous
motion pervaded the mass. a sudden
scintillatiOn of the exterior portions
in proximity to the glass succeeded,
and a flash of light shot from all
these exterior portions toward the
center, representing, as DIR. Meissner
said, the eOsmical light. At the CEN
ter toward which the light had passed |
was then seen in rapid process of
formation an intensely bright crystal, I
the earliest form of organic life, which |
was soon to become the central sun of
this little universe. This crystal be- /
gun to revolve slowly, and, as it was
the only portion of the whole which |
had at all approached to q solid form. !
the PARTICLES of powder began to ap-
proach and unite themselves to it. In 1
all directions the effect of attraction 1
was seen, and like myriads of scintil- |
lating comets the atoms rushed toward |
their sun, until all had united them /
selves to it. And now this sun re-
volved with ever increasing rapiditv,
until, as the centrifugal force over
came the eentripetal, the ball in whirl-
ing threw offring after ring Ofmatter.
and the rings breaking formed plan
cts, revolving rythmieally aroundth the
central sun. Selecting the third planet
from the miniature sun, which repre-
sented the earth, DIR. Meissner pro-
vided the President of the Academy
with a powerful magnifying glass,
and requested him to examine this
earth. 1t was its aloic age. Not a
trace of life could be seen on the bar
rem rocks, none in the lonely seas
breaking unimpeded on desolate
shores. The palaezOic age came on, l
and the eye could trace =esi-W eeds and
the earliest vegetation, and 80 the as
iEh no NJ 81
era, and onward, as life in
creased Vast vegetable forms, mighty {
ferns tossing their giant arms in the !
gale, appeared. UneOuth mon ,
sters crept over the land and r
the earth's crust, and hurried millions 7
Of animated beings TO death. Time 2
passed and men appeared, digging G
roots and ranging the forest. Cities !
arose, and histOry-the story of hu- r
nan wOe-was repeated on this MINI I
C world. Rome rose and fell. The
countless hOrdes of India and the east 9
aged and tore each other in the MINI I.
c fight. The whole course of histO- i,
v was re-enacted. Even Berlin and / Y
IS academy appeared, and was seen n
gaping at glass globe suspended n
AOuA IlOh CtOSClN lAluSl tie h
President have examined this. But, hi
Unable to endure the sight, as he saw "
himself in moment struggling in the '
leath agony, he Telinquished the glass v
md would look no longer. As it was a
rowing too dark for further Observa- Y
ion, the academy adjourned, but the a
experiment. has since been frequently n
epeated, with the. same result. OF N
he minor parts of DIR. Meissner's pro- Is
esses-such, for instance, as his hav- al
ng obtained the emotions of the Fl
mind in the form of precipitate, as P
iHOr j)dtriB in the form of powder q
lOsely resembling gold, amor rirgia- n
: as a white powder, and resembling Il
now, Odil,Dl theOtOgicUDl, a black, Ia
itchy mass, communicating all who in
ouch tit is not necessary to speak
[ length. 1t Is easy to- see that an en- bl
ire revolution in cur philosophy of al
fe will soon take place, the hasis of q
Thich will bethat heat, will, thought, %,
fe, are but modes of motion. That h;
notion is a substance capable of pro- In
ucing an impression on our senses is n;
for it has long ago been settled Ia
Y those who oppose the doctrine of ei
mate ideas that we can have no in
of what does not appeal to M
ndeOme though our senses, and we do n
now of motion, and it is also settled ty
v DIR. Meissner's experiment.-NeJU 10
'Ork World. -