The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-04-25
The CAUSE or oRAwrArloN.


one Of the Mysteries of Nature THAT Science
Cannot UnraveL
'Tho offer u a prize Ia a magazine for
romahinp now and scientifically valuable
IN regard TO grayitation forcibly suggests
tho limits Of our knowledge in this diTsc-
tlon. There arr no effects In nature with
which wo arr m lna familiar than those 81
Fravitation, but tho cause of rravitation
s. entirely unknown 10 IA Tho general
attraction between masses which We des-
l,nnto as gravitntion Is universally recog.
nizod, the laws under which 10 acts an,
well known, but we are entirely Ignorant
Of the means Of its action We do not even
know whether tho attraction Is resident In
the masses themselves or In somo medium
which surrounds them, " writes Colonel $.
t. Tilmnn.
eve know that Newton himself pro
nounoed as absurd tho idea that matter
could act at distance, through vacuous
space, upon other matter lie looked 20 a
universally difiusod medium for the mech
nnism Of Rrnvitation IIo showed that II
tho pressure OF this medium increased as
we rocedc from dead bodies accounting toa
certain rate the law OF grnvitation would
result JIG was unable to suggest an ex-
plantation for the supposed variation In
pressure Of the medium, and accordingly
left the cause Of gravitation untouched
lie Sngc, the Swiss philosopher, at
tempted TO fix cause for gravitation by
assuming spnco 90 be filed with innumer-
able atoms flying in all directions These
atoms he called ultra mundane, because
he supposed them To come from the outer
universe. A single body would be bonn
banded by these atoms equally on all sides,
but two or moro bodies would partially
oh a Al.
ment would DO less on the sides Of each
body next 90 tho other and greater on the
sides farther away. Consequently the bod
les would Dc forced toward each other by
the excess OF bonbardmcnt on their outer
sides. Under this hypothesis the corpus
cular pounding necessary 10 produce the
gravitation effects Of matter Is SO great
that tho cntiIo planetary system would be
melted from the excessive heat produced.
Hooke, tho contemporary of Newton, Mt
tempted 20 assign the cause Of gravita-
ton 10 waves propugatcd in the surround
ing medium. IL has since been shown that
in fluid motion the average pressure is
least where the average motion Is greatest,
50 that bodies immersed in the fluid would
be drawn toward tho center OF gravitation.
Sir William Thomson, by making certain
assumptions in regard 10 the medium Of
space and some very highly improbable
suppositions in regard to matter, was en-
abled to detiuce from them one of the laws
of gravitation.
"The above may be said 10 DO the only
hypothesis which make any advance to-
ward the explanation Of gravitation. OF
these that of 10 Sage Is tho only one suffi-
GENTLY developed 10 be even discussed We
have the high authority of tho late Pro
fessor J. Clerk Maxwell for the statement
that tho progress toward solution Of the
problem has been almost imperceptible
since the time Of Newton. He also says
that the science producing value Of the Of
forts mado 70 answer the question is not
to be measured by the prospect they afford
Of ultimately yielding a solution, but by
the effect in stimulating Investigations OF
nature. Chicago Tribune