The San Francisco call., 1897-03-14

compel recognition of its presence by the
optic nerve of the human eye; accom-
plished chemists have observed and
marked its action upon other forms OF
matter; opticians have trained their
prisms of glass to divide the individual
rays of the com pound beam; in fact there
is not branch or special division of the
entire field of physics but in which light
will be found present in some form or
other.
1t is transformable into color, into heat,
into cold, into force, into weight, into
sound, and yet with all that is known of
some OF the manifestations we are abso-
lutely ignorant of what it actually is. For
all We know, it may be transformabIe into
every phenomenon cognizant to the hu-
man senses. The army of speculative
scientists is divided in opinion as to
whether light IS matter or not. For q
long time our textbooks nave contained
the statement that 1.-The sun is the source
of all light" And yet we manufacture
light every night, at time when the sun
is at the opposite side OF that portion of
the earth where night prevails; and this
artificial light fufills the functions of
by acknowledged scientists that light is
simply vibration-the vibration of par
ticles in what is termed the atmosphere of
space, the so-called ether. But particles
of what? For mere, again, comes aues-
ton. Scientists are divi led in opinion as
to whether there is vacuum in the in
terstellar space, or whether tho ether is
not filled with matter-is, in fact, itself
matter.
1t is an easy thing to say that there is a
vacuum" when we are unable to COM
prehend the character OF the substance
hlliag certain region. The crude instru-
ments of measurement possessed by us
lack the requisite delicacy of appreciation,
and consequently exhibit no recognition
of presence, and forthwith, because our
spectacles are dim or our pint-pot Ieaky
we creep out of the dilemma by saying
vacuum. Does light emanate from the
sun or from the other stellar bodies as
light per Sc? The scientist who can de-
monstrate that such is the case has before
him the positive assurance OF personal
fame greater than has ever glorified
human achievement heretofore. Is it not
only possible but probable that there
emanates from so-called luminous bodies
q force or energy, which. when contracting
with other forms of matter, suitable for
the union. produces luminosity? That
this latter is nearest to the true theory is
prominently sustained by the familiar
phenomena Of twilight-the gradual
transforming of day into night, and
night into day, being due to the
bending of the light producing rays
from the right line OF their projection
from the sun into curved lines which over
lap the straight line OF demarcation. It
is sustained by the production of artificial
light by any means whatever. For the
question ciamors for an intelligent
answer-whence comes the light pro-
duced by the candle? That it was i'm
prisoned in the candle stands confessed !,
for without the candle, or its equivalent.
there can be no light. What was it's form
and condition bef oTe the force called heat
was called into requisition to produce the
flame? Why was it invisible while in its
latent condition? And, lastly, why do
we have to change q form of matter to