Lectures on clairmativeness, or, Human magnetism : with an appendix / by Gibson Smith.

  • Smith, Gibson
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on clairmativeness, or, Human magnetism : with an appendix / by Gibson Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    of the one round the other, and the orbit of the earth would be perfectly spherical, instead of elliptical, as it now is. And it would maintain the same velocity, without being either retarded or accelerated, which it had acquired at the time when the two powers were at first balanced. But the reverse is the fact. Again. The theory that,— By the time a planet has reached its aphelion, or that point of its orbit which is farthest from the sun, his attraction has overcome its velocity, and draws it towards him with such an accelerated motion, that it at last overcomes the sun's attraction, and shoots past him; then gradually decreasing in velocity, it arrives at the perihelion, when the sun's attraction again prevails —has its difficulties. If the sun's attractive force at any time overpowered the earth's centrifu- gal, so as to bring the same with an accelerated motion towards him, the centrifugal, from that moment, would decrease in the same ratio, and the earth would rush upon the Gun. The attractive power which produced the quickened velocity would constantly increase the nearer the two bodies approached each other, and that accelerated motion could never impart centrifugal force sufficient to break or overpower that at- traction, and cause the earth to rush past the sun for any indefinite period of time. On the contrary, it would continue to move around him with increased velocity, lessening its orbit, until it was finally lost in that immense body. But then it is said that it is the increased velocity itself which gives the centrifugal force, or tendency to fly off] so that by this means the attractive or centripetal force is overpowered, and the earth thus regains the distance which it had lost when in its perihelion. But is not the increased velocity caused by increased attraction ?—and can that attrac- tion give force to any body sufficient to overpower itself, and cause it to travel an equal distance beyond, or to regain its aphelion at the same point in the heavens ? This, it seems to me, is utterly impossible. The increased velocity and tendency of the earth towards the sun, would bfi in proportion, or just equal to the attractive force that had caused it, and it would be no greater than this: hence, in order to over- power that attractive force which is now held, the earth would require an impetus given it besides that which it originally had, and that which was given it by attraction. Now, where shall we look for this required additional force? To the Creator ? If so, by what means, does he impart it ? The answer to this question has already been given:—caloric and electricity are the agents employed. Let us suppose for a moment that the planets are struck from the solar system, and that the earth is arrested in its annual revolutions, and sud- denly becomes stationary. The first motion that would be given it would be directly towards the sun, through its strong attractive power upon the earth. And unless there were strong opposing power created upon the latter, it would eventually be attracted into the former. Now this oppos- ing force does actually exist in the great body of electricity which surrounds the earth, and is produced from the rays of heat which is sent off from the sun. This fluid, when sufficiently developed, would become repulsive to the great body of magnetism or heat contained in the sun, and thus acquire a resisting force sufficient to counterbalance the