KEELY'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE.
An infinitely subtle substance, out of which all other substances are constituted, varying forms, passes back again into simplicity. The same principle underlies the harmonies of musioc and the motion of heavenly bodies.—PYTHAGORAS.
"ONE of the most arduous problems is that of energies acting at distances. Are they real? Of all those that appear incontrollable, one only remains, gravitation. Will it escape us also? The laws of its action incline us to think so. The nature of electricity is another problem which recalls us to the condition of electric and magnetic forces through space.
"Behind this question arises the most important problem of all, that of the nature and properties of the substance which fills space,— the ether,—its structure, its motion, its limits, if it possesses any. We find this subject of research, day by day, predominating over all others.
"It seems as though a knowledge of ether should not only reveal to us the nature of that imponderable substance, but will unveil to us the essence of matter itself, and of its inherent properties, weight and inertia,
"Soon the question set by modern physics will be, 'Are not all things due to conditions of ether?' That is the ultimate end of our science; these are the most exalted summits to which we can hope to attain.
"Shall we ever reach them? Will it be soon? We cannot answer,"*
In the long delay attendant upon the application to mechanics of the unknown which John Ernest Worrell Keely has discovered in the field of vibration, the question is often heard, " What has Keely done?" with the remark, " He bas never done anything; he is always promising to do something, but he never keeps his promises."
Let us see what Kee%y has done for science, in his researches; although, as yet, he has done nothing for commerce.
We are quick to forget the experiences of history, which show what a length of time has invariably elapsed between the discovery of a new force and its use in mechanics. Watt commenced his experiments on the elastic force of steam in 1764, obtaining about forty pounds' total
ressure per square inch. (It has been stated that it was thirty years
fore he succeeded in perfecting his safety-valve, or governor, which made it possible to use steam without running great risks.) Fifty years later, in 1814, the first steam locomotive was built; but it was not until 1825 that the locomotive was used for traffic,—travelling at a speed of from six to eight miles in an hour. Keelg commenced his experiments with ether in the winter of 1872-73, showing a pressure of two thousand pounds per square inch. It does not look now as though half a century would 8:aaapse before Keely's discovery will supersede steam in travel and traffic. In experimenting with ether, he has shown,
- Prof. Henri Herts, in La Revue Scientifigus, October 26, 1889.
