We have
thus homogeneous molecules as well as heterogeneous molecules, and the
neutrality so strikingly exhibited by the elements may be due to a
quality of which carbonic acid furnishes a partial illustration. The
paired atoms of the elementary molecules may be so out of accord with
the periods of the ultra red waves--the vibrating periods of these atoms
may, for example, be so rapid--as to disqualify them both from emitting
those waves, and from accepting their energy. This would practically
destroy their power, both as radiators and absorbers. I have reason to
know that a distinguished authority has for some time entertained this
hypothesis.
We must, however, refresh ourselves by occasional contact with the solid
ground of experiment, and an interesting problem now lies before us
awaiting experimental solution. Suppose two hundred men to be scattered
equably throughout the length of Pall Mall. By timely swerving now and
then, a runner from St. James's Palace to the Athenaeum Club might be
able to get through such a crowd without much hinderance. But supposing
the men to close up so as to form a dense file crossing Pall Mall from
north to south; such a barrier might seriously impede, or entirely stop,
the runner. Instead of a crowd of men, let us imagine a column of
molecules under small pressure, thus resembling the sparsely distributed
crowd.
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