their
goings forth, but have neglected to calculate their mission.

4th. All chemical actions.

5th. All combustions.

6th. All evaporations.

The _earth_ is thus elaborating in all her gigantic processes, the
materials and forces, which _she_ furnishes in the great interchange.
How strangely have these great sources of _vis viva_ remained
practically unheeded until the present time.

_The Sun's part in the Process._

The part performed by the sun may but feebly be conceived.[7] Within its
vast proportions (being 1,000 times as large as all the planets
combined) may be found every element suited to all requirements.

_We seek a new Philosophy._

The construction of a true philosophy of the physical forces must depend
now upon our rightly understanding the _modus operandi_ of the
conveyance, and utilization, of these sun-elements, and the workings of
this sun-power.

The presence of a veritable flood of light, heat, and magnetic force, as
in motion from the sun to the earth, has ever been recognized. _The line
of greatest intensity of this solar, or vito-magnetic current, is found
along the line of greatest diameters of those bodies._ The centre of
this current reaches the earth at, or near the equator.

It is a well-established fact that from the equator to the poles a
continuous magnetic flood is ever in motion.[8]

In thus tracing the course of the magnetic current from the sun to the
equator, and thence to the poles, a physical necessity, made imperative
by the inexorable law of conservation, indicates that a _retro_-current
from the earth back to the sun, must now have part in the process.
Should such be the case, as all reason and philosophy affirm, we have a
completed _"Grand Magnetic Circuit," in and through which all physical
phenomena have their origin_. But aside from the logical necessity, we
hold that there are terrestrial phenomena, which, rightly interpreted,
point to just such a retro-acting inter-communication.

_Old Phenomena, and new Interpretations._

The phenomenon, the aurora borealis, or polaris, has never been
satisfactorily explained. It is acknowledged as purely magnetic in
character, and to be due to the passage of currents upward from the
earth. It has received the regard due to a mere negative though
brilliant exhibition, whereas the character, extent, and significance of
its manifestations should have caused it to b