cles or
bodies being termed molecules.

A molecule, therefore, may consist of any number of atoms of the same
element, or may be formed of the union of the atoms of two different
elements. In the preceding article we have learned that the atom of
hydrogen or carbon, however, is divisible, at least theoretically if not
experimentally, as we came to the conclusion that all atoms are composed
of infinitesimal aetherial atoms, which are synonymous with atoms of
electricity.

Whether we shall ever be able to experimentally prove the existence of
such an atom remains to be seen, though Dr. Larmor states that the
atomicity of electricity is coming within the scope of direct
experiment; while the researches of Professors Crookes and J. J. Thomson
have undoubtedly given direct evidence of the existence of corpuscles,
which are part of the atoms of the various elements.

When we try to conceive, however, of the manner in which the various
elements can be formed from one primary medium, that is, the Aether or
electricity, we find it difficult to arrive at a simple physical
conception of the process involved.

We are indebted to Professor J. J. Thomson for what is practically the
only simple physical conception of the method in which various elements
may be formed from that medium, which gives unity to the whole of the
universe. In the Adams Prize Essay of 1883 Professor Thomson indicated a
theory based on the vortex atom (Art. 43) which satisfactorily accounted
for the various laws which governed gaseous matter, and also showed how
the varied chemical combinations might be physically conceived as being
produced from one primary medium.

In this theory we have to conceive of the vortex atom as possessing a
hollow core, while in our conception of an aetherial atom (Art. 43) we
conceived it as being more of a spherical or globular form than
ring-shaped. We have, then, to consider the atom of any element as being
composed of a vortex ring of various thickness, the thickness of the
ring being an indication of its atomic weight.

Each vortex ring must also be conceived as itself being composed of a
number of aetherial atoms, or atoms of electricity, the number of such
atoms being proportionate to the respective atomic weights of the
various elements. Dr. Larmor suggests that a vortex ring may have this
constitution in his work on _Aether and Matter_.

According to Professor J. J. Thomson, then, any vortex ring, which we
have su