rean. It is only the
persistence of that flow[7] which maintains the physical basis of the
universe.[8]

In order to examine the construction of the atom, a space is artificially
made[9]; then, if an opening be made in the wall thus constructed, the
surrounding force flows in, and three whorls immediately appear,
surrounding the "hole" with their triple spiral of two and a half coils,
and returning to their origin by a spiral within the atom; these are at
once followed by seven finer whorls, which following the spiral of the
first three on the outer surface, and returning to their origin by a spiral
within that, flowing in the opposite direction--form a caduceus with the
first three. Each of the three coarser whorls, flattened out, makes a
closed circle; each of the seven finer ones, similarly flattened out, makes
a closed circle. The forces which flow in them, again, come from "outside,"
from a fourth-dimensional space.[10] Each of the finer whorls is formed of
seven yet finer ones, set successively at right angles to each other, each
finer than its predecessor; these we call spirillae.[11]

It will be understood from the foregoing, that the atom cannot be said to
have a wall of its own, unless these whorls of force can be so designated;
its "wall" is the pressed back "space." As said in 1895, of the chemical
atom, the force "clears itself a space, pressing back the undifferentiated
matter of the plane, and making to itself a whirling wall of this matter."
The wall belongs to space, not to the atom.

In the three whorls flow currents of different electricities; the seven
vibrate in response to etheric waves of all kinds--to sound, light, heat,
etc.; they show the seven colours of the spectrum; give out the seven
sounds of the natural scale; respond in a variety of ways to physical
vibration--flashing, singing, pulsing bodies, they move incessantly,
inconceivably beautiful and brilliant.[12]

The atom has--as observed so far--three proper motions, _i.e._, motions of
its own, independent of any imposed upon it from outside. It turns
incessantly upon its own axis, spinning like a top; it describes a small
circle with its axis, as though the axis of the spinning top moved in a
small circle; it has a regular pulsation, a contraction and expansion, like
the pulsation of the heart. When a force is brought to bear upon it, it
dances up and down, flings itself wildly from side to side, performs the
most astonishing and rapid