INTRODUCTION resistance would be above 600000000 times less than that of Water. And so small a tesistance would scarce make any sensible alteration in the Motions of the Planets in ten thousand Years." That the ether, if there be such a thing in space, can pass readily into or through matter is often held proven by tilting a mercury barom- eter; when the mercury rises to fill the trans- parent vacuum. Everything points to its uni- versal permeance, if it exist at all. But these, after all, are antique thoughts. Electric and Magnetic information has led us beyond them into a region of greater certainty and knowledge; so that now I am able to advo- cate a view of the Ether which makes it not only uniformly present and all-pervading, but also massive and substantial beyond conception. It is turning out to be by far the most substantial thing—perhaps the only substantial thing—in the material universe. Compared to ether the densest matter, such as Jead or gold, is a filmy gossamer structure; like a comet's tail or a milky way, or like a salt in very dilute solution, xviii