The Conservation of Energy

Volume Vii.

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.

Works already Published.

I. FORMS OF WATER, IN CLOUDS, RAIN, RIVERS, ICE, AND GLACIERS. By Prof. JOHN TYNDALL, LL. D., F. R. S. 1 vol. Cloth. Price, $1.50.

II. PHYSICS AND POLITICS; OR, THOUGHTS ON THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF “NATURAL SELECTION” AND “INHERITANCE” TO POLITICAL SOCIETY. By WALTER BAGEHOT, Esq., author of “The English Constitution.” 1 vol. Cloth. Price, $1.50.

III. FOODS. By EDWARD SMITH, M. D., LL. B., F. R. S. 1 vol. Cloth. Price, $1.75.

IV. MIND AND BODY: THE THEORIES OF THEIR RELATIONS. By ALEX. BAIN, LL. D., Professor of Logic in the University of Aberdeen, 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.

V. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. By HERBERT SPENCER. Price, $1.50.

VI. THE NEW CHEMISTRY. By Prof. JOSIAH P. COOKE, Jr., of Harvard University. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.

VII. THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. By Prof. BALFOUR STEWART, LL. D., F. R. S. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.

VIII. ANIMAL LOCOMOTION; OR, WALKING, SWIMMING, AND FLYING, WITH A DISSERTATION ON AËRONAUTICS. By J. BELL PETTIGREW, M. D., F. R. S. E., F. R. C. P. E. 1 vol., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Price, $1.75.

IX. RESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE. By HENRY MAUDSLEY, M. D. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.

X. THE SCIENCE OF LAW. By Prof. SHELDON AMOS. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.75.

XI. ANIMAL MECHANISM. A TREATISE ON TERRESTRIAL AND AËRIAL LOCOMOTION. By E. J. MAREY. With 117 Illustrations. Price, $1.75.

XII. THE HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE. By JOHN WM. DRAPER, M. D., LL. D., author of “The Intellectual Development of Europe.” Price, $1.75.

XIII. THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT, AND DARWINISM. By Prof. OSCAR SCHMIDT, Strasburg University. Price, $1.50.

XIV. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY. IN ITS APPLICATION TO ART, SCIENCE, AND INDUSTRY. By Dr. HERMANN VOGEL. 100 Illustrations. Price, $2.00.

XV. FUNGI; THEIR NATURE, INFLUENCE, AND USES. By M. C. COOKE, M. A., LL. D. Edited by Rev. M. J. BERKELEY, M. A., F. L. S. With 109 Illustrations. Price, $1.50.

XVI. THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF LANGUAGE. By Prof. W. D. WHITNEY, of Yale College. Price, $1.50.

XVII. THE NATURE OF LIGHT, WITH A GENERAL ACCOUNT OF PHYSICAL OPTICS. By Dr. EUGENE LOMMEL, Professor of Physics in the University of Erlangen. With 188 Illustrations and a Plate of Spectra in Chromo-lithography. (In press.)

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.

THE

CONSERVATION OF ENERGY.

BALFOUR STEWART, LL. D., F.R.S., PROFESSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AT THE OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER.

WITH AN APPENDIX,

TREATING OF THE VITAL AND MENTAL APPLICATIONS OF THE DOCTRINE

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 549 & 551 BROADWAY. 1875.

ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by D. APPLETON & COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

The great prominence which the modern doctrine of the Conservation of Energy or Correlation of Forces has lately assumed in the world of thought, has made a simple and popular explanation of the subject very desirable. The present work of Dr. Balfour Stewart, contributed to the International Scientific Series, fully meets this requirement, as it is probably the clearest and most elementary statement of the question that has yet been attempted. Simple in language, copious and familiar in illustration, and remarkably lucid in the presentation of facts and principles, his little treatise forms just the introduction to the great problem of the interaction of natural forces that is required by general readers. But Professor Stewart having confined himself mainly to the physical aspects of the subject, it was desirable that his views should be supplemented by a statement of the operation of the principle in the spheres of life and mind. An Appendix has, accordingly, been added to the American edition of Dr. Stewart’s work, in which these applications of the law are considered.

Professor Joseph Le Conte published a very able essay fourteen years ago on the Correlation of the Physical and Vital Forces, which was extensively reprinted abroad, and placed the name of the author among the leading interpreters of the subject. His mode of presenting it was regarded as peculiarly happy, and was widely adopted by other writers. After further investigations and more mature reflection, he has recently restated his views, and has kindly furnished the revised essay for insertion in this volume.

Professor A. Bain, the celebrated Psychologist of Aberdeen, who has done so much to advance the study of mind in its physiological relations, prepared an interesting lecture not long ago on the “Correlation of the Nervous and Mental Forces,” which was read with much interest at the time of its publication, and is now reprinted as a suitable exposition of that branch of the subject. These two essays, by carrying out the principle in the field of vital and mental phenomena, will serve to give completeness and much greater value to the present volume.

NEW YORK, December, 1873.

PREFACE.

We may regard the Universe in the light of a vast physical machine, and our knowledge of it may be conveniently divided into two branches.

The one of these embraces what we know regarding the structure of the machine itself, and the other what we know regarding its method of working.

It has appeared to the author that, in a treatise like this, these two branches of knowledge ought as much as possible to be studied together, and he has therefore endeavored to adopt this course in the following pages. He has regarded a universe composed of atoms with some sort of medium between them as the machine, and the laws of energy as the laws of working of this machine.

The first chapter embraces what we know regarding atoms, and gives also a definition of Energy. The various forces and energies of Nature are thereafter enumerated, and the law of Conservation is stated. Then follow the various transmutations of Energy, according to a list, for which the author is indebted to Prof. Tait. The fifth chapter gives a short historical sketch of the subject, ending with the law of Dissipation; while the sixth and last chapter gives some account of the position of living beings in this universe of Energy.

B. S.

The Owens College, Manchester, August, 1873.

CONTENTS.

NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION, v

PREFACE, vii

CHAPTER

I.--WHAT IS ENERGY? 1

II.--MECHANICAL ENERGY AND ITS CHANGE INTO HEAT, 23

III.--THE FORCES AND ENERGIES OF NATURE: THE LAW OF CONSERVATION, 48

IV.--TRANSMUTATIONS OF ENERGY, 87

V.--HISTORICAL SKETCH: THE DISSIPATION OF ENERGY, 131

VI.--THE POSITION OF LIFE, 154

APPENDIX

I.--CORRELATION OF VITAL WITH CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL FORCES. By JOSEPH LE CONTE, Professor of Geology and Natural History in the University of California, 171

II.--CORRELATION OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL FORCES. By ALEXANDER BAIN, Professor of Logic and Mental Philosophy in the University of Aberdeen, 205

THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY.

CHAPTER I.. _what Is Energy?_

WHAT IS ENERGY?

Our Ignorance of Individuals.

1. Very often we know little or nothing of individuals, while we yet possess a definite knowledge of the laws which regulate communities.

The Registrar-General, for example, will tell us that the death-rate in London varies with the temperature in such a manner that a very low temperature is invariably accompanied by a very high death-rate. But if we ask him to select some one individual, and explain to us in what manner his death was caused by the low temperature, he will, most probably, be unable to do so.

Again, we may be quite sure that after a bad harvest there will be a large importation of wheat into the country, while, at the same time, we are quite ignorant of the individual journeys of the various particles of flour that go to make up a loaf of bread.

Or yet again, we know that there is a constant carriage of air from the poles to the equator, as shown by the trade winds, and yet no man is able to individualize a particle of this air, and describe its various motions.

2. Nor is our knowledge of individuals greater in the domains of physical science. We know nothing, or next to nothing, of the ultimate structure and properties of matter, whether organic or inorganic.

No doubt there are certain cases where a large number of particles are linked together, so as to act as one individual, and then we can predict its action--as, for instance, in the solar system, where the physical astronomer is able to foretell with great exactness the positions of the various planets, or of the moon. And so, in human affairs, we find a large number of individuals acting together as one nation, and the sagacious statesman taking very much the place of the sagacious astronomer, with regard to the action and reaction of various nations upon one another.

But if we ask the astronomer or the statesman to select an individual particle and an individual human being, and predict the motions of each, we shall find that both will be completely at fault.

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