were possible for us to place ourselves, say, midway between the moon and the earth (in which position we would be over one hundred thousand miles from any air), we would see all the heavenly bodies, and even our own forms, as the light waves would be intercepted and reflected by them; but, otherwise, all would appear as an intense starlit night, with the unusual features of having the sun visible in greatly increased brilliancy, as well as the moon appearing four times its usual size, and the novelty of seeing our own earth rivalling the moon in size and splendor, even under these conditions, more than ten-fold.
Every manifestation of power on the earth at some time came through the ether in the form of waves, and even when we enjoy the cheerful sunshine we are, in reality, experiencing the result of the absorption of the ether waves from the sun by our own persons.
2. Vibrations in the Ether
Light, heat, and wireless waves are electromagnetic waves (and, therefore, wave motions of the ether), the only difference being in their relative rates of vibration; their velocity, in free ether, being the same, viz., 186,000 miles per second. They do not, however, traverse all substances with like velocities.
The sun is constantly disturbing the sea of ether, not by a single train of waves, but by wave trains of vary-