Another consideration bearing conjointly on the hypothetical view, both of matter and radiation, arises from the comparison of the velocities with which the radiant action and certain powers of matter are transmitted. The velocity of light through space is about 190,000 miles[49] a second. The velocity of electricity is, by the experiments of Wheatstone, shown to be as great as this, if not greater. The light is supposed to be transmitted by vibrations through an æther which is, so to speak, destitute of gravitation, but infinite in elasticity; the electricity is transmitted through a small metallic wire, and is often viewed as transmitted by vibrations also. That the electric transference depends on the forces or powers of the matter of the wire can hardly be doubted when we consider the different conductibility of the various metallic and other bodies, the means of affecting it by heat or cold, the way in which conducting bodies by combination enter into the constitution of non-conducting substances, and the contrary, and the actual existence of one elementary body (carbon) both in the conducting and non-conducting state. The power of electric conduction, being a transmission of force equal in velocity to that of light, appears to be tied up in and dependent upon the properties of the matter, and is, as it were, existent in them. * * * * * [Sidenote: LATERAL VIBRATIONS.] [Illustration: FIG. 20.]