Instances and illustrations can be multiplied indefinitely. Millions of tests have been made by scientific men, and the basic fact of Conservation of Energy is found true everywhere. That fact is that energy cannot be created. So much as is given is returned in some other form, or else in the form of heat, but in some form, precisely the equivalent is always found to exist. One of the most beautiful experiments is with the pendulum. Imagine a nail or peg driven into a wall and projecting out--say six inches from the wall. Hang a pendulum four feet long--let the pendulum swing parallel to the wall in the annexed figure. Let "A" represent the point from which the pendulum is suspended. Draw the pendulum back to C, and release it. Its lowest descent in the swing will be at B. It will swing to D, and a line connecting D & C is exactly horizontal, showing that the energy represented by the motion of the pendulum at B was sufficient to elevate it to the point D. Now, on a line on the wall downward from where the nail or peg is driven into the wall, let there be made holes into which a nail or peg can be inserted, and suppose a peg be driven at the point F. If now pendulum be released at C, it will be found that when the cord strikes F the pendulum will swing to the point J, which is on the horizontal line D C. It makes no difference where the interrupting peg or nail be placed, the pendulum will rise to the same horizontal from which it was released. It is said that this was one of Gallileo's experiments. If so, it is another example of the masterly force and originality of his genius, and shows that he subconsciously had some appreciation of the basic facts of the now accepted doctrine of Conservation of Energy. [Illustration] We believe it is useless to multiply instances further, to illustrate the doctrine of Conservation of Energy, and show the character of proof upon which it rests. There is no fact in nature, but what in the hands of modern science appears to conform to this doctrine. A few years ago when radio-active properties were first discovered it was thought that it was an exception, but even that has been found to conform to this wonderful generalized doctrine. If the doctrine of Conservation of Energy be true about which there seems to be no doubt, then all hopes of ever attaining Perpetual Motion must cease, for the idea of Perpetual Motion is predicated and has its foundation upon the creation of energy. The mechanism must give more energy than is imparted to it. It must make energy, and this in the light of the generalized truth of Conservation of Energy is an impossibility. We might as well talk about making substance, and the creation of substance, or the creation of energy either one is not an attribute of man. It is an attribute to be accredited only to the infinite, and can not be conceived as an attribute of the finite. CHAPTER XII Will Perpetual Motion Ever Be Accomplished?