Page:On an inversion of ideas as to the structure of the universe.djvu/50

 proportional to the inverse square of the distance, to cause the negative inequalities to approach from a finite distance.

Thus gravitation is the result of those components of the dilatations (taken to a first approximation) which are caused by the variations of the components of the inward strains, caused by curvature in the normal piling of the medium.

The other components of the strains, being parallel distortions, which satisfy the conditions of geometrical similarity, do not affect the efforts.

Then, since if the grains were indefinitely small, while the curvature in the normal piling was finite, there would be no effort. And thus the diameter of the grains becomes the parameter of the effort. And multiplying this parameter by the curvature of the medium, and again by the mean pressure of the medium, the product measures the intensity of the efforts to approach.

The dilatation diminishes as the centres of the negative inequalities approach, and work is done by the pressure, outside the singular surfaces, to bring the singular surfaces of the negative inequalities together.

The efforts to cause the approach of the centres correspond, exactly, to the gravitation