Modern experimenters have succeeded by direct experiments in placing in evidence this heterogeneous character of matter when taken in small mass.  Thus, for example, the superficial tension, which is constant for the same liquid at a given temperature, no longer has the same value when the thickness of the layer of liquid becomes extremely small.  Newton noticed even in his time that a dark zone is seen to form on a soap bubble at the moment when it becomes so thin that it must burst.  Professor Reinold and Sir Arthur Ruecker have shown that this zone is no longer exactly spherical; and from this we must conclude that the superficial tension, constant for all thicknesses above a certain limit, commences to vary when the thickness falls below a critical value, which these authors estimate, on optical grounds, at about fifty millionths of a millimetre.

From experiments on capillarity, Prof.  Quincke has obtained similar results with regard to layers of solids.  But it is not only capillary properties which allow this characteristic to be revealed.  All the properties of a body are modified when taken in small mass; M. Meslin proves this in a very ingenious way as regards optical properties, and Mr Vincent in respect of electric conductivity.  M. Houllevigue, who, in a chapter of his excellent work, Du Laboratoire a l’Usine, has very clearly set forth the most interesting considerations on atomic hypotheses, has recently demonstrated that copper and silver cease to combine with iodine as soon as they are present in a thickness of less than thirty millionths of a millimetre.  It is this same dimension likewise that is possessed, according to M. Wiener, by the smallest thicknesses it is possible to deposit on glass.  These layers are so thin that they cannot be perceived, but their presence is revealed by a change in the properties of the light reflected by them.

Thus, below fifty to thirty millionths of a millimetre the properties of matter depend on its thickness.  There are then, no doubt, only a few molecules to be met with, and it may be concluded, in consequence, that the discontinuous elements of bodies—­that is, the molecules—­ have linear dimensions of the order of magnitude of the millionth of a millimetre.  Considerations regarding more complex phenomena, for instance the phenomena of electricity by contact, and also the kinetic theory of gases, bring us to the same conclusion.

The idea of the discontinuity of matter forces itself upon us for many other reasons.  All modern chemistry is founded on this principle; and laws like the law of multiple proportions, introduce an evident discontinuity to which we find analogies in the law of electrolysis.  The elements of bodies we are thus brought to regard might, as regards solids at all events, be considered as immobile; but this immobility could not explain the phenomena of heat, and, as it is entirely inadmissible for gases, it seems very improbable it can absolutely occur in any state.  We are thus led to suppose that these elements are animated by very complicated movements, each one proceeding in closed trajectories in which the least variations of temperature or pressure cause modifications.