78 The Law of the Rhythmic BreathPage 42The Law of the Rhythmic Breath - E. A. Fletcher.txtparticles of negative electricity. It is paradoxical,yet true, that the physicist knows more aboutthese ultra-atomic corpuscles and can more easilycount them than is the case with the atom ofwhich they form the parts."Some of these corpuscles move at a speed of200,000 miles a second, and the unscientific readerwill get a clearer idea of their minuteness if toldthat the molecule, of which they are parts, is sosmall as to be invisible even under the most powerfulmicroscope. Sir William Thompson madethis graphic comparison : " If a drop of water aslarge as a pea were magnified to the size of theearth, the molecule would appear scarcely largerthan the original drop."Radium gives off three kinds of rays which havebeen named respectively alpha, beta, and gamma.The alpha rays are compared to the " ions," ortiny particles, which fly from red-hot metals.They are positively electrified, and the particlesare about twice the mass of the hydrogen atom.These rays have a velocity of 20,000 miles a second,and are constantly emitted from radium inits natural state without perceptible loss to its substanceany more than the exhalation of its odorchanges a flower. The beta rays are negativelycharged corpuscles, about one two-thousandth thesize of those making up the alpha rays; and, savefor their greater velocity circa 100,000 milesThe All-Pervading Akasha 79a second are said to exactly resemble the cathoderays produced by an electric discharge insidea Crooke's tube.The gamma rays are not so well understood asthe two others, but are believed to be identicalwith X-rays. Are they not the union of the alphaand beta rays after passing through the Akdshicstate forming a Tattvic permutation? A spectrumanalysis of the rays should determine this.The spectrum of every substance and element revealsits Tattvic nature by means of the prevalentcolor, or colors ; and the greater the heat to whichthe matter is subjected the nearer it approachesits solar, instead of terrestrial, state.AAkasha is well-named the " all-pervading Tattva."In chemical changes of one state of matterinto another, you have been shown in these illustrationsnot only that Akasha intervenes, but howit acts; that it is the substratum, or base (in allphenomena or paradoxes) which baffles the scientist.As in things external, so it is within; andyour observation of natural phenomena will aidPage 43The Law of the Rhythmic Breath - E. A. Fletcher.txtvastly in the understanding of your own microcosm,wherein the Tattvic Law comes under the influenceof your thoughts and will-power, and thecurrents of Prana may thereby be thrown entirelyout of rhythmic balance.In consequence of its universal prevalence normally,it is not surprising to learn that the excess