The Boy's Playbook of Science

In the present state of our knowledge it seems to be universally agreed, that we cannot properly commence even popular discussions on astronomy, mechanics, and chemistry, or on the imponderables, heat, light, electricity, and magnetism, without a definition of the general term "matter;" which is an expression applied by philosophers to every species of substance capable of occupying space, and, therefore, to everything which can be seen and felt. The sun, the moon, the earth, and other planets, rocks, earths, metals, glass, wool, oils, water, alcohol, air, steam, and hosts of things, both great and small, all solids, liquids and gases, are included under the comprehensive term matter. Such a numerous and varied collection of bodies must necessarily have certain qualities, peculiarities, or properties; and hence we come in the first place to consider "The general powers or properties of matter." Thus, if we place a block of wood or stone in any position, we cannot take another substance and put it in the space filled by the wood or stone, until the latter be removed. Now this is one of the first and most simple of the properties of matter, and is called impenetrability, being the property possessed by all solid, liquid, and gaseous bodies, of filling a space to the exclusion of others until they be removed, and it admits of many amusing illustrations, both as regards the proof and modification of the property.