Saturn's Kingdom; or Fable and Fact

What was the state of Science in 1891?. It is quite interesting to read the ‘science’ of yesterday, knowing what we do today. For instance, there’s lots of information about space being filled with ‘Ether’ as medium for the transit of light. From the text: Ether may be compared to an "impalpable and all- pervading jelly, through which light and heat waves are continually throbbing, which is constantly being set in local strains and released from them, and being whirled in local vortices, thus producing the various phenomena of electricity and magnetism; and through which the particles of ordinary matter move freely, encountering but little retardation, if any, for its elasticity, as it closes up behind each moving particle, is approximately perfect. Nothing of the nature of an air-pump can remove it from any given space; the most perfect vacuum conceivable must be defined as a plenum and space fully occupied, but occupied by ether alone." The author’s views of Egypt are colored by his Judeo/Christian background. There is also much discussion relating to evolution and Creationism. This Illustrated eBook edition of the 1891 original has been carefully edited for scanning and spelling errors, and is as true to the original as possible. The spelling conventions of the time have generally been left intact except where a change enhanced clarity of meaning. [EDB Pubs]