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But the gyrostatic system does, besides, what the system of naturally acting material particles cannot do it constitutes an elastic solid which can have the Faraday magneto-optic rotation of the plane of polarization of light; supposing the application of our solid to be a model of the luminiferous ether for illustrating the undulatory theory of light.
All that can possibly be done by this theory, with its assumption of forces acting according to any assumed law of relation to distance, is done by the gyrostatic system.
Or we may act upon the systems of material points and springs with any given forces for any given time, and leave it to itself, and do the same thing for the gyrostatic system; the consequent motion will be the same in the two cases.
The gyrostatic model spring balance is arranged to have zero moment of momentum as a whole, and therefore to contribute nothing to the Faraday rotation; with this arrangement the model illustrates the luminiferous ether in a field unaffected by magnetic force.
Thus we may make a gyrostatic system such that it is in equilibrium under the influence of certain positive forces applied to different points of this system; all the forces being precisely the same as, and the points of application similarly situated to, those of the stable system with springs.
They could only make a rough guess as to the direction in which they were going. The gyrostatic compasses gave them considerable assistance, and they had perfect chronometers, but these latter could be of no use without celestial observations of some kind. At length Cosmo devised a means of obtaining observations that were of sufficient value to partially serve their purpose.
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