where the air outside is the same weight as the air within, and the
weight in both cases is caused by the attraction of the earth.

And not only is the force of attraction universal, it is the same for
every particle; for though this may seem to be contradicted by the fact
that some bodies fall faster to the ground than others, that fact is
fully accounted for by the greater resistance which the air offers to
the falling of lighter bodies than to the falling of heavier. A
particles of bodies, and all bodies, tend to fall with the same
velocity, and, in fact, all do; for though, for the reason just stated,
a feather will take longer to reach the ground than an ounce of lead, an
ounce of lead will fall as fast as a hundredweight. And that it is the
resistance of the air, and not any diminution in the power of
attraction, which causes the feather to lag behind, may be proved by
experiment; for if you let a feather and a coin drop together from the
top of the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, they will both be seen to
descend at the same rate, and reach the bottom at the same instant; a
fact which may be demonstrated more simply by placing the coin and
feather free of each other in a paper cone, and letting the cone fall
with its apex downwards, so as to break the air's resistance; or by
suspending a piece of gold-leaf in a bottle, and letting the bottle
drop--of course short of the ground--in which case the included leaf
will be seen to have gone as fast and as far as the bottle.

It is to be especially noticed that attraction is no lopsided affair;
that it is mutual; that, while the larger body attracts the less, the
less also attracts and moves the larger in proportion; and that, indeed,
every body and every particle attracts every other, far as well as near,
to the utmost verge of the universe of matter. Under it the moon
maintains its place with reference to the earth, the planets with