80 Tribune Extras Lecture ami Letter Scries. 



MR, PROCTOR'S NEW LECTURES, 



Sir. Kiehard A. Proctor, tin- .lUtin-ius'.ie.l KM-] Mi 

 astron T, lieiran on the ai:enio..n ut April 3, at 



A--"eiati<>u Hall, another series uf liTtun-s supple- 



li:.-iual to tin.-.- ilcliveivd some turn- -ITU in tin- same 



li:ill. :nid vl-i.-h inaiiv per* MIS ladle-; , ^.eeia'iv 



B unaMe to attend cm aee.Miut uf tin- i'.mired ae- 



coimu.'ilaTiiiMs uf this usually adequate hall. The 



d'thi; series was upon th.-r.i-! and Future <-f 



Our Earth, ami tin- lecture v.-as prnt'ii^-ly illu-tratcd 



with stereoptioon views. His audience. \\liicii was 



composed mainly of la. lies, -was very sympathetic 

 with, ami <lr.-i.lv attentive to, the line Of thought 

 j. HI-MI, -il liy thr leetuiiT, and approbation was fre- 

 quently lliailiir.-lril. 



EARTH'S I'A<T AND FUTURE FIRST LEC- 

 TURE. 



TrA'-'ir..,- OK ASTRON< (MY PARALLEL BETWEEN TIIK 

 .-IN AM> I:AI:UI MiWNKALL OF METEORS THE 

 ] \l:lll M\l>i: KIT roll MAX BY GRADUAL PRQ- 

 , | 88] -_N, , PAH.YU.I:!, IN THE MOON'S CASE THB 

 IS i IMil. CYCLES OF I UK KUTURE. 



LA mi > AND GENTLEMEN: In the year 1837, 



on Man-ii 23. t ho French astronomer. Arasro, addressed 

 to tli>- French .^ mate :i s-atemeut having reference to 

 tin- wonderful v iiu ot tin- study of astronomy as teach- 

 ing triir thoughts uf tin- Creator. lie related how a cer- 

 tain clergyman had come to him and complained that he 

 found his people wanting in attention. Said he, "I re- 

 peated to my people all that I had hitherto liccn teach ing 

 about the wonderful power of God. hut they would not 

 fix their attention. They seem to look upon these matters 

 as ful---." Ariu'D said to him. "Pass from those older 

 teachings and take what astronomy leaches;" and then 

 Araxo related to him the wonders of astronomy, and 

 the minister went away rejoicing. When the time 

 cam,! at which ho knew the minister was to employ 

 ( idlings, he waited witli impatience to hear the 

 r ialt> Th iniir-t'-r came h.ick to liim, but be waa not 

 r \r.ii:t had hoped- With despair pictured on 



hi- fare he said: " When I brunch t those wonders be- 

 f i my andienre tle-y liad forgotten the sacred nature. 

 of the piaee tie y were in, aud rose up and applauded mo 

 to the echo." 



YAKIols VIIIW8 OP THE VALUE OF ASTRONOMY. 



tt appears to me there are In the teaching of astron- 

 omy sever. il uaysof vie wlnir Uio science. The study of 



ii^ir.'iriinv i- int. : -rmir and importau t, whether it be 

 ron-ldereii either as an ad to tho memory or an < xer- 



ri->-of tiie mind; imt we pasa to a higher yalne of as- 

 tronomy when we come to consider it m its theoretical 



a-p -el.ihe Mndy it presents of various problems or in- 

 ter e ', and i In- way it replies to observation and cxperl- 

 iij. nt. I'.-rhap-t in thn miinU of many, a IIIL-IMT 

 vain.- nl a-t: Miiiiinv will li" fniiiid In Its utilitarian as- 

 j.e, i, a- a in. -an -i nf as.-' rtalnlux' tho laws that cui.le the 

 u in in Ins f.nr.si! over t he oe.-an, or tho travolor In 

 bis J'Hirn -v tlirnii^li tle> des.-rt, thus work in L,' out a use- 

 ful pin ,'.'--. Hut all th<--e, nnlile as t le-y ma y be, seem 

 tn ii' ':i-i ,-iiitleaiit compared with what astronomy 

 iloes and what every Other He), -nee .Im In brinirliiK 



11B ll.to tin- pp lenOfl of the i-re.lt qlli ht'.in.s Whirl] aflfect 



ftll of us aud are of such vital interest. The question 



what wo are, what this earth 1", what nil this Is 



on around us an 1 in whL-h we ar,' t iluin: par;, is to 



me In liri:i_- a--! rouoiuy before us i:i its noblest a-n -ef. 



This may li ill'.is; r.itcd by coasidenn,' tir.' study of 

 hr.man na'iire. The doctor who teaches na the wav in 

 winch the human frame may b fj.i.ir/.eil from il!, and the 

 anatomist who convevs to us kaowle.Ue of th^ wonder- 

 ful .-triu-rure ot the Irini la fr.iai >, do well. But " man 

 does not live by bread alone, oat bv every \vord tbat 

 proreedetb oat of the month of 9o.1." n^ voice is nil 

 aivua.l us. Iiu sjieaks in all tho wor'ts of si-i-nc.'; and 

 wliat we wish to de.il with now, in the particular course 

 of lectures I am to Rive, la t' > forget, as it wer,-, the, in- 



tell.-et'ia! a-p.-ct of a-ti oaomv, to for^r -t even or rather 

 only to take !b" results of , ho th"oreti -al :i>;>"t-ts, an 1 

 to consi.ler tho.s" qi 'si i >:is of \vllich I tiavo lieen speak- 

 iiiiT the qiie-tiiin- of the p ist. an 1 future of this earth, 

 the prospeer of life in other worlds and the p:-e<"nee of 

 infinities into which wn are broiu'.'it, intl-iities of spacf, 

 inllnitier. of time, inflaities of m ittor, iutlaities in the 

 .el .nreuce of events, and tho trreat intinitj- rhe 

 Almighty God. 



IIVrOTIIKSES OF THE FORMATION OF TIIH STSTEM. 



I don't suppose ai;y one can bope from the teaoliinpa 

 of science to learn anything clear or distmrt of the 

 reality of tho Almighty. That always lies infinitely be- 

 yond our conceptions, but it is well for us to tlud, and 

 tlrs astrouiMiiy i-.-iieeinllv docs, tnat all things, even 

 material things, are not within our power to understand ; 

 that by the mere study of seientiuj tacts we are, brought 

 into the presence of loconoeivahles. And therefore if it 

 shall he hown, as some men of science say it is. If it 

 shall lie shown that the idea of a personal (i >! is incon- 

 ceivable, we are not th:-reforii to reject ir. Wo are. to re- 

 member that it is only ono of many inconoeivables that 

 lie around us. 



To-day I take tho subject of the past and future of 

 this earth. I remind you that in tho course I i:ave 

 before I dealt with certain preliminary considerations. 

 T spoke, for instance, of tho two th.-ori >a f the universe 

 and the fjeueral f.ien nu wlnc.h b.uh of tho^e theories 

 are based. I told you then hosv tho various planets 

 circling in one direction round the sun, the sun also 

 rotating in the same direction, and tho satellite lamlly 

 turning in the same direct ion, seem t point in a manner 

 which there is no mistaking to a process by which the 

 N-ilar system reached its present condition. Ouo of 

 these th"orie.s was that it had contracted from a great 

 nebulous mass; arid another th -ory was that tho solar 

 8: stem, inste;, i of coiitractin?. h'i.1 gro wn to its present 

 condition by the in-lnwinir of ^reat flitrlitsof comets. 

 [Here Prof. Proctor illu.str.it.'d th two theories upon tbe 

 s Teen.J 



Tlio picture shows you the ne'iatous mat terwhnt the 

 star depMis airir.lus in answer to the tneory. There 

 3 mi have a picture where you see a number of stars sur- 

 rounded by nebulous nritter, and this picture su.^ests a 

 certain amount of evidence in favor of the attraction 

 t henry, tho attraction tow.ird th-i various centcr.s of 

 l!i:ht. Tho n-'\r picturo shows tho way in which neb- 

 ulous matter sometimes extends over enormous regions 

 uf space. This picturo illustr.itos tho wonderful neb- 

 ula in Orion. There you POO It spread over enormous ro- 

 irlons of space, and suc^nsts that, as regards quantity, 

 there is an ample amount of this matter from which 

 nchemcs like the sohir system may be formed. I am 

 passing down from the earliest condition towaid which 

 we can trace, back Die, past condition of our earth. This 

 nebula lias been shown to be constituted of great quan- 

 tities of glowing ifaa, hydrogen and nitrogen bciuj; pros- 



