POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



425 



their sediments two great chalk formations. 

 During the second subsidence, which was 

 the deepest in all Mesozoic times, the Atlantic 

 Ocean extended continuously from British 

 America southward around the Appalachian 

 continent. Prof. Hill has begun the publi- 

 cation of a series of illustrations of the pale- 

 ontology of the Cretaceous formations of 

 Texas, in which pictures and outlines of 

 characteristic fossils are given, with letter- 

 press descriptions. The first number thus 

 represents Peden (Vola?) Rocmeri Petero- 

 cera Shumardi, and Crioceras ? (Acayloceras) 

 Texanus all new species, of the Comanche 

 series, or Lower Cretaceous. 



An Orthodox Compliment to Darwin. 



The first number of the " Cumberland Pres- 

 byterian Pteview" (Nashville, Tenn., Janu- 

 ary, 1889) contains a broad and enlightened 

 article on " Charles Darwin," by Prof. J. I. 

 D. Hinds. The author, whom the company in 

 which he appears attests to be orthodox, 

 looks at Darwin's doctrines on their merits, 

 without regarding their seeming bearing on 

 questions that are equally liable to be mis- 

 understood with those with which the theory 

 of evolution deals. "When a man wins 

 distinction in this world," he begins, " it is 

 customary to condemn him outright if his 

 teaching happen to be in conflict with the 

 consensus of mankind. This is natural, but 

 at the same time very unwise ; since it has 

 thus often happened that theories have been 

 placed under the ban which have afterward 

 been proved true. ... If Darwin found the 

 correct explanation of the phenomena of the 

 organic world, his theory will stand the test 

 of investigation and logic ; if not, it must 

 take its place with other theories which have 

 served their day, and have yielded to better 

 ones ; she must be content to leave the decis- 

 ion to the scientist and the philosopher, and 

 we can certainly have no reason to reject 

 their final conclusion. . . . The Christian, 

 of all men, should have the greatest confi- 

 dence and repose of mind in the face of the 

 investigations of the present day : for, if his 

 religion be true, its foundations can not be 

 shaken ; and, if it be false, he has nothing 

 to lose." Of Darwin's theory, undoubt- 

 edly its first tendency " is toward infidelity 

 and skepticism. But since the world has 

 become familiar with it, and has found that 



it is simply an attempted explanation of the 

 ordinary course of nature, to be placed side 

 by side with Newton's law of gravitation, 

 Copernicus's theory of the solar system, the 

 nebular hypothesis, and the geological eras 

 of indefinite time, it has ceased to be athe- 

 istic, and is likely soon to become itself one 

 of the arguments of natural theologians." 

 Of Darwin's agnosticism, " his religious 

 views and the changes through which they 

 passed were but the natural outcome of the 

 course of his investigations and studies. He 

 was a pioneer, and could not see the true 

 ethical import of the doctrine which he pro- 

 mulgated. Like many other investigators, 

 he contrasted the ideal of God to which his 

 theories led him with theological dogmas 

 and the prevalent anthropomorphic concep- 

 tions of Deity. His training had been Cal- 

 vinistic, and the freedom which he found 

 everywhere in nature did not accord with 

 the Calvinistic idea of fatality and the arbi- 

 trary action of the supernatural will." Fi- 

 nally, " In truth, let me ask, how much worse 

 is it to have pithecoid ancestors than to be 

 a beast in propria persona ? The great ques- 

 tion with us is, not whence we came, but 

 what we are, what we should be, and what 

 we are destined to be." 



The Moving Forces of Meteorite Swarms. 



An attempt has been made by Mr. G. H. 

 Darwin to apply the kinetic theory of gases 

 to the case of a swarm of meteorites in space. 

 The individual meteorites are analogous to 

 the molecules of the gas, and the mass of 

 gas corresponds, in the author's theory, to the 

 whole solar system. Lockyer and Sir Will- 

 iam Thomson have expressed their conviction 

 that the present condition of the solar system 

 is derived from an accretion of meteorites, 

 but the idea of fluid pressure seems necessary 

 in explaining present forms of equilibrium. 

 The author proposes to reconcile the two 

 theories by showing that the laws of fluid 

 pressure apply to a swarm of meteorites 

 which is condensing to a solid form. The 

 case of an infinite atmosphere of equal- 

 sized meteorites is consfflered, and then the 

 case of meteorites of very different sizes. In 

 the case of a swarm of meteorites condensing 

 under the mutual attractions of its parts, the 

 author shows that the larger meteorites will 

 gravitate toward the center of condensation, 



