J6 



CONSTITUENT MATERIALS OF THE 



EARTH, 



AND OF THE OTHEK BODIES OF SPACE. 



THE orbs being all inextricably connected in the manner 

 which has been described, are we also to presume that the 

 constitution of the whole is uniform ? that is to say, do the 

 whole consist of the same chemical elements 1 



What are elements ? This is a term applied by the chemist 

 to a limited number of substances (fifty-five is, or was lately, 

 the number ascertained), which, in their combinations, form 

 all the matters present in and about our globe. They are 

 called elements, or simple substances, because it has hitherto 

 been found impossible to reduce them into others, wherefore 

 they are presumed to be the primary bases of all matters. It 

 has, indeed, been surmised that these so-called elements are 

 only modifications of a primordial form of matter, brought 

 about under certain conditions ; but if this should prove to be 

 the case, it would little affect the present speculations. Analogy 

 would lead us to conclude that the modifications of the prim- 

 ordial matter, forming our so-called elements, are as universal, 

 or as liable to take place everywhere, as are the laws of gravi- 

 tation and centrifugal force. It therefore appears likely that 

 the gases, the metals, the earths, and other simple sv.bstances 

 (besides whatever more of which we have no acquaintance), 

 exist under proper conditions, as well as in the astral system, 

 which is thirty-five thousand times more distant than Sirius, 

 as within the bounds of our own solar system or our own 

 globe. 



Matter, whether it consists of about fifty-five ingredients, or 

 only one, is liable to infinite varieties of conditions under 

 different influences. As a familiar illustration, water, when 

 subjected to a temperature under 32 Fahrenheit, becomes 

 ice; raise the temperature to 212, and it becomes steam, 



