10 H. HENSOLDT ON FLUID CAVITIES IN METEORITES. 



such a great pressure iu a meteorite, we are brought to the con- 

 clusion that those bodies at one time of their history existed in the 

 interior of mightier masses, planets, perhaps, of which they are the 

 fragments. 



It has, as we know, been ascertained, by means of the spectro- 

 scope, that the fixed stars are for the greatest part composed of the 

 same elements as those which form this globe ; and that most of the 

 planets that are within our observation are composed of materials 

 very similar to those which constitute the earth we have strong 

 reasons for believing. Then we know that in the sun such a high 

 temperature exists that all the non-metallic elements, and many of 

 the metallic, are in the condition of vapour, and the rest of the 

 metals in a state of fiery liquid ; and that probably all the fixed 

 stars are similar masses in different stages of cooling. We further- 

 more find traces of mighty igneous action on those planets which 

 are nearest to our observation ; for instance, the moon, which is 

 covered in many parts of its surface with volcanoes on the grandest 

 scale (now 7 , as it seems, extinct for ever), and our own earth yet 

 displays mighty volcanic forces, which seem to have been grander 

 still in the past. 



Although, as Prof. Judd has shown in his recent publication, the 

 presence of volcanic elements on our globe may be very well ex- 

 plained without assuming that the interior of the earth is a molten 

 mass, yet there appears to be very little room for doubt that the 

 earth was once in the same condition as the sun now, and that all 

 the subsequent changes have been effected through cooling, and 

 we may safely infer that the history of all the planets presents the 

 same features. 



What, therefore, can there be improbable in the supposition that 

 among the myriads of those fiery drops, or half-cooled orbs, but in 

 whose interiors mighty volcanic elements still are busy, one should 

 explode now and then, and people the universe with its fragments ? 

 We have evidence to prove that in past periods of the earth's 

 history the explosive force of vapours held in confinement in the 

 interior of our planet has been great enough to blow away 

 mountains ten miles in diameter, leaving chasms which are now in 

 many instances filled by lakes ;* and what eruptive power has been 

 able to achieve on this globe as recently as 1772 is shown by 

 an occurrence in the island of Java, where a volcano, 9,000 feet 



* Judd, "Volcanoes," pp.170 to 174. 



