Von Hoff un the Origin of Meteoric Stones. 297 



elements ; and that this new body is actually the Jailing meteoric 

 stone. 



Chladni assumed, that the space between the great heavenly 

 bodies is filled with masses of an original matter, in an incoherent 

 form, from which solid planetary bodies can be produced ; and 

 perhaps also with already formed, but extremely small planet, 

 like bodies, endowed with the same revolving motion as the 

 larger. He believed that revolving accumulations of this loose 

 matter, when they came within the power of attraction of 

 the earth, could descend to its surface, and thus produce me- 

 teoric stones, or that the phenomenon of aerolites might be 

 caused, by the arrival within the region of the earth's attrac- 

 tion, of one of the small satellites assumed by Chladni to exist, 

 and to which he gave the jocular appellation of world-chips 

 (Welisp'dne). Nevertheless, he gave the preference to the idea 

 of the formation of meteoric masses from loose elementary mat- 

 ter, probably from the consideration, that the theory of the de- 

 scent of Weltspane is involved in the same difficulties as the lu- 

 nar hypothesis. 



But, it appears to me, that the notion 4 of , the descent of a 

 mass of loose original matter to the earth, its meeting with the 

 atmosphere, and its passage, thro ugh the latter, is not of itself 

 sufficient to explain the phenomena which have been enume- 

 rated above, as accompanying the fall of meteoric stones. I 

 might be inclined to support the proposition which forms the 

 basis of the view, viz. that there exists an original matter in 

 space (and probably also in the earth's atmosphere) ; but, it 

 seems to me, that, in order to produce the appearances de- 

 scribed, some other process must take place in relation to this 

 matter than its mere entering into the earth's atmosphere. 



The opinion, that the substances from which planets are 

 formed, are dispersed in space, is by no means unnatural ; and 

 the same may be said of the idea, that the formation of solid 

 bodies from such substances is constantly being effected by the 

 agency of some physico-chemical process, of whose nature we 

 are ignorant. This last view has been adopted by Herschel, * 

 certainly a very competent authority. It thus appears to me, 

 that all the circumstances accompanying the fall of meteoric 

 Gilbert's Aniialeu, vol. Ixxv. p. 260. 



