MATTER 79 



The existence of matter is, of course, not limited 

 to our own little earth. That the elements found on 

 the earth are also present on the sun, was determined 

 many years ago; and as the result of modern astro- 

 physical research (Saha, Russell, Plaskett, Edding- 

 ton, and others) it is now believed to be almost a 

 certainty that all heavenly bodies contain all of the 

 elements found in the earth. 



It may be well to remember that, as Aston re- 

 marked, ''starting with our standard bricks, the 

 protons and electrons, we may make, theoretically 

 at least, an infinity of systems by the combination 

 of any number of these. "^ But on the assumption 

 that all stellar bodies are constituted like the earth 

 and our sun, the total of these bodies, then, 

 would represent the amount of matter in existence. 



A. W. Bickerton, pupil of Tyndall and teacher 

 of Rutherford, points out "the certainty that our 

 vast earth is but a minute speck of cosmic dust, 

 absolutely insignificant in the ocean of space that 

 lies within our own cognizance."^ 



Forest Ray Moulton, well-known astronomer of 

 the University of Chicago, writes: "Since no other 

 star has been found whose parallax is so great as 

 one second [which corresponds to a distance of about 



* Isotopes, second edition, 127. 



^ The Birth of Worlds and Systems, 127. 



