20 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



earth's crust in the carboniferous age, and the origin of 

 eartliquakes, earth-tremors, and earth-oscillations. 



It must be remembered that the nebula theory of Kant 

 and Laplace was given to the world before the discovery of 

 the mechanical equivalent of heat. The whole question of 

 the maintenance of the sun's eneigy would seem to depend 

 on whether the original nebula was in a heated condition or 

 not. Now, the conception of Kant was that the entire 

 universe was tilled with this nebulous matter, and that all the 

 heavenly bodies have been evolved from it. If space had been 

 altogether filled with this intensely heated nebulous matter, 

 it is difficult to conceive how heat could have been lost by 

 radiation into space. We know that heat is molecular 

 motion, and we know that molecular motion is caused by 

 intercepted mechanical motion. It is hard to see what a 

 priori right we have to assume the ])resence of intense 

 molecular motion in the orioinal nebula without accounting 

 for it. If we sup]iose infinite space to have contained an 

 infinite number of almost infinitely small particles at equal 

 distances apart, holding potentially, by virtue of their diffusion, 

 all the energies subsequently evolved, we may assume the 

 entire absence of molecular motion. In its absence the 

 particles must have been in the solid condition of matter. 

 Let them aggi-egate to centres of gravity, those nearest a 

 centre must at point of impact have acquired less velocity 

 than those falling from a further distance, consequently less 

 heat would be generated, and a body formed thus would be 

 constituted as previously indicated. As to the ultimate 

 origin of these things, science can offer no explanation, but 

 points to the existence of an Infinite and Eternal Power. 



