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XXXIII. Remarks on a Newtonian's " Olservations on the 

 Phcenomena of the Universe;' published in the Philosophical 

 Magazine jor last Month. 



To Mr. Tilloch. 



Sir, — Your correspondent who calls himself a Newtonian, 

 erring in his very first deduction from the principles of Sir 

 Richard Phillips, and his subsequent deductions being founded on 

 his first, all his inferences are false, and the whole of his reason- 

 ings erroneous. 



He says, " that the density of the gaseous medium, the den- 

 sity of the planets, and their velocities in their orbits, decrease 

 from the sun to the confines of the solar system !" 



Now, sir, nothing of the kind is to be inferred, or gathered, or 

 assumed from the Essays of Sir Richard Phillips. He generally 

 asserts that all phaenomena are effects of motion, as variously 

 imparted to aggregates,or to atoms of aggregates, — that the two- 

 fold motions of a planet constitute its power of aggregation, and 

 cause all bodies to fall to the centre ; and that as the common 

 force which revolves a planet creates equal momenta in every 

 stratum and part of the mass, the quantity of inatter in every 

 stratum must be, or must have a tendency to be, inversely as its 

 velocity or radius ; consequently that any dense body raised to a 

 stratum of disproportionate velocity must be precipitated to 

 others of less velocity, till the momentum accords with the com- 

 mon force, or is equal to the momentum of the other parts of the 

 mass ; and hence the fall of bodies to the centre. 



lu some subsequent speculations on the causes of the planetary 

 motions, he ascribes them to the action or motion of the sun on 

 the medium filling space, which, as far as can be collected from 

 his words, he considers homogeneous, and of uniform density ; 

 the cause, effect, and law of propagation requiring no variation 



of density. 



Your correspondent must therefore have read with his under- 

 standing shut, or have intended to hoax your readers with a 

 double entendre at the c\\)QU5e oi truth. 



If he or any Newtonian can show that the aggregate of the 

 heterogenous bodies constituting a planet is not revolved or 

 moved by a commm force ; and if he can show that a common 

 force can revolve bodies with une<iual momenta, then he may be 

 able to prove that Sir Richaid Phillips is in error ; and that 

 dense bodies will not be impelled towards the centre, or to shorter 

 circles of revolution, whenever they happen to lie in circles, which 

 confer a velocity greater than the common force can confer on 

 their density : iu other words, till it can be shown that the same 



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