Mr. Genet’s Vindication. 97 
tified globe, more excited by the radiant matter of the sun at 
the equator than at the poles, and retarding the pendulum by 
its seein attractive force? Or is it a re of the ne- 
bulous fluid of Herschel, of which our planet seems to have 
been originally formed, which occupies, as a nucleus, its cen- 
ter, and which, by its wee and repulsive affinities, pro- 
duces the phenomenon of the cen tripetal and centrifugal 
forces, and perhaps also the miguete currents} in as much 
as the experiments of Morichini, and other scientific men, in 
‘various countries, have —— ata the violet rays of the sun, 
their course and flow as a stream through the upper strata of 
its geological crust and the medium of its atmosphere, to- 
wards the northern and the southern poles. 
It is not yet in the power of philosophy to give a conclu- 
sive answer to those questions ; but as human knowledge is 
advancing, with a wonderful rapidity, towards extraordinary 
results, we must be prepared to expect great changes in the 
most aceredited systems, and if the wise and modest Newton 
were living, and enlightened by the splendid body of science 
acquired in the last and present century, we may venture to 
aflirm, that he would be less positive and assuming than ma- 
ny of his too ardent disciples, if we may judge of what he 
would do, by what he has said in his 31st question on optics. 
uam exo attractionem appello fiert potest ut ea efficiatur 
impulsu, vel aliqua causa ee rgnota.” (What I call at- 
traction may be the effect of im mpulse, or some other cause te 
us unknown.) 
Many observations are still wanting, to fix definitely the 
figure of the earth and the variations of the needle and pen- 
dulum; and I sincerely hope that Parry and Franklin will 
nately they are arrested in their glorious career, by insur- 
mountable barriers of ice, is it mot to be regretted that instead 
of promoting the improvement of aerial navigation, which» 
would supply the most convenient, the safest and the cheapest 
means, to cross the frigid zone which encircles the polar sea, » 
or extends to the pole, gentlemen who hold the trumpet of 
fame, in a city celebrated for the inventive genius and enter- 
prising spirit of its inhabitants, — pervert their literary 
VOL. XII.—N@. 1. 
