282 PHYSICAL SCIENCE BK. vn 



is alleged to mount has an eddying motion of its 

 own, which carries onward the sky, 



And drags the lofty stars, and turns them in rapid whirl. 



And even though one grant some duration to 

 whirlwinds, which is quite contrary to the fact, yet 

 what is to be said of the comets that have con- 



2 tinued in sight for six months ? Then, as hinted 

 above, there must be two motions in the same spot 

 one that constant motion of the heaven, accom 

 plishing its task without intermission, the other a 

 strange new motion conveyed by the whirlwind. 

 The one must inevitably obstruct the other. And 

 yet that motion we see of the moon in her orbit, 

 and of the other heavenly bodies that pass above the 

 moon, is irrevocable. It nowhere falters or stops, 

 nor does it convey to us the slightest suggestion 



3 of an obstacle being ever placed in its way. It is 

 utterly beyond belief that a whirlwind, the most 

 violent and unruly species of storm, should reach 

 the very centre of the ranks of the stars, and should 

 find a sphere for its boisterous activity in that 

 ordered peace of heaven. Supposing that the 

 revolution of a whirlwind kindles fire, which is 

 shot up to the heights, furnishing apparent ground 

 for the belief that what we see is a trail of fire ; yet 

 surely the shape of the fire ought to be something 



4 like that which produces it. Now a whirlwind is 

 round in appearance ; it remains in the same track, 

 and revolves after the fashion of a rotating pillar. 

 The fire, therefore, that is enclosed ought to re 

 semble it in shape. But in reality it is a trail of 

 scattered fire, and resembles anything rather than 

 fire gathered into a ball. 



