CHAPTEE X. 



GKOUNDS OF STABILITY AND GENEKAL ECONOMY OP 

 THE COSMICAL STKUCTUEE. 



As a preliminary step toward a due comprehension and 

 appreciation of the theory now to be offered respecting the in- 

 ternal forces, movements, grounds of stability, and general 

 economy of the universe, the reader is requested to bear dis- 

 tinctly in mind that principles operate indifferently upon a 

 large and a small scale that the magnitudes and distances of 

 the objects to which they apply, are absolutely of no conse- 

 quence as affecting the essential nature of their operations. 



Now, in the light of this truism, let us suppose some simple 

 vegetable form say an apple to be placed under a micro- 

 scope so exceedingly powerful as to magnify it to the apparent 

 size of that immense spheroid of stellar orbs with their planets, 

 which is known to us as the Milky Way, and in the midst of 

 which our world is situated. We will suppose that the pores 

 of the apple would, in that case, appear of a magnitude equally 

 great with the interplanetary and interstellar spaces, and that 

 the molecules would be magnified to the apparent size of 

 worlds. Moreover, the internal motions of the molecules, ob- 

 serving the natural order of vegetative circulation and pro- 

 gression, would bear a certain resemblance to the rotatory and 

 orbitual motions of suns and planets, and all, obeying the law 

 by which the distinct stratifications and compartments of the 

 apple are formed, would give an appearance somewhat similar 



