THE COS MIC A L STKUCTUKE. 123 



terrestrial atmosphere at a level with the sea'; and when con- 

 fined in a balloon, it ascends, with its envelope, to an altitude 

 determined by the degree of buoyancy of gas and balloon 

 united, and there it floats until dissipated. Now, each solar 

 and planetary body in jspace, is surrounded by a calorific, 

 luminous, electric, and ethereal atmosphere, which, in like man- 

 ner, varies in density and power with the distance from the 

 center of condensation ; and, by virtue of the respective 

 super-aerial atmospheres of any two bodies sustaining to each 

 other the relations of primary and secondary, the secondary 

 body assumes an orbitual distance from the primary, which, 

 as in the case of the balloon, is. governed by the law of equi- 

 librium which distance, however, is somewhat modified by 

 centrifugal force. 



This illustration of the balloon, however, is very imper-fcct, 

 and only serves to enable the reader to approximate to a con- 

 ception of the true idea ; for we are not to eonsider any planet 

 or other celestial body, as having the same degree of affinity 

 for its primary as the balloon has for the earth, or as being 

 attracted to it in exactly the same way, or as it would be, if 

 there were no greater dissimilarity between its matter and the 

 matter of the primary, than there is between the matter of 

 the balloon and that of the earth. But each celestial body is 

 composed of materials, and possesses calorific, electric, odic, 

 and other forces and properties, and hence affinities, peculiar 

 to itself, and which, in general, differ from those of any other 

 given body in proportion to the distance of its natural situ- 

 ation. Moreover, each planet, sun, etc., as before intimated, 

 is only the condensed center of a general ethereal body of no 

 particularly defined circumference, but whose refined emana- 

 tions, growing more rare with each remove from their centers, 

 extend indefinitely into space, In this way, each body inter- 



