AND MOON. 133 



nascent planet, therefore, must have been that of an ellipsoid, 

 or, perhaps, more properly speaking, that of an egg somewhat 

 flattened in the direction of its shorter diameter. The two 

 ends of this ellipsoidal body, preserving, respectively, the 

 general qualities of what were its aphelion and perihelion 

 points when, during its previous and higher state of diffusion, 

 it encircled the sun, must now sustain toward each other the 

 relations of positive and negative.* The atoms having the 

 strongest affinity for the positive influence, therefore, would 

 naturally flow toward the positive end ; and those having the 

 strongest affinity for the negative influence would flow toward 

 the negative end. There would, therefore, be a tendency of 

 the particles to agglomerate and condense in the form of a 

 separate nucleus near either end of the general body, or, more 

 accurately speaking, probably in either focus of the ellipse. If 

 the particles are sufficiently diverse from each other as to their 

 extreme degrees of positiveness or negativeness, and other 

 circumstances are favorable, the tendencies to agglomeration 

 and condensation at these two points, may result in the forma- 

 tion of a primary planet and a satellite; or, if there are 

 several degrees of matter widely distinguished by their rela- 

 tively positive and negative qualities, a correspondingly com- 

 plicated operation of the same principles and forces, may re- 

 sult in the formation of several satellites. 



The idea of a tendency to, and condensation in, the foci of 

 the egg-shaped nebulous mass, thus forming a primary and a 

 satellite, and that this tendency indicates a laiv, is in precise 



* In employing the terms " positive" and " negative," as above, it is not intended to 

 restrict the idea of the polar relations which they express, to a connection with elec- 

 tricity or magnetism. These relations may be supposed, in some sense, to subsist be- 

 tween the two extremes in the development of each of the imponderables. Keichen- 

 bach, as we have seen, found unmistakable indications of these polar relations existing 

 in the " odio" element, with its different varieties, by him discovered. 



12 



