40 KANTS UNIVERSAL NATURAL HISTORY 



nature of their production. Calculation of the degree 

 of tenuity into which all the elements of the matter 

 in the world have been dispersed. Probability and 

 necessity of this attenuation. Important proof of the 

 mode of the generation of the Heavenly Bodies from 

 a remarkable analogy pointed out by Buffon. 



THIRD CHAPTER. 



Of the eccentricity of the orbits of the Planets and the 



origin of the Comets. 



The eccentricity increases gradually with the distances 

 from the Sun. Cause of this law deduced from 

 Cosmogony. Why the orbits of Comets deviate freely 

 from the plane of the Ecliptic. Proof that the 

 Comets are formed out of the lightest kind of matter. 

 Collateral remark on the Northern Lights (Aurora 

 Borealis). 



FOURTH CHAPTER. 



Of the origin of the Moons and the movements of the 



Planets round their axes, 



The matter used in the production of the Moons was 

 contained in the sphere from which their Planets 

 gathered the particles for their own formation. Cause 

 of the motion of these Moons with all their deter- 

 minations. Why the great Planets only have Moons. 

 Of the Axial Rotation of the Planets. Whether 

 the Moon had formerly a more rapid Rotation ? 

 Whether the Velocity of the Rotation of the Earth 

 is diminishing ? Of the position of the Axes of the 

 Planets relatively to the plane of their orbits. Dis- 

 placement of their Axes. 



