x THE STARRY HEAVENS 399 



That each planet and satellite did form 

 originally a ring we still have evidence in the 

 wonderful and beautiful rings of Saturn, 

 which, however, in all probability will eventu- 

 ally form spherical satellites like the rest. 

 Thus then our Earth was originally a part 

 of the Sun, to which again it is destined one 

 day to return. M. Plateau has shown experi- 

 mentally that by rotating a globe of oil in a 

 mixture of water and spirit having the same 

 density this process may be actually repeated 

 in miniature. 



This brilliant, and yet simple, hypothesis 

 is consistent with, and explains many other 

 circumstances connected with the position, 

 magnitude, and movements of the Planets 

 and their satellites. 



The Planets, for instance, lie more or less 

 in the same plane, they revolve round the 

 Sun and rotate on their own axis in the same 

 direction a series of coincidences which can- 

 not be accidental, and for which the theory 

 would account. Again the rate of cooling 

 would of course follow the size ; a small body 

 cools more rapidly than a large one. The 



