66 NOTES ON THE 



that, at least in regard to the idea of making out of 

 nothing, little or no foundation for that doctrine 

 can be obtained from the use of the first of these 

 words." Kitttfs Gydopadia Creation. 



99. There was a period in the history of the 

 world, when the crust of the globe did not exist ; 

 and there was a period still more remote, when the 

 globe itself was not. Is it not as legitimate to 

 speculate upon the formation of the nucleus of the 

 globe, and the matter from which it sprang, as to 

 speculate upon the formation of the crust of the 

 globe, and the matter by which it was formed ? 



NOTES ON COMETS. 



100. What are those comets which traverse the 

 solar system in vast eccentric orbits? Are they 

 oceans isolated in space ? And because of this is a 

 comet with an eccentric orbit a solid, or a mass of 

 ice as it traverses the region of its aphelion ? Is it 

 a liquid as it nears the sun, and is it a vapour as it 

 moves in the region of its perihelion ? And is it 

 so, that a portion of that vapour from its proximity 

 to the sun is resolved into steam and thus becomes 

 invisible ? After the perihelion passage has taken 

 place, and during the comet's recess from the sun, is 



