NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 191 



trate ; the view of the universe as the work of a 

 wise and good Creator. Let it be supposed that 

 the point to which this hypothesis leads us, is 

 the ultimate point of physical science : that the 

 farthest glimpse we can obtain of the material 

 universe by our natural faculties, shows it to 

 us occupied by a boundless abyss of luminous 

 matter : still we ask, how space came to be thus 

 occupied, how matter came to be thus luminous ? 

 If we establish by physical proofs, that the first 

 fact which can be traced in the history of the 

 world, is that " there was light ;" we shall still 

 be led, even by our natural reason, to suppose 

 that before this could occur, " God said, let there 

 be light." 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The Existence of a Resisting Medium in the 

 Solar System. 



THE question of a plenum and a vacuum was 

 formerly much debated among those who specu- 

 lated concerning the constitution of the universe ; 

 that is, they disputed whether the celestial and 

 terrestrial spaces are absolutely full, each portion 

 being occupied by some matter or other ; or 

 whether there are, between and among the ma- 

 terial parts of the world, empty spaces free from 

 all matter, however rare. This question was 



