82 FKOM NEBULA TO NEBULA 



basin sometimes turns toward the right, and again toward 

 the left. All I can say is, it had to move one way or the 

 other, and then stick to that way. The die could have 

 been cast by the first comet that crossed the nebular field, 

 just as the mere touch of the tip of your finger on the 

 water in the basin will determine the direction of its ro- 

 tation. 



Again, you may wish to know why the ecliptic and the 

 plane of the Antarctic Circle of the Gravisphere corre- 

 spond, instead of the ecliptic being tangent to the Sphere. 

 I appeal again to the surface of the basin of water for the 

 explanation. You have observed, have you not, how the 

 surface dishes in, forming, as it were, a saucer? This, 

 obviously, is an effect of the centrifugal force generated 

 by the principle of balance, and I assume that the same 

 principle holds good in the case under discussion. At 

 any rate, the ecliptic does not exactly correspond with the 

 plane of the circle, though the "invariable plane" of the 

 system perhaps does. 



It would seem to follow that, inasmuch as the rota- 

 tions in our system are accelerating, the time periods are 

 intrinsically shortening. On the other hand, however, 

 the faster bodies are whirled the farther out they fly. For 

 reasons which seem to me convincing, I believe that the 

 earth is receding from the sun by infinitesimal degrees, 

 and also that the year is shortening as well. This, how- 

 ever, is needlessly speculative and I will pursue the idea 

 no further. The thing of importance is, that we have 

 ferreted out the hidden force that ivhirls the planets 

 around and counteracts the centripetal attraction. 



