THE NEBULAE HYPOTHESIS 191 



an inch and the volume would therefore be reduced to one- 

 eighth part of its original amount. The law of gases tells us that 

 if the temperature be unaltered the pressure varies inversely as 

 the volume, and consequently the internal pressure in the cube 

 would in that case be increased eightfold. As, however, in the 

 case before us, the distance between every two particles is reduced 

 to one-half, it will follow that the gravitation between every two 

 particles is increased fourfold, and as the area is also reduced to 

 one- fourth, it will follow that the pressure inside the reduced cube 

 is increased sixteenf old ; but we have already seen that with a 

 constant temperature it only increases eightfold and hence the 

 temperature cannot be constant, but must rise with the contrac- 

 tion. 



What sophistries are perpetrated in the name of 

 Science ! Here we are told, in so many words, that to 

 warm the sun the way to do is to cool it, and in order to 

 cool it we must heat it. Let us take the statement exactly 

 at its face value and see how it works out in practice. 



The world of science is pretty well agreed, I think, 

 that the chemical constitution of the earth and the sun is 

 much the same, and that if there be any appreciable dif- 

 ference at all, the sun should possess a higher percentage 

 of the heavier materials than the earth. Nevertheless, 

 the sun's density that is, his ratio of mass to volume- 

 is very much less, being only 1.4 that of water as against 

 the earth's 5.5, and a simple calculation will reveal that in 

 order for the former to become as compact as our globe, 

 he shall have to contract his diameter by 312,000 miles. 



Now, why is he so distended? Surely not because of 

 his axial rotation; for, according to accepted ideas, were 

 centrifugalization the cause, he should possess an im- 

 mense equatorial protuberance, whereas he exhibits no 

 oblateness of figure at all. There is but one answer, 

 namely, it is because of his exceedingly high temperature. 

 But if Lane is correct in asserting that the sun's tempera- 

 ture is rising, then his volume must be expanding from 

 the effects of the increasing heat, and there follows a 

 double paradox, namely, that besides growing hotter be- 

 cause he is cooling, he is expanding, because he is shrink- 

 t 



On the other hand, if the Laneites are in error, it 

 does not necessarily follow that those who claim the sun 



