THE SUN 255 



such a catastrophe as I have described to take place to- 

 day. 



Granting that the earth is the built-up product of 

 10,000 such contributions from the solar mass, and that 

 the same thing is true of all the rest of the planets and 

 satellites, then, since all these together equal 1-750 of the 

 sun, it follows that the latter loses on each such occasion 

 only 1-7,500,000 of his corpus, or, say, 1-20 of an earth. 

 Since the earth's disc, as previously computed, intercepts 

 only 1-2,000,000,000 of the sun's light, of course it would 

 likewise intercept only the 1-2,000,000,000 of 1-20 of six 

 sextillions of tons of weight, or 150,000,000,000 of tons- 

 equal to 750 tons to the square mile, or, say, 1.25 tons to 

 the acre, taking in the entire area of the earth's surface. 

 Of course this solar hail would not be evenly distributed, 

 unequal fragments being promiscuously scattered here 

 and there, while the night side of the planet and other 

 sheltered places might escape scot free. The real incre- 

 ment to the planet's growth would not be acquired by 

 this direct bombardment, but by the subsequent slow 

 gleanings from the nebula. 



