II. 



HISTORICAL GLIMPSES? 



OR, 



STORY OF THE WORLD SET IN ORDER. 



XXXVI. GATHERING* WORLD 



WANDERING GERMS OF WORLDS. 



IT will be interesting to inquire what matter was before it 

 was fire-mist. If we can think out any movements or actions 

 of matter in any form which, under the laws of nature, would 

 tend to bring it to a state of fire-mist, then we ought to ascer- 

 tain if matter exists or has ever existed under such circum- 

 stances as to possess such movements and exert such actions. 

 If we find such movements and actions in real existence, then 

 some matter is now tending toward a state of fire-mist, and it 

 is reasonable to assume that the fire-mist in which the great 

 cooling process started, may have originated in the way indi- 

 cated by what we see. In another work ("World Life"), I 

 have entered into some details on this subject; but it will be 

 understood that the inquiry is largely a speculation, though 

 suggested, shaped, and guided by what we know of the laws 

 of matter, and observe taking place in the universe 

 around us. 



Comets are facts of observation ; there is no mistake as to 

 the real existence of such bodies, whatever they be. They 

 always excite our admiration. They are full of wonder. They 

 come from the unsearchable depths of space, and after shining 

 in our heavens a few weeks, disappear in the unsearchable 

 depths. What is their origin? What their end? Think 

 of the approach of one of these mysterious messengers 

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