The Belgian scientist Plato, who shared the theory of 

 Laplace, confirms it by experiments with liquid bodies 

 in regular rotator}' motion in liquids through which he 

 found that portions of the rotating matter, separating 

 themselves from the mass, assumed a spherical shape, 

 but no longer revolved like the main body, nor continued 

 a motion of the same rapidity. Thus the relative velo- 

 city of the planet around its sun remained a problem 

 to which the experiments of this savant could furnish 

 no solution. 



Herbert-Spencer endeavours to reconcile the hypo- 

 thesis of the formation of our solar system from cosmic 

 gaseous cloud with contemporary science. He admits 

 the existence of a cloudy mass between Sirius and the 

 Sun, at a distance of 27 Va billion miles. By means of 

 repulsion and attraction of the atoms was produced a 

 warmth, which resulted in their chemically uniting, when 

 however the temperature of the united mass was cooled 

 by the escape of rays, fragments began to form. These 

 flakes received another direction in space, pressing to- 

 wards the limits of centripetal force, acquiring in their 

 course a spiral movement whiclr resulted in the present 

 solar system. 



In the comets Spencer sees a kind of matter perfectly 

 similar to that from which according to his theory, the 

 whole solar system was formed. 



-Of new theories of world origin we may point to those 

 of Meyer and Fey. Both these scientists say that the 

 universe originated from matter scattered in infinite space 

 owing to the concentration of this matter round various 

 centres, under the influence of attraction. Meyer argues 

 that the sun's fire is caused by the incessant falling ot 

 cosmic bodies, descending upon its surface with a velo- 

 city not less than 600 kilometres per second, a perpe- 

 tual shower which continues to the present time. Fey 

 denies the continuance of this shower, and assumes that 

 were this'fall of cosmic bodies continuing to the present 

 time the sun, growing ever larger and larger, would 



