16 



CONSTITUENT MATERIALS OF THE EARTH, 



AND OP THE OTHER BODIES OF SPACE. 



THE orbs being all inextricably connected in the manner 

 which has been described, are we also to presume that the 

 constitution of the whole is uniform ? that is to say, do the 

 whole consist of the same chemical elements ? 



What are elements ? This is a term applied by the chemist 

 to a limited number of substances, (fifty-five are ascer- 

 tained,) which, in their combinations, form all the matters 

 present in and about our globe. They are called elements, 

 or simple substances, because it has hitherto been found 

 impossible to reduce them into others, wherefore they are 

 presumed to be the primary bases of all matters. It has, 

 indeed, been surmised that these so-called elements are only 

 modifications of a primordial form of matter, brought about 

 under certain conditions ; but if this should prove to be the 

 case, it would little affect the present speculations. Analogy 

 would lead us to conclude that the modifications of the 

 primordial matter, forming our so-called elements, are as 

 universal, or as liable to take place everywhere, as are the 

 laws of gravitation and centrifugal force. It therefore ap- 

 pears likely that the gases, the metals, the earths, and other 

 simple substances, (besides whatever more of which we have 

 no acquaintance,) exist under proper conditions, as well in 

 the astral system which is thirty-five thousand times more 



