PT. i. Astronomy and Geology compared. 23 



ing the immense disproportion in size between the 

 Earth and the Sun, how much more close and inti- 

 mate is their connection than that between the 

 Earth and any of the other planets. If Jupiter 

 should leave his place in our system, and set out on 

 the grand tour through all the constellations of the 

 firmament, or if Venus should elope with a comet, 

 such events would occasion great amazement and 

 consternation throughout all the observatories of 

 Europe, scientific societies would be holding meet- 

 ings in all the principal cities, and the gravest 

 professors would be in a state of almost frenzied 

 excitement. But all this while, if there were no 

 newspapers or journals to tell the tale, it may be 

 doubted whether the great bulk of the people would 

 ever find out anything about the matter. Neither 

 Jupiter nor Venus would be missed from their 

 accustomed places by ordinary mortals, nor is there 

 any proof that their disappearance would sensibly 

 affect the remaining members of the system; but 

 we are all aware that light and warmth and ex- 

 istence itself depend entirely upon the presence of 

 the Sun : were his rays withdrawn from us for even 

 the briefest space of time, utter extinction would be 

 the inevitable consequence. 



