MATCRAL HISTORY OF CREATION. 25 



mattei', extending through the space which it still 

 occupies. 80 also, of course, must have been the other 

 astral systems, indeed, we nuist presume the whole to 

 have been originally in one connected mass, the astral 

 systems being only the lirst division into parts, and solar 

 systems the second. 



The first idea which all this impresses upon us is, that 

 the formation of l)odies in space is still and at 2)?'ese7it in 

 jn'orjre8)<. AVe live at a time when many have been 

 formed, and many ai-e still forming. Our own solar 

 system is to be regarded as completed, supposing its per- 

 fection to consist in the formation of a series of planets, 

 for there are mathematical reasons for concluding that 

 Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun, which can, ac- 

 cording to the laws of the system, exist. But there are 

 other soL'ir systems within our astral system^ which are 

 as yet in a less advanced state, and even some quantities 

 of nebulous matter which have scarcely begun to advance 

 tovv'ards the stellar form. On the other hand, there are 

 vast numbers of stars which have all the appearance of 

 being fully foimed systems, if we ai-e to judge from the 

 complete and definite appearance which they present to 

 our vision through the telescope. We have no means of 

 judging of the seniority of systems ; but it is reasonable 

 to suppose that, among the many, some are older than 

 ours. There is, indeed, one piece of evidence for the pro- 

 bability of the comparative youth of our system, alto- 

 gether apart from human traditions and the geognostic 

 appeai'ances of the surface of our planet. This consists 

 in a thin nebulous matter, which is dilVused around the 

 sun to nearly the orbit of Mercury, of a very oblately 

 spheroidal shape. This matter, which sometimes appears 

 to our naked eyes, at sunset, in the form of a cone pro- 

 jecting upwards in the line of the sun's path, and which 



