CHAPTER X 



COSMOGONIES 



" Where wast thou when I laid the foundations 

 of the earth ? declare, if thou hast understand- 

 ing. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou 

 knowest ? or who hath stretched the line upon 

 it ? Whereupon are the foundations thereof 

 fastened ? or who laid the corner stone thereof ; 

 when the morning stars sang together, and all the 

 sons of God shouted for joy ? " 



The mind of man is curious, not only concern- 

 ing the nature and origin of matter qua matter, 

 but also concerning the nature and origin of the 

 world, qua world, on which he lives. Very soon, 

 then, he began to ask what was this solid, stolid 

 earth, standing steady amid the stars ; and very 

 curious were some of his primitive theories. A 

 Hindu theory, for instance, held that the earth 

 was borne by a gigantic elephant which stood on 

 an immense tortoise, and was borne over a shore- 

 less sea of milk as boundless as infinity. A 



