338 J. Lawrence Smith on Meteorites. 
tution is the strongest argument of their belonging to different 
spheres. In further refutation of this idea it may be asked, Is it 
to be expected that a mass of matter detached from Jupiter (a 
planet but little heavier than water) or from Saturn (one nearly 
as light as cork) or from Encke’s comet (thinner than air), would 
at all accord with each other or with those of the earth. It is 
far more rational to suppose that every cosmical body, without 
necessarily possessing elements different from each other, yet are 
so constituted that they may be known by their fragments. With 
this view of the matter, our specimens of meteorites are but 
multiplied samples of the same body, and that body, with the 
light we now have, appears to have been the moon. 
This theory is not usually opposed on the ground that the 
moon is not able to supply such bodies as the meteoric iron and 
stone; it is more commonly objected to from the difficulty 
that there appears to be in the way of this body’s projecting 
masses of matter beyond the central point of attraction between 
the earth and moon. Suffice it to say, that Laplace, with all his 
mathematical acumen, saw no difficulty in the way of this taking 
place, although we know, that he gave special attention to it at 
three different times during a period of thirty years, and di 
without discovering any physical difficulty in the way. Also for 
a period of forty years, Olbers was of the same opinion, and 
changed his views as already stated for reasons of a different 
character: and to these two we add Hutton, Biot, Poisson and 
The important question then for consideration is, the force re- 
quisite to produce this velocity. The force exercised in terres 
