TEST OF THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS 65 
estimated) is 0.67979, making the discrepancy 754 to 1. On the 
more probable basis of Laplacian solar density the difference is 
W277 tO. Ih. 
From these data it appears that there is not only a funda- 
mental and pervasive discrepancy between the computed nebular 
momentum and the actual present momentum, but there is also 
‘a strange irregularity in the discrepancies themselves. A funda- 
mental error in the analytical work, or in the assumptions on which 
it is based, should give a systematic error, or at least a graded 
series of errors. But the discrepancy shown is not systematic 
or even graded. Not only are the discrepancies enormously 
large in themselves, but their irregularities are also large. This 
will appear better by bringing them together into a table. 
Nebular M. of M. Present M. of M. Ratios, 
Neptunian stage, 4848.055.............. 22.70061 213 tol 
Jovian LSE LO OOMAZ ON Mba mcretencaie 14.18161 141 to I 
Terrestial 4 SIRES 8 Om tueien seatanel aetna 0.71008 1208 to I 
Mercurial ss EAT DE OO cices cue tere taal « 0.67979 754 to I 
2. Can these discrepancies be due to a radical error in the law 
of density ?—It is certain that Boyle’s law is not rigorously appli- 
cable to gases under all conditions, and it is pertinent to inquire 
whether any deviation from it can account for the discrepancies 
which the foregoing computations reveal. The researches of 
Amagat* and others have shown the nature of the deviations 
within the limits of experimental tests and Van der Waals’ law 
furnishes a basis for the theoretical extension of these results to 
other conditions. 
Near the temperatures of liquefaction the density increases 
faster than the law requires. Obviously the exterior of the 
nebula would be effected by lower temperature than its interior 
and would be most influenced by this variation so far as depend- 
ent on low temperatures. As the peripheral portion carries the 
largest part of the rotatory momentum any increased density there 
through failure of Boyle’s law would increase the discrepancy. 
*WULLNER: Experimental Physik. Tables. Vol. I, p. 542. 
