DIASTROPHISM AND THE FORMATIVE PROCESSES 157 



It may be noted, however, that the physical state of the matter, 

 whatever it may be, wUl not radically affect the mean constitution 

 of the bodies, though it is Uable to affect greatly the distribution 

 of the material. Reserving judgment on any shrinkage effect 

 that may arise from such difference of distribution, we may note 

 that the inquiries of this paper, in harmony with the suggestions 

 of the previous paper, very distinctly imply that, if the moon. 

 Mars, Venus, and the earth were built up normally by the planetesi- 

 mal method, they should contain proportions of inherently heavy 

 material in the inverse order of mass. There is therefore cor- 

 responding reason to think that the estimate of the total shrinkage 

 of the earth deduced in the preceding article will need to be some- 

 what increased, as anticipated, on account of the differences of 

 material that make up the four bodies compared. 



