700 T. C. CHAMBERLIN 



directly into meteoritic matter of the minutest type. At present, 

 meteor itic particles, assumed to be of this type, abound in inter- 

 planetary space in such prodigious numbers that many millions 

 are picked up daily by the earth. The formation of precipitate 

 aggregates, in the methods previously sketched, seems to furnish 

 an apt explanation of the origin of chondrules and of the other 

 minute integers that so largely make up meteorites. The collisions 

 of these little bodies as they were entering into the formation of 

 larger bodies, seem well fitted to account for the intimate breccia- 

 tion, the minute specks of glass, suddenly cooled liquid drops, as 

 well as the strange mixtures of stony and metallic matter, and 

 other distinctive features of meteorites. 



3. The third hypothesis is dependent on the pre-existence of 

 the present planetary system. It supposes that the ejected solar 

 matter passed so near some one of the more massive planets that 

 it was thrown into an elliptical orbit in a way similar to the pre- 

 ceding and with similar results. A certain portion of the particles 

 so diverted would take orbits of the planetary type, so far as their 

 planes are concerned, but only a part of these would have a planet- 

 oidal degree of circularity. Other portions would have orbits 

 whose eccentricities, orbital planes, and directions of revolution 

 were as various as are those of meteorites and comets. Certain 

 comets are known to have orbits definitely related to the giant 

 planets. This relation is commonly interpreted as the result of 

 reduction from larger and more eccentric orbits by the planet's 

 influence. Without questioning the validity of this interpreta- 

 tion, it is not inconsistent to hold that in a part of such cases, the 

 comets arose de novo from planetary action in the way here sug- 

 gested. Most comets developed in this way would probably 

 belong to the feebly developed evanescent type. 



These three hj^otheses are entirely consistent with one another 

 and may all be true. They have the merit of being made to rest 

 on the same dynamic basis as the planetary system itself. These 

 hypotheses for the aberrant factors, when added to the planetesimal 

 hypothesis for the normal factors, give a theoretical unity to the 

 whole sola"r system. 



