42 NEBULA AND THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 
Prof. Charles A. Young, of Princeton College, N. J., 
delivered a lecture entitled, ‘‘ Nebulee and the Nebular 
Hypothesis,’’? which was fully illustrated by lantern 
views. 
Following is an abstract of the lecture : 
To the comprehension of the speaker, the orderly de- 
velopment of the planets is to the scientific mind prefer- 
able to their instant creation, as a theory, and brings 
men nearer to the creator. The law of progressive 
growth, the evidence of the operation of forces, confirm- 
atory of the germ theory, presents fewest difficulties to 
minds seeking to understand the plans which nature and 
the world about us present. Theorists differ in essen- 
tials, and their differences cannot be reconciled. The 
spacings of planets, their distance from each other, ac- 
counted for by one, and which are in harmony with one 
of the most acceptable theories, are not accounted for, 
and even not noticed, in others. 
The word nebula means simply a cloud, and in astron- 
omy is used to denote objects which, to the eye, either 
unaided or through a telescope, appear to have a similar 
texture, shining with a faint, hazy light, like that of the 
milky way, or of a thin cloud illuminated by the sun. 
Objects of this sort are numerous in the heavens. Within 
the solar system we have that magnificent glory of the 
sun’s corona, the comets, with thin, streaming trains and 
the mysterious zodiacal light. In the region of the stars 
there are comets by the thousand, some few of them 
bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, but for the 
most part so faint as to be observed only with the great 
telescopes. As to the nature of this nebulous matter and 
the cause of its shining, there is much as yet uncertain. 
It is quite probable that different nebulosities differ in 
their constitutions and nature. Some are, perhaps, 
mainly composed of matter in the form of gas, with 
little admixture of solid or liquid particles. More 
