396 THE CHILDREN OF THE SUN. 



solar system an organ of one gigantic form ; it has 

 also grown to what it is, and may still be considered 

 in its youth. As the body of a plant or animal arises 

 from a fluid alike in all its parts, so this world of ours 

 was once a floating fiery cloud, a nebula or mist, the 

 molecules of which were kept asunder by excessive 

 heat. But the universe is pervaded by movement 

 and by change ; there came a period when the heat 

 declined, and when the atoms obeying their innate de- 

 sires rushed to one another, and, concentrating, formed 

 the sun, which at first almost filled the solar world. 

 But as it cooled, and as it contracted, and as it rotated, 

 and as it revolved, it became a sphere in the centre of 

 the world ; and it cast off pieces which became planets, 

 satellites, attendant stars, and they also cast off pieces 

 which became satellites to them. Thus the earth is 

 the child, and the moon the grandchild of the sun. 

 When our planet first came out into the world it was 

 merely a solar fragment, a chip of the old star, and 

 the other planets were in a similar condition. But 

 these sunballs were separated from one another, and 

 from their parent form, by oceans of ether, a kind of 

 attenuated air, so cold that frost itself is fire in com- 

 parison. The sun burning always in this icy air is 

 gradually cooling down ; but it parts slowly with its 

 heat on account of its enormous size. Our little earth 

 cooled quickly, shrank in size — it had once extended 

 to the moon — and finally went out. From a globe of 

 glowing gas it became a ball of liquid fire, enveloped 

 in a smoky cloud. When first we are able to restore 

 its image and examine its construction, we find it com- 

 posed of zones or layers in a molten state, arranged 

 according to their weight ; and above it we find an 

 atmosphere also divided into layers. Close over the 



