46 SKETCHES OF CUE ATI OX. 



existing exemplifications of all the main phenomena which 

 have attended upon the evolutions of cosmieal matter from 

 the time when it first sprang from the hands of its Creator. 

 The cloud-like comet; the "zodiacal light ;V the solar-j>ho- 

 tosphere ; the irresolvable nebulae, may probably be re- 

 garded as examples of attenuated luminous matter such as 

 our theory hypothecates. Every whirlpool shows how ro- 

 tation is liable to be spontaneously generated. The Satur- 

 nian ring or rings illustrate an essential phase in this cos- 

 mieal genesis; their liquid condition another. The body 

 of the sun is a mass remaining in the incandescent state ; 

 while the planets have become opaque, because smaller 

 masses of matter sooner reach the point of total refrigera- 

 tion. The moon represents a state of refrigeration whic"" 

 the earth is destined to attain in the distant future. We 

 may thus regard the visible universe as a vast museum 

 in which Nature has preserved for our instruction speci- 

 mens illustrative of every stage in the embryology of 

 worlds. 



Will it be asked how such 'views accord with our theistic 

 opinions ? I reply, perfectly. It has become a kind of 

 fashion in certain quarters to denounce all scientific doc- 

 trines to which the much-abused term " development" can 

 be applied ; but in this we may be too much influenced 

 by " the fashion." Leading theologians — though indeed 

 scarcely followers of the leaders in physical science — have 

 heaped opprobrium on the "nebular hypothesis" as tending 

 to atheism. The patronage of this hypothesis by the au- 

 thor of the "Vestiges of Creation" has thrown a dark sus- 

 picion over it; but the cause of truth will be best promoted 

 by allowing every scientific question to be decided on its 

 merits. The scientific world as a whole will never abandon 

 a position because denounced by the theological world — 

 not even because it seems to be in conflict with sound the- 



