114 



more strongly than the waters. The earthy therefore, will be 

 drawn away from these waters; and they being left at a di- 

 stance somewhat greater than the usual surface, will appear to 

 have risen from D to G." If the moon be capable of attracting 

 the water at B, and the whole bulk of the globe besides, what 

 keeps the water up at G ? Surely the little covering at D would 

 follow, if not withheld by some external power not noticed in 

 the demonstration, and especially when the sun and moon are 

 in conjunction. It may be argued that Laplace and other as- 

 tronomers have established the consistency of such a doc- 

 trine : as all the complicated and intricate analysis used rests 

 on the truth of the conjectures or assumptions made for procu- 

 ring the possible application of the fundamental equations the 

 argument is of little avail. Had such tides existed at the equator, 

 proportionably to the supposed attractive curve, in the ratio of 

 the length of the ordinates, according to the geometrical degrees 

 of intensity, the Low Countries would be completely inundated; 

 but the fact is, there are no such tides at the equator, at least on 

 the coasts of South America, in the Pacific, nor in the Atlantic. 

 The tides there and in the West Indies are comparatively insig- 

 nificant, amounting only to a few feet. However, although we 

 are not able to describe the exact mode by which the electro- 

 magnetic action of the moon operates on the surface of our globe, 

 yet we have abundant proofs of the existence of a physical con- 

 nexion between the two bodies. It is equally evident that there 

 is a connexion between the variable changes of the moon and 

 the weather, and this has been calculated upon from time imme- 

 morial, especially within the tropics. 



If, then, the aerial ocean, combined with the magnetic fluid, ex- 

 tend to the moon, we may presume from analogy that the satel- 

 lite floats upon it, and may possibly be carried round the earth 

 by means of a circular current, similar to that of the trade- wind ; 

 and that the planets may be sustained and revolve round the sun 

 on the same principle, as they all circulate round that body in 

 the same direction. The sun rotates on an axis nearly perpen- 

 dicular to the orbit. In round numbers, fourteen rotations of the 

 sun imparts one orbitual revolution to the earth ; twenty-eight ro- 

 tations of the earth impart one orbitual revolution to the moon, 

 and all in the same direction, i. e. from west to east. Here, then, 



