THE SURFACE OF THE GLOBE. 29 



we are enabled to see in the place assigned to it by nature, whether it 

 owes its origin to that universal liquid which formerly held all bodies 

 in solution, or that it was originally the first body consolidated by the 

 sudden cooling of a vast mass in a state of fusion or even of evapora- 

 tion^). Rocks repose on their sides, and form the lateral crests of 



ft^ (a) This is the nebular Hypothesis of Laplace, and deserves to be more fully 

 explained. 



Laplace who, as a mathematician possessing natural abilities, strongly expressed 

 the opinion that the arrangement by which the stability of the solar system is 

 secured is not, in his conception, the result of chance : — that a two-fold cause has 

 guided the planetary motions. This author, however, having arrived, as we our- 

 selves have done, at this conviction, does not for once attempt to draw from it the 

 conclusion which in our opinion appears quite irresistible, that " the admirable ar- 

 rangement of the solar system cannot but be the Avork of an intelligent and omnipo- 

 tent being." He quotes these expressions which are those of Newton, and points at 

 them as instances where that celebrated philosopher had deviated from the general 

 method of true philosophy. He proposes another hypothesis himself concerning the 

 nature of the primitive cause of which he conceives its existence to be thus probable : 

 — and this hypothesis, on account of the facts which it attempts to combine, the 

 view of the universe which it presents, and the eminence of the person by whom it is 

 propounded, deserves our notice. 



This writer imagines, that, in the original condition of the solar system, the sun 

 revolved upon his axis surrounded by an atmosphere which, in virtue of an excessive 

 heat extended far beyond the orbits of all the planets, the planets as yet having no 

 existence. The heat gradually diminished, and, as the solar atmosphere contracted by 

 cooling, the rapidity of its rotation increased by the laws of rotatory motion, and an 

 exterior zone of vapour was separated from the rest, the central attraction being no 

 longer able to overcome the increased centrifugal force. This zone of vapour might 

 in some cases retain its form as we see it in Saturn's ring; but more usually the ring 

 of vapour would break into several masses, and these would generally coalesce into 

 one mass which would revolve about the sun. Such portions of the solar atmosphere, 

 abandoned successively at different distances, would form "planets in the state of 

 vapour." These masses of vapour it appears from mechanical considerations would 

 have each its rotatory motion, and, as the cooling of vapour still went on, would each 

 produce a planet which might have satellites and rings formed from the planet, in 

 the same manner as the planets were formed from the atmosphere of the sun. 



It may easily be conjectured that all the primary motions of a system so produced 

 mould be nearly circular — nearly in the plan of the original equator of the solar 

 rotation, and in the direction of that rotation. Reasons are submitted also to show 

 that the motions of the satellites thus produced, and the motion of rotation of the 

 planets, must be in the same direction. And thus it is held that the hypothesis ac- 

 counts for the most remarkable circumstances in the structure of the solar system ; 

 namely, the motions of the planets in the same direction, and almost in the same 

 place ; the motions of the satellites in the same direction as those of the planets ; 

 the motions of rotation of these different bodies still in the same direction as the 

 other motions, and in the planes not much different ; the eccentricity of the orbits of 

 the planets, upon which condition, along with some of the preceding ones, the sta- 

 bility of the system solely depends, and the position of the source of light and heat 

 in the centre of the system. 



It is not necessary for the purpose, nor suitable to the place of the present treatise, 

 to examine, on physical grounds, the probability of the above hypothesis. It is 

 proposed with great diffidence by its author, as a conjecture only. We might there- 

 fore very reasonably put off all discussion of the bearings of this opinion upon our 

 own views of the government of the world, till the opinion itself should have assumed 

 a less indistinct and precarious form. It can be no charge against our doctrines 

 that there is a difficulty in reconciling with them arbitrary guesses and half-formed 

 theories. We shall, however, make a few observations upon this nebular hypothesis , 

 as it is termed. 



