194 
[ “ On the Origin of Elementary Substances, and on some 
New Relations of their Atomic Weights,” by Henry 
Wilde, Esq. 
The hypothesis, that the solar system, as at present con- 
stituted, was formed by the successive condensations of a 
gaseous substance rotating under the influence of a central 
force, has so much evidence in its favour, that it may be 
affirmed to equal the best of that obtained from the geo- 
logical record of the changes, which, in past times, have 
taken place on the surface of the terrestrial globe. That 
this gaseous or primordial substance consisted of a chaotic 
mixture of the 65 elements known to chemists is a notion 
too absurd to be entertained by any one possessing the 
faculty of philosophic thinking, as the regular gradation of 
properties observable in certain groups of elements, clearly 
shows that elementary species are not eternal, but have a 
history which it is the proper object of physical science to 
unfold. 
One of the principal facts which to my mind establishes 
the nebular theory of the formation of planetary systems 
on a firm basis, is Bode’s empirical law of the distances 
of the members of the solar system from each other, and 
from the central body, as in this law is comprehended the 
idea of nebular condensation in definite proportions. Now, 
if elementary species were created from a homogeneous sub- 
stance, possessing a capacity for change in definite propor- 
tions, it is probable that the greater number of elements 
would be formed during, or after, the transition of the 
nebular matter from the annular to the spheroidal form. 
Moreover, as great cosmic transitions are not made per 
saltum, it might be expected that some modification of the 
law of nebular condensation into planetary systems, as ex- 
