234 The American Geologist. October, 1904. 
rotation. But it is now admitted the world over and especi- 
ally verified by Schiaparelli's observations, that Venus is prac- 
tically devoid of rotation, turning on its axis only once in every 
anomalistic period, 224 days. 
This is another rock in the seaway of the netular theory 
which cannot be gotten past. According to this hypothesis, 
we have a right to assume, that the same processes which are 
going on in the interior of the Earth, are operating, at least 
in a comparative degree, in Venus also ; and if the contraction 
has originated and sustained the Earth's rotation, then Venus 
also ought to rotate, but it does not. 
If we, however, should persist in the supposition that Jupi- 
ter's violent rotation is caused by an interior powerful rush 
of matter around its center on account of its gigantic size, what 
should we then believe and say about the Sun, which is 1000 
times larger than Jupiter and in a state of far more intense 
heat, and still it swings around on its axis only once for every 
60 of Jupiter's rotations? 
It is clearly evident from first to last, that contraction or 
condensation has absolutely nothing to do with rotation and 
that the theory, which claims that it has, is without foundation 
in all of its premises. It follows likewise, that the conclusion, 
that the rapid rotation and numerous moons of Jupiter and 
Saturn should prove that the rotation is caused by the con- 
traction and heat of the matter, is erroneous and false. 
Further on we shall show what the real causes are for the 
intense rotation and numerous moons of. the mentioned planets, 
and our proofs shall be clear and convincing to all. But before 
we do this, other matters claim our attention. Our final obser- 
vation upon the subject, so far as it has now been discussed, 
is, that the reason put forth as to the cause of the rotation of 
the heavenly bodies, is, to say the least, meaningless. 
§4. Let us now turn from the discussion of the nebula's 
rotation and its other qualities, which we have touched upon, 
and pay attention to another proposition, namely : Is it natur- 
al and reasonable to suppose, that such a nebula, as the nebular 
hypothesis proposes, ever existed in reality? We may suppose 
that Neptune is the most distant planet in the solar system, 
^nd the size of the original nebula was determined by the orbit 
of this planet. Out of this originally spherical misty mass the 
