26 
HAROLD’S DISCUSSIONS. 
gaseous substance so large that it extended even far 
beyond the orbit of ^Neptune; that this substance 
began to cool, therefore to contract, and the con¬ 
traction produced rotation and luminosity (Fig. 9). 
“And God said. Let there be light: and there was 
light.” The heavier gases gravitated toward the cen¬ 
ter. In time an outer ring of cooler matter, but still 
gaseous, became separated from the greater inner 
core (Fig. 10), but continued to revolve, as probably 
Saturn’s do to-day. Then parts of this ring became 
denser than others. The dense places attracted the 
rarer matter, and thus the whole ring rolled up into 
a gaseous or perhaps subgaseous globe, rotating on 
its own axis, and continuing its revolution around the 
central mass. Thus was born the first planet, the 
outermost and oldest and lightest—Neptune. 
In course of time, as the cooling by radiation con¬ 
tinued, another planet rolled oil to shift for itself. 
In this way all the planets and planetoids became 
separated from the central mass. Mercury is the 
youngest of which we are certain. Some claim that 
they have seen another planet inside the orbit of 
Mercury, possibly two. If there are any they would 
be so near the sun that it would be difficult to see 
them. The sun is all that is left of the great neb¬ 
ulous sphere, and, according to the theory, it is still 
contracting. 
The planets also continued the cooling and con¬ 
tracting process and themselves gave off rings, such 
as Saturn now has, and these likewise rolled up into 
a globe or possibly into several, which now appear as 
