New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-12-07

mated was exactly similar to that by mesns % which
Surveyor calculsted the distance OF OBJECT without
going 10 il Having sscertsncd the distance say Cd
the Earth from the sun I. became en- easy maj
ter then To ascertain ~ velocity ny doubling
the distance W. obtained the diameter OF the earihs
orbit ard then the circumference easily iSund
We knew how long the road was, and how long the
earth took "a corplete its orbit Then s we requires
10 divide the ,ota Of the orbit by 3 and wegot st
once the di.tnnce the earth Travelled in day. end By
carving out the calculation could ascertain with
accuracy lis velocity in an hour. minute or even
second The lecturer then remarked thas he wound
dr,c the attention OF his audience for come minutes 70
the b,arin- Of the law OF universal graylia.cr THIS
law was the most important Of AL physical Laws Inc
question arose what was this law There were two
branches In this lsw-,he first had regard to The
amour; Of matter in body the second had refer
epce 10 the distance between bodies as connected
with their attraction The earth attracted The
sun. ~ well a. the sun the esrth. snd what
might not appear plsn just As much The greater
the amount Of matter Of course the greater the force
Of eravaiion Again in regard to the second branch
of ,he law-tske steelyari and lesden weight that
marked sixteen pounds upon the steel-yar here on
the surface Of the earth and suppose man wandered
Of 10 the moon in balloon with his weight aud ms-
sure or say he up four thousand miles soo'e ac
earth He then twice a. far rom the center I"
the earth a. he was when on IL surface Would the
weight at that distance be the same, or would ne
less Il would DC four times less because The d'ns
ton Of sraysiion was In the ratio Of the square OF the
distance In Other words the force Of grssiicn OF al
traction decreased the square of the dtsnceincres
cd Ii miShsbe asked why did not the moon fall to
wsrd7 the certA. Were il not f'r the attraction OF the
earth the moon. from the influence Of centrifugal
force would 90 on in straight inc. In illustration OF
this we might suppose mau standing upon srnN
island holding rope attached 20 a boat in which sss
man rowing ahead continually. He rowcl a. though
he wanted 70 go in straight line but owing 20 the
drag OF the rope his boat would constantly describe
the circuit Of the bland So with the earth aud moon
and with all the planetary bodies in our solar system
That The principle upon which they made their
periodical revolutions around the center Of the system
the sun Gisvitation controlled the motion Of all
the heavenly bodies and accounted for all the irega
arcs (sud they were numerous) of the solar system
and very ol,cn anticipated the mos, refined telescope
observations q astronomers. The same principle
weighed the sun and all the planets as in
balance: and it pointed out how the great
benefcert Creator had provided for the sta
bility of the system, declaring his fat that 50 far
they should be irregular and no further. at the
same time stamping upon the whole the impress Of
eternity II also accounted for the hdes their hight
and pericdicity and reached backward through sh
time and forward 10 eternity showing what would DO
the condition of those bodies in all time to come IL
controlled the wanderings Of erratic comets roaming
afar of in the ilntabe fields of space and hNed the
periods at which they should return 10 the neighbor
hood of our planetary system And, finally, it hunted
out new worlds. as Leyerrers planet for instance,
weighed and estimated their magnitude, and told the
wondering astronomer whore to point his telescope.
and il was there The Lecturer concluded, by abiding
to the old Pythagorean idea Of the harmony OF the
spheres and closed his lecture with that beautiful
passage In the eighth book of Millions Paradise Lost
which the poet in glowing terms describes the Creator
a. measuring. with golden compasses, the spheres
the heavenly bodies apporonng to each It's respective
POSITION in the system of the universe.