Muscatine journal. [volume] (Bloomington, Iowa) 1849-185?, 1854-05-06

time. All cur idens OF time are d fived
from notion and In order that We may.
have correct standard i, Is necessary
that the n oticn should lie uniform aud
constant. which is no, the case with any
bodies upon the earth: Neither the
fight of birds, the gentle breeze. the
-Oaring river, nor the ebb and flow OF
.he tides, regular as these motions usu-
lily are, would afford u correct standa I'd
Whereby To meesiire time. To the ce-
lestial bodies, alone, then, whose mo-
lions are regular, con slant aud invaria-
BILE, do we look for correct standard.
The apparel, revolution Of The heavens,
or the actual rotation OF the earth upon
lis axis. determines the length OF the
day. while the revolution Of tie earth
arc und the sun prescribes the Length of
the year, and brings with 1t the change
Of seasons.
TfH In ancient days the husba ndman
watched with anxiety the appearance OF
certain stars or consultations above the
horizon at a certain hour. and in this
way did he judge Of the return Of seed
time and harvest. Hesiod, who wrote
ab .ut nine hundred. years before the
Tristan Era, thus expresses i:
When, Atlas BORN the Pleiad stars arise
Before the sun above the dawning skies,
"ri's time to reap and when they sink below
The moon illum'ed west, tbs time to SOW
The science Of Astronomy has always
afforded vast and extended field for
theory and conjecture One theory has
been promulgated and received, until il
has bee 20 supplan,ed by another equally
worthless aud absurd and it has not
been until q comparatively recent peri
cd Of time, that correct views OF the ma,
turc, magnitude, distance and motions
Of the heavenly bodies have been enter
aimed.
Tha.es of Milctus. who fourished GAO
years before Christ. was TIE first Gre.
clan philosopher who laugh, the science.
after him came Py,hasoras. Plato, and
others equally distinguished. Some OF
these taught that The earth was round,
others that il was fiat: some that it had
a reroiufiOn, others that il remained sta
fiondry. OF these. the theory OF Pyth
agoras was the most nearly correc.. He
taught that the sun was the centre Of the
Universe; that the earth had two mo-
tions--a diuinal motion upon its axis,
and an annu | revolution around the
sun.
Time rolled on for centuries, present
ing all Of natures various phenomena.
bat us yet no complete system, einbra
chg IN explanation o! all the phenom-
pna observable in The heavenly bodies
had been given. From all The knowl
edge that had been gained and obssrva
lions made. no theory had been dedu-
ple,e; and ii was not until the second
century Of the Christian era, that Plole
my. al Egyptian Astronomer, with the
opinions Of all antiquity spread out be
fore him. composed work OF thirteen
books embracing what he considered
correct principles. Rejecting the theo-
~ Of Pythagoras as against the evidence
ofthc senses. he endcavored to account
Tor the celestial phenomena by suppos-
ing the earth in the center OF the uni
verse, and all the heavenly bodies 20 re-
yolve around it. The idea ente.,a ined
By him in regard 10 he supposi.ion tina,
the earth revolves upon its axis, seems
TO be similar 10 one some persons en-
terrain at the present day. "lf,' says
he, "there were any motion OF tn earth
common to il and all the heavenly bod
les, i, certainly would precede them all
BY the excess of its mass being SO great,
and animals and certain portion o:
heavy bodies would be left behind, rid
ing upon the air, and the earth itspl.
would be very soon carried completely
out Of the heavens"
by his theory, the change OF day and
nigh, was easily accounted for, but to
account for the retr6s'ade motioa OF the
planets, which he observed thcrl 10 have
at tines, more laRored explanation
became necessary. as observations be
came more numerous and extended. the
theory was often found to be at fault
aud many and ingenious were the ex
pediAnts resorted to, in order to make
i, conform to facts. With some sligtl
odifications, this was the popular
theory Tor many centuries. At length
however, it became loaded with SO
many Membranes, became so un.
wieldy and complicated, that observiSg
minds began 10 doubt, whether nature
in all her operations apparently SC
simple, required such intricate machin.
cry in the inlfillment Of her designs =
But tn Sc doubts were neither dispelled
nor confirmed for long series Of years
In the early part Of the 18th century
Copernicus. a native Of Prussia. engaged
i'm the practice Of medicine, conceived
an ardent attachment Tor the science o
astronomy. and abandoned his psofes
sion hat he nigh, devote 10 the study
his whole time. Upon his mind the
frs. law o ( nature--Ordcr aud Harmon,
---hud been indelibly impressed and ht
looked in vain in the hypothesis OF
Ptolemy for that harmony and simple
ty Of arrangement which he though
should characterize the planetary sys
t4m. But the compiled ton, disorder
aud unharmony which he there found
existing TO such an extent, fully con
rinced him that il could not be received
as faithful representation Of nature
Ouce convinced Il this truth, he sci HIM
$, II To work with all the zeal OF which
his ardent nature was capable, TO DIS
t.., b. ~