The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1873-11-06
IDAHO CITY, THURSDAY. NOVEMBER s, 1873
(wRITTRN FOR THE IDAHO woRLD.l
ANCIENT AND MODERN COsM0GONY.

lwRIrrEN FoR THE IDAHO woRLD.] .
ANCIENT AND MODERN COSMOGONY.
BY D. G. STRONG. sas
The term cosmogony is of Greek origin and signi.
Aes scorld generatio and such. is applied to the
various theories Of the formation Of the universe.
The earliest profane cosmogony extant is that Of
Hesiod. which was the groundwork for the various
physical speculatons of the later Greek philosophers
1t differs widely from the notion Of Homer. which
represented the more popular Greek ideas Of C0smi
cal science. Both these writings are in verse.
Among the prose writer's of antiquity that claim any
attention for their philosophical research are the
names of Thales. Anaximenes, Anaximander, and
Anaxagoras.
The theories of the ancients may, however, be di.
vided into three classes
I. That which represents both the substance and
form of the world eternal. Aristotle taught. for
thirteen years. in the prime and viger Of his man.
hood. at Athens. The influence Of his teachings,
upon the intellectual development of the human
has been more extensive and more lasting than
that Of any other philosopher except Plato. He rep
resented the universe the necessary and eternal
effect of eternal cause, which was plainly an ad
vance upon the teachings of his master Plato. who
held the universe to be an eternal image of the i'm
mutabe idea. united, from eternity with changeable
matter"
H. That which represents the matter eternal but
not the firm. This the prevailing theory among
ancient philosophers. They held the maxim "Er
niaiio niha IT." hence with them. matter was held
to be eternal To this universe of lawless attenuated
matter they gave the general name Of Chaos Greek
word signiyng medsureless space Ovid, in his Meta
morphose speaking Of it says:
"Ere sea- or land or sky. that covers all,
Existed, over all Of natures round
One face there was which men have
Chaos named. rude unfathomed
Mass. with naught save weight
Hesiod believed that Chaos the parent OF Ere
bus and Night. from whose union sprang Air and
Day. The chaldeans believed that darkness and wa
ter were eternal and that the separation
Of these. The Persians held to two eternal princ-
pies one the of all good the other the creator
Of all evil. The Phenicians, Babylonans and Egyp-
tians held to this second theory with slight national
notifications.
ILL., The third theory ascribes the originof both
the substance and form to intelligent First Cause
/, is true find this theory among the Etruscans,
the Magi. the Druds. and even among the Brahmins;
it is unlikely. however. tina. the original idea
from the hebrew tnAo tucoAy
Is ,augh, in all its submiy and beauty.
l, is my purpose to consider further. at pres
ent. the Mosaic Cosmogony. but to inquire what is
the present status OF Genealogical science.
wha, is known as the 1Neta!ar hypothesis is the
most scientific and may be regarded as the true the
ory. Before pass to the statement and proof Of
this hypothesis. however. we ask the readers pa
tense while We pause to consider some formidable
Of science forth in the writings Of
such men as Comie. Darwin, Huxley and others of
their school. These Physicists claim that science
has discovered and is able to prove the unity and
eternity OF all substance. and that it contains certain
eternal mpersonal and necessary forces by the ac-
ton of which all cosulcal changes have been, and
Will be. produced.
We have said. and proceed to show. that this
assumption is an unwarrantable one; that science
has no, only not made the alleged discovery but has
demonstrated the mpossibility Of such discovery.
In two ways does science demonstrate with absolute
certainty that the material cosmos exists under the
conditions of time, both to its substance and
fashion At this point Fosters language is very con.
elusive:
eve have already seen that, guided by geological
science. able to go back over the line OF all
the effects which have transpred in the Cosmos. up
TO the very dawn oi Cosmical phenomena. Chemical
ANALYSIS takes us by the hand and leads us back
through other changes until brought to dis
Greet elements behind which 1t is impossible there
should have been any evolutons or change OF any
kind The whole history Of the evolution Of forces
lies before us. under our gaze. and therefore, falls
within the limits of time. We have traced the river
to its source: have mounted the stream Of con-
secutive effects until have found the beginning
the assure in the rock whence 1t bursts. Standing
here at the top Of the ages and looking backward
over the dreary waste eventless eternity. we
raise the question: how these forces, assuming them
to have existed which is the postulate OF science.
were employed during this immeasurable duration
They could not have existed and yet remained insct
i've for science postulaes that activity is their neces-
Ieity They were not active. for we have found them
in the very Of their primal evolution. The dem.
onstration is therefore, that they were not at ALL
They are themselves creations and SO far from ac-
counting for the Cosmos they are but an included
part of It which needs to be accounted for.
And which cannot be accounted for in the absence
of personal God selfexistent and eternal the abso.
lutte creator of all things visible and invisible This
ia the postuate of the Mosaic Cosmogony, and s ac-
cepted by all true science. The Nebular hypothesis
OF which we now proceed to speak admits the above
scripture postulate as true and concerns itself sim
My with the evoutons Of matter under the reign OF
known physical law. The theory may be stated In
the language of Professor Loomis of Yale g
.Let us suppose. then. that the matter composing
the entire solar system once existed in the
of . single nebulous mass. extending beyond the
orbit of the most remote planet. Suppose shat TINS
nebula has slow rotary motion upon an axis ana
that by radiation it gradually cools thereby contract
ing its dimensions AZ It contracts IN its dimensions
ts velocity of rotation. according to the prncp!es
of Mechanics must necessarily increase. ana the
centrifugal force thus generated IN the exterior POI
1 ~s~AH NSvNA