The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-04-17
THE WORLDS PAST AND FUTURE
what Prof. Proctor Has to Say on the
Subject.

HE WOhLD - Z ASA AM L ~ I'M /
What Prof. Proctor Has to Say on the
Subject.
Prof. Richard A. Proctor delivered a
course of four lectures on astronomy,
in New York, last week. The subject of |
his first lecture was "The Past and |
Future of the World" The professor
promised by saying that the mere edu-
eational aspect of astronomy, important |
though it be, was by no means the high |
est in which that science could be re- |
garded, and was insignificant compared |
with the questions which astronomy and |
every other form Of science brought be- |
fore us-problems as to what we are, |
what this earth is made of, and what it |
is that Is that is going on around us. |
These, he maintained, were the ques- |
tions that brought astronomy before us
in its noblest aspects. The doctor who |
by his science guarded the body against |
numberless evils, and the anatomist |
who demonstrated the mysteries of our
wonderful structure, did well. But
man did not live alone by bread, but by
God, and God spoke to us in the reve-
lations of science. By the study of
scientific facts, the lecturer said, we
were brought into the presence of in
conceiYables. If the appearance of
God was inconceivable we were not,
therefore, to reject it; and science
showed that it was but one of many in
| conceiYables. Dealing with the more
| immediate subject of his lecture, Mr..
! Proctor proceeded to refer to some mat
| ters explained in his previous course Of
| lectures, concerning nebulous matter as
| the basis of his discourse, and with the
view of tracing the earth to a nebu-
lous origin. With this purpose he pro-
duced a series of stereoptican views of
various forms of nebula. These he
| considered as primary conditions, and
| then passed to the consideration of the
| earth as sun. He referred to these
| views, he said, in order that his audi
| tors might know what the star depths
convey, and form an idea as to the
! probable past condition of our own So
lar system. He also showed views of
| comets upon which, he considered, one
seemed to see the prior condition of
matter. There, he said, we found the
| first traces of the existence of the earth
in masses of glowing gas. These COM
| cts were of immense extent, that of
! 1911 having a diameter of 20, 900 miles,
and tail 100000 miles in length.
In these vast bodies of glowing gas are
formed thefsrt idea of the earth to which
we could carry back our thoughts. In
this condition the earth was continually
gathering into it masses of nebulous
matter from everything that came with
! in the distance of its attraction. From
its earlier existence it had thus been
gathering in matter from all parts of
the universe-from this planet and
from that, by a process continuing for
millions of millions of ages drawing
in matter that now formed the nutri-
ment of our bodies from inter-stellar
and iBter-planetary space. The next
condition of the earth was that it was
gradually becoming globular small
of course, as compared with tho sun
but still having q great many of its
characteristics. Our earth was, 10 fact,
once a sun, and it may be that at that
, time the moon was a satellite. They
; should not, however, be guided too
. much by analogy, and believe that
necessarily this earth would pass
through all the stages of the solar sys-
tenn; and he mentioned this without al
all intending to destroy the instruction
: which analogy afforded, but that we
$ might not be guided by it too far. The
contraction of the earth was the nexi
: process-whether it was regarded as Q
I liquid or solid globe. The analogy Of
] ice-water might lead to the belief that
. the contraction was in the first instance
/ by the formation of a crust on the sur
q face. He believed, however, they would
I | be right in assuming that the first for
/ nation of solid matter was in the cen
: tire of the earth that then the liquid
$ matter became denser and denser thai
{ that then an outside crust formed, anC
s that between the solid mass in the cen
D tire and the solid crust on the surface
: there was q plastic ocean. The theor7
e had been advanced that there was
solid globe inside, rotating, but no
q exactly in the same proportion as thu
= outerscrust, whereby the earth won {
!. have four magnetic poles, two for tht
u inside globe, and two for the cute.
u crust, and this theory would accoup
for many of the Irregularities on tn,
IS earth's surface. There was another
:, theory, too, that these irregularitie
:, had been produced by great meteori
e down-fails, but there was nothing
@ against both these forces operating con
o currently. The lecturer next referre,
g to the nature of the atmosphere sur
g rounding the earth, to the first appear
|. ance of vegetable life, which was lonj
e in advance of animal life, and which
IS he said, must have been of far create
e extent and luxuriance than present
g Referring to the first appearance of ami
. NAL life on the earth's surface spon
: taneous iifs-he commended that it wa
;. in no way inconsistent with the inter
: probation of the scriptural accoUn
o which said that God made this cFeatur
3. and God made that, for might it not b
s that God gave certain laws to the Uni
10 verse, and that His creatures were mad
= by the operation of these laws.
. seemed TO him that when animals bega
. to improve there was a process Of eyolu
ton going on, but as to man being con
% cerned In that evolution he did not ven
y ture to express any opinion, simply be
cause his opinion on that matter woulI
? be utterly worthless. The remainde
: of his lecture was conversant with tn
y proposition that so far as we are con
!" cerned, there was reason why we Shouts
! see our way to the final condition of th
, earth. Besides, what men and animal
~ were doing IN the matter of consump
ton, it was also parting with its centra
p heat, as the great central sun was ais
70 losing its energy. The earth was Il
q doubt gradually tending toward an end
! but not such an end as the moon. whicl
m was already in a dead state, and not t,
a its condition of aridity and barrenness
8 He could not see how the earth was +
Of continue to the end to have an atmos
:. phere, and neither did he think the
If could look forward to the time when /
would be absorbed In one great centra
sun. He did not think they could loo
Is forward to the time when there woult
II be one great GENITAL orb, for il seeme
1f to him that the cycles were amending
6 and that thew might believe in an eteY