The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-01-15

fire. So innumcrahIc arc the GlIu. bodies. And
though the yearly a~ccrction - rnhu''eiy small
when compared q the earth mass, yet when We
consider tie enormous cY0Chs OF time through
which the world has received these additions,
the eum can hardly !aii To be Of the greateei
magnitude. The period alone d TIE earth :
cooling had been computed by e German sayantat
81, 0U0. eco 90 YEAgs.
And the epoch when it was still struggling WIKI
its gaseous sac was still more tremendous. To
still further carry out hl- theory OF mcteJTic ac-
c~retions, another slide was shown giving tie r.
latiye size Of the planets. The lecturer indicated
the small size Of the planets neares; 10 the sun az
comUared with the giant bodies Of Saturn, Jupi-
ter, Uranus and Neptune. His hypothesis, he
claimed, accounted for this remarkable disparity
il this Rav. The meteoTs were naturally attraC-
ted toward tie sun, TO which they locked ike
fakes Of falling snow, and hence those nearest 70
the sun would get but few SccTetions for the
velocity Of the meteor would increase as i. neared
the sun 70 q tremendous speed, whereas in the
neighborhood Of Jupiter and Saturn il would
move with such comparative sIowness a. 10 be
easily captured by the giants. To d~evelope this
very taking theory, which, however, is only =
modification Of the great sunbeam hypothesis,
slides were now introduced Of various cometary
bodies-Encke's. Bela's, D0nati's and COggia's
and the lecturer showed what enormous masses
Of meteOTic substances travelled in their train.
Another slide showed the consequences 10 the
unfortunate comet through whose suburbs the
earth pased some years ago, and he calculated
that on that occasion the earth must have
robbed the wanderer considerably of its substance.
He dwelt forcibly upon the enormous masses Of
meteors that might exist in space unknown 10
earthly astronomers, for the orbit OF the earth
only 5000 miles brOad-was but the track Of a
spider web in space, and probably there were
belts of meteors above, below and on every side.
Another series Of slides showed that while the
planetary bodies of the solar system were all
pretty nearly on the same plane, the comets
rushed toward the sun from every conceivable
quarter and where the comets were, there the
meteors followed. Having made this point pretty
clear, and showed. how the earth and the other
members of the solar system had been born from
the nebulous mass, and had increased themselves
by the additions of meteors through countless
ages, the lecturer next turned his attention to the
ensuing stage Of the worlds history. He traced
the formation of Il crust upon the molten mass,
and showed by slides its appearance upon the
stage. The pictures were indeed taken from the
sun, but the averred that in the molten condition
the earth was absolutely a sun. Numerous slides
showed the dark mass of the solar body, as seen
through the glowing vapOrs, and the enormous
columns of blazing hydrogen. And the lecturer
of having made the most tasteful and the most
artistic picture of the suns body.
THE COOLING PROCESS.
The cooling stage, during which a ernst was
formed on the outside was ~exenplifed by slides
showing the forms of Jupiter and Saturn. in
whose rings and belts were explained to be the
swaddling bands of clouds from the enormous
condensation of heated water. At that time in
the earth's life the clouds were terribly dense.
and the pressure must have been very great.
There were frequent rains of boiling water sat
urated with the most tremendous agents, sulphu-
ric acid, nitric acid, chloric acid, free carbon,
and free sodium, the latter of which hoated like
thick scum on the boiling, b~nhbling waters below.
La Place had imagined that as this crust formed
it would in a great measure be lost by sink
ing INTO the molten mass below. He believed,
however, that the crust, once formed, would be
permanent. If this crust did not break by con-
t%racting, which was not fortified by any fact, it
was most probable that the mass below did con-
tract as it parted with its heat. What was the
consequence? Why, the formation of mountain
ranges, just as in an orange the peel corrugates
by the contraction of the fruit within. 1t was at
this period after the crust had been established
and the polar cold had created the age of glaciers
that vegetation commenced and the rudcst forms
of life. And, in concluding his first lecture, he
warned his hearers not TO make q repetition of
the mistake Of the old scientists who placed the
earth in the center of the universe. The earth
was not the center of the solar system, the solar
system was not the center of that stellar system,
the milky way-the c~Ongeries of stars to which
it belongs-nor was that stellar system the center
of the infinite space above, below, beyond, around.
This all knew not, but it was Il common error to
imagine that the epoch of life was the center of
the earth's history. 1t was not: it was rather It's
close. Prof. Hyatt had told him that according
to his observations the period of the highest point
of human muscular power had been passed, and
the world was in fact sinking into its decrepitude
and its dotage. Before leaving his audience the
lecturer reiterated his thorough belief in an In
finite Being, in an infinite personality of will,
and declared that no fact In science could ever be
twisted or contOrted to prove the contrary. The
audience saluted his termination with loud ap-
p~lauding, and then the gas was turned on, for
which the ladies were most devoutly thankful,
having sat in complete darkness for nearly an
hour and a half.