, 1876-03-06
THE ROSTRUM.
Prot. Cohorts Views on tho "Nobular
Hypothesis"
"The World Of Primoval Man," BY Prof.
Cunning.
fHE NEBuLAR HYPOTHESIS.
LECTURE AY PROF. COLBERT.

fHE NEBuLAR HYPOTHESIS.
LECTURE ri rnor. CoLDEnT.
Prof. El!ns Colbert lectured yesterday af.cr-
noon at Mccormick Hail, bcforo tho Sunday
Lecture Eooioty, on "Tho Ncbular Hypothesis"
The audience wan largo and appreciatlvo. Tho
following Is IN abstfnct OF the essay:
Tho speaker said that tho probable proccss Of
world formation, II accounted for BY tho
nabular hypothesis, had recently boon very
widely discussed: not alwRya inteltigoutfy. 1t
WINS, howevor, no now speculation, as 1nnny sur-
posed being ono OF tho oldost Of tho idoAs TINT
wo can trsco through the miBta Of human h,s-
tory, md grained into tho human mind almost
ns deeply as tho boliof in tho Immortality Of tho
soul. Our frat tracea Of it are found In Tho roo
ords called Mosnic, but the account given In
tho Bible indlcatos that tho story was compiled
from moro anoiont writings than The pentatouch.
Tho nebular theory Inns often boon stated con-
elao1y enough, but there arc many who expert
onco great difficulty in understanding 1t, ss the
statement girca them little clue to tho origin OF
tho forces which norrneate matter. The great
stumbling block soems 10 10 that no adequato
ca,so ta Unsigned for tho enormous temperatures
clanod for tho snn and stars. and tho Interior
Of our own globe; In consequence Of ntlct worry
1nany people doubt tho ono and deny tho othor.
A groat doRl Of nonsense haa boon written WITH
IN tho past ton years In tho attompt to provo
k4EA4 wv HA&kA . AHkcAIU4 IN Eulut AllA kAAt tlO
solar tomparaturo may DO no higher than that Of
leo on the surface Of this planet.
Tho o1pertmouts Of Count Numford, born AZ
au American, 1nade naar tho Gloss OF tho 3abt
century. first proved that beat is mode Of mo-
ton. The, exact equivalent was determined
ilttJ yeara afterwards by Or. J. T. Joulo of
Manchester, England. That gentleman found
that tue foIce nccossary TO raiso pound Of
In another way, raiso tho temperature OF tho
water ono dcgroo of tho Tallrcuhcis scato. In
Tint iatttnde fall through 772 foot enuses o
!lnal velocity Of 92s foes Per accond and that s
We now know that tho force varicB ~ the square
OF the velocity. Applying this principle to tho
heavenly bodies, wo flnd that tic mutual atsrac-
ton Of tho caEth aud moon oausoa
her orbit ono-nincteonth OF All inch in one scc-
ond md that II her forward motion worc do.
stroyod, she would fall to tho Garth In four days
and twonty hours striking Tho easth's surface
ond. Tint would raiso tho Temperature Of both
eoyoral Thousand degrees, md destroy all 1ifo on
this plsnet. Similarly, the oarth, il aho slould
fall Into tho srn from her present distance,
inch per second, and end, nftor the lapse VI G416
days, with velocity Of 279 miles per second.
With this key to tho myBtory no can calculate
that tho falliug together of tho atoms OF which
tho sun is composed WAS sufficient to generate
temperature Of fully 100000 degrees. The
force Of attraction is therefore sufficient Cause
for tho heat Of tho sun and othor stars.
ne,,sm. md nhcmicai sttractior nrc no.n,dinnfo
forcea. Man can cianpo ona into tho othor
uudor appropriate condltIons or, rather. ve can.
not oduce manifestation of ono Of those forcos
Without evolving tho action Of ono or moro OF tho
rest For iuatsnco; wo cannot effect the chemt-
cal combination OF two or moro Babstanuos with
out a change Of temperature; and, gonoroily.
every change Of molecular formis accompanied
tIyct of tcmneratnrn aiovntel ahnv. rcrfain
,geii.known 1iTta
Tho fent1rar antf1 thnt, with this lipbt m tho
and spn1oclsia II a. an amnta ornIanatnn NJ ~
infinlfnfy varvno nhnrnmn~, r. ths casnns
IL tnni, tnolt I'm thn theorv NJ f.an,ann and
ekstnleti tin nrooress of a nniyorae thrnnch ia
succeas;rn staros ~ acveionmant grnn ia
nrimnvai ehaSs~ns fre.Tn;sr m nnfn,,nni
rchnls a anlrni arrrevntton nf nnnttor viii,
1notion aronnI m III oa a r,,n. .forrn;ra' ,r,..
| fhTnwin1 m Il. nstsr;n1 ~ fnt,,ro nR,nats
and tuon "A a ecnorstor Of oomets and me,sor;e
sara s4omnliaa IN H. ,sHi,s ~ stara .s
Wriu, md AInharatz. IN t1,o v",o,1
atsrg. as Capailas Vega and Altair in
hotonca nayIn~ a tomnorarv crnet :. tho 1 rnd
etsrs, ~ Arotnrna Aidahnran and Antarca. :. and
t,,c snnttai stsna marc;nT ;ntn fhn vsr3.hIn
oues. which woro 10 the iast stage Of IumInoaty
piaoeterr nhaso thn snccc,ayc stagos n W phic,
fnnnd ncrsannsi ny.mr,ea Il, 1un,tsr ,z3th liz
stmnsnhar" Hoanv i.dnn itt, s.nnr H. 49, ao-t',
vii, = ~ rtisiiv ofc.TnI a"ria, sawni,nn Wara
vii, - IIn,tnishaJ aimaanhar,. .nta TX Innnn
"a - dicd nmt.worId hcr nir md *ator % In virn
| hcnn ah-oThat Intn tho snt5IHat1 cr,4st 1-hJnhh
surronnda t.n snuiv cno,inn inarior malta, "oH
ih"ao ch.nras ror''srnI g8nsa1his hr ~ arod-
MI rotiaton of tba HAT intn s,,r1nnn;};nT a,.ra
| rora .ccnm,er,ata ~ ~ n,e;rtia.. ~ oEas Has.
mltted several years beforo o1en tie scioutltlo
| world was prepared to Admis that che organic
forc0d arc also duo to tho eppulso Of material
a.omS. aaa LILY, w'tam In. very aoM years 20 one
~. hr,nn inJv ~. ,nt .-,s.si'ss H.,