, 1879-03-20

from The necuIiastics Of position INCIDENT to the
larger mcmocrs Of our g.onp, and tleir conae,
be adopted intoit. They must bc recognized as
permanent associates. although their legitimate
homo must be placed 80 refnutc from the centro
that The distribution Of tilrlr nesthclta may
In many cases debris Of c1Enct arc distributed
all along Tho conesary path. These debris arc
sneteoritcs, and arn Visible as shooting stars
TSn sy sntes cur Icy may 20
burnt up oy the heat atEslng from their col1cus-
sion nntl rapid motion, ntd portions OF them
may fall ubon the earth n meteOstc stones.
p,Isulng their paths IN group. they Eiro us M t,e
tcinbor.
THE SUMS light and l,oat werc derived tu the
nussct frotn tts compression. mud so1nc astrouo-
MFRS arc still disposed to regard this as thetr
source. Combustion ur any form OF chemical
actlun has been abandoned by thoughtful phTs'.
csss. The rival theory ia that OF the heat OF
energy derived from the coocuss'on of Tie
sun. ii h not a. fuel TINT they are supposed to
act, supplying heat by combustion, but ~ n,asses
which llaye un energy exhibited undcr the form
Of rapid tnution, and which Il transformed Into
aetlal heat when they strtkc the sun.
Prof. Pclrcc discussed at length the Amount
of lleat that would bo received iron, mttenrs.
aud reached the following conclusions: This
gives us Thy utcxpcctcd al startling result t',at
the hcnt which tie earth receives directly from
the tncteoss Is the same In anount with that
whtch II receives from tic sun By ratlintion.
There can be no doubt OF the validity OF thte
reached scientific publication. II is still mora
strange that # Is verified BY accurate ooscrva.
tlons made long ago BY anost eminent and
trustworthy authority; but which hare never
BEEN discussed III relation to their stgnlncancc,
nor hav. they ever uecn doubted,
Tile next point taken uo was the heat received
is7'm SPACE. Careful experiments show that tbf4
hest Is only lttlu less than Tint from the sun.
To hold that I: comes FROM vacant space is an
nnscnnblc doctrine. 1t Is unreasonable to hss!gn
u to tue stars, for 1t involves too vaat differ
encc between stellar light and heat, for the
sun. But the neteoric theory fully explains tho
phenolnci,on. The doubt Is reyerscd, uuu the
question ar!ses, Whv dill the experiments rhow
The Inetgorls r. heat inferior In amount to solaF
| eaused bY tlc penetrahility Of the enrth's at-
| niosphere to xular rays, whcrcus large portion
Of tllc tncteoric heat Is absorbed Into the upper
atmosphere utnl is Eadatcd Into space before It
SHOW that fye-s!xtls Of the SUMS llent is derived
| froM meteUrs anil the remainder from cotn-
preston. The constant dashlng of cold boflaea
npDn the Sun would cause thc mighty disturb
nnces Of its atmosphcre of its surface, and the
vast ynseUus Jets which nre seen.
Tile bodies falling upon the sun must increase
its mass at 80 slow a rate that many decades Of
centuries Of nice observation will be required to
detect ita effect. hut there nre u:her modes in
which it Is not impossible tltat the increase OF
mrss mar be detected tflrouk h the revelations
OF geometry. A constant increase Of the solar
mass would 1lave peculiar influence upon the
planetary orbits. II would diminish their ec-
centrieittrs according to a iaw Of easy c0mpnta-
tlon. Hence tlleir nrbta tnay originally have
been quite eccentric 20 Us TO approximate them
more to comets, md their present freedom Of
ecccntric'ty may be the effect Of The growing
mass ol The sum- What modification OF the
nebulas theory may DO Involved io this phcnoH-
enon cannot castly be imagtued without any In
dfc1tiph from nature to guide III.
Returning to the original round nebuln from
which the solar system Was generated, II seems
to haye Eoue through STAGES which arc repre-
sGntcd In many Of the ncbulte. 4 central
spherical portion seens to haye concentrated
into tho sun and planets, leaving an outer
spherical envelope. which was much hlowcr
In the process OF condensation, a,tl finally be-
catne All envelope oI boltdes. The uaturnl orbit
uf cacll OF the bultles was d nearly circular
path, OF which the sun WAS the centre. The
variety Of direction OF their orbits was go great
that they constituted nearly Uniform syatetn
constantly approaching each other, aud, by their
mutual hcAt. producing explosion. They Here
thus brnkcn into All increased number nf tnaller
Irregular masses, such rs arc constantly seen fn
tlu nletcoric stones. In tafs way We tltd a1l the
varieties af the botlles Of tlIe Boat system hHr-
moniously explained. Would 1t not he stranger
than fiction. would II not violate all the physical
annlp.rs, Il This Idea! hypothesis Of the neteoric
structure VI our system, sustained by yuch a
variety Of observations, were not close repre-
eeptattQu OF the nCtunl phenomena OF uaturef