Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-03-17
10 inc Edssor b the Escnsng Capital.

I summarized one Of the theories
which profess to account for the eyo-
luton or our solar system.
We saw that the nebnlous matter as
sumine vi globular shape In accord
ance win common Law OF all auid
substances and rotating faster and
faster. finally threw on rings from its
equatorial portions, which, going
through the same process of evolution.
formed the planets and that these. In
their turn. threw of rings which be-
came the satellites Of the planets.
iii view Of the fact that the sun, the
planets and the same satellites pracS
ticaily revoke In the same plane and
with but few exceptions, easily ex-
plainahIe. rotate in the same direc-
tion, that is, from west to east. the
Nebular Hypothesis was received BY
men of science with no little enthus-
iasm II made SO many things plain
which formerly were pnzzling and
for the most part. unansWerable, II
Was not long. however. before objec-.
tions began to be raised. especially as
Laplacc made no effort To elaborate
his theory but left 1t IN the crude.
form in which he first announced II.
While the friends OF the theory ex-
planned away largely the objections
towards its acceptance, IN very recent
years, other directors have arisen.
who refuse to be reconciled Lowell,
our American astrOmer, still asserted
his belief iii ii even up % the time of
lis death which occurred few years
ago In the short space at my dis
posai, it would not be possible 10 can
vass the pros and cons urged BY
friends and foes But II may be said
that the chief directors arc men who
have hypotheses Of their own g ex7
plot theories which do not seem
near 30 plausible or satisfactory al
Laniace's. Some Of these hypothesis
are that OF Chamberlain and Moulton
known as the pIanetesimal the cap
lnre theory by Dr. See: the hspothe-
sis Of Arrhcnius, and Still others III
the opinion Of the present writer, lap
lace iii still in the lead by great odds.
Our sun system seems to be nov IN
4 state of moving equilibrium, which
Implies that II Is and will move Oh Tor
many. many years. unless some extra
neous cause shall come in to destroy
its harmony have already stated in
former article that world stems
do not escape the inevitable law OF
birth, growth, decay and death. Some
OF my readers may be curious TO know
whether there are any signs Of the
death of our system Wreckage from
without ii possible at any time In one.
OF many ways. There is not the re.
hottest probability that We have any
thing to fear from one Of living suns
or from a comet. A possible cause
from without would be one Of those
dead suns To which reference has
already been made. Many Of them
are wandering about in space with no
very definite course. Contact with
one Of them By our sun Is remotely
possible and should it ever occur, the
heat created By impact would be suf-
ficient to knock out OF keller and
burn up the hole system. when
there would be a Redistribution Of
All the matter and new and larger
system would be evolved. as was
done la the FIRST place Such cata
clysms seem to be taking place al all
times in the universe But before
any such q thing will take place
from internal causes Let us see what
some az the. causes might be.
I'D his AS You Like II, Shakes
peare has drawn an impressive pic.
ture Of the many parts i man plays
from infancy to cid age ana death
his acts being seven ages, Is the
author puts it. This is true. as
has already hccn said, Of everything
by which wc are surrounded Every
thing that begins comes at last 10
IN end The history OF the earth. be.
Inc evidently the oldest Of the bodies
IN our sun system, Is written III its
rocks and otherwise. Its ASPECTS and
these Of some Of the other planets
bear cyidnces Of aging Just as GER
tainly as docs any animal or plan in
passing from youth to old age and
death But laying aside Eeneralities.
Iet US come to particulars aud en-
quire, how d world my dic It may
BE ii one sense said to be dead. then
the conditions OF existence on its
surface become SO changed that life
iii All its manifestations becomes inn
possible and ceases. This may come
about I'M many ways. In the first
place. i tidal friction, force
which is constantly exerted By all
celestial bodies on each other, might
be, and IL an undermining cause
This friction acts as q brake on the
body,s rotation and tends to slow II
down until 1t presents the same face
all the time to its primary as in the
case Of our moon. which rotates but
once on It's axis while making the
circuit Of its orbit thus presenting to
us continually the same part Of its
surface In addition I'd this slowing
down Of rotation, tidal friction
causes also the shifting Of the
plane Of rotation 10 the plane at the
4