Year: 1874

What Prof. Proctor Has TO Say On the
Subject.


Prof. Richard A. Proctor delivered q


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-


cational 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-
latlons OF science. BY the study of
scientific facts, the lecturer said, we
were brought into the presence of in
coReei7ables. 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
conceivables. 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-
q r,f ,Ao <,4
various forms of nebula. These he
considered as primary conditions, and
then passed to the consideration of the
earth as a 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 10000 miles,
and tail $4,000, 600 miles in length.
In these vast bodies of glowing gas are
formed the fisrt 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 TINS 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 inter planetary space. The next
condition of the earth was that it was
gradually becoming globular-small,
of course, as compared with the sun
but still having 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 bv analogy, and believe that
necessarily this earth would pass
through AL the stages of the solar sys-
tenn; and he mentioned this without at
all intending to destroy the instruction
which analogy afforded, bat that we
might not be guided by it too far. The
contraction of the earth was the next
process-whether it was regarded as a
liquid or solid globe. The analogy of
ice-water might lead to the belief that



by the formation of a crust on the sur
face. He believed, however, they would
be right in assuming that the first for
nation of solid matter was In the cen
tre of the earth that then the liquid
matter became denser and denser that
that then an outside crust formed, and
that between the solid mass in the cen
tire and the solid crust on the surface
there was a plastic ocean. The theory
had been advanced that there was a
solid globe inside, rotating, but not
exactly In the same proportion as the
outer crust, whereby the earth wou d
have four magnetic poles, two for the
inside globe, and two for the outer
crust, and this theory would account
for many of the Irregularities on the
earth's surface. There was another
theory, too, that these Irregularities
had been produced by great meteOric
down-falls, but there was nothing
against both these fol ces operating con-
currently. The lecturer next referred
TO the nature of the atmosphere sur
rounding the earth, to the first appear
ance of vegetable life. which was long
in advance of animal life, and which,
he said, must have been of far greater |
extent and luxuriance than a present. |
Referring to the first appearance of ami |
NAL life on the earth's surface-a spon- |
taneous Hfs-he contended that 1t was |
in no way inconsistent with the inter |
probation of the scriptural account |
which said that God made this creature |
and God made that, for might it not be |
that God gave certain laws to the Uni |
verse, and that His creatures were made |
by the operation of these laws. It |
seemed to him that when animals began |
to improve there was process of evolu- |
ton going on, but as to man being con- |
cerned in that evolution he did not ven |
ture to express any opinion, simply be |
cause his opinion on that matter would |
be utterly worthless. The remainder |
of his lecture was eonversant with the |
proposition that so far as we are con- |
cerned, there was reason why We should |
see our way to the final condition Of the |
earth. Besides, what men and animals |
were doing in the matter of copsump- |
tion, it was also parting with its central |
heat, as the great central sun was also |
losing its energy. The earth was no
doubt gradually tending toward an end,
but not such an end as the moon, which |
was already In q dead state, and not TO
its condition of aridity and barrenness.
He could not see how the earth was to 1
continue to the end to have an atmos-
phere, and neither did he think they
could look forward to the time when it
would be absorbed in one great central
sun. He did not think they could look
forward to the time when there would
be one great GENITAL orb, for it seemed
to him that the cycles were unending,
and that they might believe in an eteT-
nal progression, when the present earth
would have its place IN some new form,
and under changed conditions.


The Arlington Estate.