Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation | Page 5

them to
gather towards centres of superior solidity, by which the annular form
would, of course, be destroyed. The ring would, in short, break into
several masses, the largest of which would be likely to attract the lesser

into itself. The whole mass would then necessarily settle into a
spherical form by virtue of the law of gravitation; in short, would then
become a planet revolving round the sun. Its rotatory motion would, of
course, continue, and satellites might then be thrown off in turn from its
body in exactly the same way as the primary planets had been thrown
off from the sun. The rule, if I can be allowed so to call it, receives a
striking support from what appear to be its exceptions. While there are
many chances against the matter of the rings being sufficiently equable
to remain in the annular form till they were consolidated, it might
nevertheless be otherwise in some instances; that is to say, the
equableness might, in those instances, be sufficiently great. Such was
probably the case with the two rings around the body of Saturn, which
remain a living picture of the arrangement, if not the condition, in
which all the planetary masses at one time stood. It may also be
admitted that, when a ring broke up, it was possible that the fragments
might spherify separately. Such seems to be the actual history of the
ring between Jupiter and Mars, in whose place we now find four
planets much beneath the smallest of the rest in size, and moving nearly
at the same distance from the sun, though in orbits so elliptical, and of
such different planes, that they keep apart.
It has been seen that there are mathematical proportions in the relative
distances and revolutions of the planets of our system. It has also been
suggested that the periods in the condensation of the nebulous mass, at
which rings were disengaged, must have depended on some particular
crises in the condition of that mass, in connexion with the laws of
centrifugal force and attraction. M. Compte, of Paris, has made some
approach to the verification of the hypothesis, by calculating what
ought to have been the rotation of the solar mass at the successive times
when its surface extended to the various planetary orbits. He
ascertained that THAT ROTATION CORRESPONDED IN EVERY
CASE WITH THE ACTUAL SIDEREAL REVOLUTION OF THE
PLANETS, AND THAT THE ROTATION OF THE PRIMARY
PLANETS IN LIKE MANNER CORRESPONDED WITH THE
ORBITUAL PERIODS OF THE SECONDARIES. The process by
which he arrived at this conclusion is not to be readily comprehended
by the unlearned; but those who are otherwise, allow that it is a

powerful support to the present hypothesis of the formation of the
globes of space. {17}
The nebular hypothesis, as it has been called, obtains a remarkable
support in what would at first seem to militate against it--the existence
in our firmament of several thousands of solar systems, in which there
are more than one sun. These are called double and triple stars. Some
double stars, upon which careful observations have been made, are
found to have a regular revolutionary motion round each other in
ellipses. This kind of solar system has also been observed in what
appears to be its rudimental state, for there are examples of nebulous
stars containing two and three nuclei in near association. At a certain
point in the confluence of the matter of these nebulous stars, they
would all become involved in a common revolutionary motion, linked
inextricably with each other, though it might be at sufficient distances
to allow of each distinct centre having afterwards its attendant planets.
We have seen that the law which causes rotation in the single solar
masses, is exactly the same which produces the familiar phenomenon
of a small whirlpool or dimple in the surface of a stream. Such dimples
are not always single. Upon the face of a river where there are various
contending currents, it may often be observed that two or more dimples
are formed near each other with more or less regularity. These fantastic
eddies, which the musing poet will sometimes watch abstractedly for
an hour, little thinking of the law which produces and connects them,
are an illustration of the wonders of binary and ternary solar systems.
The nebular hypothesis is, indeed, supported by so many ascertained
features of the celestial scenery, and by so many calculations of exact
science, that it is impossible for a candid mind to refrain from giving it
a cordial reception, if not to repose full reliance upon it, even without
seeking for it support of any other kind. Some other support I trust yet
to bring to it; but in the meantime, assuming its truth, let us see what
idea