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Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes tachniquM at bibiiographiquas The Institute haa attempted to obtrense, I gave up the intention of publishing In the mean time, a reverend gentleman of the name ofFairholme, was publishing a theological work con- nected with geology, and I enclosed to him a co])y of the rirospcctiis, and in a letter I received from him, dated October 14., 1S3M, he says,— "With regard to the creation of our earth or of the sun, and other members i)f the Solar System, I have neither found in tlie work of any writer, nor can I conceive the smallest grounds on which to form a consistent theory, nor indead do I conceive that it belongs to tne science of geology at all." ^^cripture has given us no insight into it. The existing laws of nature are equally silciit, and yet, these laws must have existed from the begiu?iing.^^ lie then as- sumes, "that the granite mass has been formed before the existence of organized beings, as their remains are never found in it," an opinion which, I think, the rea- der will find answered in iheboJy of the work ; and the assertic»n, thatneither Scripture nor the laws of nature give any insight into the creation, appeared tome so futile, that I have inserted the above extract, solely to prove that the system I had formed, had not, at the date ofthat letter, been yet made by any other writer. By the following extract from the Bridgewater "reatisc of the Rev. Doctor Buckland, published long since the date of Mr. Fairholm's letter, it will be seen, ?/ifli my construction of the 1st verse of Genesis, has been sanctioned and confirmed by the authorities mentioned above. And having presented my prospectus to the persons above named, and also to the Roy:rl Institution in Albemarle-street, London, in 1833, 1 consider it a duty to myself to claim the originating of that construction, by which the general ai)pearance of gradual deposition in the geology of the earth, (whose diameter must, ac- cording to the modern geologists, have existed millions of years) will, as well as this supposed age, be no..' re- conciled, and satisfactorily explained by the Mosaic account * In this he was right, it bcIon£;s to the science of Comogoiiy- b Extract from the Review ofthti Bridgewatci' Treatise. "If there are any lovers of science yet ignorant of the extent and tertility of the liekl which Geology has laid open — of the intensity and variety of interest by which tliose who exi)lore it are repaid — here is a work to astonish and delight iheni. If there are any persons yet deterred from the study of this fascinating science, by the once prevalent notion, that tlie facts, or theories, if you will, that it teaches, tend to weaken the belief in revealed religion, by their ajiparent inconsistency with the scriptural account of the creation of the globe. — here, in the work of a dignitary of the Church, writing ex- cathedra, from the head quartersof orthodoxy, they will find the amplest assurances that their impression is not merely erroneous, but the very reverse of the truth : for that while its discoveries are not in any degree at variance with the correct inter})retation of the Mosaic narrative, there exists no science which can produce more powerful evidence in support of natural religion — none which will be found a more potent auxiliary to revelation, by exalting our conviction of the power, wisdom and goodness of the Creator. Several hypotheses have been proposed, with a view ol reconciling the phenomena of geology, with the brief account of creation which we find in the book of Genesis and others. It has been plausiblytstatedthat the Six Days ^f Creation must, each of them be understood to imply, not as now,a single revolution of the globe, but some other cyclic period of unknown extent. Dr. Buckland, however, prefers that explanation which is sup})orted by the high authority of Dr. Pusey, the Regius Professor of Hebrew in Oxford, and has the sanction of Dr. Clialmers, JBishop Gleig, and otli^r eminent contemporary divines, — namely, tha^ the phrase employed in the first verse of Genesis, 'In the higinuing God created the Heavens and the Earth,' may refer to an epoch antecedent to the 'first day,' subse- quently spoken of in the fifth verse, and that during this indefinite interval, comprising perhaps, millions and millions of years, all the physical operations dis- closed by geology were going on. Many of the Fathers a2 naai quoted by Professor Pusey, appear to have thus inter- preted ihe commencement of the sacred history, under- standing from it, that a considerable interval took i)Iure between the original creation o f the ztniversr, related in the first verse and that series of events of which an ac- ccunt is given in the third and following verses. •Accordingly,' says Professor Pu-sey, *in some old editions of the English Bible, where there are no divisions into verses, you actually find a break at the end of what is now the second verse; and in Luther's Bible (Wittenburg, 1557) you have in addition, the figure 1 placed against the thiid verse, as being the beginning of the account of the creation on the first day. This is just the sort of confirmation which on wished for, because, though one would shrink from the inpiety of l)ending the language of God's Hook to any other than its obvious meaning, we cannot help fearing lest we might be unconciously influenced by the floating opinions of our own day, and therefore turn the more anxiously to those who explained Holy Scripture before these theories existed.' — Note. p. 25, Thus all difficulty, arising from the immense anti- quity of the Globe attested by Geology, is at once re* moved. The circumstances related in the succeeding verses must be understood as reff»rring to those imme- diate changes by which the surface of the earth was prepared for the reception of man. — Just as the facts disclosed by astronomy, without detracting ought from the credit of the inspired historian, prove, that the sun, and moon, and planetary bodies must have existed previous to the fourth day,* on which he first }nention» them as 'made,' or appointed to serve the office of* signs and seasons, and days and years'; so Geology in no degree contradicts the real meaning of the text, by pro- claiming the fact, that the air, the earth and the waters were peopled by living creatures for innumerable ages^ before the epoch in the world's history — which the sacred historian alone contemplates," Under the sanction of this confirmation of the cons- truction I had put on the first verse of Genesis, in my original manuscript, formed between 1819 and 182& I h f I . signs in no cons- f ^ (and which is now greatly enlarged by the addition of the notes containing an account of the late geological discoveries, and observations upon them) T now present this work to the public of Canada, and conclude this preface withthe sublime discri|)tion of Eteriiiil Wisdom given us in the 8th chapter of Proverbs; which, T trust, will justly ap})ly to the great additional liglit which the modern discoveries in pneumatic science have enabled nie to confer on the Cosmogony of the Creation. ''The Lord possessed me ni the beginning of his way, before his works of old. — v. 22. "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." — v. 23. (Say before the com- bustion of the gases, as shown in this work. "When there were no depths, I was brought forth j when there were no fountains abounding with water."' — V. 24 (At the combustion of tht Gases, as shown in this work. **When he prepared the Iieavens I wa& there ; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth.' — v. 27 (After the combustion* of the Gases, as shown in this work. HENRY TAYLOR. Toronto, Nov. 22, 1836. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Since the printing of the first edition of this work, I have met with several publications of high scientific character, confirmative of the System of Creation I had ventured to offer to the world. Extracts from these will be found inserted in the body of, and in the notes to, this second edition. Sharon Turner, in his Sacred History of the Worlds 1st. vol., page 375, says "Scientific men have traced the constituent substances of our globe to sixty or more simple bodies, which at present rank as elements, be- cause they are not further decomposable, and these 8 appear to have constituted our primordial rocks; but there are abundant reasons for surmising, that they are not the primitive elements of material nature; and, therefore, until they can be resolved into ihe particles or substances which arc so, we shall not attain those per- ceptions of the original composition of our multifarious earth, which will ])resent the deciding and satisfactory truth. We must know what silica, alumina, magnesia, lime, carbon, iron, and other metals and jirimitive components of minerals intrinsically are, hefure we can actually discern the processes of the succession, the causations, the agencies, the laws and the principles on which the primary and secondary masses were originally formed. The acquisition of this further informition would have been thought impossible in the last century ; but human sagacity and industry are no\v exploring what is unknown, so ])erscveringly, and so successfully, that every month may bring us the infor- mation, that some diligent analyst, in some country or other, may be drawing from nature those great secrets of her primordial chemistry, which have hitherto been impervious and inaccessible." Now, in the first edition of this work, we have given extracts from the writings of eminent botanists and chemists, in support of our theory, and to prove the power of the functions of vegetation to produce many of the substances above mentioned, and we have a right to conclude, that the remainder may equally well have been produced thereby, and by the animals of the pri- meval ocearr, since some marine animals are well known to secrete the lime of which their shells are composed, and the islands formed by the coral insect equal in length one-eighth of the diameter of the earth The basis of almost all the primary earths has lately, been found by Sir Humphrey Davy to be metallic, and, in a subsequent part of this work, it will be seen from Sharon Turn'ers work, that several metals are produ- ced by these functions of vegetation. If this power be allowed by scientific men to these functions of tefies- trial vegetables, we certainly may, by the clearest rules of induction, believe they were also possessed by the !» I marine ve^etiiblc kinpJom of the jirimovul ocenns of GeiR'sia,* iiiul most likely in :i liigUer ilo^Tt'o, (or the ^rcut end of [muUicinL!: the solid parts of the earth ; and we have then a piilpahle way of aceoimtiiip; for these pro(hictions, namely, the continual labour of some spe- cies of the marine animals during lile, and the deposi- tion of the marine vegetable and animal kingdoms after death ; and accordingly most of the geological ])odios we are enabled to analyze !ue found to contain the same materials as the remains of vegetable and animal life afford. If, therefore, this theory of the power of the vital functions of vegetation and animalization be sustained, we trust we shall havo i^ome to a sulHcient knowledge of what "silica, alumina, magnesia, lime, carbon, iron, and the other metals and j)rimitive com])Ounds of tho minerals intrinsically are ;" for, if the functions of vege- table and animal life be allowed to have produced these substances in the oceanic waters of Genesis, they must have pnxluced them from the elements which surrondcd them, namely, oxygen, azote, hydrogen, calo- ric, light and electricity, blended together by the vital l)rinciplo of the vegetable and animal, in j»roj)ortions of vast variety, and by wiiich variety the separate charac- teristics of these difierent suljstanccs have been produ- ced; for, to show tho wonderful effect of variety in ihe proportion of the elements of bodies, we find that oxy- gen and azote, combined in one proportion, form the atmosi>here we breath and live in j but the same ele- ments, combined in another proportion, produce the strong and deleterious acid aquafortis or nitric acid. I cannot, therefore, but believe, that by our theory of the formations from the waters of Genesis, we shall be able, in Sharon Turner's own words, '''actually to discern the processes of the succession, the causations, the agen- cies, the laws, and the principles on whicli the primary and secondary masses were originally formed,'" and that these processes will be brought to light by our the- ory of the earth. * Sodium, one of the new metals discovered by Sir II. Davy, is contained in all marine vegetables. To onr construction of the true interpretation of ihe first verse of Genesis, we have given extracts from a recent publication of the celebrated Dr. Chalmers, who has adopted our construction of that verse. We also quote from Dr. Clarke's Commentaries in further con- firmation of our construction of said verse. In this edition we have the g-ict satisfaction of giving the sanction of the opinion of Mr. Arago, one of the leading astronomers of the pres-'nt day, to our Sys- tem of the Creation, as far as regards the formation of the earth; first, by the condensation of its waters, from aqueous vapor, and the subsequent formation of its solid parls, and organic formations. We have, indeed, since the publication of the first edition of our work, received the verbal and written approbation of it flom men of science, and competent judges in these. Provinces; but, the confirmation of the System by so eminent philosopher of Europe, is peculiarly grateful. I have in this edition ventured an idea of the design intended by the Creator, to be effected by the internal fires of the earth, namely, the end of hardening the geological bodies, which must originally have been deposited from the waters in a soft and humid state ; and although we are accustomed to consider these fires solely ill a terrific point of view, they may perhaps, be found to add one more indication of Divine Wisdom, in the final preparation of our globe, for sustaining the immense velocity, and unceasing continuity of its doable m. tions through the regions of space. At the close of our Theory of the Sun, and of the means of supplying the waste of his light and heat, we have added in this second edition, some observations on the ideas stated by Dr. Herschell, on the opaqueness of the sun, and on the spo's that appear on or adjacent to his surface ; and it will be for men of science, should our Theory meet their perusal, to form their own judg- ment thereon, and also, on the questions we have propo- sed to them on this subject. In this edition, w have commented upon Dr. Buckland's opi" !on that vegetable and animal life did not exist previously to the transition or secondary M»MirUBi'.'<^ *f formations of the earth. And we trust to have shewn, that as all traces of shells and organic remai. s may be destroyed by a heat less than is required for the fusion of the rocks thnt had contained them, so, the non exis- tence of life in the earlier periods of creation cannot be sustained ; but that, as it is highly probable the internal fires were then much more frequent and extensive, so all appearences of the more ancient remains of vegeta- ble and animal life must have been completely oblite- rated and destroyed. The recent discoveries of Sir Humphry Davy, in his galvanic Experiments on the primary earths, appear too, to confirui the probality of our theory. The granite mass is mostly composed of these primary earths, which he has found to consist of metallic bases, united to oxygen in a solid state. Now oxygen is one of the most abundant constituents of vegetable and animal life. The basis of several metals also, we trust to have shewn in our work, are the pro- duce of tha vegetable process. Mr. Good, in his Book of Nature, page 239, says, "I have already had occasion to observe that Albumen and Fibrine are substances formed by the action of the living principle, out of the common materials of the food, and that it is probable the Hme found in the bones and other parts, is produced in the same manner." Now, while it is allowed by all Geologists of modern datCf that these fu9tct ions of iife have had so great a share in the formation of those parts of the geological bodies, which are accessible to our examination, we may, it appears to me, conclude, by reasonable induction, that the same mighty engine of formation has been em* ployed from the " beginning" to construct the entire diameter and circumterence of the earth, more espe* cially as we know of no agencies equal to the vital functons and their deposits for producing formations, and I trust to have shewn also that the idea of the in- candescance of the earth will not render this theory untenable. In note 6th of this edition will be found an extract from Grood's Book of Nature, in which the opinion of the inn.mortal Newton is stated, on the subject of an ethereal and clastic medium, pervading all space in the heavens ; which opinion we consider as a strong confirmation of that part ofonr system relating to the moue by which the sun's waste of light and heat may be replenish'^d. I have now solely to present this second edition to the public, relying with confidence on their candid pe- rusal of it ; and hoping that I shall have at least gained one end, that of exalting the utility of the sciences on which I have formed this System of Creation, tov/ards enabling us to discover more fully the wisdom of the First Cause in His creation. In that part of the work which treats of the disso- lution of the earth, we have stated an idea, that "the indestructibilitv of the lawsof nature, and their eternal tendency to form new combinations of matter, offer a proof also, of the distinct destined existence, and of the immortality of the soul of man." If this induction be just, we may infer from our reason, that the soul is immortal, and it may perhaps offer consolatory con- firmation of the revealed religion, that its promises are found consistent with our reasoning powers j and with the inductions of science. And I ardently hope, that this power of the sciences may tend to lead many of the rising generation toaccpiire a knowledge thereof, and a zeal for their future advancement, in futheianee of greater and glorious discoveries of the benevolent wisdom of our Creator. HENRY TAYLOR. Quebec, March, 1840. ;- - PREFACE n \ f TO THE THIRD EDITION. Since the publication of the second edition of this work, I have found that the celebrated Hutton, as is stated by Keith, was of opinion, that all the geological bodies of the earth had been formed by "marine exuviae 13 fully ii or remains." It is satisfactory to have this part of the theory of the earth, (which, previous to my seeing his opinion, I hnd formed and presented to the world,) sanctioned by so great an authority. But Huttou's Theory of the Earth, beinj; adverse to the Mosaic account of the creation, he drew upon himself much obloquy from the supporters of it ; and it is to be lamented that a due consideration Of the first and second verse of Genesis had not occurred to him j as most probably, his sagacious mind would have disco- vered, how completely the explanation we have in our theory given of those verses, will give the length of time which, in the opinion of many geologists, the various formations of the globe require. Many of the modern geologists, however, who had published their works previous to the Rev. Dr. Buck- land's Bridgewater Treatise, in which the above cons- truction of the first verse of Genesis is assumed, or who, having not yet sufficiently contempled that construction, so as to adopt it themselves, and, probably, not willing to come into collision with the sacred writings; the segeologists, I say, have now abandoned the practice of forming any theory of the earth at all, and limit themselves to the collection of geological facts. Now, it appears to me, that if on a due consideration of the facts which botany, chemistry, pneumatics and geology present us with, it be conceived, that, by a just com- bination of these facts, we can by fair induction and analogy gain an insight into the most mysterious ope- rations of nature, and of the laws which its omnipotent Creator may have established for these operations ; there is then no just cause why such a combination of these scientific facts should not be attempted, there is no just reason why the human mind should be fettered in the profoundly interesting science of cosmogony more than in any other. There is not, perhaps, in the vast range of nature's works, one which excites in the mind a greater degree of mysterious wonder, than the inspection of the rocky formations of the earth. The perfect order in the movements of the heavenly bodies, their surprising distances and magnitudes, it is ( t i: t n i! oi St bl true, are of a more grand a;id sublime description ; but the rocky formations belong to our own domain, and however some may call in question the vast distances and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies, yet, of the enormous depths, breadthsandlengthsof the formations of our earth, we have the direct evidences of sight and touch. What are the agencies by which the Creator has formed these mysterious productions? is therefore the silent question which every close observer of nature asks himself. And, accordingly, numerous theories, not only of the crust of the earth, but of the earth itself, have long since been offered to mankind. Many of these, however, being founded only on the imagina- tive conceptions of ingenious men, have not maintain- ed their ground. None of them, 1 believe, but Hutton, as before mentioned, and a T^w of the German geolo- gists, have offered any tangible mode of formation which the Deity may have chosen, for the production of the entire body of the geological formations of the earth. In the first paragraph of the preface to the first edi- tion of this work, I have stated that my object in for- ming my construction of the first verse of Genesis, was to be enabled to reconcile the Mosaic account of crea- tion with the time said by the modern geologists to be required for these formations ; having done this, my next wish was to enquire what physical laws the Crea- tor had chosen to produce these formations 1 By physi- cal laws they are undoubtedly formed, as far as we have access to examine them ; and we have the powerful sanction of every part of nature to conclude, by analogy, that the entire diameter of the globe is equally so. By the 6th, 7th and 9th verses of the 1st of Genesis, we find the earth was covered by the waters until ^^the time of the separation. We have therefore just right to conclude it wua formed in those waters of Genesis; and, accordingly, as stated by one of the best modern geologists, <' Every part of the earth, every continent and every island, exhibits the pheno- menon of marine productions." 15 Dn J but in, and istauces of the mations ight and a tor has fore the r nature theories, le earth . Many imagina- naintain- t Hutton, an geolo- brmation roduction ns of the first edi- 3Ct in for- lesis, was it of crea- rists to be this, my the Crea- By physi- far as we have the conclude, J globe is of the 1st d by the We have id in those ted by one the earth, the pheno- Our theory is founded on these Scriptural and geolo- gical facts ; and we have a confirmation of the competent powers of the vegetable and animal deposits and labours of the marine animals of the ocean to pro- duce these formations of the earth, in the known and established fact, of an extent of land more than equal to one-eighth of the diameter of the earth, being formed by a few species of marine insects, for the Coral Islands and reefs of the Indian Sea and Pacific Ocean are 1,500 miles long by 60 or 70 broad. In the course of my journies through this rrovince^ to ofTer my works fur sale, I am happy to state, that a great majority of the people appear to be duly impressed with a belief in the sacred Scriptures; indeed I have met with some who seemed to think the Mosaic account creation required no support. These were, however, generally of persons unacq uainted with the authenticated geological facts. It is unquestionable that many of the formations have been produced by gradual deipo- sition from the waters, and must have required a period for that deposition immensely greater than that since the creation, being nearly 6,000 years. Some modern geologists claim indeed millions of years for these formations of the crust of the earth ; and, we trust, we can thoroughly satisfy these claims by the construction of the first verse of Genesis, now sanctioned by the eminent writers mentioned in the preface to the first edition. We trust also to have presented a palpable clue to the discovery of the mode in which it may have plea- sed the Deity to have constructed the solid machinery of our globe. The vastness of this machinery is indeed calculated to strike the mind with awful wonder, but it is His work, and, as such, a fair subject for the study and discusion of His creatures, as the- more it is exa- mined the more profoundly will be exhibited His boun- ty and His wisdom. We trust to have shewn, that the theory of the existence of animal life, previous to the secondary formations, is tenable, and that the incan- descence of the earth, as supposed by Dr. Buckland, does not overthrow it ; and theref )re, that we have a tt right to say, with a great modern geologist, "That the causes at present in operation must have been produ- cing the same effects m all preceding ages." We conclude, therefore, that attempts to form a system of the creation, when based upon authenticated scientific facts, are allowable, and the more so, that in the present enlightened state of the world, these sys- tems can be duly examined and their merits deter- mined. We have, in this edition, at the close of the theory of the sun's formation, given some account of Sir Richard Phillips' Theory of the cause of the Motions of the Heavenly Bodies. This theory offers an additional sanction to those which we have stated, in favour of our theory of the existence of gaseous tnedia in the regions of space. But we are by no means prepared to join Sir Richard in his opinion against the Newtonian theory of gravitation and attraction. We conceive that these great laws of nature may still exist, and that they may be reconcilable to, and be assisted by, the gaseous media ; and, as we have shewn in note 6th of second edition. Sir Isaac Newton himself suggests *' the existence of an ethereal and gaseous medium pervading all space;" and perhaps the existence of this gaseous medium would serve to shew the physical cause of these principles of attraction and gravitation, and thereby account for their effects. We have also inserted an extract from Sir John Herschell's Astronomy of last year, also sanctioning our idea of the supply of the sun's waste by gaseous matter ; and it is with the greater satisfaction we give this axtract from Sir John's work, that the late Doctor Herschell was of opinion that the sun might be habi- table. Sir John has now declared his opinion, that "the sun's zodiacal light is part of that medium which resists the motion of comets, and is loaded with the materials of the tails of millions of them which may be slowly subsiding into the sun." These materials must of course be gaseous; now the combustion of gaseous matter is nothing but the union of the base of the gas with that of oxygen gas, without which no ^ 17 combustion takes place, and the consequent extrication of the light and heat of this oxygen gas, by which we conclude, as per our theory, the waste of the sunN lijrht and heat is replenished. Accordingly Sir John, in another part of his work, states his opinion, that there is ''an enormous heat in the sun.'' — Dr. IIerschell,his late father, says, that the sun's luminous atmosphere is only 2,500 miles from the sun's surface, — That these admitted facts can be reconciled with nis opinion of the sun being opaque and habitable, when under the influence of such enor- mous quantities of light and heat, appears to me totally contrary to all possibility. In addition to these sanctions of the existence of an aeriform medium in the regions of infinite space, we have the great satisfaction to refer the reader to our extract from Dr. Graham's Elements of Chemistry of last year, where he will find, that, from recent experi- ments of one of the most celebrated opticians and philosophers of the present day. Sir David Bre wster, he concludes that the "sun's atmosphere must contain gaseous matter." Several explanatory additions are made in the body of this edition, to which we ask leave to refer the rea- der, particularly to the elucidation of the theory of the formation of the earth. We now present the third edition of this work to the public of United Canada, trusting that the System of Creation we had attempted to form will receive a con- siderable degree of sanction from the scientific autho- rities, discoveries, and observations we have now en- larged it with, and that it may be found to meet the approbation of scientific men of the present, and also serve as an instructive book for the rising generation. THE AUTHOR. Montreal, 184-2 b2 18 PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION. In the third, fourth and fifth editions of this work, I have been enabled to shew sanctions of our theory of the sun's formation from two as eminent men of science as the present fertile age has produced, S.r David Brewster and the celebrated M. Arago, the French Astronomer. In the present edition I have the honour of adding what I consider a great sanction of our theory of the earth, by the late surprising discovery effected by the Earl of Rosse's six foot diameter telescope. And here I beg leave to say, I consider his Lordship as an honour to the nobility of the land, inasmnch as, with a mind superior to the common employment of wealth, he has soared above its ordinary gratifications, and given a high sanction to the pursuits of the sciences in general, and it is probable his telescope will extend the most sublime of them, that of Astronomy. In my theory of the formation of the earth and pla- nets, I started from the account we have of their ' formation in the waters of Genesis. By the modern discovery of the elementary composition of water, I shewed how the waters of Genesis must have been formed by the combustion of their elementary gases ; and, reflecting on the stupendous quantity of light and heat which must have been evolved by that combus- tion,! founded my theory of the sun's formation on the belief that the most prominent and needful purpose to which that heat and light could be applied, was to form the suns of the planetary systems. The author of the theory of Formation of the Nebular Hypothesis did not deign to derive its origin from Scriptural sources : it proceeded from the discovery of the nebulae in the regions of space by Sir Wm. Herschell. Then Laplace, the French Astronomer, grounded his theory of the formation of the Earth and Planets upon that nebular discovery. That discovery, as will be shewn in this sixth edition, has been dispro- 19 \ Ved by the high powers of Lord Rosse's telescope ; and, it has, I am informed, been abandoned by its great upholder, Doctor Nichol. I therefore consider that our more humble hypothesis, grounded on the idea that the Deity has established laws in our own system (which, if discovered by due scientific research, arc perfectly com- petent to account for all the phenomena of the earth's formation), is now entitled to the more consideration. The present edition of this work will, I trust, be found greatly improved, by having most of the notes in the former editions transposed int the body of the work, by which the authorities we have quoted will be more di- rectly brought before the reader, and prove a more powerfulsupportof the system we have formed in the work. In this edition we have shewn extracts from the ad- dresses of Dr. Nichol and Dr. Scoresby, respecting the nebular hypothesis mentioned above. Lord Kosse has disproved the existence of the nebulae in the constel- lation Orion ; but there remain great numbers of them in other regions of space, and one chief purpose of this sixth edition, is the carryng out of our System of Creation into those regions, because we hope to be able to shew, by natural results of this system, what the probable design of these nebulse is, and more especially what are the real purposes of the comets in the vast domains of creation. The theory of the sun's formation, of this work, having been sanctioned by the eminent philosophers above mentioned, our intention to carry out our system with the view just stated, cannot be consiaered pre- sumptuous. We cannot, indeed, be assured of the success of our attempt, which we leave to a discerning public to determine upon ; but of this we are certain, that if the theory of the sun's formation, which we have presented to the world, be ultimately confirmed, the natural, and perhaps unavoidable, result of that system, will sanction our conception of those purposes which the nebulse are intended to effect j and as to the real purposes we have assigned to the comets, we are happy to have the sanction of the immortal Newton 20 in respect of them. — If we recollect aright. Sir Isaac Newton has said that one of the motions of the heavenly bodies could not bo continued without the direct inter- position of the Deity and we have also to add, that a like most important result will follow, if our theory of the sun's formation be ultimately adopted by the scientilic world, namely : that we shall have })roved the necessity of the existence of a continual and present act of ('reation of elementary matter by the " Great First Cause," which act of present creation must be totally independent of the existing laws of nature ; and we have now to refer the reader of the present edition to the Appendix, containing its extra matter at the end of the work, for our explanation of this important subject. Since writing the above, I have been favoured with asightof that most valuable work called Cosmos, or Sketch ofaPhysicial Description of the Universe,by Alex. Von Humboldt, from which I am happy to givean extract confirming Arago's discovery of the gasseous nature of the sun, first noticed in our fourth edition. For this extract, see page 29 of Appendix No. II., sixth edition. I now conclude the preface to the sixth edition of this work, with my acknowledgements to the Canadian public for the patronage bestowed by them on the former editions : and as our System is now carried out into a more extended sphere, I trust the present edition may be found equally worthy of public favour , and as the following extract from the Cosmos contains a powerful display of the advantages of scientific infor- mation, I beg leave to present it to the public : — "I take pleasure in persuading myself that it is possible for scientifie subjects to be presented in language grave, dignified, and yet animated, and that those who are able to escape occa- sionally from the restricted circle of the ordinary duties of life, and regret to find that they have so long remained strangers to nature, may have opened to them access to one of the noblest enjoyments which the activity of the rational faculties can afford to man. The study of general natural knowledge awakens in us, as it were, perceptions which had long lain dormant : we enter into a more intimate communion with the external world, and no longer remain without interest and sympathy for that which at once promotes the industrial progress and intellectual ennoblement of man." — Cosmos, vol, l,p. 35. THE AUTHOR. A SYSTEM OF THE CREATION OF OUR GLOBE, &c. Addison has remarked with equal piety and truth that the crea- tion was a perpetualy feast to the mind of a good man. The reader will have received some idea of the purpose of the science of (Jeology, frmthe preface to L.j former editions of this work ; and in order to exhibit to the Canadian public the practical utility of this science, we extract from a late Geological work of some merit, namely, "Elements of Geology for popular use," by Charles A. Lee, M. D., of New York, his statement of this utility. In the first paragraph of his preface he says — " No department of the natural sciences possesses greater interest or leads to more important practical results, than that of Geology. Of late years, it has attracted almost universal attention, not only fum the fascinating wonders it discloses, but also from its obvious and extensive application to the economical purposes of life. Of such importance has it been re- garded, that many of our State Legislatures, as well as the General Government, have authorized geological surveys to be made, in order that the natural resources of the country may be brought to light and fully developed. * * * Already have these surveys contributed millions in value to the productive industry of the land, and every year their importance is more and more demonstrated and acnowledged." Many of the influential men in the Hon. Legis- lature of this Province have honoured me with their subscriptions to my work, and I am happy to observe that a liberal sum has since been appropriated by it, for a geological survey of the Province, which I have no doubt, if performed with diligence and zeal, may dis- cover great sources of industry and wealth for it. .22 Inow proceed to give an account of tho theory which the lute discoveries of this and other sciences have suggested to me of the peologicnl formation of our globe, and of the system of creation I had formed. In file yeai of our Lord 1819, 1 returned to the land of my birth, the Canadas, after an absence of nigh forty years in England and Ntmi Scotia, during which, I had undergone gnat misfortunes in an extensive line of mercantile business. The pleasing sensations T felt on this return to my native country, nuiy have !)eeu experienced by many ; the intensity with which I felt them, may have been occasioned by so long an absence ; and having now, as it were, fallen into the calm and pure resort of nature, tlie woods of liower Canada, I was never more happy than in the study of her works From early youth I had been fond of tho science of chemistry; and now, some books of geology fell into my hands : with them I frequently compared the appearances I met with in my walks, which, being in unison with these books, gradually confirmed me in the opinion, that our earth was orighially fori .ed in a fluid, and was depo- sited from it. In the treatise on chemistry by professor Chaptal, I found an account of the chaotic system of creation of the ancients, by which it is supposed, that the chao- tic mixture, being formed, the various substances were attracted to each other, by the laws of mutual affinity, and precipitated. On frequent reflection, however, on this theory, and contrasting it with the general state of the depositions of the earth in strata and laminre, it appeared to me to be totally insufficient to account for these appea- rances : had a chaotic mixture been formed by the Creator, containing in solution all the various geolo- gical bodies, and had nothing more been required for their formation, than the opration of their affinities and attractions, these must have taken place imme- diately, and they would be found in homogenous and exclusive masses, according to their various affinities and gravities : but the formations are generally found 23 aptal. eation chao- were inity. n in alternato layers and lamina) of frequently mixed substanccH, and thi.s too without coincidtMH'o with the laws of g»avity, and boar the certain mark.-., not only of being deposited from a fluid, but alno, of a gradual and mixed depositirui, at periods prol)al/Iy of immense distanee from ea(;h otiier. This relleetion led me to ooneeive that these depositions were gradually pro- duced by some permanent and eontinually operating cause. In the above mentioned work of Ciiaptal, I had found and been mueh struck with, the beautiful and interesting theory he has given of the formation of the various primitive earths, and many salts, metals and mineral substances, by the processes of vegetation, which are found on the decomposition of those vege- tables by analysis and eombusti n : I was also aware, that vast tracts of the earth are formed by vegetable, animal and marine depositions, and being one day occupied in reading attentively the account of the crea- tion in the first chapter of Genesis, the waters therein mentioned forced themselves strongly on my attention and repeated consideration, until at last the idea grew upon me, that the geological bodies of the earth were, somehow or other, produced in these waters. That the earth was formed in a fluid, I now felt tho- roughly convinced of; that a great part of its crust consisted of vegetable and animal depositions, even almost to the tops of the highest mountains, us stated by geologists, seemed to me a proof, that these marine vegetables and animals must have previously existed in waters which produced these depositary remains ; and, as no inundation or deluge is sufficient to account for these universal appearances of the formations in the earth ; therefore, the waters or oceans mentioned in the first of Genesis appeared to me the only and the truest sources by which we can account for them. During my reading and reflections on this subject, and previously to my determining to form a Theory of the Creation, Archdeacon Paley's Evidences of Na- tural Religion fell into my hands, in which the atheistical doctrines of chance, and also, the notions u of Buffon, of the earth's formation by a fragment knocked oft by a comet from the sun, is related, and commented on, by the Archdeacon. I shall, therefore, previously to advancing any thing more on tie System of Creation I had gradually formed in my owu mind, beg leave to make some observations on those doctrines oi chance formation, and thus endeavour to clear the way for a system, \ trust, more consistent with reason and with our religion. " Amongst inanimate substances (says Paley in p. 63 of his Theology of Nature, or Evidences of Natural Religion) a clod, a pebble, a liquid drop, might he ; but never was a watch, a telescope, or organized body of any kind, answering a valuable purpose by a compli- cated mechanism,, the effect of chance ; in no assignable instance hath such a thing existed without intention some where." Now, it appears to me very singular, that Paley, after, having so clearly exposed the absurdity of this theory of chance, should have thus conceded the possi- bility of a clody a pebble, or a liquid drop, being the product of it : a clod is a piece or part of the earth ; a pebble is a fragment of some rock rounded by the waters ; a l^uid drop is a part of those waters. The same cause then, that produced the earth ani Leas, produced also the clod, pebble, and drop. But can there be any doubt that the earth itseri' con- tains marks of design and intelligence ? That all its vegetables and animals contain marks of design, he has proved ; now, we cannot refuse the same evidence of design in the formation of the earth and seas, if it were solely as a matrix or habitation for those plants and animals ; and, among the evidences of design which these last exhibit, I beg leave to mention one which, I believe, has escaped the observation of the Archdeacon — it is the amazing varieties exhibited in every species of these plants and animals. Had they been solely the offspring of a '* blind conatus," there would, probably, have been but one species of each of them ; but their vast varieties show a master and desig- ning hand to have directed their formation. The evi- 25 dence of design wliich the earth exhibits, is not confined to its own forniatiou ; this evidence is much more strong, when we find and c^'nsider it as part of a system of planets revolving in !' lown periods round a central sun. whose litirlit Mid heat are evidently the in fended sustainers of the life and enjoyments of the plants and inhabitants existing on this family of planets. It is also stated in page G2 of the above work, that Bufibn considers the Planets to have been ''shivered off the sun bv some siroke of a comet.'' Palev adds, "that he never could see the difference between the antiquated 'System of Atoms,' and Buffon's 'Organic Molecules :' '' and that "this philosopher having made a planet, by knocking off from the sun a piece of nielted glass, in consequence of the stroke of a comet, and having set it in motion by the same stroke, boili round its own axis and the sun, finds his next diffi- culty to be how to bring plants and animals upon it,'' &c. Now, as to the s-olid parts of the earth ; allowing glass to be composed of a variety of materials, yet J believe no part of the interior of the earth is discovered tobe vitreous, except in the vicinity of volcanic moun- tains, or where these have jireviously existed. How then has this glass, of which Buffon supposes the earth to have been formed ; how has it been metamorphosed into the vast variety of mineral products which geology discovers to us P The internal substance of the earth, down to its centre, is supposed to be granite, or bodies^ of greater density ; and neither granite, nor the more- external formations bear any resemblance to vitreou^; or volcanic matter. But, if even the solid part of our earth, will not sup- port such a theory, how are we to account by it for its waters ? Is it in the midst of the molten glass of a burning-sun we are to look for them ? Water, how- ever, is said to constitute three-fourths of the earth's surface, and the total inability of this theory or sup- position, to account for its production, appears to me 26 decisive against its fouudation in reality. ( Vide {at and 2d paragraph ofjYole 1 , in Appendix. ) Buirou's theory has also been coinjDletely refuted by the undoubted as- tronomical fact, that if the planets were struck off from the sun, they must, in every revolution have returned to the sun again I shall now notice the opinions on Chance or Atheism, as causes to account for the productions of nature in our globe. The Organic Molecules of Buffbn are thus stated by Paley, in page 427 of the above work, Evidences of Natural Religion, namely, "we are to suppose the uni- verse replenished with particles endowed, with life, but without organization of their own, and endowed, also, with a tendency to marshal themselves into organized fjrms. 1 ' It appears to me almost impossible that the author of this doctrine, if it be Buffon, could rest satisfied with this cause of Creation ; because, although it should be allowed that these particles of life could infuse them- selves into organized bodies, we naturally inquire, how came these particles themselves into the universe ? This is the secret, undiscoverable without allowing an •'unknown cause." If Builbn would account for the existence of these particles by chance, I say, that from the time of their finding their way into these Molecules or organized forms, there is so much, and so cons- tantly exhibited in every one of these forms what we call, in plain language, intelligence, and design to produce good and wise ends ; that the term chance in the sense in which it would be employed by these Atheistical writers, completely comprehends intel- ligence and design, for these are found inseparable irom these organized forms ; therefore, the doctrine of chance, instead of confuting, proves the existence of an unknown creating cause. Were the term chance to be understood merely in the common acceptation of the term, as existing, for instance, in many of the events of 'ife, it will still always be considered as too impotent to a^^count for the productions of nature, because it is, noi in the defj froi pro I cieif ,ud ovy as- •om lied 01" I of dby !S of uni- i,but also, lized uthor [ with lid be • Lbem- ;, how lerse ? : an the irom ecules con8- at we gu to ice ill these iiitel- ) arable jctrine stence rely in ig, for always 'or the m the 27 nature of the human mind to rest satisfied with this absurd idea of creation. Now, therefore, to finish with this, and with the no- tion of the jdanets b(3ing" knocked off from the sun to account for their creation thereby, without an inteUi- gent Creator, I must say, 1 feel it to be a daring thing of tliis or any writer, to have attempted the overthrow of tlu^ established opinions of all Christian nations, as set forth in the Scriptures, handed down to us from the people whom it a])})ears to me, were chosen by the design of Heaven, to preserve mankind in the faith v and worship of one Creator ; and which are, I believe supported in their principal facts by the immortal Newton, in his System (;f the Universe, and were certainly believed l>v him, Previous to thus presuming to overthrow this sacred religion, it appears to me, this author should have for- med a system less replete with absurdity, but fortu- nately too much so, to produce extensively any evil effects. Christians, in general, are fixed in their notions of the true cause of all they see, taste, and feel around them, and of their own existence. The Jewish nation was taught by a religion which, from the clays of Adam, had been followed by mankind, — a belief in one Al- mighty Creator of all things. This belief had nearly, however, disappeared from the earth in succeeding ages. Men, enervated by the effects of those hot cli- mates, and sunk in consequent sensuality, were tempt- ed to throw off the wholesome restraints of a pure religion, and gradually fell into an idolatry, whose mi- nisters, probably, permitted these sensual habits, to confirm their own power over these people. The Jews, alone, had preserved the worship of one Almighty Crea- tor, until their posterity, after the deliverance from Egyptian bondage, had sunk into the same ido- latrous practices as their forefathers. And here I beg leave to observe, t!iat this repeated defection of the Jews, and of the rest of mankind, from the worship of one God, appears to me a strong proof that /^i.sm alone, {nits purest state, is not suffi- cient to prevent mankind from fallhig into idolatrous 28 woryliip. But, the Saviour promised in the Scri])tures by tlie inspired writers, arose at lenj^th to astonish mankind, and to bring them back for ever from that idolatry to a religion which alone is worthy of the high- est degree of iiitelligence to which the mind of man can arrive : a religion which, while it allows him the most extended use of that intelligence in the contem- plation of the wo'ks of Creation, teaches him, also, to be contented with the limits which apj^ear to be fixed to it ; (and being convinced of the existence of an Almighty Protector,) to feel the glowiitg pleasure of the adoration of Him, to be among his purest and most comforting sensations. These cheering feelings of the heart and mind, cold and iovless Atheism is void of, and therebv its errors are proved ; because the almost universal feeling of these emotions, and their cultivation by nations who have at all risen above idolatrous worship, is a proof that these emotions come from the hands of Nature and Reason, and they appear to form the links of a chain which connects this with a future state of existence. The supporters of the doctrine of chance, however^ distlaining to be contented with tlie Scriptural account of Creation, hiive lormed various wild and futile no- tions to account for it, in order, no doubt, to seek for distinction by opposing the generally received doctri- nes ; but finding, as I trust to have shewn, the totil impotence of chance, of appetencies, puiciples of O^lUKR, possible COMBINATIONS OF MATERIAL FOliMS, and of LAWS of nature, &c. &c., to satisfy the inquiring mind of m-jn, they have been obliged to con- clude with telling us, " that neither they nor we know anything about the matter. {Vide pay e 7,o/Paleifs Theolgrj.) But at tliat very point, where they have thus found themselveo stopt in the extension of their empiiries, is seen " the God whom we worship.'' There, where this proud, but false philosophy finds its ignorance begin to darken it, we have the clear and powerful light of the trae religion to illuminate us, and to teach us to f. Hint uo- for now teifs nid ,, is this I gin It of to 29 rest satisfied with the impenetrable veil which its Author has been pleased to fix between Himself and His creatures in this stage of existence. On a par with these doctrines of chance-creation is the idea of the materiality of the Human Soul ;and pre- vious to dismissing this part of the subject I beg leave of the reader to offer some observations on this doctrine of Materialitv. The materialist supposes, that all the powers of the mind of man result from his on/anization alone. It follows then, as a natural consequence, that when this organization is destroyed, the mind is destroyed along with it. Materialism, then, necessarily leads us to a disbelief in a future state. Now, in no part of Nature do we find faculties bestow- ed, which are not, generally, productive of certain purposes to these parts : therefore , ii man were des. tined solely for existence on this earth ; if his thoughts were solely the eff'ects of the organization of his frame ; is it not pioboble his thoughts would have been con- fined to the actual sphere of his destined existence ? Would he not have been unable to form those high imaginations and hopes of eternal happiness in more perfect regions ? For, if we may reason from the vast body of evidence in her works. Nature does nothing, and bestows nothing, in vain ; she never appears to act with deception ; therefore she would not have given to men of all ages and nations those hopes of future happiness, merely to disappoint them. " I am positive I have a soul, " said Laurence Sterne," nor shall all the books with which Materialists have pestered the world, ever convince me to the contrary. The vast powers of intellect and of science, by which man has been enabled to observe and to trace so exactly the astonishing systems of the heavenly bodies ; those high passions and thoughts of future bliss which he is thereby led to hope for, in some such regions, partake too much of the nature of Spirit to suffer us to think they are solely produced by a more perfect organi- zation than is bestowed on the horse, the mule, or the ass. c2 30 It, moreover, has been proved by the anatomy of the brain of the ourang outaiig-, an animal npjuoaching niMirer to the human species than any other, that its brain exautlv resemhl»;s that ofthe liuman snecies ; and it is said, " It is surprising this reyem))lance is pro- diritive of so few advanta<»es ; the tonn linely observes] tliat no arraiujotrenl of maUer will gicc. m'nid, and that the body, how nicely soever formed, is formed to very limited ends, when there is not infused a soul to direct its operation.s ,- ' and I am the more hajijjy in f;ivin<^ this quotation, ms it shews that !5u(f )n has inass from tlie nr<>;!ins of speech, through the air intervening' hetw(>en the two persons ; in tliis ])nssage, therefore, an einanalii'it of mind exists separale from /lie bodt/Jrom whence il came. It is conveyed, indeed, by the vihrations of tlie particles of air it |)asses through, but it certainly has, during that i)eriod, an existence separate from the body and organs it ])roceeded from. An emanation ofinind, therefore, can exist sej^arate from its matrix, and in a form of matter entirely different from whatil emanated from. Is it then not possible to conceive, that mind itself could be eiuhiwed with existence in the eeriform state, as well as in the solid ? I now resume the narration of the course of tliought which has led me to form the jiresent attem]^t at a theory of the crea'ion of our system, and, by analogy, of the other systems of the heavenly bodies. Being, as before stated, convinced that the earth had been originally formed in water, the inquiry, then, natu- rally suggested itself, what waters we had any historical account of which cojld produce this efJect ? '1 he chaotic liquor of the ancients, I trust to have proved, is incompetent to account for the general geological appearances, and therefore fails. 'I he waters of the deluge can oidy account for certain changes in the earth's surface, which they may have occasioned, and which, no doubt, give proofs (d'the reality of that deluge. But the proofs of formation in a fluid, reach far below the possible effects of an inundation which lasted only one year. The vast masses of marine depositions must have required numerous ages to accumulate, and even the granite mass gives proofs of formation or of alte- ration in a fluid, by the chrystals and heterogeneous substances it consists of; and this stupendous !nass, which is supposed to form the whole interior of the globe, must have required a correspondent time for that formation ._3 — _-^^., , >,. m To shew that it is not without good cause, we in this work, attempt to vindicate the mosaic account of crep tion, and, hy our explanation of the first verse of Genesis, to account for the immense period of time required by the modern geologists, we extract the follow- ing note from a late work on geology : — "Although the world is not eternal, it is nevertheless very ancient, and, in calculating all the time that was required for the formation of the numerous beds which the globe presents to us, for the life and reproduction of all the animals and vegetables whose remains it contains, according to the time employed for the actual forma- tions whose duration we know, we are forced to admit that the world is at least 300,000 years old," — Boubees Geoh Populaire, page 7, Paris, 1833. The only waters, therefore, with which history tiir- nishes us to account for these phenomena, are certainly the waters of Genesis, Genesis, chapter 1st, verse 9th: " And God said, Let the waters under the firmament be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so," I then proceeded to inquire if the Scriptural account of these waters would warrant the conclusion, that the earth was formed in them by the deposition of the strata and other rocks which the latest discoveries in the science of Geology have pro- nounced it to consist of. Afler a long and mature consideration, I conceived that the first verse of Genesis, " In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," will not only warrant the above conclusion ; but, perhaps, also a like formation of all the planets and suns of other systems, by the highly natural causes and effects of those laws, which the latest discoveries of geology and pneumatic chemistry have found to exist. 1 further considered, that if the Scriptural account of creation could thus be reconciled to those discoveries; if the geology of the whole earth could thus be brought in proof of the reality and necessary existence of those waters ; the doubts of the unbeliever might yield to it, and the authority of Scripture acquire new force. *' In the beginning, God created the heavens and the 33 the cartli." Now, tlie term" b(?giniHiig" points to no spe- cific poinf of lime; iiiul I liavc Ihorei'ore coiicoivcd it may liavo been (Kjes jirevitJiis to the time of ihe sej)a- ral ion of the earth from the waters, as mentioned in the ensuing verses ; and that, during these ni/rs, the earth was grad.ially forming in these waters By this eX}^lanation, we shall bo able to aceount for any length of time which the formation, of tlie glol)c may liave required. Doctor Chalmers, in his NaturalTheology,])ul)!ished in 183G, })age 2C->0, says, *• We sliall advert once more to the Mosaic .icconnt of the creation, more especially as the reconciliati(.)n of this history with the indefinite anticpiity of tlie globe, seems not imj)ossible, and (hal, without the inlli('tii»n of any vit)lence on the bteralities of the record.'' — lie then narrates the two first verses of 1st of Genesis, and adtls, " jSow, let it be supjiosed that the work of the tirst day, in the Mosaic account, begins with the '8niri«^ of Clod moving on the face of the waters.' Tlie detailed history of creation, in the 1st chapter of Genesis, begins, with the middle of the second verse, and what precedes might be understood as an introductory sentence, by which we are most ap))ositely told ihat God created all things at first, and that afterwards, at what interval of time is not specified, the earth lapsed into a chacs, from the darkness and disorder of which the })resent system of economy was made to arise. By this hy})0thesis, neither the first verse nor the first half of the second, forms any part of the narration of the first day's operation, the whole forming a pre[)aratory sentence disclosing to ns the initial act of creation, at some remote and undefined period ; i:.nd the chaotic state of the world at the com- mencement of those successive acts of creative power, by which out of rude and nndigested materials the present harmony of nature was ushered into being. Between the initial act and tlie details of Genesis, the world, lor aught we know, might have been the theatre of many revolutions, the traces of which geology may yet investigate, and to which, in fact, she has constantly ap])ealed, as the vestiges of so many successive conti 34^ ncnfs which have now passed awiiy. The whole spe- culation has offered a vain Iriiiniph to infidelity, seeing first, tliat the historical evidence of scripture is quite untonehed hy this })rt?tended discovery of science, and that 'ven should it tnrn out to ])e a sid).stantial disco- very, they do not come into collision witii the narrative of <'Vlos(»s. IShonld, in ])arlicnlar, the explanation we now ofTer l)e sustained, this would, permi' an indefinite scope to the conjectures of Geolojiy, and without undue liherty to the 1st chajiter of (lenesis.'' /J'hus, Doctor ('halmers has coniirnicd, in the year 1836, the ex|)la nation of the first verse «'f (ilenesis, we had, as stateil ahove, formed in 18:25. IJnt with his idea of the earth lapsin^- As before observed, I had, in the course of these studies of nature, been led by them, and by reading and reflection, gradualy to come to such a construction of that verse as the following :— That the term "the beginning." pointing to no specific time, may refer to numerous ages previous to the separation of the waters from the waters mentioned in the 6th, 7th, and 9th, verses ; and I moreover consider, that every man hath a perfect right to form such m construction of the Word ot God as his understanding, after mature reflection on 43 flis works, and a diligent study of them may lead liim to ; and more especially when his design is good, when he conceives he is thereby not only adding weight and authority to these Scriptures, by bringing the evidence of the geology of every part of the globe to their con- firmation, btit, perhaps, silencing thereby the infidelity of the sceptic, and, as he may hope, exibiting, in a stronger light, the power, wisdom, and glory of his Creator. In the 2d verse of Genesis it is said, "And the earth was without form, and void ; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Anu the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." By this verse, it would appear, the earth was cor^* pletely covered by the waters ; otherwise, the Spirit would have been recorded as having also moved upon the land ; and the 9th verse is confirmatory of this circumstance, for it says, "and God said. Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear : and it was so." Th's event, then, I consider to have happened many ages after the time of tlje first verse; which verse, I further consider, to point exactly to that period to which the Psalmist David, in Psalm cii., 25th verse, refers, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth ;" and I consider this foun- dation to have been the formation of the aqueous globe of our theory, — the universal waters of Genesis. We now proceed to our statement t — The sea, or globe of water, mentioned above to have been formed by those gases which the modern dis- coveries in pneumatic chemistry prove all water to be formed of, and being destined by the Creator to produce habitable earth or land, we shall conceive this aqueous globe to have been endowed by Hun for that purpose, with amazing prolific powers of life, both of the vegetable and animal nature. The remains of many of those marine animals, whose skeletons have been lately discovered in the earth, of a species never known to have inhabited our sens, nfe of pigantic stature and dimensions, as com* pjjred v/i!h those of any existing species. The marine shells, the chalks, and lime-stone firma*- tions, which I consider to have been produced, as above obseived, by the gradual disintegration of these shell? in the course of sufficient aj^es ; the vast coal for- mations, also prove, the amazing masses of animal and Vegetable life, which we shall now supj)ose, according to our theory, to have existed in those waters of (lene- sis ; and for proofs of which we accordingly refer our readers to the geological statements in the preceeding pages. To account further for the primary earths, bme, silex or sand, sand-stones, flints, gravels, clays or aluminous earths, terra ponderosa, magnesiau earths, salt forma- tions, metals, mineral substances of all kinds, and the rocks and other substances composed, of them and of the primary earths ; we shall now proceed to a state- ment of those experiments, opinions and theories^ "which have been performed and maintained by several eminent chemical philosophers on this important head^ In the treatise on Chemistry by Professor Chaptal, mentioned in page 23, the following facts are stated to have resulted from the analysis made by him of certain Vegetables : — " The herb Patience affords sulphur ; vegetables, in their analysis, likewise present us with certain metals, as iron, gold, and manganese The iron forms nearly one- twelfth of the ashes of hard-wood. It may be extracted by the magnet ; but it is seldom in a naked state, but is combined with the acids of vegetation^ The iron is not imbibed from the e-xrth, but is formed BY THE VEGETATIVE PROCESS. Lime, Constantly enough, forms seven-tenths of the fixed residue of vege- table incineration, usually combined with the carbonic acid. Next to lime, alumine is the most abundant earth in vegetables; and next magnesia Siliceous earth likewise exists, but less abundantly ; leas com- mf>i of all is barytes or terra ponderosa." As an evident and sufficient proof that all the pro- ducts of vegetables are produced by the water, and, ' (( perhaps, the air, necessary for their growth, I extract also the following observation of Professor Chaptal : — It appears proved by V^an Helmont, that vegetables can live and grow with only air and water. Heplanted a willow weighing n9 lbs., and watered it with distilled water five years. It increased to 169 lbs., the earth it was grown in lost onlij two onnccs.^' If one vegetable be thus proved to acquire its growth from water and air, the strong probability is, that, as Chaptal says, " all others do," and, by the uniformity of the laws of nature, we may conclude this law applies generally to the vegetative process. It is true that Sir H. Davy states, in page 12, of his Lecture on " Agricultural Chemistry," that the result of Von Helmont's experiment M'-as shewn to be falla- cious ; but that the true use of water was unknown till 1785, when Mr. Cavsmdish made the discovery, that it was a compound of two clastic gases, inflammable gas or hydrogen, and vital gas or oxygen. Now, although V^an Helmont was ignorant of this discovery, the fact he proved is still maintained, that water is the great source of nourishment of p ants. In vain would any of the modern discover' es be brought forth to invalidate this great fact, since the vegetation of every part of the earth demonstrates it. In the thickest and largest forests, the aboriginal woods of the earth, no sensible diminution of the soil is obser- vable, though under the operation of so vast a vege- tation — whence tiien can the products of it be obtained but from the surrounding elements of water and air? In fact, Sir Humphrey allows, in page 211 of same work, that " when pure water only is absorbed by the roots of plants, the fluid, '.i passing into the leaves, will ^/robably have greater power to absorb carbonic acid gas from the atmosjihere ; when the water is saturated with carbonic acid ^as, some of this substance may be given off" by the leaves, but a part of it likewise is always decomposed, which has been proved by the experiments of M. Sennebier." Now, carbon appears to be the great solidifying principle of vegetables. The other principles are found 4.6 to be oxygen, hydrogen, and azote, all of which are obtained by the vegetative process from waters and the atmosphere. Accordingly, in page 259 of the same work, 8ir Humphrey states, " It is evident, from the aniryrjis of woody fibre, by M. M. (inay Lussac and Theuard, ('which shews that it consists f)rincipally of the elements o^ water and carbon^ the carbon in larger quantities than in theother vegetable compounds), that any process," Sec. Again he says, in page 211,'' Many plants that grow upon rocks or soils, containing no carbonic matter, can only be supposed to acquire their charcoal from Mie carbonic acid gas of the atmosphere ; and the leaf may be considered, at the same time, as an organ of absorption, and an organ in which the sap may undergo different chemical changes." * I shall here extract from the same work part of page 281, relating to the formations of the principles of vege- tables by the vegetative process. M. Schrader and iVlr. Braconnot, from a series of distinct investigations, have arrived at the same conclusions. They state, that " dilTerent seed sown in fine sand, sulphur and metallic oxyds, and supplied only with atmospheric air and ivater, produced healthy plants, which, by analysis, yielded various earthy and saline matters, which either were not contained in the seeds, or the material in which they grew, or which were contained in much smaller quantities in the seed ; and hence they conclude, they must have been formed from air or water, in con- sequence of the agencies of the living organs of the plants," These experiments are therefore confirma- tive of that stated in the w^ork, performed by Von Helmont on the willow. In page 282, Sir Humphrey gives an experiment he made with oats to ascertain whether any siliceous earth would be formed in the process of vegetation, but * Now the carbonic aci' gas that is formed in our atmosphere does nut exceed two per cent , and I think it highly i}robable,'there- fore, that curhon itself is formed in the vegetable by the vegetative process, from the surrsunding elements, oxy<>en, azote, hydrogen, hight, heat and electricity j which idea is supported by Sharon Turner. 47 he adds," the oats grow very feehly, and beiran to be yellow before any flowers furnied ; that the entire plants were burned and their ashes eomparv ' w-Ith those from an equal weight of grains of oats; less sili- ceous earth was given by the plants than by the grains, but their ashes yielded much more carbonate of lime. That there was hss siliceous earth, I attribute to the circumstance of the husk of the oats being thrown off in germination, and this is the ywrt which most abounds in silicon." Thus it appears, by bis own experiment, some silicon was actually obtained by the vegetative r 'ess from the air and the water ; and had the grov. . of the oats in his experiment come to perfection, the quantity would probably have been much greater. Moreover, in page 162, he allows that plants consume very small portions of earth ; whence then can the trees of woods and forests derive their growth but from water and air ? Thus, although Sir Humphrey Davy suj^poses, but does not assert, the fact, that these earths are taken up by the vegetation from the soils around them ; yet, as be does, in another j)art of his writings admit, that all substances, before entering the tubes of vegetable in nutrition, must be reduced to a state of complete solu- tion in a liquid before that absorption can take place ; and as it is well known that argillaceous earth, or alu- mine, silex or sand, and magnesia, are almost insoluble in water, and that lime is only soluble in very small quantities ; I have therefore concluded, that such a perfect and sufficient solution, as Davy admits to be necessary, is impracticable ; and, therefore, that the assertion (grounded on the forementioned experiments, by Chaptal and Van Helmont, namely, that these earths, metals and minerals, are really and entirely the products of the vegetative process) is much more probable; and I am the more confirmed in this probability, by the following facts, and reasoning upon them: — 1st. As oxygen, we know, exists in a solid state in all its oxydes, so it is, not impossible that the basis of these oxydes, the metals, and several of the primary earths, may be formed by the vegetative process, as 48 the French Geologist, Chaptal, asserts, •* to replace the constant waste that takes place of the crust of the earth by the rains, streams and rivers " One huntlred pounds oi lead is, I believe, found, by calcination or oxydation, to aufjuient in weight to one hundred and ten pounds, thus absorbing ten pounds of solid oxygen from the oxygenous gas of the atmosphere, which can be recovered by deoxydation. Pit-coal, contains a great quantity of hydrogen, most ])robably in a solid state ; Pot-ash has yielded to Sir Humphrey Davy a metallic button ; and is therefore an oxyde, and also contains oxygen m a solid state. 2d The Scliisti, or Slate Mountains, are said also to be formed by the decomposition of vegetables, and the coal formations, also, to consist of the residue of vege- tables, probably charred by a close heal, and must therefore, be formed of the carbon and constituent gases of thost vegetables. If such dense substances can be thus, in part, compounded of gaseous substances, there is an equal probability that the gases separated by the vegatative processes from the air and water necessary to their nutrition, may compose the primary earths, salts, minerals and metallic substances obtained from them by decomposition or incineration ; and I think it not improbable that future experiments may prove, that all the primitive earths, metals and mineral sabstances, are composed of the primary elements, as we are now philosophically bound to consider them, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Carbon combined in propor- tions innumerable as those products themselves, and from which variety of proportion they receive their dis- tinctive characteristic. It is true, that only some of the earths and none of the metals have yet been decomposed, and are there- fore considered as simple substances. Carbon, however, which would appear to be the chief solidifying principle of the vegetative process, is well known to be suscejjtible of receiving the gaseous state by combina- tion with oxygen into carbonic acid gas. If any method should ever be discovered of separating the oxygen from this carbonic acid gas, the carbon would 4d must be foimdngain in its solid state.' Chlorine gas also, when united with hydrogen by congelation, is found by a late discovery to assume the solid state, in the shape of chryalals more than one inch long. 'J'his modern experiment is of great importance, as it proves that two gaseous bodies can, by their combination, form a solid one.f As I have often repeated, also, in the body of this work and in the notes, all the metallic oxydes and, several of the earths and alkalies must contain a great quantity of oxygen in a so'id state. The most dense nature of bodies, therefore, is no proof that they may not be composed of a;riform substance ; and a vast and most important field of discovery is, probably, yet reserved for pneumatic chemistry, namely, the separation of the gases from the caloric, and the light which retains them in that form, and the obtaining their bases in the solid state. As a proof of the vast importance of such a discovery, we now suggest, that the nutritive parts of the vegetable and animal kingdom must be composed (if onr theory in the foregoing work be well-founded) of the solid bases of those gases; the discovery, therefore, of obtain- ing these bases separate from their heat and light, may possibly offer a mode of forming nulritive 7natter not yet known to mankind. Several of the gases have lately been condensed inta liquids and solids, by compression ; and, in the present lamented state of potatoe cultivation, the idea here suggested of obtaining the bases of th'^ gases, may be found worthy the attention of the chemists. The idea of the unelementary nature of the metals is sanctioned by >Dr. Thomson in his A ^omic Chemistry, entitled, " An attempt to establish the first principles of Chemistry." In page 35, vol. 1, he says, " I am of opi- * This has been done by the action of potassium on carbonic acid gas. f Carbonic acid gas has lately been condensed by the pressure of a certain number of atmospheres into a solid body; and the new metal, ammonium, discovered by Sir H. Davy, is composed of the bases of the hydrogen and nitrogen gases. 50 nioii we are not at present acquainted with any truly sim- ple bodies. All our simple bodies are most probably compounds, and many of them may be afterwards decomposed, and reduced to more simple principles, by the future labours of chemists.'' 3d. As an important and additional proof that the process of vegetation certainly generates and produces one of the most abundant and most dense primary .earths in nature, namely, silex, siliceous earth, or, as I shall call it, the sandy princi})le, I extract the following from the Elements of the Science of Botany, by the celebrated and indefatigable Linnaeus : — " In many parts of the East Indies, there has long been a medicine in high repute, called ^Tabashcer\ obtained from a substance found in the hollow stem of the bamboo. It has undergone a chemical exami- nation, and proved to be an earthy substance, princi- pally of a flinty nature ; this substance is also found in the bamboo in England. In the hot-house of Dr* Pitcairn, in Islington, subsequently to this time, there was found in one of the joints of a bamboo which grew there, a solid pebble, about the size of a pea. Tiie pebble was of an irregular form, of a dark brown or black internally : it was reddish brown, of a close dull texture, much like some martial siliceous stones. In one corner were shining particles, which appeared to be crystals, but too minute to be distinguished by the microscope. This substance was so hard as to cut glass. The cuticle or exterior covering of straw, has also a portion of matter in its composition, from which, when burnt, it makes an exquisitely fine powder for giving the last polish to marble, a use to which it has been employed from time immemorial, without the principle being philosophically known. In the great heat in the East Indies, it is not uncommon for large . tracts of reeds to be set on fire on their motion by the wind, which I conjecture must arise from the flinty substance of their leaves rubbing against each other. These facts cannot avoid presenting to the mind at one view the boundless laws of nature. While a simple vegetable is secreting the most volatile and evanescent [' •I perfumes, it also secrotes a substance wliich is an ingre- dient in the primeval mountains of the glohe.'*^ These facts, which have produced the assent of this Prince of Botanists, to the formation of a first rate pri- mary cartli, by the process of vej^etation, are, I think, sufficient proofs, in conjunction with those above stated, that all the primary earths, the metals, and mineral substances, and, of course, all the rocks compounded of them have been originally formed by the processes of vegetation and animalization. It may, perhaps, be thought by some, that allowing the processes of vegetation and animalization in the waters of Genesis to have produced, by their decompo- sition, all the materials of the geological productions, yet, that the quantity of deposition required to form the earth would bo more than (they conceive) could be produced by the vegetables and animals of these seas or waters. But one singk^ fact, which I shall mention from an ingenious j)ublicati( , '* On the aniinals and monsters of our oceans," will, perhaps, satisfy their doubts on this head. It is stated in that publication, *' \\ie oQs\)x'\\ig oi one single herHng, being suffered to remain unmolested in the sea for twenty years alone, would produce more than sufficient to form, in bulk, ten such globes as we inhabit;" and if, according to the system I have offered, it be conceded that the design of the waters of Genesis was to form and produce the earth by these depositions, we may reasonably presume, that vegetable and animal life were abundantly prolific to produce that end. Reckoning a herring to produce 30,000 eggs, the produce of the females, in two gene- rations only, would be 6,750,450,000,000 of herrings." I here insert some observations on the composition of the granite mass, which is supposed by some geolo- gists to form the internal parts of the earth, or frame- work of the globe. * The geometrical progression of each subsequent generation will be found by dividing the previous one in two, multiplying the half by 30,000, and then always adding the other half to the amount found, and so on to the twentieth generation, and I hare no doubt the product of the twentieth generation would fully verify the author's assertion. 52 This mass is composed of the assemblage, some times in thick, sometimes in very thin lamina? of various kinds of mineral substances, such as quartz, mica, feldspar, &;c., all of which substances, again, are com- posed of the vanous primary earths, lime, magnesia, silex, alumine, barytes or terra ponderosa. The granite mass, then, is ultimately compounded of these primary earths, most of which we have shewn to be produced by the decomposition of vegetables and animals ; and that this mass has been originally formed in, and depo- sited from, a fluid, appears to me proved by the crystals of quartz, minute scales of mica, and its appe^ance of so fine a granular structure, and more aspecially by the visible layers and laminae dispersed throughout that texture. I have ctjunted above twenty layers of a white substance, in a fragment of granite or gneiss a foot square. Gneiss is a stratified granite. Had the granite mass not been formed by the gradual decay, decomposition, and depositions of marine vege- tables and animals, as we have stated in the theory of Creation ; had its materials been formed at once in the waters of (Genesis, the vanous substances com})Osing it ( the mass) w^ould have united according to their mutual affinities, and been precipitated according to the laws of their gravity in vast homogeneous masses; but the visible deposition of part of it in layers and laminae, seems to confirm the opinion of their having been depo- sited in the cuurse, })3rhaps, of numerous ages, from the decomposition and depositions of vegetable and animal life. And though we should allow, with the Huttonians, that the crystalline ap[)earance of this and other primordial rocks may be produced by the internal fires, yet this will not inform us, nor account at all, for the original production of their elementary particles. Now, although, from the more ancient formation of the granite mass, few instances of visible vegetable or animal remains are found in its interior, yet, as we know that Avater of itself deposits nothing, but what it has held in previous solution, either partial or com- plete, and as we know of no other source, from which the substance of this solution could be derived in the ! 1 53 • Waters of Genesis, but from vegetable and animal de- composition, and as we have seen, by the foregoing theory and data, that vegetable and animal decompo- sition affords the materials of which the granite mass is composed, T trust we are warranted in the conclusion, that having been deposited and lain many ages previous to the deposition of the secondary and tertiary strata, and that, in a state of moisture, all its vegetable and animal organization has been destroyed from that cause, and from compression, internal heats, and the Volcanic fires of the earth ; and that this granite mass has been produced by the same means, which appear to have been chosen by the Creator, for the construction «f the more external parts of the globe: namely, the generation, decay, death, decomposition, and depo- sitions of the vegetables and animals of the waters of Genesis. Accordingly we find, in the review of the third edition of Lyell's Principles of Geology, it is stated, that " the experiments of Watt prove that a rock need not be perfectly melted in order that a re-arrangement of its component particles should take place, and a more crystalline structure ensue." — We may easily suppose, therefore, [says Mr. Lyell,] " that all traces of shells and other organic remains may be destroyed, and that new chemical combinations may arise, and, according to these views, gneiss and mica schisti may be nothing more than mic-aceous and argillaceous stones altered by heat, and certainly, in their mode of stratification and lamination, they correspond most exactly. — Granular quartz may have been derived from siliceous sand- stone, compact quartz from the same. Clay slate may be altered shale ; and shale appears to be clay, subjected to great pressure. Granular marble has probably origi- nated in the form of ordinary lime stone, having, in many instances, been replete uith shells and corals now obliterated, while calcareous sands and marles have been changed into impure chrystalline lime-stones.' T have chiefly made the above extract from Mr. Lyell's work, in answer to the objection stated in the preface of my theory, made by Mr. Fairholme, regarding e2 i the granite mass; and I trust it will prove, that although this granite mass contains at present no or* ganic remains, yet it may have contained them origi- nally, and they may have been destroyed by the heats, fires, and consequent change or fusion the mass has undergone from those fires, or perhaps from electricity. In fine, I must here repeat, that I find no cause, after the perusal of the latest works on geology, to vary from the theory of Creation I now venture to present. On the contrary, I find several of the German Geologists have adopted the same opinion, namely, " that vege- table and animal life have been the cause of the pro* duction of the solid portion of the earth." The eminent geologist, Hutton, was of the same opinion. I, therefore, adhere to the opinion I have stated, that the discoveries of the marine organic remains will be satisfactorily explained by our theory, and the necessity precluded of supposing the earth more ancient, smce the separation of the waters, than by the Mosiac account; and 1 now conclude with an observation from Sharon Turner's " Sacred History of the World." " Therefore," he says, " it appears to me most probable, that whenever the right theory of the fabrication of the -earth, and the era and succession of its organized beings shall be discovered, it will be found to be com- patible with the Mosaic cosmogony, in its most natural signification." • • Happy should I be, if the theory I am now presen- ting "to the world, should, in its estimation, be found to approximate to this description. The late discoveries in geology of Baron Cuvier, Lyell, and Buckland and others, as they comprise not more than a few miles of the depth of the earth, (being a mere fractional part of its diameter,) do not m the least invalidate the theory I have formed, which com- prises the entire of that diameter. I, however, repeat and extend here the observations I have made already. First. That Baron Cuvier, in his computation of the distance of time, namely, 5, or 6,000 years, (at which he places the date of his revolution as the result,) does not state by what comparison or scale he \ 81 arrived at his decision ; and it is difficult to conceive any scale he could have had, except a known quantity or depth of deposition from rivers or lakes, in a given time. If this, however, be the source on which he has founded his computation, I cannot but consider it a very insufficient one. — The power of deposition of lakes or rivers could no more be compared to the quantum of that power possessed by the waters of a deluge, or by the primeval oceans, than the currents of those rivers or lakes could be to the almost inconceivable force of the waters of a deluge overwhelming a great part of the earth, which must have been the case when the waters of Genesis, 9th verse, were gathering together. I should therefore humbly suggest the query, whe- ther the period, at which these fossil remains of the bones of terrestrial animals were deposited, may ascend no higher than the time of the Deluge of Noah ; and whether the circumstances of no human bones being found in the particular place of these discoveries, has been owing to those parts not being then inhabited by our species ? Or, seconrf/y, allowing him to be correct as to the period of 5, or 6,000 years' at which he dates his revo- lution, and which, as he says, " has buried and caused to disappear the countries formerly inhabited by man, and the species of animals now most known, that, con- trariwise, it has left the bottom of the former sea dry, and has formed on it the countries now inhabited." I would ask, is not this period, which agrees very nearly with the time of the separation of the waters by the Mosaic account, equally well accounted for by that separation, and, therefore, instead of the countries formerly inhabited by man " having been then buried and caused to dissappear," shall we not rather say, that the earth was then separated from the seas in which it had, according to our theory of Creation, been formed, and that soon after this period of the separation, Man was created P This theory will also account equally for the present appearance of those marine deposits and organic remains now found at the greatest depths of the earth to which 56 t \ mankind have yet penetrated. All these maifine exuviaD and organic remains, and the strata uiidef which they are deposited, are satisfactorily accounted for by the construction of the 1st verse of Genesis we have formed, as the basis of the theory of the foregoing tfeatii^e ; and which construction has since been sanc- tioned by the eminent geologists and writers already specified. I shall here add some observations on the Review of Lyell's Principles of Geology, of April, 1835, on the subject of the antiquity of Mount ^Etna. " It is th..3," it is said " that volcanic formations confirm the evi- dence afforded by the sedimentary str.ita of the immense antiquity and lengthened duration of evi^ the most recent geological Eeras." But is it not probable that the eruptions of -^tna were much more frequent for ages after i'.e time of its first eruption than what they have been since 1 Is it not probable the causes which produced that first eruption have since been greatly diminished by the numerous flowings of la vat Accor* ding to the force of the cause, so must have been the number and frequency of those eruptions, and their frequency at first cannot be estimated by the eruptions which have happened in our times. The age of this mountain may, therefore be very far less than a com- putation formed on the frequency of deposits of its late eruptions would make it. The eruptions, also, may have begun for ages before the mountain emerged from the waters of Genesis, and these sub-aqueous eruption)? been dej^K)sited before the separation of those waters. It remains now to offer some observations on the Salt formations of the earth. These formations offer strong evidence of our theory of the Waters of Genesis. The salt, occasionnally called common salt, sea salt, or marine salt, is entirely a crea- ture of the ocean ; no terrestial vegetable that I know of has ever produced it, except when growing nigh the salt water. These vast formations, found in various parts of the earth, must have unquestionably originated from saline waters J and one way in which the separation of the i 57 I salt from the water, wliieh held it in solution, may be accounted for is, that parts of these seas have been swallowed up by earthquakes or volcanoes, and their waters exsiccated by internal fires: or, that these parts of the seas have, by some revolution, been separated, and not being replenished by any rivers, have been gradually dried up by the sun. But I should su])pose the quantity of salt produced by these accidental causes would not nigh amount to the vast salt formations of our earth, — Some inten- tional operation of Providence is more likely to have been the cause of producing an article so indispensible for the use of man ; and 1 therefore conceive, it is more probable that these formations have derived their origin from the decomposition of vast deposition of the marine plants of the waters of Genesis. These must have con- tained this salt in abundance, as do the marine jilants of our seas, and the other products of their decomposi- tion have united, according to their affinities, to form other geological bodies. y^-* These marine plants must have contained sodium ; and the marine acid, to form the sea salt, has probably been produced by the decomposition of sea water, as hydrogen is said to be the basis of that acid. Sodium has the property of decomposing water, and, according to Good, in his Book of Nature, " the gills offish have it also." Or, if we adopt the analysis of sea salt by Sir H. Davy, the chlorine (being entirely a produce of the ocean) has entered into combination with the sodium to form the chloride of it. The substances, iodine, brome, and above all, silicon, lately discovered, will probably ere long throw much light on the productive powers of marine substances by combustion. Iodine, at the heat of 212, becomes a violet-coloured gas. It forms an active acid by uniting to hydrogen. — Brome is a dense liquid, and forms au orange-coloured gas by a gentle heat. Silicon is procured from siHca, or the earth of flints, by the action of potassium : it appears as a dark fawn- coloured powder, which is injiammahle, and which pro- duces silica, or the " sandy principle," by combustion. 58 I l( This silicon has been, in a part of this work, proved to be the offspring of the vegetative process. It decom,' poses water and acids. And here, therefore, we have some insight into the means by which nature has pro- duced all the sands of the earth and the rocks composed of siliceous matter, namely, by the union of the silicon with the oxygen of the decomposed water, probably after the decomposition of the vegetable matter con- taining that silicon. Sodium, also, a metal lately discovered by Sir H. Davy, is obtained from soda, the basis of common sea salt. This is, therefore, entirely a marine production. The sodium is stated by Sir Humphrey to be so very combustible that when thrown upon water it swims on its surface, hisses violently, and dissolves ; and that silica, or earth of flints, probably contains two propor- tions of oxygen and one of silicon. As a further proof of the production of siliceous e&rth, by the process of vegetation, we insert the following extract from Sir Humphrey Davy's admirable Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry. In page 54, he says, on the epidermis of plants, " In the reeds, grasses, canes, andjthe plants having hollow stalks, it is of great use and is exceedingly strong, and in the microscope seems composed of a kind of glassy net work, which is principally siliceous earth, and in the rattan, the epidermis contains a sufficient quantity of flint to give light when struck by steely or two pieces rubbed together produce sparks" It is known, also, that the silicified seeds of the chara, a plant which grows at the bottom of lakes, abound in the flints of Aurillac, in France. In Evans's Agriculture, printed at Montreal, it is said, page 51, ** The ashes of stalks of wheat gathered a month before the flowering, and having some of the radical leaves withered, contained 12 parts of silica and 65 of alkaline salts in 100 parts. At the period of the wheat flowering, and when most of the leaves were withered, the ashes contai'^ed 32 parts of silica and only 54 of alkaline salts.* Thus, at one period the straw contains 12 parts, and at another 32 parts silica, and •.#.'.N • ■ " 1 'is : 69 this just at the time the plant is coming to its full growth. Now, if this silica, had been taken up from the soil by the roots of the plant it would be absorbed by them in the same quantity at all times, and equally diffused through the straw ; but if, as by our theory, the vital functions of the vegetable form the earths just as they require them, the above most singular fact will be thereby accounted for.* Thus it appears that the latest discoveries of the Celebrated chemist Sir Humphrey Davy, confirm the existence of the siliceous earth in vegetables. In fine, having had an opportunity of perusing the best and most modern works on the geology of our earth, I must here state that they serve to confirm my opinion stated in the theory of this work, that the processes of vege- tation and animalization in the waters of Cienesis, or universal Ocean, are the most highly natural, and rea- sonable means, by which we can account for the ori- ginal formation of the geological bodies ; and *liat these having at that origin been deposited in horizontal strata, have since been subjected to innumerable con- vulsions, elevations, and disruptions by internal fires, or the electric power, and consequently to great che- mical changes in their component parts, is beyond a doubt, and which the present appearance of almost every part of the crust of the earth confirms. It is therefore, probable that the metallic and mineral geo- logical bodies may be combinations of the principles of vegetable and animal life deposited, as stated above in our theory ; which combinations have been effected by the fires, or heats of the internal parts of the earth, and the joint action of chemical affinities. In fine, the vegetable and animal kingdoms are already discovered, ♦ It is also to be observed, in confirmation of our theory, that as it generally hapens the rains are more abundant in the yearly ■ parts of the seasons, more silica would be dissolved by them, than at the time of flowering, wliereas the above experiment proves that nigh three times more silica is formed in the plants at this period j and I consider that this is a complete proof that (not- withstanding Liebig's opinion, that the earths are taken up from the soils) the silica of wheat . is c^tually formed by the process of vegetation. 60 by analysis, to be reducible to the elementary principles oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, azote, and perhaps heat, light and electricity ; and I think it probable, the mi- neral kingdom will, ere long, exhibit, the same result. For who would have believed fifty years since, that from silica or the earth of flints, a cumbustiblo subs- tance would be produced, repreducing silica or the sandy principle by its* combustion, and consequent union with oxygen ? And, in fact, all the primary earths are now found to be oxyds containing oxygen as a component principle in a solid state. In corroboration of our statement of the power of the vegetative functions to produce the primi'.ry earths, we have now to add a statement from Sharon Turner. In his " Sacred History of the World," vol. 1st, page 93, he says, — *' Vegetables have even some relation with the Mineral Kingdom ; for they not only form the car- bon they contain, but some have been found to have copper particles"; (and in a note it is said) "That copper exists in a great number of vegetables, was an- nounced in 1817. — Mr. Targeau found five millo- grames of copper in a killograme of grey quinquina, eight in Martinico coffee, and nearly eight in wheat." (Bull. Univ. p. 139) He continues, "And several vegetables secrete flint and likewise sulphur, as in our common corn ;" (and in a note it is said) "Sulphur exists in combination with different basses in wheat, barley, rye, oats, maize, millet, and rice.'' (Lindsay's Nat. Bot. p. 103.) Mr. Turner continnes, ''We may add iron and gold also, for both of these have been '':)und in vegetables.'* And in page 393, in a nolo it is said, "The energy and even creative agency of the living principle of plants appear in its power of converting material particles into other substances. Experiments on vegetables seem to prove that the solid matter which entered into their composition in the more advenced period of their growth, must, in part at least, liave been produced 6y some action of the vital powers and could not have been obtained ab. extra.' — Bui Physic, p. 307, and Dr. Thompson's Ch. 61 In the Edinburgh Review of Buckhuid's Bridgowater Treatise, the following extract appears from that work : " It is marvellous that mankind havo gone on for so many centuries in ignorance of the fact, which is now fully proved, that no small part of the present surface of the earth is derived from the remains of animals that constituted the population of ancient seas. Many extensive plains and massive mountains form, as it were, the great charnel house of preceding generations, in which the petrified exuvire of extinct races of vege- tables and animals are piled up, into stupendous monu- ments of life and death, during almost immeasurable periods of past time." Mr. Ehrenberg, an eminent Naturalist, has, since Dr. Buckland's Treatise, discovered by the microscope the existence of fossil animalcuke, or infusorial organ:? remains, which form extensive strata of tripoly or po- leschiefer (polishing slate ) at Franzenbad, in Bohe- mia. The animals belong to the genus Bacularia, and inhabit siliceous shells, the accumulation of which form the strata of polishing slate. The size of one of these animalculse is the three hundredth pari of an inch, Yet, notwithstanding the conviction which Dr. Buckland so forcibly expresses, of the vast profusion of vegetable and animal life which must have existed in the ancient seas, and which could be no other than the waters or ocean of Genesis, to which the Doctor agrees, by the extract from the Bridgewater Treatise, (see page 5 of our preface to first edition), yet, not- withstanding this, he gives an opinion, in another part of that treatise, that animal life did not exist previous to the formation of those strata of the earth where their remains are first found ; namely, the transition or se- condary formations. We have given above Mr. Ly all's opinion, ** that all traces of shells and other organic remains may be destroyed in rocks, by a heat not amounting to fusion." If our system of the formation of the solid parts of our globe, by the primeval depo- sition of vegetable and animal remains, be approved, it will perhaps shew, that internal heats and fires, gene- rated by the gases and metals of these remains, were V ' PI C2 much more frequent in those early periods of the world than at present. It is, therefore, no proof that vegetable and animal life did not exist prior to the transition formations and during the primary, to say, that their organic remains are not found there : an immensely less heat than that which must have been occasioned by the subterranean fires of the earth, previous to the separation of Genesis, would be suffi- cient to destroy all traces of organic remains, and to produce a chrystalline Structure and new chemical combinations, as we find them at the present day. This objection, then, to the pre existence of animal and vegetable life, because no present remains are found in the primary strata, is not, in my opinion, tenable. A great argument of the modern geologists is, "that the causes at present in operation, must have been pro- ducing the same effects in preceding ages." Therefore, by a parity of reasoning, conceiving the design of the Creator to have been, to produce the whole circum- ference and diameter of our globe, by the instrumen- tality of those np.tural causes and laws which we now see every where in operation, we infer, that the races of vegetable and animal life were continually employed for that end, since the formation of the primeval ocean of Genesis, as stated in our system ; and, that these races were competent thereto, the present formation of a large tract of the earth by even a few species of ma- rine insects, evidently proves ; and it also proves, that the Deity could not have chosen, from among the laws of nature he had created, so energetic an agent of production since even electricity, though much more sudden and violent in its effects, has not the continuity of the agencies of life. The coral insect alone has produced, as shewn in this work, an extent of land equal in length to one eighth of the diameter of our globe, and still continues its operations ; and it is even the opinion of some geologists, that another con- tinent will, in time, be formed in these seas by means of these insects. Doctor Buckland allows that some geologists are of opinion that fossil remains may have existed in the 63 •iods of the o proof that prior to the 'ary, to say, d there : an have been f the earth, Id he suffi- ins, and to w chemical t day. This anima) and are found in tenable. A s, ''that the ' been pro- Therefbre, >gn of the >le circum- instrumen- i we now the races employed eval ocean that these rmation of cs of ma- oves, that [ the laws an agent gh much not the ral insect m extent ameter of and it is her con- •y means primary formations, and all traces of them may have been obliterated by the internal fires ; but he appears himself to think (and gives a s arc, \ trust, suflicifiit to prove that every part of tlu' earth lias heen formed in n fluid; that ma?iy ])arts are \isil)ly t}je remains of vegetable und animal (leeump'isition, and that most of tin? {j;eo- logi(ral bodies are resolvable into the elements of ve- getable and animal life ; wo now arrive at our t]i(M)ry of the formation of the solid bodies, namely, that the raocKssKs of vkgktation Axn of animai.ization, WEIIK THI-: MACHINERY t hOSEN HY THI-: FlHST CaT'SE for (iRAnilAI.LY rUOnucINO, IV THE COURSE OF STF- FICIENT AGES, IN THE WATERS OF (tENESIS, THE VARIOUS GENERATIONS OF VE(;ETABI.E AND ANIMAL LIFE ; WHICH, 1»Y THEIR G ROWTH, DECAY, THEI R DEATH, DECOMPOSITIONS, Depositions, and the i.ABOTrRs of SOME SPE(aES OF THESE ANIMAIS, HAVE rRoDUCKD ALL THE GEOLOGICAr, RODIFS OF WHICH OUR EARTH IS COM- POSFD. These bodies, as they were depositing, liavo been attracted towards tht; centre of the a(pu'ous globe by the great and universal law of attraction, and before and since the separation have, by the (effects of in- ternal fires, convultions, or the electric power, ac- quired their present appearances. Now, in support of our theory of the ear«.h, we add the following observations : — The law of gravity, or at- traction, would necessarily occasion a vast pressure towards the centre of the aqueous globe, of all the particles of the geological bodies as they formed. The vegetable and animal remains of which they were for- med, as stated above, would pass through various stages of fermentation — When a sufficient depth of deposition was formed, heat, inflammable and other gases, would be thereby generated ; and these internal fires must have been in operation, pending many of the ages required for the formation of the entire dia- meter of the earth, in the waters of Genesis. Hence must have arisen, long before the separation of these waters, not only internal changes in the forms and ori- ginal composition of the congregated masses of the geological bodies, but also numerous commotions jn the interior parts, which have produced probably many of the mountains, and must certainly have pro- duced those depressions on the surface of the earth, which served to form the beds of the original oceans Qi* seas at the time of the separation of the waters. These internal fires of the earth, though at first sight they appear to us the effects of accidental causes, will probably be found to be an instance of the designing wisdom of the Author of nature. — The deposition from the ocean, which, by our theory, have formed the earth, must have been originally deposited in a soft state. By the oontinueJ pressuie of the subsequent geolo- gical particles towards the centre, they would no doubt acquire a degree of solidity ; but perhaps the opera- tion of these fires was required, to give them sufficient hardness to resist the powerful action of the rapid mot'ons of the earth. These fires are, at the present day, •considered by the first geologists to be occasioned by water coming into contact with the m'^tailic basis of the primary earths, by which the watei is decomposed and combustion ensues j and in this case an absorption of oxygen by these basis must take place and their bulk be greatly increased, and this may have been desi- gned by the Creator for enlarging the bulk of the earth. The electric agency, also, has probably had great influence in these internal changes, both pre- vious to and since tiic time of the separation. On the subject of the internal and external changes, I wish now to call the reader's attention to the mge- nious and profound researches of Mr. Cuvier in geology. It appears that, as the result of these researches, he comes to the conclusion, "that if any thiiig be proved by the gelogy of the earth, it is, that a great revolu- tion took place on it Irom 5 to 6,000 yeti^s ago,'' ante- cedent, too, to the existence of man on those parts, at least, of the earth, for he is said to have proved, that no vestige or org'inic remains of the human species have ever been aiscove^ed among the remains of the other Ptnimals found among the strata or deposits he treats of. The period at which Uo states this revolution to have taken / ce, agrees vtry nearly with the Scriptural 67 account of the separation of the waters of Genesis. We know, therofore, that man did not then exist. We have, in concurrence of the opinion of this great revo- tion, Plato's account of his Atalanta, supposed to be the extent now covered by the Atlantic ocean, which, according to Plato's opinion, was formely dry land. That it is possible such revolutions may have taken place since the creation, is not to be doubted. The oceans may, in the course of time, have worn away those boundaries that have prevented their overflowing extensive tracts of the earth, or the power of earth- quakes, or volcanic fire, may have produced a disrup- tion and carried away the barriers of the ocean: It is, however, to be observed, that it is singuhii- this opinion of Cuvier^s is not supported by any account in the Scriptures. Had such a great convultion taken place soon after the creation, is it not probable some oral tradition would have reached the time of Moses, oif other Scriptural writers, just as we have handed down to us the account of the deluge of Noah ] It were to be wished, therefore, that this eminent geologist had turned his attention to the waters of Genesis, as, I cannot but think, he would have therein found a more plain and easy solution of the phenomena he has so ably developed. The few miles of strata containing the remains on which he treats would, probably, have been deposited by these waters in a very limited period, previous to the separation of those waters of Genesis ; which would satisfactorily account for the non-appearance of any organic remains of the human species in these strata, because it had not at that period been yet created ; and it would equally well account for those fossil and organic remains of the marine animals he had found in those strata ; and the vast period of time, namely, millions of years, he and the other late geologists conceive these strata have required for formation, would be also accounted for. In fine, there is good and powerful reason to believe that the account of the creation must have been deli- vered to Moses by Divine inspiration, — It is not likely that he, of his own ideas, or even from any traditionary 68 t II account, could, in those times, have possessed that ex- tention of thought that would have enabled him to frame such a system, or to form the conception that the earth was produced in a globe of v/ater. That it has been so formed, has not been discovered by science until the present day, nigh 6,000 years after its separation from these waters ; and, as I have said in the body of this work, we have no historical account of rt/i^ 6?«^ the waters of Genesis, to which we can refer the phenomena of the earth, so I trust to have proved, that the best discoveries in geology anr^ pneumatics are calculated to shew the real and necessary existence of those waters, and to add new force to the authenticity and authority of the holy Scriptures It, is, moreover, to be observed, that Cuvier gives us no scale, by which he has decided on the time of this revolution to have been 5 or 6,000 years ; and it is very difficult to Cc iceive what data he could have. The time taken by rivers or lakes to form deposits of a known thickness would avail him nothing, as their power of deposition could not be compared to that of such a deluge May it not, therefore, be possible that the revolution he refers to may have been that of the deluge of Noah, in parts of the earth not inhabited by the human species X Thus, by our construcHon of the first verse of Gene- sis, it would appear that the present actual state of the geological bodies, their frequent chrystallizaticn, and their gradual depositions in strata and laminae, can be reconciled to the Scriptural account. That chrystalli- zation and these strata and laminae must, according to the evidence of our senses, have required numerous ages for their formation and deposition. By the suppo- sition that the time of the first verse was antecedent to the six days of the separation, the time required for these depositions is obtained, and they are satisfactorily accounted for; and, also, their having the appearance oi gradual deposition, which they present to us. As it would appear, therefore, that the Create i* has formed the earth by those natural laws we find every where established, we shall now, with humility, suggest, that 69 the true meaning of the 4th Commandment is, that in six days the Lord prepared the earth for the use of its inhabitants. By the experiments of celebrated chemists, and more particularly by the authority of Linnaeus, we trust to have proved a considerable number of the primary earths and metals to have been formed by the vege- tative process of terrestrial vegetables. — But conceiving according to the theory in the foregoing treatise, that it was the design of the Creator to produce the geolo- gical bodies by the instrumentality of the processes of vegetable and animal life, the labours of many species of these animals and their decay, death, and depo- sition, we may conceive aslo, that the marine ve- getables of the universal waters of Genesis were en- dowed with much more various and abundant powers for the production of the geological bodies than we have even found in the terrestrial vegetables. This superior power of production would be necessary to produce the design intended, and the same remark will apply to the marine animals of those waters. As it is very remarkable, that no mention is made in the first chapter of Genesis of the creation of any of the marine plants of Ihe ocean, I will conclude this part of the subject with an observation on that remar- kable circumstance, namely, that it appears to me in- dicative of the possible truth of the theory I have pre- sumed to offer, that the first verse of Genesis refers to BLpreparatorj/ process of the creation, totally distinct in its time and nature from the separation of the waters and the primeval appearance of the dry land, as re- corded in the ensuing verses, which took j^lace in the six days, at the se2)aration of the waters recorded in Genesis, first chapter. Because, the creation of the vast body of the marine plants (required for the pur- pose of nutriment for the marine animals of those waters, who, by their death, decay, and depositions, formed part of the machinery for the Creator for pro- ducing the earth,) having taken i)lace at the beginning, as in the first verse, (being the preparatory process of the creation, by which the dry land was, in subsequent 70 ■'i ages, to be produced,) there was no need that mention should be made of their creation at the period of the se- paration, when the land animals and vegetables were brought into being ; for, and because, these marine plants were included in the record of t^^e first verse, "In the beginning," &c. I have, since the printing of the second edition of this work, had opportunities of reading the most mo- dern geological publications, and finding therein no cause whatever to vary from the theory of the earth I had formed, I now proceed, in this sixth edition, to the ELUCIDATION OF THAT THEORY. The mosiac account, by the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th verses of the first chapter of Genesis, shews us that our earth was first created in the waters or universal ocean ; and by the 9th and 10th verses, we learn that ** the waters under the heavens were gathered together, and the land made to appear." We have shewn that this part of the Scriptural account of creation is confirmed by the concurrent observations of the best afid most modern geologists. Indubitable proofs in every part of the crust of the earth, shew it to have been <* formed in a fluid :" and I trust the following elucidation of our theory will tend to shew that such has been the case through its entire diameter. By this theory, we account for the formation of the entire diameter and circumference of the earth by the continued depositions which have taken place in the oceanic waters of Genesis from the ** beginning" as per first verse, which depositions have been formed by the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and by the constant labours of various species of the animals of that uni- versal ocean, as shewn at full length in the foregoing pages of this work. In Lee's Elements of Geology, (New York, 1840,) page 171, it is said,—" The Pacific Ocean abounds in coral to the thirtieth degree of latitude on each side of the equator ; so also do the Arabian and Persian Gulfs. On the east coast of New Holland is a reef, 350 miles in f^ntion he se- were aarin€ verse, ion of it mo- jin no arth I to the length, and between that country and New Guinea, there is a chain of coral 700 miles long. The Maldivas, in the Indian Ocean, are coral reefs extending 480 geographical miles north and south. These are circular islets, the largest being 50 miles in diameter, the centre of each bemg a lagoon from fifteen to twenty fathoms deep ; and on the outside of each island, at the distance of two or three miles, there is a coral reef, immediately outside of which the water is generally more than 150 fathoms deep. " The following cut will serve to illustrate the general shape and formations of these islands : — m '^ '^)yb^ •vr> mh/ Thus, a tract, nigh equal in length to one-fourth of the diameter of the earth, has been formed by a few species of insects alone. The vegetable and animal depositions of the ocean of Genesis, then, were first attracted to a centre by the universal law ofgra\i*ation, and there formed the nucleus or centre of the arth.* This nucleus being continually augmented in bulk by of the Dy the in the ng" as ned by )nstant it uni- egoing 1840,) nds in jide of Gulfs, liles in • It may be proper to explain how the primitive races of the veg Jtable tribes may have been supported before the nucieus was formed. There are many aquatic plants wliich take no roo' in the earth at all, but grow and float in the water. There is a sp^oies of the fig-tree in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, which has grown foi twelve years, suspended in the air and moistened with water ; we have therefore a right to conclude, that if some species of land plants have this power, many of the first created marine plants of the ocean of Genesis would have it also. In fact, many marine plants of the present seas grow on the rocks, and must consequently derive their nourishment from the water. But it is possible that, until the nucleus was formed, the primitive marine animals may have found their nourishment in the waters, for the microscope shews us that every drop of water contains myriads of the insect tribes. We know, also, that the gills of fish decompose water, by which they would obtain two of the elements of all vegetables — oxygen and hydrogen. i / . i I : 1 \ ! 1 1 70 the unceasing depositions of the ocean, until a great depth of the vegetable and animal remains were accu- mulated, internal heats and fires would be thereby generated, which would last until the combustible matter deposited was consumed. The fires would then cease, until another sufficient depth of fresh depositions took place. The fermentation of these would again produce heat, fires and incandescence, until again the combustible matter last deposited was consumed. The remains, after these combustions, would of course be imcombustible, and aa ould consist of all the primary earths, sands, clay, time, magnesia, &c., and of the cal- ces or oxydes of the various metallic and mineral subs- tances contained in the original depositions of matter above stated. These alternate depositions from the ocean, must have continued to generate these periodic fires, pending the whole time required for the formation of the diameter of the earth, that is, until the separation of the " dry land" from the " waters'' took place, as mentioned in Genesis, first chapter, and 9th verse. The depth or thickness of the depositions required to pro- duce each of these periodic fires, it is impossible to form any certain idea of. It may ha ve required many miles of depth of deposits, as they would contain carbonic, sulphureous, oily, gaseous, earthy, salii?.e and metallic matter mixed ; but it is well konwn that it requires but a small depth of vegetable matter aloue, being moist, and heated by fermentation, to produce ignition. A common hay-stack is often fired by the spontaneous ignition of its hydrogen. ^ j. Thus, according to this theory, we see that the inter- nal fires of our earth at the present day, at least as far as they have been occasioned by the above original causes, cannot extend so near the centre of the earth, because the periodic fires, above stated, would consume all the inflammable matter at certain periods after it was deposited ; each periodic fire would consume the combustible matter deposited from the ocean since the previous fire, and, after each conflagration the parts of 1 a great '■ere accu- 3 thereby mbiistible oiild then epositions lid again igain the Led. The course be 5 primary of the cal- leral subs- of matter 3an, must i, pending n of the )aration of t place, as i^erse. The ed fo pro- lossible to red many i contain ;ahi?.e and vn that it ter alone, 3 produce d by the the inter- ast as far original he earth, . consume after it sume the since the le parts of the earth then formed must have remained in the state of incombustible calces, to form its rocks. This Theory will perhaps also account for that sin- gular phenomenon in geology, of entire genera of ma- rine animals disappearing at different depths in the earth. The incandescence had destroyed these genera, and it was not until the (then^ surface of the earth was cooled sufficiently by the waters of the ocean of Ge- nesis, between the times of the periodic fires, that fresh genera of animals could approach it. These fresh genera then approached it, and, as they terminated the time of their existence, their remains went with the other depositions, to augment the growth of the earth's bulk, and so on continually, until the separation of the land from the waters. The reader will here observe, that although by the above causes of the primitive fires having ceased to exist, and the residue of them being matter in a cal- cified or oxydized form, except indeed the matter of the last depositions of the ocean of Genesis, (which may be one of the causes of the present volcanic fires), that therefore no central fire, arising from these pri- mary causes, can exist ; yet we do not mean to deny, that subsequent causes of fire may have, and are per- haps even now taking place. The electric fluid, as is proved by late discoveries of Sir H. Davy, on the primary earths, (of which the oxy- dized matter of the above conflagrations would mainly consist,) is capable of decomposing these primary earths and water also. It is possible, therefore, com- bustion might be generated, even in the oxydes to which the original deposits were reduced. Thus, in the opinion of many geologists, there is a central fire in the earth. Mr. Lee, in his Elements of Geology, page 53, says, — "From the result of all the observations hitherto made, we may safely conclude that the temperature of the earth increases as we descend, at the rate of one degree for every eight fathoms, consequently, at a depth short of a hundred miles, the materials of the globe are in a state of incandescence.'' ,M '4 f \{ I i I I t II I: V ! 74 Now, though I agree that, from the cause above as- signed, the (electric fluid) internal fires might pos- sibly be regenerated from the oxydized remains of the primordial fires, yel I should conceive these subsequent fires are more likely to be partial than general. I con- ceive that the intention of the Deity was, by the means of the primordial fires, to prepare and harden the geo- logical bodies, to produce chemical decompositions and recombinations of numerous useful substances, to in- crease the coi 'io' ..f these geological bodies, to enable them to - .t^*;ih their rapid and powerful mo- tions in the heaveii'w lo levate the mountains, to di- versify the earth's surface , id give mankind the use of their mineral products ; and I do not conceive these ends would be obtained, were the whole interior of the earth in a state of fusion from a hundred miles below the surface. The increasing heat of the eai'th, as we proceed downwards, can be equally well accounted for, by supposing the present fires to be occasioned by the more recent depositions of combustible matter from the oceanic waters of Genesis, which are still in a state of combustion, aand there is one corroborative circumstance of this stated by Arehdeacon Paley, in page 388 of his Theo- logy of Nature, namely, that " by a comparative calcu- lation with the force of attraction of a rock of granite, the earth was said to have twice the density of that rock, or about fives times that of water," which could not be the case if the earth were nearly all liquid fire ; for, deducting the 100 miles of crust from the diameter of the earth, near 8,000, would leave an ocean of fire 7,800 miles deep. An idea so contrary to the ordinary course and wisdom of nature, appears to me prepos- terous.* I shall now make a few observations on the time that may have been required, according to our theory of deposition from the oceanic waters, to form the whole diameter of the earth. We have shewn, in page 60 of the present edition, the power of geometrical progression in two genera- • See pages 8 and 9, Appendix No. II. t I' 75 36 above as- might pos- aains of the subsequent ral. I fon- 1 the uiv^ians en the geo- 3siti»ns and ces, to in- bodies, to werful mo- lius, to di- id the use iceive these eriorof the liles below rth, as we 3unted for, led by the latter from 1 in a state ce of this his Theo- itive calcu- of granite, by of that hich could iquid fire ; diameter Ban of fire e ordinary le prepos- time that theory of the whole it edition, > genera- tions of herrings, and that in twenty years of genera- tion, a mass of matter could oe produced, equal to ten of our (f lobes, that is, allowing these generations to be undisturbed. Now that must have been the case in the oceanic waters of Genesis. In our seas, immense numbers are anmuilly abstracted from the ocean by the fisheries. Not so in the primeval ocean : there was no abstraction of matter there whatever. The labours of the Zoophytes and other marine animals, we infer, according to the opinion of the modern geologists, have been also " n^oing on m all former ages as at present,'' and would be another immense source of geological formati a. It has been stated by some geologists, that the sedi- mentary rocks have taken a million of years in theii formation. That is, no doubt, grounded on the suppos*- tion that past volcanic action and convulsion hav/i been the same as at present. I trust, however, to have shewn, in our theory, that volcanic and convuls forces must have been immensely greater and more frequent in the primeval ages ; and I believe that a million of years ago, if the globe were then in being, there was detritus enough, arising from that volcanic action, to produce a million times the musses of rock that any ''causes now in operation" could do, and am more confirmed in this opinion, from the vast difference that must have then existed in the tenacity of the for- mations, compared with their present state. Whatever length of period, however, might have been actually employed, we trust we can give it by our explanation of the first verse of Genesis ; but we are not of opinion that the laws for the formations of the globe have required any such immense periods of time as is supposed by some geologists. Their comparative scale of formation, drawn from the present actual ibrraa- tions, is totally inadequate. How, for instance, could the power of deposition of lakes or rivers of the present state of the world be compared with the mighty force of the oceans of the globe, at the time of the separation of the waters of Genesis, rushing over the newly-formed earth with inconceivable impetuosity ? 'i^fT' I I * I 76 I trust that, by the above ehicidation, the reader will completely comprehend our theory of the formation of the solid parts of our earth, by the powerful and vital agencies which, we humbly conceive, the Deity may have employed to effect this wonderful purpose. We wish now to make some observations on a most singular production, which we have fallen in with since the publication of the second edition of this work : this is Mr. Mai ^H s " Wonders of Geology." In page 400, vol. 1st. under the head of Geological Mutations, he says, " I will embody these inductions in a more im- pressive form, by employing the metaphor of an Arabic writer, pnd imaginmg some higher intelligence from another sphere, to describe the physical mutations of which he may be supposed to have taken cognizance from the period when the forests of Portland were flourishing, to the present time. 'Counties ages, ere man was created,' he might say, * I visited these regions of the earth, and beheld a beautiful country of vast extent, diversified by hill and dale, with its rivulets, streams and mighty rivers, flowing through fertile pl'iins and palms, ferns and forest of coniferous trees clothed its surface ; and I saw monsters of the reptile tribes, so huge, that nothing among existing races can compare with them, basking on the banks of the rivers and roaming through its forests, while in its fens were sporting thousands of crocodiles and turtles, wingod reptiles of strange forms shared with birds the dominion of the air, and the waters teemed with fishes, shells and Crustacea: and, after a lapse of many ages, I again re- visited the earth, and the country, with its innumerable dragon forms, and its tropical fruits, all had disappeared, and the ocean had usurped their place, and the waters teemed with nautili, ammonites, and the cephalopeda ol races now extinct, and innumerable fishes and ma- rine reptiles ; snd thousands of centuries rolled by, and I returned, and lo ! the ocean was gone, and the dry land had again appeared, and it w-as covered with groves and forests, but they were wholly different in character from those of the vanished country of the Iguanodon.' " K^ 77 reader will jrniation of il and vital Deity may jiose. on a most with since work : this ' In pnge itations, he more im- an Arabic 'nee from tations of ognizance and were ages, ere se regions jr of vast rivulets, ?h fertile ous trees le reptile aces can he rivers ens Were win god lorn in ion hells and igain re- merable ppeared, waters lalopeda nd ma- by, and the dry ?d with rent in of the This very poetical effusion appears indeed every way worthy to be associciated with the Arabian Talcs. Counties ages, thousands of centuries, and other epochs stated in these ''wonders," are tolerably latitudinary periods, even for fairy tales. It is remarkable, loo, that although the author vvriles so highly of Dr. Buck- land, as a great geologist, he has nc t mentioned the explanation of the first verse of ficnesis, which the Doctor has adopted in his Bridgewater'I'reatise, purpo- sely to account for these great periods of geological mutation. At the same time, Mr Mantell affects to say, that geology, rightly understood, does not confute the Scriptures, or, at least, the purest piety. He, at the same time, would entirely set aside, as by the above extract, the account given by Moses, that the earth, since the separation of the waters in(ienesis, has existed only 5,800 years. Now, if this important part of the Bible is not founded on fact, what an argument would mankind have for disbelieving the remainder? But, fortunately, even these "wonders of geology" cannot effect this. For, first, I verily believe that the carboni- ferous formations offer sufficient evidence that they were produced before the separation in the universal ocean of Genesis ; I believe that these immense club mosses, these arborescent ferns, * so immensely, larger than any of the present day, were marine ; for I can never believe that any difference of cHinate could make such immence difference in the size of the plants. In examining coal, (that is not including lignites or brown coal,) in any part of the, earth we find no traces of woody fibre, which, had it been formed of terrestrial trees, would probably have been apparent Coal appears more likely to have been formed of some soft pulpy matter, such as seaweed, and to have acquired its present appearance by great heat and * Lee, in his Elementary Geology, page 67, says, "In treating on the coal formations, vegetables also, which are now mere herbs, then attained the size of large trees, as, for example, ferns, which, though they now attain ihe height of a few feet at the most, then grew as large as our tallest trees." g2 78 :'■ t pressure, and decomposition. This opinion of the marine formation of coul is supported by Mr. Malelrenck. In Sullivan's View of Nature, letter 38, page 109, Mr. Maletrenck, in treating on the origin of coal, says, — '* But this is a subject which we must examine more closely. Vegetables, as I have said, have been con- sidered as the cause of the formation of pit-coal. A few forests, however, buried in the earth, are not suffi- cient to form the masses of coals which exist in its bowels. A greater cause, more proportioned to the magnitude of the effect, is required, and we find it only in that prodlyious quant itif of vegetable matter which grows in the seas, and is increased by the immense masses which are curried down by the rivers ; these masses are agitated and broken down by the waves, and afterwards covered by argilliceous or calcareous earth, and are decomposed. Nor is it more difficult to con- ceive how these masses of marine and other vege- tables may form the greater part of the coal, than that shells should form the greater part of the globe. The direct proofs, in support of this theory, are the presence of aquatic and marine substances. The soils which contain coal are generally of schistus and grit; and as the formation of pyrites, as well as that of coal, comes from decomposition of vegetable and animal substances, (for sulphur has been proved to exist naturally in ve- getables, and animals), all pit-ooal is more or less pyrilous, so that we may consider pit-coal as a mix- ture of pyrites, schistus, and bitumen." Mr. Maletrenck thus supports our idea of the origin of coal in the secondary formations. I have to add, as a further support of this theory, that all coal contains ammonia or its elements. Now terrestrial trees or vegetables will not account for this ingredient of coal. We know, moreover, that the remains of immense masses of animals must have been deposited in the oceans. The remains of whales, sharks, salmon, and all other fish, many species of which, I believe, are seldom found in the earth fossilized, must have been deposited somewhere in the ocean, and it appears 79 probable thnt coiil hiis dorivod its ainnioiiiu from these soiirros. At all rvents, terrestrial vecjetubhs alone will not aceoiint lor it, for tliey do not ailord one of its ele- men-s, azote. " The coal beds at Johnstone, in vScotland, and those in the Crt'iizot, in IJiiri^imdy, are some of tliem, respec- IHively, thirty and filly feet in thickness, while 'n the forests of onr temperate zones, the carbon contained in the trees ;itor, f space, and e planets, the projec- luences. I inherent in part to substance il, I shall iisly make ve, on the our earth er, impos- upendous me\y, latent sis, " Dark- L!;ht evolved e reg-ioiis of active and emarkable, ration, was tlu' collec- by the 4th I'onnatiou remove a xistence of chapter of Glass is formed in our planet of siliceous earth and pot-ash. The former we have before proved, on the authority of Linna?us, to be composed by the vegetable process ; its parts are therefore formed of the gases which the vegetable extracts from the water and air it imbibes for its nutrition. The latter (pot-ash) has also yielded to Sir A. Davy a metallic button. It is there- fore an oxyde, and must contain much oxygen. Sili- ceous earth and pot-ash, the component parts of glass, are then mostly composed of aeriform substance. We know that the diamond, which is probably much more dense than siliceous earth, has been volatilized in part by burning lenses, or by streams of oxygen gas in a state of ignition. What can these heats be in comj)a- rison to the sun's fire ? Perhaps as an atom to a world. I trust, therefore, it is more consistent with the sacred documents we have had handed down to us by otir religion, — with the operations of nature we are enabled to examine — with the admirable simplicity and order of the laws by which the First Cause hath directed the operations of that nature — to believe, that having Jirst formed the principles which, in the present state of our knowledge, we must call elementary. He proceeded, by the combination of these principles, by combustion, to form the waters which were destined thereafter to produce our earth and planets. Tt is indeed possible that these elements, oxygen, hydrogen and azote, may be compounded of other final elements of much greater energy than themselves, but the rules of science forbid us to consider that as the fact, until we have, found it by experiment. We have therefore, only to carry our knowledge of these prmciples into our reflections on the construction of our system, and with humility, praise and adoration, to conceive, that as most, or all, the geological bodies we have analized, are found to consist of these prin- ciples, they may have been those with which the First Cause, with amazing skill and effect, has ope- rated the wonderful system of creation He hath bes- towed on us. Ft 1 w' ■• I 84 In the contemplation of this creation, and of the recent discoveries in pneumatic chemistry, I trust to have shewn the possibility that our sun may have been formed at the time of the formation of the primordial waters of Genesis ; and as before stated, 1 have consi- dered the other planets of our systems, and their moons, to have been formed in the same manner, at the time whexi, by the creative mandate, the combus- tion of ihe gasses took place, and which 1 consider to be meant and recorded by the 1st verse of 1st chap, of Genesis. So I likewise conceive that our sun was formed at the same time, by the vast body of heat and light disengaged by the stupendous combustion, and that having found his position in the regions of infinite space, according to the laws of his nature, he exerted his attractive influences on the planets of our system, of which he became the centre. We have now to consider by what laws the vast waste of the heat and light of the sun is replenished; and as our conceptions thereon will be found in some dejrree at variance with the hitherto received ideas of the nature of the spaces between the sun and planets, and the regions of inlinite space, and bear also consi- derably on the nature of the sun's influence on those planets, we shall first make some observations on the ATTRACTION OF Vh '^TER. It is said by philosophers ths' ail Dodies are attract ed to the earth's centre : all bodies thrown into the air from the earth descend to the earth's surface when the propelling force is spent, and when the body is arrested by the atmosphere through which it passes. It is said by Paley, page 449 of his natural Theology, that "One principle of gravitation causes a stone to drop towards the earth, and the moon to whirl round it ; one law of attraction carries all the different planets round the sun." This, he says, philosophers demonstrate ; and at jpKge 388 he adds, "Calculations were made some years ago of the mean density of the earth, by com- yaiiig ihe force of itf? attraction with the force of the Q/^vuC( oil of a rock of granite, the bulk of which could 85 and of the ^ I trust to .y have been e primordial have consi- , and their ! manner, at the combus- consider to of 1st chap, our sun was of heat and Dustion, and IS of infinite , he exerted 'our system, vs the vast replenished; und in some Lved ideas of and planets, also crm.si- e on those )ns on the are attract into the air te when the is arrested It is said that "One p towards one law of round the ate ; and at nade some by com- irce of the ^hich could o be ascertained, and the upshot of the calculation was, that the earth, u})on an average through its whole sphere, was twice the density of granite, or about five times that of water." Now, respecting the principle of attraction, J. have to remark, that in chemistry we know with certainty that particles of matter have a mutual and elective attraction called affinity. When an acid is united with a metal into a neutral salt by this attraction, it may be separated from it by f\ny substance with which the acid or its particles have a greater affinity. Thus, if iron, or its oxydes, be dissolved in sulphuric acid, it forms green vitriol, commonly called copperas ; but by adding an alkali to the solution, the iron precipitates, and a neutral salt is formed of the sulphuric acid and the alkali. In a lake or pond in the isle of Anglcsea, in Wales, the water holds blue vitriol, or copperas in solution, which is a salt composed of copper and the sulphuric acid. When iron hoops are thrown into the pond or lake, they become covered with c5pper scales, which is scraped off, and found to be the purest copper in nature. This decomposition of the blue vitriol takes place because the particles of iron have a greater affinity or elective attraction for the sulphuric acid than the cop- per has. The load-stone is well known to attract iron, even in a cold state. Pieces of iron rubbed with the load-stone become also magnetic ; two pieces of wood, or cordage and wood, and probably many other substances, by friction to a great degree, take fire ; that is to say : they become raised to that degree of temperature by that friction, that their particles attract the oxygen from the azotic gas, and from the light and heat with which they are combined in our atmosphere, Certaij stones also, as flints, being struck against iron or steel, heat the particles of the steel so as to calcine them ; that is, they bring these particles to the temperature at which they also decompose the oxygen gas of the atmosphere, and disengage its latent light and heat- Thus the attraction of matter is certainly proved by chemistry. 86 n ,|!i ■ I li But how is the attraction of large and solid bodies proved in the usual temperature of the atmosphere, as in the case of the block of granite mentioned by Paley ? One rock of granite jDlaced alongside another will evince no attraction. It is said, indeed, that some islands, having much iron ore, have attracted a vessel from her course, which, if it be the fact, may perhaps also prove the attraction of matter of a certain descri- tion ; but I know no other way by which the attraction or density of the rock of granite could be proved, but by breaking it by some other body, and ascertaining the weight of the stroke; thus, if a hundred-weight of granite required a stroke of a certain number of pounds tc break it, and a rock of some other species required only a force of half that number, its attraction or density might be said to be half that of the granite. Thus far, then, attraction would be proved by chemistry and geology also. But, that the Creator originally fixed some such law as attraction, for the coLasion of the particles of matter, appears highly reasonable ; else, how should the earth and planets, travelling at such an immeiije rate in their orbits, be retained in their present forms, notwithstanding the power of such velocity of motion ? — A ball of snow, when impelled by the force of the arm, if it be not rendered sufficiently dense by compressure, separates into innumerable parts ; and it mu^^ have been the same with the earth and the planets but for some law of attraction or cohe- sion, to resist the attrition of their rapid motion through the heavens. This attraction, then, of the particles cf matter, seems to be indispt nsible to their existence as spheres ; but the attrpcti.'zi ol thjse for each other, though generally agreed to by the ph'1oso})heiS, appears more dubious and uncerto:r! ThisJoubt is supported by their im- mense diHtanct •= -viiich may, indeed, be founded on a crude idea, and -^ f^'miii may perhaps be dissipated on further coxisidera on. The moon is ob^^irved, in its approach, to occasion high r sings or tides of the waters of the earth, which reced:, on its retiring. — ThiS; it seems to me, is an al- 87 solid bodies nosphere, as 3d by Paley ? mother will , that some ted a vessel aay perhaps rtain descri- e attraction proved, but ascertaining 3d-w eight of er of pounds ies required m or density . Thus far, 3mistry and 'oally fixed sion of the able ; else, ing at such ed in their ^er of such n impelled sufficiently niumerable 1 the earth on or cohe- )id motion tter, seems iheres; but generally re dubious their im- nded on a }.sipated on :) occasion th, which is an al- rmfm most incontrovertible proof that the atmosphere (for storms are ofien generated at the same approach of the moon) and waters of the earth and seas are attracted by the moon. If the moon has this power, we may reasonably conclude that oilier plimets have this power also, governed by certain laws of aistance and di- mension. Now, as to the manner in w lioh the sun exerts his attractive influence on the earth and the other planets. His attraction is said, by philosophers, to be the cause why the earth and planets, having been originally pro- jected in a right line, do not move in that right line, but in their respective orbits round the sun. As to the opinions of these philosophers, of the nature of the sun's substance, I am not aware, except as above stated by Paley, that Buffon supposes it to consist of molten glass. I trust to have shewn, in the foregoing pages, the improbability of this, and that it is more probable to be a body of light and heat. His density, in that case, cannot be equal, bulk for bulk, to the density of the planets, which are, with reason, considered to be inhabited, and must probably be farmed of solid matter. But, as to the nature of the sun's substance, I confess I cannot conceive it possible that a body of such in- conceivable heat, should consist of any thing else than gaseous substance. We know of nothing here below that can produce light and heat with more in- tensity than the decomposition of oxygen gas. Why should we not reason by analogy, that the light and heat of the sun ar(; produced by the same means ? All the other means we have of producing heat by burning-glasses, or l)y friction, are derived from the sun ; and nothing is more remarkable in nature, in her general principles, than uniformity of means. The principle of gravity is said to be the same in an apple falling to the ground, as lu the motions of the heavenly bodies. Is it not, then, impossible to conceive that, in the sun's heat, solid or liquid substances could exist »* The diamond is volatilized into vapours, and, if I recollect right, the perfect metals also, by the galvanic power. It has inded been supposed by some, that the I ! I .■ i sun may be habitable ; that the heat of the particles of light is owing to their friction or attrition, in their passage to the planets. This idea, of no heat in the sun, arose in part from the existence of ice and snow on high mountains in the torrid zone, which is now thoroughly explained from terrestrial causes, by liambin, l>e Luc, Bougan and De Saussure. By such a suppo- sition, we should be forced to conclude that the planets farthest off from the sun were the most warm, which I imagine is totally contrary to probability, to the opi- nions of the greatest philosophers, and- to the evidence of our own senses in the planet which we inhabit. ' A fact well known," says De Saussure, " and which proves strongly to my mind that the action of the solar rays (considered in themselves, and independent of all exterior causes of cold,) is as great on the tops of mountains as in the level country, is, that the force of a lens is the same at all heights. I am therefore convinced with Bougan," continues he, "that the prin- cipal reason of the cold which reigns on the tops of mountains is, that they are always surrounded and covered by an air that is invariably cold, and that that air is cold because it cannot be greatly heated, neither by the rays of the sun, in consequece of the transpa- rency of this air, nor by the surface of the earth, on account of : s distance from that surface.'' " That the temperature," says Sir John Herschell, "at the visible surface of the sun, cannot be othervi^isa than very elevated, much more so than any artificial heat produced in any of our furnaces, or by chemical or galvEinic processes, we have indications of several kinds ; first, from the law of decrease of radiant heat and light, which being inversely, as the squares of the distance, it follows that the heat received on a gi\v.- area exposed at the distance of the earth, and on an equal area at the visible surface of the sun, must be in pro])ortion to the area of the sky occupied by the sun's disk to the whole hemisphere, or as one to about .300,000.* * Thus, by Sir John's estimate, the heat of the sun must be 300,000 limes greater than that received from it by the earth. i>'' ■'■(•t>-.. fcl^™ '-T«W «•*■»• 89 particles of >H, in their heat in the 5 and snow ncli is now byliambin, ch a suppo- the planets irm, which to the opi- le evidence ihabit. ' and which of the solar ident of all he tops of he force of I therefore t the priu- he tops of inded and that that d, neither 3 transpa- earth, on Flerschell, otherwise '■ artificial emical or " several iant heat res of the a gi\^^ lid on an 1st be in the sun's to about n must be earth. According to our theory of the sun, as above stated, we say that the sun is a mass of burning aeriform subs- tance, such as hydrogen gas, or some mixture thereof, which lias the power of decomposing oxgen gas, and of throwing olfits light and heat. The union of the basis of these gases, oxygen and liydrogen, would form water in the state of vapour, which would either be driven ofi into the heavens, and be in future decomposed, as ]iappens in our atmosphere, by the electric fiuid, or be otherwise condensed into aqueous globes, for the future formation of other lieavenly bodies. f lH I shall now offer some observations on the idea of the philosophers, on the existence of a vacuum in the spaces through which the planets move. If we consider the projectile force to have been ab oriijine given to the planets by the Creator, we may suppose that this force was greater than what would have been required to produce their motions round the sun, if a vacuum had existed ; as thus, allow- ing the spaces between the planets and the sun to be filled with an aeriform substance of vast tenuity, (and, indeed, that such immense spaces should consist of vacuum is nearly incredible), yet it would still be pos- sible that this aeriform substance should not impede the motions of the planets, because, on the above sup- position, the projectile force would have been made so much greater than would have been required for mo- ving these planets through a vacuum only, as the resis- tance of this aeriform substance should render neces- sary to overcome that resistance by the projectile force. If, then we should adopt the idea that the heavenly bodies do not float in a vacuum, but should accede to tlie probability that the intervening spaces are filled up with an agriform fluid, 1 humbiy conceive we shall have found a satisfactory way of accounting for the in- fluence of tbe moon ou our seas and atmosphere. If the fact be certain, that the waters rise as the moon approaches the earth, and recede as she retires -from it, may not this phenomenon arise from the pressure ex- f See Appendix No. II , h2 pi«c28. 90 h i! ^ erted on the Lcriform matter above mentioned by the moon, on its approach to the earth, which pressure, at length reaching our atmosphere, presses on it also, and thereby on the waters of the ocean, causing them to rise and fall proportionably, and to occasion the spring, neap and daily tides? Should we not also have, by the same theory, a plain and simile way of accounting for the great principle of attraction in the heavenly bodies'? That, by a power similar to that which propels bodies forward on the earth, seas and atmos- phere, namely, the wind, so the heavenly bodies are propelled from their right line, and driven round their central sun by the repulsion of this mighty current of aeriform gases in the regions of space. — {See JVote 6th to the Second Edition, at the end of the book.) Allowing the projectile force (by which I understand Sir Isaac Newton to have meant the primary projectile force directly given to the heavenly bodies by their Creator) and the attractive force of the sun, to be the causes of the, nearly circular motions of the planets, still it appears to me clear, that this projectile force must be something very different from the species of impelling force which Paley, in his "Natural Theology," speaks of in page 390 of that work. "If it were pos- sible," he says, ''to fire off a cannon-ball with the velo- city of five miles a second, and the resistance of the air could be taken away, the cannon-ball would for ever wheel round the earth, instead of falling down to it.'' Now, if the ball were fired off* in a direction due north, it is evident that, in the course of the circle it would form, it must return by the south pole to the place it was fired from, to north ; and therefore, in every revo- lution, it would return in an exactly opposite direction to where it was fired off* from ; the force, therefore, by which it returns could not be the force of firing of, be- cause it returns in a line directly opposite to that force. — {See Note 4.) I therefore conceive the projectile force, impressed by the First Cause on the heavenly bodies, is of an entirely different nature from the pro- jectile force of a cannon-ball. May not the projectile force partake of the nature of electricity!^ LL'^'-'yW'"!''"*"^"* 91 ned by the pressure, at a also, and ng them to 1 the spring, 30 have, by 'accounting e heavenly that which md atmos- bodies are round their current of ^e JSTote 6M ) understand '■ projectile s by their to be the le planets, ptile force species of ""lieology,'* were pos- i the velo- of the air for ever m to it.'' ue north, it would place it ery revo- direction efore, by ? of, be- at force, uojectile leavenly he pro- •rojectile Having, in the sixth edition, formed our thoory for supplying the waste of the sun's fire by the means of the comets, we beg leave to refer the reader to the Appendix No. IT, where, under the head of " Extra Matter for the Sixth Edition," commencing at page 23, he will find the said theory, shewing how we conceive the waste of the fires of the suns of the universe are supplied with grr )us fuel by means of elaboratories estal»lished for that pur})ose by the ( 'reator in the regions of space, and how these combustible gases are conveyed from those elaboratorics to the suns by the comets of the systems. In the same Appendix, pages 21 and 2*2, the reader will find our theory, (based on that of Sir Isaac Newton's, as stated in Note 6 to second edition), in which we shew how, by the agency of the electric fluid acting on an elastic medium, the heavenly bodies are carried round the sun. I have here to observe, the opinion formed and stated, in this our Theory of the Sun's Formation, of an asrifbrm fluid or medium existing in the regions of space, has now been confirmed by the discovery of Encke's Comet. It appears the Newtonians had asserted that " either there was no such fluid, or that it was so thin, and rarefied, that no phenomenon yet examined by philosophers was capable of betraying its effects." Vide page 151, WheweWa Bridgewaler Treatise, 1838, and same page it is said, "But the facts which have led astronomers to the conviction that such a resisting raediu^p really exists, are certain circumstances occurring in the motion of a body revolving round the Sun, which is now usually called Encke's Comet." It appears this body was first seen in 1786, and that the effect of the resistance of the ethereal medium from its first discovery, (in that year to the present time say 1833,) has been to diminish the timeof revolution, by about two days ; and the comet is ten days in advance of the place whicb it would have reached, if there had been no resistance. {^Seepage 154« of JVhewelPs Brid- gewater Treatise*) Sl>, - ^ Av^ ■> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ ^^> I 1.0 iL 1.25 tii§23 12.5 ut lii 12.2 ^ U° |2.0 m U 116 6" Photographic Sdences Corporation ^^\ ^v •s^ :\ \ 4j^ 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) S72-4S03 i^ W§^^ 'T' The Nebular hypothesis also appears to me to confirm or support both the theory of the combustion of the gases which I have ventured to produce as the origin of the Earth and Planets, and also the cause and for- mation of new Iieavenly bodies by the products of the combustion of the gases for the replenishment of the Sun's waste of light and heat, as stated in a subse- quent part of this work. This Nebular hypothesis is thus introduced by Mr. Whewell in his Bridgewater Treatise of 1833, page 143. " La Place conjectures, that in the original condition of the solar system, the Sun revolved upon his axis surrounded by an atmosphere, which, in virtue of an excessive heat, extended far beyond the orbits of all the Planets, the Planets as yet having no existence. The heat gradually diminished, and as the solar atmosphere contracted by coolings the rapidity of its lotation increased by the laws of rotary motion, and an exterior zone of vapour was detached from the rest, the central attraction being no longer able to overcome the in- creased centrifugal force. This zone of vapour might in some cases retain its form as we see it in Saturn's ring, but more usually the ring of vapour would break into several masses, and then would generally coalesce into one mass, which would revolve about the sun. Such portions of the solar atmosphere abandoned, successively at different periods would form 'planets in the state of vapour.' " " Now it does not appear that La Place has given any clue to find how or of what this solar atmosphere and vapours were formed. He does, indeed, support our idea, that planets may be formed by vapours and subse- quent condensation, which is precisely the way the oceanic globe of our theory is conceived to have been produced ; and without infringing on the humility wc wish to preserve, we may say we have presented to his consideration, in our theory of the combustion of the gases, a real and competent cause for the production of the atmosphere and vapours of his ingenious hypo- thesis But we have to observe on this theory of La 93 Place's that we have more cause now to uphold our own theory of the formation of the Planets in the ocean of Genesis, as his nebular theory has now beeen disproved by the discoveries made by Lord Rosse's Telescope. — {See extra matter /or 6fh Edition at the end of the work.) Will not the combustion of the gases, of which we all now know water to be formed, as stated in the theory of the sun's formation, and the extrication of their heat and light, account not only for this solar atmosphere, but also for the means by which the Great First Cause produced the sun itself? We now recur to Paley's observation in page 388 of his "Theology of nature," that *'by a comparative cal- culation with the force of attraction of a rock of granite, the earth was said to have twice the density of that rock, or about five times that of water.'' Has the mode of ascertaining the foroe of this at- raction of the earth been grounded on the supposed force of the attraction of the sun on the earth and planets 1 Has the earth's attraction in the above expe- riment been come at by calculating its proportionate bulk to that of the sun, and assigning it therefrom its proportionate attraction ? If so, and it should be conceded that the theory I have ventured to propose, of the sun's power of attraction being created or increased by means of the elastic gaseous medium existing in space as stated, in the Appendix — if this theory be correctly founded in nature, it is evident the above experiment in the attraction of the earth cannot be correct in its results. The force of attraction of a body is composed of the united attraction of its parts ; but if the sun's density, has hitherto been considered by philosophers to be ac- cording to his powers of attraction, and it shouldjj be agreed to, that the elastic gaseous medium has a great influence in producing that attraction, the density of the sun must, in this case, be much less than it has hitherto been estimated at, and of course the density of the earth also if it has been grounded on this supposed density of the sun. 94 I now conclude the theory of the sun's formation by some observations on the following extract from Paleys Work, page 380. Speaking of the intervening spaces between the j)lanets, he says that "the intervals between them are made devoid of any inert matter, either fluid or solid, because such an intervening subs- tance would, by its resistance, destroy those very motions which attraction is employed to preserve." I have before endeavoured to shew that there may bo such reriform substances existing m these spaces, which would indeed resist these motions of the planets, but thttt this resistance is sufficient only to diminish the velocity of these motions. To explain this more fully : — May not the moon have been originally projec- ted by the Creating cause to move in its orbit or course at the rate of three thousand two hundred and seventy miles per hour ? and, supposing the resis- tance of the media or seriform fluids of my theory to be equal to one thousand miles per hour, this resistance would only diminish the rate of the moon's motion to two thousand two hundred and seventy miles per hour, which is the actual rate she is said to travel in her course round the earth. In fine, the theory of the sun's being replenished with fuel by means of aeriform fluids, is supported by another observation of Paley's. In page 350 of the above work, ho says — " The light and heat of the sun follow the same laws, and, to us, appear nowise differ- ent from the light of a candle, and the heat of a coal fire." Why, then, may not this heat and light of the sun be supplied in the same manner as that of the candle and coal of fire ? In our planet, this heat is now known to be produced by the decomposition of oxygen gas by those combus- tible bodies, and the consequent extrication of its latent light and heat; but if the light and heat of the sun be generated by the same laws, and, as there is probably some physical cause for the attraction of the planets by the sun — and as this physical cause of the motion of those planets round their central Sun, may throw additional light on the great principle of his attraction— 96 I therefore humbly submit the foregoing Theory of the Sun's Formation and the means of supplying the waste of his combustion, to the scrutiny of a candid and enlightened world : and being sensible of my incom- petence in respect of that profound degree of scientific knowledge required in the attempt I have made to reconcile and explain the account of the Creation, han- ded down to us by our religion, with the great discove- ries in the sciences of Geology, Chemistry and Pneu- matics, I have only to hope I may, at all events, have exalted the utility of these sciences by shewing their tendency and power to diminish or quiet the doubts of scepticism, and to open greater sources of our admira- tion of the goodness, power, wisdom and glory of the Great First Cause. Having now represented to the public the theory of the sun's formation, arising, as I conceive, naturally, from the stupendous quantity of light and heat which must have evolved from the combustion of the gases required for the formation of the ocean of Genesis, and having therein given my ideas on the manner in which the waste of the sun's light and heat may be replenished, I purpose now to make a few observations on the opinion stated by Dr. Herschell as to the opaque- ness of the sun, and also of the spots which are found on, or adjacent to his surface. Sharon Turner, in his Sacred History, page 46, vol. 1st, says— -"Qf the actual substance of the sun, so little satisfactory to our judgment has been discovered, that all which is mentioned concerning it, can rank no higher than conjectures more or less plausible. Dr. Herschell thought his body to be opaque, with an upper stratum of black luminous clouds. Black spots of varying magnitude and form are continually appearing upon it and receding ;" and in a Note from La Place, page 20, it is said — " Dr. Herschell has inferred that what he deems the sun's luminous atmosphere, is 2,500 miles from its surface." The preface to Sharon Turner's Work is dated 1832. 'l lie first edition of mine was published in 1 836 ; — his observations as to the substance of the sun could not, 96 therefore, include it ; and I shall now make one final observation in support of the probability of my system, namely, that it is, I conceive, highly probable, the Deity would convert the stupendous quantity of heat and light which must have been extricated from the combustion of the gasses of which the oceanic waters are formed, to some great purpose. The fabric of the sun thereby, was it not the most prominent and neces- sary one he could have applied it to 1 Now, respecting Dr. llerschell's opinion as to the opaqueness of the sun, as I am well aware of the exalted talents of that philosopher; and equally cons- cious of my own want of scientific knowledge to cope with them, I must leave the decision on the validity of my theory of the sun to men of scientific acquiremer.ts, should it meet their eye ; and in that cuse, I beg to submit to them, should they agree to that validity two questions : — 1st. The luminous atmosphere of Dr. Herschel being, as he says, 2,500 miles from the sun, will it not be accounted for by the vast bodies of hydrogen and oxygen gases which I have supposed, by their combus- tion, to serve as alimentary fuel for the sun ? Also — the spots on the sun's surface, or, as some say, adjacent thereto, may they not be accounted for by the above said cause, from the denser volume of aqueous vapour which must be produced by this vast combustion of hydrogen 1 The combustible gases would probably be ignited at the distance mentioned, (2,500 miles from thesunjand no doubt they would prove luminous enough. 2d. If, as it has been lately suggested, our atmospheric heat is produced by the sun's rays opera- ting on a calorific medium, can we allow this heat to be produced by any other means than by abstraction from that medium ? Heat is undoubtedly a material substance, and from whencesoever it is abstracted by the sun's rays, and carried off', must not a corresponding degree of cold be produced 1 and must not the whole extent of the space Detween the earth and sun become continually more and more refrigerated, unless some means are found for 97 replenishing this waste of heat ? and this we humbly conceive, our theory of (he sun will do. I now present to the reader a short outline of Sir Richard Philips' Theory of the cause of the motions of the heavenly bodies, taken from a work called "Wonders of the Heavens," liccture 2d, page 30, printed for Riciiard Philips, London. I make this extract as presenting a singular sanction of our theory, of the existence of a gaseous medium in the regions of space ; but do not agree with him in rejecting the Newtonian principle of gravity and attraction, and refer our readers to our observations thereon in the preface to the third edition. *' About 100 years passed from the discovery of the theory of gravitation, without any remarkable addition to it, till the year 1818, when Sir Richard Philips, in some essays on the proximate causes of the pheno- mena of the universe, impeached the entire theory founded on the simultaneous existence of universal gravitation, projectile force, and an alleged vacuum in space." This writer has shewn that Hook's Law of Gravity, which Newton so fortunately applied, is not a universal law, but a law created locally by the transfer of motion through any medium, such as the medium of space, *and that the motions of nature, necessarily propagated according to that law, are, in truth, the cause of all the phenomena which heretofore had been ascribed to the occult and unintelligible principles of attraction and gravitation. Hence, as the law called the law of gra- vity, which Newton applied to the problems of his Frin- cipia, is proved not to be universal, and not an innate property, but an accident of matter, so there no longer exists any occasion for the projectile force with which Newton endowed the planets to prevent their falling into the sun ; nor was it any longer necessary to extin- guish the medium, which it may be supposed is co- existent with space, for the purpose of conferring perpetuity on the projectile force. He considered all matter as the possible parent of motion, and motion as power, and then proceeded to ^^^^^^ m show, thut all bodies on the earth arc the parents of its motions, and that its motions are competent to produce all the phenomena which we witness on earth ; that weight or gravity is the mere effect of motion, or a tendency to move by the transferred impetus of the earth's motions ; in line, that two-fold motions are powers of aggregation in all planets ; and that these motions, or that of the svn, propagated through the medium of space y Xixcrga as the square of the distance, and act with the same precision through an elastic medium, as a lever of iron. He shewed also, that the fall of bodies to the earth, ascribed to terrestrial gravi- tation, is a necessary result of the twofold motions of the earth, and that all the phenomena heretofore explained, by a principle which, considered as univer- sal, led to many false analogies, are mere results, of motions, or accidents of matter, altogether local and mechanical. The philosophy ofmaterial phenomena, promulgated by Sir Richard Philips, teaches that the universe con- sists of extension of matter under various expansive gaseous, fluid, and fixed forms of body, proceeding in relative density from the rarest and most extended fluid media, to the most condensed aggregate or fixed atoms. " In fine,'' says Sir Richard Phillips, " motions of matter, subject to regular mechanical laws, acting abso-* lutely or subordinately, generally or locally, on aggre- gates or atoms, and producing various densities, and diflerent degrees of locomotion, and aflSnity, in atoms of matter, of different constituent forms, are the proxi- mate causes of all phenomena ; and as one series of phenomena depends on another, so all existing pheno- mena, are, in regard to others, physically fit, compa- tible, and harmonious ; and as matter cannot originate its own motion, so in considering motion as the proxi- mate cause of all phenomena, we arrive, through the ascending series, at the necessary and sublime First Cause of all motion and all phenomc na."* Page 35. • It being thought by some that Sir Richard Phillips' Theory was of Atheistical tendency, I have extracted the foregoing para- graph to sh«w the reverse. 99 Its of its produce fi ; that n, or a of the )ns are t these igh the istance, elastic that the il gravi- ions of 'etofore univer- ults, of ;al and ulgated le con- )ansive iui? in )d ifluid atoms, ons of J abso-* aggre- s, and atoms proxi- ries of )heno- ompa- ginate proxi- 3fh the First 35. Theory 8:para- » ■I The next sanction of our theory of the existence of gaseous mutter in the Sun's atmosphere, we take from Sir John llerschell's Astronomy of last year, page 407, chap. 12. " Wo shall concUule this chapter by the mention of a phenomenon which seenis to indicate the existence of some slight degree (»f nebulosity about the Sun itself, and even to place it in the list of nebulous Stars, It is called tho Zodiacal light ; and may be seen any very clear evening soon after sunset, about the month of April or May, or, at the opposite season of the year, before sunrise, as a cone or lenticular shaped light, extending from tho h(n*i/on, obliquely upwards, and following generally the course of the ecliptic, or rather that of the Sun's equator. The apparent angular dis- tance of its orbit from the sun varies according to circumstances, from 40 ^ to 90 ® , and the breadth of its base perpendicular to its axis, from 8 ® to 30 ^ . It is extremely faint and ill defined, at least, in this cli- mate, though better seen in tropical regions. It cannot bo mistaken for any atmospherical meteor or Aurora Borealis. It is manifestly in the nature of a thin lenticularly formed atmosphere, surrounding the Sun, and extending at least beyond the orbit of Mer- cury and even of Venus, and may be conjectured to be no other than tho denser part of that medium, which, as y*i have reason to believe, resists the motion of co- mets, loaded perhaps with the actual materials of the tails of millions of them, of which they have been strip- ped in their successive perihelion passages, and which may be sloAvly subsiding into the Sun." It appears, hereby that Sir John completely sanc- tions the existence of gaseous matter in the Sun's atmosphere. And for what other purpose could it be there, but for the supply of the waste of its light and heat by the combustion of this gaseous matter? And Sir John may well says, as he does in the above most admirable treatise on Astronomy, **that there is an enormous degree of heat in the Sun." The last extract we shall here make, as sanctioning our theory of supply of waste of the Sun's heat and IB Jii.i' 1 1') 100 light, is from ii work publisluMl in 1841, called *'Gra- huiu's F.leinciits of Chemistry." " It hns uhviivH been obsorvtul that thero is a black line or linos umoii«( the ravs received from the Sun throupfh the ])rism on a spectrum. These black lines IMiilosophers had never l)een Hl)le to account for. Put the iilmosplicre of the Sun has now received an enti- rely cliemicul cliaracter from late experiments of the celebrated Sir David Hrewster, who found that on pas- sing a ray ol light from a connnon lamp through a medium of uUioks vxi/d (/as, it innucdiately formed a thousand black h'ncs on the spectrum, lie, Sir David, thence infers, (in accounting for the black lines when rays are receiv(>d fr(*m the Sun) that gaseous matter must exiiit in the sun's utmosphere, by which medium the black lines are produced on the spectrum.'' Doctor (Jraham adds, "that we may thus be able hereafter to exphiin how the light of the Suns of other systems ia f(»rmed and maintained.'' lie thus evidently considers that the mode ofsu[)ply- ing the wa.ste of our own Sun's light and heat is explain- ed by means of this gaseous atnios|)here, and thereby supports our theory of the combustion of that matter for producing that supply.* On a review of these concurrent testimonies, we, with humility, conceive therefore thai our theory of the original formation of our Sun, by tlie light and heat evolved by the combustion of the gases for the forma- tion of the universal ocean of Genesis ; and of the mode of supplying the waste of the Sun's light and heat may be considered as nearly established. Having thus concluded my attempt on the system of the creation of our earth and planets, and of the formation of their central Sun, with the means which I conceive may have been adopted by the Creator to supply the vast waste of his combustion, we now pro- ceed to the last part of our prospectus, namely, the dissolution of our globe, with the possible changes * The Jibovc extract is taken fioin memory, but the substance will be found in Graham's Elements of Chemistry. I \li 101 wliieli the present state of our knowledge would lead us to presume would be the result of it. DISSOLUTION OF OUR GLOBE. By the authority of Scripture, we are informed, that the globe we inhabit is doomed to dissolution by the element of fire. We cannot, indeed, presume to say, that the nature of this conflagration shall be the same, and be governed by the same laws as those which take place at present, but judging from the hitherto im- mutable nature of those laws, we shall proceed to consider the principal changes which, according to them, would take place at this general conflagration. There are, indeed, many parts in the external and internal phenomena of the earth, which subject it continually to change and decomposition. The probable eflfects also, of its continual motion in the heavens, and the possible contact of other heavenly bodies, perhaps igneous, appear to confirm the destiny recorded in the Scriptures. The late discoveries however, in pneumatic chemistry, have proved to us, that what had hitherto been considered as destruction by fire, is only a change, or decomposition of the various combustible bodies, into the elements of which they are composed. A gi*eat Eroportion of the vegetable world is found to be reduced y combustion, into elastic vapour called gasses ; and it is not improbable, (at least if we assent to the facts stated by, and the opinion of, professor Chaptal, which I have before mentioned, on the productions of the vegetative process ; and also, the still higher authority, of professor Linnaeus, quoted ai)ove, whereby many of the primary earths and metals are proved to be the porducts of vegetation,) that the various earths and metals, and their combinations, may hereafter be found to consist of compounds of the bases of the gases of oxygen, h ydrogen and azote, and of carbon. In the foregoing system of creation, I have stated that lead is found to gain an accession of weight by oxydation of nearly ten pounds in one hundred pounds, by the absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere. This i2 m r ] i: 102 oxygen must therefore exist in the oxycl, in a solid state. Pit-coal and jiot-ash arc found also to contain oxygen and hydrogen in the same state, and the Schisti or slate mountains are also said to have heen eomposed hy the decomposition ol' vegetables, which are primarily com- posed of these gases ; and these schisti, therefore, in })art, consist of solid oxygen, iVe. In fme, from these facts, and many others stated in the Ibregoing pages, we liave, in the theory of creation, come to the con- clusion that the processes of vegetation and of anima- lisation were the machinery chosen by the First Cause for the gradual production of all the geological bodies of which our earth is composed. Now, the marine vegetables of the waters or ocean ofGenesis, can have imbibed their nourishment only from these waters and the air imbibed by them, and must have had the power conferred on their natures to decompose these waters, and to re-compose by the pro- cess of vegetation (as we find to be the case in ter- restrial vegetables) a vast variety of new productions, allof which, however dense, must have possessed the constitnent elements of water and air, oxygen, hydrogen, and azote, for their final elements. The depositions then of the marine vegetable, world, having formed a certain and a very great proportion of the geological bodies of the earth, the remainder of them we have conceived to have been formed by the depositions and labours of the marine animals. The habitations or shells of these, we have shewn in various parts of the foregoing theory, to com- pose a considerable portion of the earth's criist ; and the vast generations of these animals, after their decay and decomposition, have, no doubt, according to their affinities and gravities by their deposition, formed or entered into the structure of the remaining geological products. In the course of our theory, we have endeavoured to show, that the vast chalk and lime-stone formations of the earth, may also have been the result of the decom- position or disintegration of these marine shells. On this .«ubject, we have to add one observation ; bearing 108 ! iU. ' considerably on our present sn})jcct, namely, the final eleincnls of the geoloj^ical bodies. It is, thut clitilk and lime-stone, being earbonntes of lime, mnst also, therefore, consist ofa groat ))roj»ortion of oxygen in a solid state, their carbonic acid being coniponiided of oxygen and carbon. Lime itself, also hns atlbrded Sir II. Davy a metallic button ; it is thercf a * As far as this line, comprises 24,350 feet APPENDIX. ?i m ('!> '! *x->« (I Ri'-1 Thefolloioing Notes and Ulu&trations are recommended to the reader' % attention, as ilhistrative of the Theory of Creation, and particularly as contai- ning observations on the late discoveries in Geology. Note 1. — It seems, indeed, almost impossible (sup- posing for a moment the idea of Biiffbn as to the origin of our earth was correct) to conjecture by what means its waters could have been subsequently obtained. A body of molten glass would, necessarily, assume a spherical form in the heavens ; but it seems not pro- bable, or possible, that such vast cavities, as the beds of the seas or oceans of the earth, could have been form- ed on it by its motions merely. Again vitreous substances do not contain the ele- ments that produce earthquakes and volcaneos. Hy- drogen or enflammable gas is probably required for that effect, which is not contained in glass : therefore, the vast cavities of the ocean coiild not arise from in- ternal commotions ; but, even allowing them to have been produced by some unknown cause, how is the origin of the waters to be come at 1 Water is, I belive, sometimes generated in our atmosphere by the com- bustion of hydrogen ; but this is a mere drop in the ocean, compared to the general cause that produces our rains. In fact, it could not, consistently with the safety of the productions of the earth, or even of their embryos at the time of their formation, have been made a general law for the purpose of producing the waters of the oceans. On the other hand, the system of the forma-" tion of the earth, from waters generated by combustion, appears to be a more natural and satisfactory solution of the phenomena of creation. These waters, formed and endowed, as we must conceive, according to the design of the Creator, with the most prolific powers of generating plants and animals, produced gradually sufficient deposits to form the earth. I have stated, in the body of the work, that a single herring, unmolested for twenty years, would, as it has Ill been computed, produce ten of our globes ^ nnd, allowing it to produce only one globe, what must the depositions of all the vegetables and animals of the waters of Genesis amount to ? In fact, on a consideration of the probable powers of deposition of these waters, and of the small proportion the known parts of the land bears to our oceans, we might be inclined to conjecture that there may be vast tracts of land on the globe yet undis- covered, and it is remarkable that this idea is now verified by the discovery of an antarctic continent.* Note 2. — It may be observed further, respecting this resistance of the nsriform media of our theory, that, as our system itself and I believe also tho fixed stars, are allowed by astronomers to have some progressive motion, and which must be owing to the principle of attraction towards some centre; therefore, the resisting beriform media must move the same way also in their courses towards the sun, having thus two motions ; they must be thus attracted towards the same centre as our system is said to be ; the resistance they give to the earth and planets in their rectilinear motion, though it may thereby dii.iinish the velocity of that motion, yet it cannot " destroy it," these ccriforra media being themselves under the influence of the same attraction towards an unknown ce. tre. — {Sue J^ote 4> in conjirmation of this,) This idea of a general motion of our system, and of the fixed stars, will be found in the work I have so often quotod, " Paley's Natural Theology." He states if I rightly remember, " that the fixed stars have cer- tainly small motions," and considers them to be at- * Our readers are aware, that Capt. Hoss, of tlie British Navy, lately made a voyage of discovery to the South Sea. From ex- tracts from his journals, published in some english papers, it seems that he has reached lat. 7 8 ® south; and that he has discovered what the has called South Victoria Land, extendino; from latitude 70§ * to 79, and how much further is unknown. Its eastern coast lies between the 163d and 171st degrees of long. It was girt with a barrier of ice nany miles in breadth, which rendered it inacces- sible, the ice being in some parts 150 feet high. He represents the land as rising in peaks from 9,000 to 12,000 feet high, pcrlectly covered with snow. He saw various volcanoes. — TraKsiatcu. March 19, 1812. 112 f': Iracted to a dciitre ; and if this be really foiincltd in fact, it certainly offers one of the grandest ideas of the Deitv the mind of man can conceive, namely, that if all the systems of the heavenly ])udies thus move round one common unknown centre, may we not conceive that centre to be the Empjircal Tlwonc of God men- tioned in tlie 4th chapter of Revelations, from whence He ])eholds continually the immense operations of his hands, ))erformin/r////a^, the constituent elements of the body may then, perhaps, enter into indiscriminate combinations with other matter All I wish to infer from the reasoning offered is, that the intelligeut sjiirit or soul of man is indcsfrNctible. Note 4. — It is said, indeed, by philosophers, that a body once put in motion, if all the resistance to it were taken away, would continue to move in its course for ever ; that is a case, however, Avhich never can be proved by actual experiment, and it must rest solely on the opinion or arguments of those philosophers. If, however, the above supposition of perpetual motion of belies moving in a vacuum be founded in nature, and that the heavenly bodies are made to move in a ) • 113 Vacnam, to obtain the object of perpetual motion, we miiy, ill iKkiition to what we have observed in Note 2, on the subject of universal attraction to an unknown centre, remark, that this imiversal attraction (supi)osing our tlieory of the reirions of sjiace being filled with icriform media to be correct) may be the cause wliich prevents the diminution of the projectile force in the courses of those lieavenly bodies through those Lcriforra media. Note f). — Having jus'^ now obtained a sight of the late publication of Lord Brougham of last year, 1835,1 here subjojn an extract from it, describing the late discoveries of fossil remains by Cuvier, Buckland, and other geologists, to which I add some observations bearing on the relation of these facts to our theory of creation. In page 33 of his work, Lord Brougham observes, '^the discoveries already made in ^his branch of science (geology) are truly wonderful, and they proceed on the strictest rules of induction. It is shewn that animals formerly existed on the globe, being unknown varieties of species still known j but it also appears that species existed, and even genera wholly unknown, for the last five thousand years. These peojjled the earth as it was, not only before the general deluge, but before some convulsion, long prior to that event, had overwhelmed the countries then dry, and raised others from the bottom of the sea. In these curious enquiries, we are conversant, not merely with the world before the Flood, but with a world which, before the Flojd, was covered with watei ; and which, in fur earlier ages, had been the habitation of birds, and beasts, and reptiles. We are carried, as it were, several worlds back, and we reach a period when all was water, and slime, and mud, and the waste, without either man or plants, gave resting place to enormous beasts like lions, and elephants, and river-horses ; while the Water was tenanted by lizards, the size of a whale, sixty or seventy feet long ; and by others, with huge eyes, having shields of solid bone to protect thon, and glaring from a neck ten feet in length ; and the air was darkened by flying reptiles, covered with scales, k2 ^1 1 f't'i i 114 opening like the jaws of the crocodile, and expanding wings, armed at the tips with the claws of the leopard. No less strange, and yet not less proceeding from in- duction, are the discoveries made respecting the f,; .1,4 . •» GLOSSARY OF TERMS u < IN THIS WORK. '11 •• >■'■«; ■i! , 7«-r;- '/ .•" ( ■ I U. Alumine, pure earth of clay. Azote and Azotic Gas, a constituent principle of our atmosphere, destructive to combustion and to animal life. Appetencies, a supposed aptness of matter to assume certain forms. Affinity, that particular attraction which Chemists observe different bodies have for each other. JEriform F'luids, gases or fluids resembling common air, Caloric, matter of heat pervading all bodies. Carbonic Acid, the acid of charcoal formed by burning it in the open air. It escapes in an ceriform state. Chaotic Mixture, a solution of all the solid substances of the globe, supposed by the ancients to have existed. Fossil Remains, of animals or vegetables, found in the earth. Galvanic Power, a species of electricity. Geology, the science of the various substances forming the interior and the crust of the earth. Gravity or Gravitations, that power in matter by which it continnally tends to gravitate towards other bodies, according to the laws of its density and distances, and the power of an elastic pressure. Hydrogen^ a constituent element of all water ; it is called also inflammable air or gas, and is the same that is now used for lighting cities and inflating balloons. Incondescence, any body in a state of ignition. Lamina, the appearance of many rocks in the earth resembling the leaves of a book. Marine Exuvice, shells or remanis of animals found in the earth. , 125 US 3 of our and to assume lemists • ion air, urning I state, tances ) have n the Malrix, the womb of material or spiritual substance. Medium, air, water, or any substance through which the rays of light are made to pass. Jstucieus, the central part of any globular body. Orbits, the paths r)f the moons round their planets, and of the planets round their sun. 0,vygen Gas, a constituent element of our atmosphere, , supporting combustion and life in the highest degree. It is also a constituent element of water. Planets, the heavenly bodies composing our system and revolving round the sun. Pneumatic Chemistry, the science of eeriform bodies, Silex, siliceous or sandy principle. Silicon, the metallic basis of siliceous earth or sand. Sodium, a metal lately discovered by Sir H. Davy to be the basis of soda, produced by marine plants. Sulphuric Acid, common oil of vitriol. Tertiary Strata, in geology the strata or rocky forma- tions of the earth as far as man has penetrated, are ' divided into three, the primary being the lowest, — ^ secondary being next, — tertiary being the up- permost. Vacuum, a space void of matter of any kind, now known not to exist. ming ivhich other and re. It IS Bame iting arth d in m- l2 I( i m 126 APPENDIX. No. II. CONTAINING EXTRA MATTER FOR THE 4rH 5th 6th 7th 8th & 9t„ editions. I am happy to be able to present the reader of the Fourth Edition of this work with two important extracts from late scientific publications. The one is from the celebrated Arago, the French Astronomer, and the other from Lardner's Popular Luctures in the American States. I now present the following extract from Arago's Scientific Notices on Comets, in support of our theory of the sun, and of the spots on his surface : — ** If the comet of Buffon, in striking the sun, had detached from it solid fragments, if the planets of our system had originally been such fragments, they would in a similar manner have grazed the surface of the sun at each revolution. — All the world knows how far that is from the truth. Did not our naturalist also believe the matter which composes the planets sprung from the solar globe, already formed into distinct masses? He imagined, as I have said, that the comet ha d spouted forth a real torrent of fluid matter, in which the impul- sions which the various parts received from each other, and their mutual attractions, rendered every assimi* lation with the movements of solid bodies impossible. The system of Bufibn afibrds explicitly as a result, that the solar matter — at least, the exterior of it — is in a state of liquefaction ; then, I should hasten to declare that the most scrupulous modern observations have not confirmed that idea. *< The rapid changes of form which the obscure and luminous solar spots incessantly experience, the immense spaces that those changes spread over in very short times, have already led to the very probable suppcsHioiif for some years, that similar phenomena 127 ONS. r of the nportant '' one is •onomer, s in the Arago's r theory Lm, had 5 of our r would the sun far that believe J from nasses ? ipouted impuU other, issimi- >ssible. t, that in a eclare i^e not eand the very bable mena would occur in a gaseous medium. At present expe- riments quite of another nature, experiments on lumi- nous polarization made at Paris observatory, incontes- tibly establish this result ; and if the exterior and incandescent part of the sun is a gas, the system of Buffon is erroneous in its most essential outset, and is no longer tenable." OBSERVATIONS ON THE ABOVE EXTRACT. I have shewn, in the body of the work, that the theory of Buffon is not tenable. Mr. Arago now con- firms the fact. — In another part of this edition, I have proposed a query on the subject of the spots on the sun, namely, whether they might not be accounted for by the combustion of the oxygen and hydrogen, gases serving (according to our theory) as fuel for the sun's fire ; and it is with great satisfaction J am now enabled to add to this fourth edition of my work, the sanction given to this idea and to our theory of the sun, by the above extracts from the work above named of the celebrated Astronomer, Arago. He states that phe- nomena, similar to the spots on the sun, might arise in a gaseous medium, and allows the possibility that the exterior and incandescent parts of the sun may be a gas, which is precisely consistent with our theory of the sun's formation, and the means employed by nature to supply the waste of his heat and light. In fine, it would appear, by the experiment on the polarization of light stated above, that the original idea of the great Newton, that the aun is a body of fire or flame, will still hold good ; and that although he had not the ad- vantage of the modern discoveries in pneumatic science to direct him, it shews that on this occasion, as on that of the combustibility of the diamond, the genius of the immortal philosopher had formed a iust idea of the nature of the sun. I am happy to be able to add a further explanation of this discovery of Aragc's from Dr. Lardner's very popular lectures in New- York. In page 17, he says, on the subject of the Light of the Sun : " In optics, a beam of light is proved to be suscep- tible of a peculiar modification, called Polarization. Light may undergo certain changes, which shall pola- if' , fi" il 128 rize it, imparting to two of the sides of the ray opposite to each other a certain property which the other two do not possess. The question arises whit are these properties? " I'hey are various ; one, however, is so simple and so nearly connected witli the demonstration to which I call your attention, that I shall mention it. If a ray of light fall upon a reflecting surface with either of these two sides which are represented by the two red sides of this wand, it will be reflected at an angle equal to that by which it approached the surface ; but if it strike the surface upon thq other opposite side — the blue — it will not be reflected at all ; so that two of its faces are capable of reflection, while the other two are not. This is one of the qualities by which polarized light is characterized. In a ray which is not polarized, reflection takes place under all circumstances, 'lut with polarized light only under certain conditions. Thus, we see that light may exist in two distinct states. Now this is the truth which has been contributed to this demonstration by the discoveries of modern optics. Let us turn to another branch of physics. " The science of heat has received more attention within a few years past than any other branch of phy* sics. Fourier, a French philosopher, has done much in this department of knowledge. One of the conclu- sion he establishes in this : *There are tnree states in which material bodies exist; the solid, liquid, and gaseous 1 Fourier proved that when a solid body became incandescent, the light which it emits is /)o/a- rized ; that the light emitted by an incandescent liquid (as molten iron) is likewise polarized; and that the light of incandescent gases is unpolarized. These facts are true, whatever, may be the nature of the materials. Here is a distinction established by this great natural philosopher between the light emitted by incandescent solids and liquids, and that emitted by gases. This is the contribution from the science of heat. " Now, Mr. Arago has, with most beautiful sagacity, availed himself of these two facts constituted by the sciences of light and heat, to determine the nature of -' > 129 the sun's atmosphere. This may easily be clone ; for since it is established that the light from incandescent solids and liquids is j)olarized, while the li• 1 130 of the identity of lightning and electricity were at first laughed at by the lloyul Society of London, I need not be sur|irised that the same may have haj)j)cned to my suggestions on the nature of the sun and his combustion. But now that the gaseous theory is verified by so great authoriiies as Mr. Arago and the Paris Observatory, as shewn by Dr. Lardner, I cannot but feel content and gratified. By the extract from Arago, it appears that the spots on the sun might exist, and be accounted for and ex|)laincd by a (jaseous medium;* this being the case, there is no longer any necessity for receiving that every improbable idea, that the sun's body is cold and o])aque, and I therefore trust our theory will be found by scientific men to be more satisfactory and cor- rectly founded in nature. In fact, it appears by Dr. Lardner's observations on this discovery of Arago, of the non-polar izalion of the light of the sun, that it is mathematically proved by him that the sun's surface is an " Ocean of Flame;" and, I conceive, we are hereby justified in reasoning, by analogy, that the case is the same with the suns or stars of all the systems. Conceiving, then, that part of our theory relating to the sun's substance and nature, has been thus (to me indeed unexpectedly) demonstrated by that very high branch of science, the polarization of light, and concei- ving, also, that it is unquestion Me, that great as the sun's bulk is, the unceasing emanation of his heat and light would, in time, exhaust his substance, and there- fore the waste must necessarily be supplied with extra- neous combustible matter : so I trust that part of our theory which relates to the supply of that waste, will be rendered more highly probable by the above discovery. One would, indeed, have imagined that, by a priori reasoning on this waste of the sun's light and heat, philosophers might of old have inferred that it must be supported ab extra ; but now that the gnseous nature of the sun's incandescence is verified, as shewn above, and as Sir John Herschell has shewn in his late admired work on Astronomy, that the gaseous tails of numerous • Verifying our theory of those spots in the " Theory of the Sun's Formation." Vrocluced thereby, or, us by the theory of my work, from currents of the gases rushing through the regions of space Ibr that purpose. It is indeed, probable that both these sources of gaseous supply may be employed by nature ; but the latter theory will also account for the tides by physical pres- sure, and for the great principle of attraction of the heavenly bodies, namely, the impetus of motion gene- rated by a gaseous medium rushing through the regions of space ; and I have accordingly adopted that theory in my System of the Creation* NOTE TO FOURTH EDITION. In further corroboration of the formation of coal from marine plants and trees grown in the ocean, we observe that, in contemplating these immense masses of marine vegetable matter, we have a right to ask of those who argue terrestrial formation, what has become of those masses of marine vegetation after the termination of their vegetable life 1 Undoubtedly there can be no other satisfactory account given of this than that they have, like all other dead vegetable matter, suffered decomposition, and by means of the superincumbent pressure of other deposits of the oceans and volcanic heats, have been changed and converted into seams of coal, as we now find them. There they lay, containing a considerable quantity of ammonia, received from their contact with the ani- mal deposits of the oceans, and which ammonia cannot be accounted for by the theory of formation from terres- trial vegetables, for these yield very little or no ammo- nia. • Having, in this sixth edition of this work, formed our theory of supplying the waste of the sun's light and heat by means of the comets, in place of our former theory of currents of gases, the reader will observe, that we now refer the attraction of the earth and pla- nets round the sun to the gaseous medium now pioved to exist in infinite space. — Vide Note 6th to Second Edition. ;i '^ 132 In pioof of the diversity of marine production, I extract the following account of that immense sea plant, the *' Fucus Giganticus," from the celebrated Professor Liebig's familiar Letters on Chemistry. — Letter 1 1 , page 34 : — " We well know that marine plants cannot derive a supply of humus for their nourishment through their roots. Look at the great sea-tang, the Fucus Giganticus: this plant, according to Cook, reaches a height of 360 feet, and a single specimen, with its immense ramifi- cations, nourishes thousands of marine animals ; yet its root is a small body, no larger than the fist. What nourishment can this draw from a naked rock, upon the surface of which there is no perceptible change? — It is quite obvious that these plants require only a hold, — a fastening, to prevent a change of place, — as a counter- poise to their specific gravity, which is less than that of the medium in which they float. That medium pro- vides the necessary nourishment, and presents it to the surface of every part of the plant. Sea-water contains not only carbonic acid and ammonia, but the alkalime and earthy phosphates and carbonates required by these plants for their growth, and which we always find as constant constituents of their ashes." As some supposed astronomical causes are being pro- duced in support of an idea that the dry land has existed several hundred thousand years, which is contrary to the interpretation of the Mosaic account, as explained in our system, and founded on the idea that the coal seams haive each taken thousands of years for forma- tion from terrestrial vegetables, which idea is purely gratuitous, and incapable of any proof; we have to call the attention of the reader to this note confirming our arguments for the marine formation of coal, and also to the same in a former page of this edition. - .r:i{? • ,,. ' / . ' . M. - ,- • "M ' ,> ■ ' '.',.' .fii'i.'.^ i«t ■■:■' ,-■.:•' ■■ \\ 7. .1 ■ •• '1 . ,', .'-..'^ vi-t Ji;.j^ .j5.-.i;i: uction, I lense sea elebrated mistrv. — ft derive a igh their ganlicus: It of 360 e ramifi- s ; yet its t. What , upon the re 1— It is , hold, — a counter- an that of ium pro- 5 it to the contains alkalime i by these s find as leing pro- as existed ntrary to xplained the coal pr forraa- is purely ve to call miug our and also ! EXTRA MATTER FOR THE FIFTH EDITION. In this Fifth Edition of our work we are happy to be able to give two very important scientific extracts, the one from Mr. Lyal's sixth edition of his '* Principles of Geology," vol. 2, page 431, whereby be confirms our theory of the earth's formation, as relates to there being no central fire therein. — The other important extract is from a work lately published in Philadelphia, called " Sketches ofConspicuous Living Characters in France," translated from the French. Extract from " Lyal's Principles of Geology," vol. 2, sixth edition:— <* It may assist us, in forming a clearer view of the doctrine liow controverted, of Central Heat, if we con- sider what would happen were a globe of homogenous composition placed under circumstances analagous, in regard to the distribution of heat, to those above stated. If the whole planet, for instance, were composed of water, covered with a spheroidal crust oiice, fifty miles thick, and with an interior ocean having a central heat about 200 times that of the melting point of ice, or 6,400 of Fahrenheit, and if, between the surface and the centre there were even every intermediate degree of temperature between that of melting ice and that of the central neucleus, would such a state of things last for a moment ? If it must be conceded, in this case, that the whole spheriod would instantly be in a state of the most violent ebullition; that the ice, instead of being streng- thened annually by new internal layers, would soon melt, and form parts of an atmosphere of steam, on what principle can it be maintained that analagous effects would not follow in regard to the earth, under the condi- tions assumed in the theory of Central Heat F^'' — Vide LyaPs Principles of Geology, vol, 2. M OBSERVATIONS ON TEE ABOVE EXTRACT. It is with great satisfaction I find, by the above extract, that Mr. Lyal agrees in the results of our 134 i theory of the Earth's formation, namely, that no central fire exists ; which is stated at full in our elucidation of that theory in this Edition. It is perfectly evident, that if the heat of the earth did in(;rease down to its centre, in the same ratio as it is stated to do in the Artesian wells and in other expe- riments on the subject, that an ocean of liquid fire must be produced, of near 8,000 miles in depth ; it is equally evident that heat or caloric incessantly tends to diffuse itself into all surrounding bodies ; therefore, the enormous heat of this internal ocean of fire would be sufficient to melt down the hardest rocks com- posing the crust of the earth, with nearly equal ease and certainty as the ice would be melted, in the above statement of Mr. Lyal's. The idea, then, of this central ocean of fire is preposterous, as, in that case, the crust of the earth would long ago have ceased to exist. As to the cause of the existing internal heats and fires of the crust of the Earth, we have explained our ideas thereon in this edition, conceiving these causes to be, the last decompositions of combustible matter from the oceanic waters of Genesis, and that this com- bustible matter being still in ignition, thereby pro- duces the earthquakes and volcanic action of the present times. In our fourth edition, I gave extracts from M. Arago, on Comets, and from Lardner's Lectures, showing that experiments on Light, made at the Paris Obser- vatory, had proved that the atmosphere of the sun was an "ocean of flame." I have, since that edition was pu- blished, met with a^'Life of x\rago," and find that this great astronomer, after making subsequent expe- riments on light, has been led to announce his entire concurrence in our theory of the giseous nature of the sun through its entire f'iameter ; and this opinion is of the more importance from the consideration, that he probably would not venture to propound it, had he not full and sufficient scientific grounds for so doing. I now beg leave to congratulate many of my readers who have, since the publication of the first edition, in 135 central ition of e earth io as it ;r expe- uid fire th ; it is y tends lerefore, 3 would Ics com- lal ease e above of this at case, jased to jats and med our 3 causes matter his com- eby pro- of the [. Arago, showing Obser- sun was 1 was pu- that this it expe- ls entire -e of the on is of that he i he not y readers ition, in 183t), given me their approbation of the same : I con- gratulate them, that their judgement has been sanc- tioned by the hij^Ii uuthorities stated in the third and fourth editions, and in the present, as will ajipear by the following extract from a work called ''A Sketch of Cons- picuous Characters living in France," published in Philadelphia, and translated from the French : "Life of M. Auago. — Subjecting thus to the action ** of the Tourmaline (a precious stone) the rays from " the Heavenly bodies, M. Arago was led, by in- " duction, to conclude, 'That the sun is nothing but " A GRAND MASS OF GAS AGGLOMERATED IN SPACE.'" I now humbly beg leave to make a few concluding observations on the very important confirmation which our theory of the Sun's formation, as first stated in the first edition of this work, printed at Toronto in 1836, has received from these late discoveries on light. I founded that theory on the indisputable chemical fact of the elementary composition of water by the combustion of its constituent gases ; and I was led to applvthe evolution of the stupendous quantity of Light and Heat which must have ensued from th(? com- bus on of the oxygen and hydrogen gases (require for the formation of the ocean of Genesis) to the formation of our Sun ; and the supply of the waste of its light and heat by currents of these gases drawn into the Sun from the regions of infinite space. Nine years have now elapsed since the first publi- cation of this theory. The sale of near 3,0U0 copies of the work proves that it has been approved of in Canada; but it was, during a great part of that time, uncertain whether it would receive the concurrence of men of acknowledged science in FiUrope ; and I am, therefore, the more satisfied now, that it has done so. When we reflect on the immense distance from the Sun of some of the Planets of our system (flerschell being 1,800 millions of miles off) we cannot suppose that a body in a state of combustion of less dimensions than our Sun, nearly 800,000 miles in diameter, would be sufficient to light and heat them. iBMi |:V\ pi' I 136 "With respect to the mode by which the light and heat of the Sun is conveyed to the Planets, there appears to be two theories ; the one is that of Sir Isaac Newton, that they come in right lines from the Sun ; the other that they act, by means of undulations, on an ethereal fluid. I embrace the Newtonian theory decidedly, and for this plain and simple reason, that we have the di- rect evidence of orx sight that it is the true one. A person observing the rays when the Sun is setting behind trees, will see those rays reaching from the Sun all the way to the Earth in direct right lines. When we consider the vast distance of the Sun from our Earth — 95,000,000 of miles, and the incessant ten- dency of all caloric to find an equilibrium, by diffusing itself into surrounding space, we may conceive that a certain portion of the caloric of the Sun's rays may be thus lost in its passage to the Planets ; I therefore have, on reflection, been led to conceive that the particles of heat and light in the rays are, somehow, chemically combined, in their passage from the Sun to our atmos- phere, to prevent this dispersj a of their heat, and that, particularly in the lower pans thereof, where aqueous vapour most prevails, a decomposition of the light and heat takes places, and they are then set free to act, by which the cause of great degrees of cold in the higher regions will be accounted for, the decomposition and action of the rays not fully taking place until they have passed through those regions, and reached the more dense and aqueous parts below them. I now conclude with one observation op that part of our theory of the Sun relating to the supply of the waste of his heat and light. As the entire body of the Sun is, by the above authorities, considered gaseous, it follows indispensably, that some mode of supplying its waste of combustion must be resorted to by nature; and we therefore conceive our theory of the mode of supply receives greater confirmation.* * For this mode of supply, vide " Theory of the Sun's Formation." [it and ippealrs ewton, e other thereal ly, and the di- ne. A setting he Sun in from int ten- iffusing 3 that a may be e have, nicies of '.mically atmos- id that, iqneous ^ht and act, bv higher ion and y have } more part of of the y of the jeous, it ying its nature ; Liiode of •mation." EXTRA MATTER FOR THE SIXTH EDITIOX. Since the publication of the fith edition of this work, it appears that Lord Rosse, by the high magnifying power of his six foot in diameter telescope, (being the largest ever constructed,) has made a most important discovery concerning the nebular hypothesis of the Astronomer, Laplace. — Before stating this discovery, I here give an account of these nebulae from Arago and Lardner's Astronomy, in 181j5, page 24, under the head of "Fixed Stars":— "One of these nebular beds is so rich, that in passing through a section of it, only in the time cf thirty-six minutes, I detected no less than thirty-one nebulae, all distinctly visible upon a fine blue sky. Their situation and shape, as well as condition, seems to denote the greatest variety imaginable. In another stratum, or perhaps a different branch of the former, I have seen double and treble nebula3 variously arranged ; large ones with small, seeming attendants; narrow, but much extended ; lucid nebulae, or bright dashes ; some of the shape of a fan, resembling an electric brush, issuing from a lucid point; others of the cometic shape, with a seeming nucleus iji the centre; or like cloudy stars surrounded with an atmosphere ; a different sort again contain a nebulosity of the milky kind, like that wonderful inexplicable phenomenon about Orionis ; while others shine with a fainter mottled kind of light^ which denotes their being resolvable into stars." Mr Mullinger Higgins also gives an account of the nebulae, in his treatise on the "Physical Condition, &c. of the Earth," 1840:— "Nebulae exhibit a variety of appearances, some- times presenting themselves as globular clusters of stars, and sometimes as diffused nebulosity. Many are, no doubt, stars at so enormous a distance from us that they can only be distinguished by the doubtful light they throw around them. — Others have been supposed to consist of phosphorescent matter, which either extends itself over the heavens, or is condensed around some star or dense matter. Sir William Herschell has m2 \i \ 138 delineated a very beautiful nebulous appearance in Orion, which he observed with his large telescope. — Huygens, speaking of the same nebulosity, says, 'that its appearence had the same effect upon an observer as that which might be supposed to proceed from raising a curtain that hid from the obser^'^er an ocean of light, the waves of which were irregularly illuminated." "To the question, what is the ultimate designation of these nebulae, we can only answer by conjectures. Sir William Herschell thought he could trace a regular series of changes from a simple distribution of nebulous matter to that of a nebulous star, and some astronomers believe that a condensation of this matter is constantly going on, and that new worlds are daily in the process of formation. This is a splendid idea, and if the mind could at all adequately grasp it, would give an over- whelming conception of omnipotent skill ; but there are some who have no higher ambition than to exclude God from His works, and to invest with His dignity and sovereignty that indefinable thing they are pleased to designate chance. It is not to be doubted that the great mind of Laplace was tainted with this unaccoun- table and unphilosophical desire ; but, however this might be, he has availed himself of the discoveries that were made by Sir William Herschell for the invention of an hypothesis by which to account for the formation of the planets, and the sun itself, from a nebulous lumi- nosity, which he is pleased to designate the primitive cause.'' In the London Globe the following article appea- red : — "Dr. Nichol, who has been lecturing in Edinburgh, under the auspices of the Philosophical Association of that city, stated to the audience the result of Rosses recent observations on the nebula of Orion. *He had,' he said, 'received a letter from Lord Rosse, dated so lately as the i9th of March, 1846, in which he said he had obtained so favourable a view as to be enabled to resolve the whole oi one part of Orion into separate stars ; and that he had no doubt, from there being only one-third of the magnifying power of the telescope 139 nee m ;ope. — s, 'that rver as raising f light, 1." • ition of es. Sir regular sbulous nomers istantly process e mind n over- t there sxclude dignity pleased hat the iccoLin- er this ies that vention mation s lumi- imitive appea- burgli, tion of Rosses e had,' ated so 3aid he bled to jparate gonly escope employed, that in favourable states of the atmosphere the whole would be resolvable. This, then, completely cuts away the ground from under the nebular hypo- thesis, and leaves Laplace's very ingenious deductions among the many cosmogonies with which th:^ world has been amused, There was a new subject of wonder, however, opened on the human mind, overwhelming it with the boundless riches of the beneficient Creator. Orion, from its immense bulk and the immeasurable distance it is thrown back into the regions of space, must be composed of a greater number of stars than those of our visible firmament, so that here was another universe, as it were, discovered to the human race. What had formerly the appearance of gold dust sprink- led in the sky was now distinctly seen to be separate stars, but firmly compressed together, giving out a great effulgence of light, and not in the spare manner they appear in our system." Dr. Nichol is Professor of Astronomy in Glasgow, of high character, and though he had pubLshed a work on the nebulfe, it appears he has now abandoned the nebular hypothesis. The next extract is from another paper : — «We gather a few interesting particulars, concerning the power of this great telescope, from a lecture recently delivered in Dublin, by Dr. Scoresby. By means of this instrument. Lord Rosse has discovered that the four stars, called the trapezium in Orion, are six stars. But the extraordinary powers of the ins- trument were best exhibited when turned upon the nebulas, of which Sir John Herschell and his father ex- amined and catalogued about two thousand. Of these a great many have been found resolvable into stars; but there were still a great many of these nebulae that no telescope could resolve into any thing except misty specks; whence astronomers, anxious to find support for the nebular hypothesis, had hastily ooncluded that they were absolute nebulae as yet uncondensed into stars. About the close of last year, the Earl of Rosse suc- ceeded in getting his great telescope into complete operation, and, during the first month of his obser- .V, 140 I' r ' V" M vations,on^/i^// ofthcse unresolvablc nebulaj he suc- ceeded in ascertaining that fort}/-thrce of them were already resolvable into masses of stars. Thus is con- firmed the opinion, that we have only to increase the power of the instrument, to resolve all the nebulaj hy- pothesis of Laplace into a splendid astronomical dream. The telescope of the Earl of Rosso has also enabled him to make some discoveries in the moon, which we may notice hereafter." Thus it appears that this nebulas hypothesis, by which it has been attempted to shew the world how the earth and planets had been formed, is now dis- proved ; and I cannot but consider that a great obs- tacle to the more general reception of my system of the Creation is removed. Its theory is founded on the Scriptural history of the formation of our earth in the waters of Genesis, and on the idea that the Deity has established laws in our system, which, when in- vestigated by due scientific research, are competent to account for all the phenomena of our earth's formation ; and as our attempt to give the time required by Geo- logy for the formation of the crust of our earth and our theory of the sun, have been sanctioned by the high authorities stated in the work, we consider it will not be presumptuous to carry out the system to a greater extent, more especially as we trust, by natural results from this system, to be enabled to shew, (that as what has been called nebulous matter yet exists in very distant regions of infinite space) : we trust to be able to shew what the design of those nebulse is, and also what are the real purposes of the comets in the vast scale of Creation. — And I consider it will be fortunate if, starting from known and established facts in Scrip- ture and in the sciences, and advancing into the yet unknown and profound regions of the formation of the systems, we may, by a just combination of these facts and data, be enabled to establish a theory which will receive the assent of science, in opposition to the absurd doctrines of chance formation. We now pro- ceed to shew why we consider that nebulsB may yet exist in distant regions of space, and what the pur- I 141 he suc- m were s is con- ase the ula3 hy- 1 dream, enabled tiich we esis, bv rid how low dis- eat obs- stem of ided on earth in e Deity hen in- etent to •mation ; 3y Geo- and our the high will not greater 1 results as what in very be able md also the vast brtunate in Scrip- the yet >n of the 3se facts lich will I to the ow pro- may yet the pur- poses of these nebul?^ are, as indicated by natural results of our theory of supplying the sun's waste in combustion If the sanction given to our theory of the sun by the great Astronomer, Arago, be sustained, it will of ne- cessity result, that immense quantities of the com- bustible gases must be supplied to restore his waste. And here may, perhaps, be the proper place to notice a few theories of the sun which have been presented to' the world. The great Newton always maintained that the sun was a body oi jire\ V ^ the science of gaseous bodies being then unkno , he did not, nor could not, explain of what that lire consisted ; but it is very remarkable ; that this opinion of the im- mortal philosopher now bids fair to be confirmed by the recent discoveries of the 1 rench Astronomers on the polarisation of light . The next noticeable theory of the sun is that of the late Sir Wm. Herschell, who conceived that '"'the appea- rance of the spots in the sun was explained by rup- tures occurring in the sun's atmospliere, and exposing the srdd globe of the sun to view." Now the reader, on referring to what Mr. Arago says, in page 1 tf the Appendix, No. II, to this work, will find that of these spots on the sun it has beeff proved that they might occur in a gaseous medium ; this result, he says, has been established incontestibly ; and this agrees exactly with our theory, that the spots are occasioned by the dense volumes of aqueous vapour which must be produced by the vast combustion of the oxygen and hydrogen gases for the supply of the sun's waste. Sir John Heyschell states, in his late treatise on Astro- nomy, that by the law by which heat is governed, namely, that it diminishes according to the square of the distance, "that there must be an enormous degree of heat in the sun." Sir Isaac Newton slates, that this heat must be "many thousand times greater than red hot iron." How, then is it possible to suppose that any solid or liquid body could exist with this " enor- mous degree of heat on its surface? Dense clouds and winds, in our own atmosphere, do certainly in- 142 li tercc])t some (l«"groe of heat from the sun, it being ninetv-(ive millions of miles tiwav; hut what would be the cfl"(!(!t if the sun were close upon us ? I do not believe that any j)()wer of either reflection or refraction could then save the earth from instant combustion; arid the same must be the case with any solid matter in the sun. Again, T have lately learnt that a theory of the sun has been proposed, on the idea that his heat and light are produced by electricity. It is thus supposed tha-t all difticultics as to the groat cause of the light and heat of the snn will be at once removed by the single term " electricity," and that the inquiring mind of man may now rest quiet on the subject ; much in the same way that Atheistical M'^riters formerly supposed they had cleared away all their difficulties, by referring them to chance formation. Electricity has, till very lately, been looked upon as so mysterious and occult a science, that the cause of it had almost been thought unfathomable, and those who have now sported the idea, that the sun is merely a great galvanic machine, probably believe they have found the " ne plus ultra'^ of causation. That profoundly ingenious Chemist, Liebeg, has now, however, pretty clearly shewn that electricity is equally subject to, if not produced by, chemical action, as any other body. Without the pre- vious action of aqueous, acid, or saline substance, on the metals employed, no electricity is evolved by gal- vanism. Before, therefore, we can refer to electricity as the cause of the light and heat of the sun, we have first to find whence is produced the indispensible " materiel" of this electricity. By the idea of the above writers, of the Sun's being a galvanic machine, we should have to imagine that plates of solid zinc and copper exist in it. Now as we have shewn in the fourth and fifth editions of our Sys- tem of Creation, that first-rate Astronomer, Arago, has proved to " mathematical demonstration," that the Sun's atmosphere is an " ocean O'f flame" ; and by sub- sequent induction from later experiments on light, he has concluded that the entire mass of the Sun is a body \ 143 le same of gas in a state of combustion. In this stnpondoiis heat, then, no solid body conld exist. But what appears to me ahnost an unanswerable refutation of the above idea is, that the light and heat as it comes to us from the Sun,if« of a totally diflerent nature from the electric fluid. The rays of light and heat from the Sun j)roduce the most genial and vivifying effects on all nature. It has been ])rovcd by experiment that a ray of light has no impulsive power whatever. '* It has been asked, whether the rays of light— whose velocity is enormous, since, as we shall show, it exceeds 70,000 leagues in a second — have any ap))reciable im- pulsive force : but the most delicate experiments have detected nothing of the kind." — Ara is the most energetic and universal of all the operations of nature, therefore there is the more reason for believing that it is brought about by \.Ae same mode which we find employed by the Creator in all the operations that are going on under our eyes, namely, by those physical laws. And in addition to the strong arguments employed by Newton himself, (which will be seen in note 6, second edition, con- taining his explanation of gravitation by means of the elastic gaseous medium), I have to slate, that it is known that electricity pervades almost all nature. Our atmosphere, our earth, and all water, especially when in a vaporized state, are charged with the electric fluid. Our earth is pervaded by magnetic and electiic cur- rents ; and what I wish now to state, therefore, in ad- dition to Sir Isaac Newton's arguments on the ethereal gaseous medium, is, that I conceive that medium is also pervaded and excited to motion by the electric fluid. I believe that this electric fluid is a most potent agent of nature, by which she keeps the ethereal ga- seous medium in a constant state of motion and activity, for producing the force which carries the planetary bodies in their courses round the sun ; and I believe this is the very purpose for which this ethereal electric medium exists in space. As above shewn, it appeas that the great Sir Isaac himself thought this ethereal gaseous medium was sufficient to account for gravita- tion, and I now humbly beg leave to add my belief, that, with the aid of the vast powers known to be pos- 147 sessed by the electric fluid, there can be no doubt '^f these united forces being competent to produce the effect of the gravitation of the heavenly bodies round the sun. In corroboration of this physical cause of gra- vitation, I am happy to be enabled to give the follow- ing short extract from the celebrated author of "Cosmos" Baron Von Humboldt. In Vol. 1, page 137, he says, on the subject of the revolutions of the double stars, " But "whether the attracting forces depend solely on the quan- tity of matter in these systems as in ours, or whether there may not co-exist with gravitation other specific forces, which do not act according to mass, is,asBessel has been the first to shew, a question of which the so- lution is reserved for later ages." Now I have shewn above, that Sir Isaac Newton did not leave the world without giving it his opinion how the great principle of gravity, discovered by him, was produced and carried on, and as the electric fluid is found to pervade all nature, we cannot suppose that the ethereal gaseous medium is void of it ; repulsion and attraction are the great attributes of electricity. I, therefore, humbly offer these considerations to men of science, on the forces by whose influence the planets are carried round the sun, considering it, as Arago says, to be a vast mass of gaseous matter in a state of com- bustion. If, therefore, our theory of the sun be substantiated* (as indeed it has already in part, by the induction formed by Mr. Arago, that the sun is nothing but a grand mass of gas agglomerated in space), it neces- sarily follows that the waste of this combustion must , be supplied by currents of gaseous matter, and the pe- culiar attraction of the sun will have to be reduced to the degree of that power which his weight, as a .. body of gas, will give him. The remaining quan- < tity of attraction or pressure required to carry the earth ^ and planets round the sun, will arise from the elastic • gaseous medium existing in space and acted upon by . electric forces. Proceed we now in support of our • theory. By it we conceive that the waste of the sun'g fire must be replaced by gaseous combustible matter. ■ T-' i f? ■ ,. '^{ 1, 5' f . V 1 ;')'', V. ■/ B 1 if ."') i'(; '1 ■ 1 ■■5 : ■'. '. 1 '! J" P'-' l!j! i! hw :\ -' :!■! i&4 148 The vast quantity of this matter for the continual supply of our sun, whose diameter is nigh 800,000 miles, may indeed be conceived, and perhaps calcu- lated ; but though, as Dr. Graham says above, "we may henceforth be enabled to explain how the light and heat of the suns or stars of the other systems is formed and maintained," and which, reasoning by analogy with our own sun, we certainly may do, yet how are we to contemplate the stupendous and incal- culable quantity of gaseous matter which would be required for the due supply of the millions of suns which the astronomers state to exist in the universe ? I have therefore conceived and adopted the idea that there may be elahoralories of these gasses appointed by the Creator in the distant regions of space ; for, believing that nothing short of a direct act of creation would be adequate for restoring the stupenJous quan- tities of gaseous matter wanted for the supply of all the suns of the universe, I have therefore conceived that, although Lord Rosse has resolved the nebulte in the constellation Orion into stars, still some or many of the nebulae discovered in other regions of space may actu- ally be elahoratories established by the Deity for the formation of this gaseous matter. The positive fact of the tails of comets being gaseous, their uniform courses round the sun, the changes which take place when they leave him, all appear to me a great confirmation of the sun's gaseous nature, and if this be ultimately conceded, we have every right to conclude that the other stars or suns of the universe are gaseous also, and though it might be conceived that a sufficient quantity of g-^seous matter might be found in a space that is infinite, still the safety of the earth and planets precludes that idea. I have there- fore come to the conclusion, as is stated above, that there must be elahoratories for the formation of the gases required, in which elahoratories a constant act of creation of the elementary matter of those gases would be indispensable, to supply the unceasing and stu- pendous waste. If, therefore, our theory of the sun continues to be substantiated, (and, as will be shortly 149 le sun shewn, the planet lately discovered offers a strong confir- mation of it), and as nothing short of a direct act of creaiion could produce a supply of gaseous matter for all the suns of the universe, we mu:st refer to such an act of creation for that supply, and we trust we shall indeed thereby lead our readers "through Nature's works up to Nature's God." We believe we shall have found a more clear and positive proof of the reality of an existing and actually present creation of matter^ than has yet been offered to mankind. Another reason why I am led to believe that there are various elaboratories established by the Creator for the formation of the gases is, that it is indispensable to suppose, that as there may be various gases required, both for replenishing the waste of the atmospheres of the planets and also oxygen and hydrogen for the wasteof the suns of the various systems, these gases must therefore be formed and collected in separate repositories, to be afterwards taken up by various comets, and carried by them to their intended desti- nation, by laws established by the Creator for their di- rection in their courses, consistent with the safety of the planetory bodies, as we shall shew shortly. Ha- ving now stated our conception how alone an inexhaiuk tible source of supply of the combustible gases can be obtained, we shall extract from Arago and Lardner's Astronomy, nnd from Higgins on the Earth, some ac- count of the Comets, as flir as they relate to their phy- sical constitution and laws of their motion. MuUinger Higgins says, in page 54> of his Physical Condition of the Earth, that " Newton discovered that comets are bodies movmg in fixed orbits round the sun. As soon as this philosopher had discovered the laws of universal gravitation, he applied them to the determi- nation of the motion of comets ; fur having proved that, according to the conditions of that force, a body might describe any conic section about the sun, he conceived that comets, in their apparently irregular motions, might be governed by that principle. The comet of 1680, which approached the sun to within one-sixth of its diameter, enabled him to test the truth of his con- ii2 m \-l i\ ■ ; I ■' I ■(■' .> hi ¥<■"■' Si I'' Ml!' 11) i !! 150 jectnre ; and he proved that it moved in an elliptical orbit of so great eccentricity that it could not be dis- tinguished from a parabola having the sun as one of its foci ; and that, as in the case of the planets, the areas described about the sun were proportional to the times ; a law discovered by the illustrious Kepler. From this calculation it became evident that the comets were governed by the same laws as the planetary bodies, and that the orbits of the former differed from those of the latter in the great elongation of their elliptical paths." And in page 56, he says, "The calculations that have been made to determine the dimensions of comets prove that they are by far the largest bodies in our system. The greatest length of that which ap- peared in 1759 was sixteen million leagues j that of ISl", Jhiity-six million ; while that of 1680 was not less than forty-one million leagues." In Arago and Lardner's Astronomy, it is said, " These bodies usually are observed to rush into onr systems suddenly and unexpectedly from some particular quarter of the universe. They first follow in a straight line, or nearly so, the course by which they entered, and this course is commonly directed to some point not far removed from the sun." In the same work it is also said, " The planets move round the sun all in one direc- tion. Comets, on the other hand, rebel against this law, and move, some in one direction and some ia another." Again, it is said, in page 66, same wotk, •*< Oue of Newton's conjectures respecting comets was, that they are 'the aliment by which suns are sustained j' and he therefore concluded, that these bodies were in a slate of progressive decline upon the suns, round which they respectively swept j and that into these suns they from time to time fell. This opinion appears to have been cherished by Newton to the latest hours of his life." And in page 67 it is said, " By far the greater number of comets appear to be mere masses of vapour, totally divested of all concrete or solid matter. So pre- valent is this character, that some observers hold it to be universal. Seneca mentions the fact of stars having been distinctly seen through comets. A star of the J51 sixth magnitude was seen through the centre of the head of the cornet of 1795, by Sir William Herschell." It is seen, then, by these extracts, that comets move under fixed laws ; that their course is towards and round the sun ; that in general they consist merely of gaseous matter ; that the opinion of that first of Astro- nomers, Sir Isaac Newton, was, that " they are the aliment by which suns are sustained." Comets have been a fertile source of amazement and terror to man- kind for numerous ages previous to our times. No longer ago, indeed, than the year 1832, an Astronomer having calculated that the comet of that year would strike the earth somewhere, many of the people of Paris became so alarmed, that the French Government directed Mr. Arago to investigate the circumstance. It is remarkable that, except Sir Isaac Newton's opi- nion, that the comets were employed in supporting the waste of the sun's fire, Astronomers have not, that I have learnt, made any further researches on this point. Now, as we consider by our theory, that the sun is a body of gaseous matter in combustion, for the purpose of heating and lighting the earth and planets, and as it is indispensable that the waste of this combustion must be restored, we therefore conceive this to be the very purpose of the numerous comets of our system, and of thi>se of others. We conceive that the various com- bustible and other gases required to restore the waste of the atmospheres of the planets, and also the waste of the suns of the universe, — we conceive, I say, that these various gases are taken up by the power of at- traction by the comets, from the elaboratories of these gases in the nebulas, (as v^e have stated in our theory of these elaboratories), and that these comets then, di- rected by the unerring laws of their courses, distribute these gases to our siui and to the various suns of other systems, thereby restoring the waste of their heat and light. Now, it is a known fact in Pneumatic Che- mistry, that neither the oxygen nor hydrogen gases are combustible, per ,s(?, that is, by themselves alone : before combustion can ensue, these gases must be mixed in certain proportions. In order, therefore, to ensure the 152 '-:: '^ {■I p.' 1 ilj i 1:11 l\ ! I I safety of the planetary bodies, we must conceive these two combustible gases to be taken up from separate nebulae, some comets being charn;ed with oxygen and others with hydrogen gas, the only two primary com- bustible gases we know of. By this separation neither of them can be ignited, as they may pass the orbits of the planets at the nearest approach comets have been known to make to those orbits. The comets having then arrived near enough to our sun and to the suns of other sys- tems, their gaseous tails are then attracted by the drafl of the fire of the suns and deposited in them, thereby restoring the waste of their combustion. The following extract from Arasfo and Lardner's Astronomy, having been unavoidably omitted in this work, and containing a great proof of that part of our theory (the purposes of the comets,) which relates to their taking up by attraction the masses of aqueous vapour formed by the combustion of the gasses, for the restoring the waste of the sun J (vide page 27, of Appendix, No. IT,) we now make the present Addendum. In A. and L,'s Astronomy, it is said 1 " It will doubtless excite surprise, that the dimen- sions of a comet should be enlarged as it recedes from the source of heat. It has often been observed in As- tronomical inquiries, that the effects, which at first view seemed improbable, are nevertheless those which frequently prove to be true ; and so it is in this case. It was long believed that comets enlarged as they ap- proached the sun ; and this supposed effect was natu- rally and properly ascribed to the heat of the sun ex- panding their dimensions. But more recent and exact observations have shewn the very reverse to be the fact. Comets increase their volume as they recede from the sun ; and this is a law to which there appears to be no well ascertained exception.'' Now as it is evident that our theory of the mass of aqueous vapour being attracted by the comets, will perfectly well account for their increase of volume on receding from the sun, we therefore consider the above extract as a great sanction of that part of our theory. / 153 Wc» consider the extracts above given to be a power- ful supi^rt of this theor^ of the comets, in which we trust to have shewn how they perform the vast purpose of restoring the waste of the suns ; and when we reflect on the stupendous quantities of the combustible gases required for it, we need no longer be surprised at the millions of comets said by the Astronomers to be con- tained in the universe ; neither, for the' same reason, need we doubt that the Creator may have established elaboratories in some part of the regions of space, for the replacing the enormous waste of the suns, either by certain laws, or by His own immediate agency. The above important purpose is not, however, the only one which we humbly conceive the comets are intended to perform. By the combustion of the oxygen and hydrogen gases for the supply of the 3uns of the universe, stupendous quantities of aqueous vapor must be generated. Without the removal of these masses of vapor, the light and heat of the sun might be in part obstructed. We have therefore conceived that another great purpose of the comets is, to take up (by their power of attiaction) and to transport these vast masses of vapor into various regions of inlinite space, for their future condensation into oceanic waters, and in which, by the same processes by which our earth was formed, in the ocean of Genesis, as shewn in this work, so in future ages new systems of planets may be generated. And to place the probability of these operations in a more prominent point of view, I here subjoin a recapi- tulation of our theory of the probable design of some of the nebulas, and of the real purpose of that vast number of comets said by the astronomers to occupy the regions of space. In this theory it is conceived that, by the supply o^ the gases to the suns of the systems, nature effects a twofold object, namely, the supply of the waste of the sun's fire and the reproduction of other planetary bodies by means of the masses of aqueous vapour produced by that combustion. " Mature," savs the immortal Newton, " could not exist without motion," (action) And the eminent Goethe has in his works the same :| l .M ^■'^i 154 idea. We may therefore conclude that the reproduc- tive powers of nature are ever in action. We have also reason to believe that the heavenly bodies now existing are not to last for ever. " The great globe itself," says our immortal Bard," shall dissolve, and, like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a wreck behind," And, in fact, stars that have been formerly well known ir\ the heavens have now disappeared. The heavenly spices, we are told by all astronomers, are infinite, therefore we have a right to suppose that the laws first established by the Deity are in con'.inual operation, both for replacing exhausted systems and augmenting His bounty and His glory. Thus we have conceived, as stated in our theory, that the stupendous masses of aqueous vapours, formed by the combustion of the gases for the supply of tne waste of the suns, are carried off by the comets from those suns into the regions of space, for the purpose of being condensed into oceanic waters^ which, by the deposits of their vegetable and animal kingdoms, will form the solid parts of new planetary globes. Hence would arise the conversion of these gasses into the liquid and solid matter of those globes enduring many ages, and hence the necessary conclusion we have drawn in the theory that a present and constant act of creation is required to supply the unceasing and enormous waste of those gases, and hence we have conceived the existence of elaboratories for this purpose in some of the nebulaB of the distant regions of sp.ice. Now, as all gaseous matter is indispensably associated with caloric and light, which probably form part of their constitution, so it is highly probable these elaboratories would have the exact appearance in the regions of space which the nebulee are said to present to the telescope. As to the other purpose of the comets, namely, the supplying the waste of the sun's combustion, I have explained that at large in the theory thereof, and, as a confirmation of its necessity, I conclude with an extract from the celebrated Baron Von Humboldt's work, called '^Cosmos," confirming Arago's discovery, of the constitution of the sun, and to which discovery, as a 155 Canadian bom and zealous for the honour of Canada, I now lay claim. It was published in the first edition of my System of the Creation, in 1830, Toronto, C. W, In vol. 1, p. 37, above work, it is said — "When Iluyg- hens first applied himself in 1678, to the enigma of the phenomena of the polarization of light, exhibited in doubly refracting spar, and observed the diff*erence between the two portions into which a beam of light divides itself in passing through such a crystal, it was not foreseen that through the admirable sagacity of a physical philosopher of the present day, the pheno- mena of chromatic polarization would lead us to discern, by means of a minute fragment of Iceland spar, whether the light of the sun proceeds froin a solid neu- cleus, or from a gaseous covering. The new planet just discovered affords a strong corroboration also of our theory of the sun. This planet is found to be 3,(595 millions of miles from the sun.* Its diameter is nigh six times greater than our earth ; and on reflection on the highest degree of heat we receive from the sun, it seems impossible that a planet at such an enormous distance could be warmed and lighted unless the sun were in a state of combus- tion through its entire diameter. In corroboration of our theory, of the purpose of the comets, I here extract some account from Arago and Lardner's Astronomy, of changes in the appearence and bulk of the tails of certain comets on their receding from our sun. It is said, in the^above work, "The comet of 1759 was now observed in various places. It continued to be seen at Dresden, also at Leipzic, Boulogne, Brus- sels, Lisbon, Cadiz, t^c. Its course being observed, it was found that it arrived at its perihelion, or at its nearest point to the sun, on the 13th of March, be- tween three and four o'clock in the morning; exactly thirty-seven days before the epoch first assigned by Clairau^ but only twenty-three day previous to his * Professor Olmsteml says this planet is 3,G00 niiilinna tTiniies from our earth, which would give 3,()yo,OUO,000 of miles fioiu tlie sun. ■a; 156 corrected prediction. The comet on this occasion appeared very round, with a brillant nucleus, well dis- tinguished from the surrounding nebulosity. It had» however, no appearance of a tail. About the middle of the latter month, it became lost in the rays of the sun while approaching its perihelion; it afterwards emerged j'rora them on its departure from the sun, and was visible before sunrise in the morning on the Ist of April. On this day it was observed by Messier, who states that he was able to distinguish the tail by his telescope. It was again observed by him on the 3rd, 15th, and 17th of May. Lalarde, however, who observed it on the same occasions, was not able to discover any trace of the tail." I have here to observe, that in the first account of this comet given in the above work, before it had arrived at its perihelion, or nearest distance from the sun, it is not said it had no tail, therefore we conclude it had one : but, as appears by the above extract, when it had arr>ed, on the 13th March, at its nearest dis- tance, it had no tail. Now, it appears to me, our the- ory of the intended offices of comets will account for these facts. The comet, on arriving at the sun, depo- sited its gaseous matter or tail, tht^refore, as Lalaude says, " he could not discover any trace of a tail." In page 64, of Arago and Lardner's Astronomy, it is said, " It had been observed, however, in the southern hemisphere at Pondicherry by Pere Coeur-Doux, and at the isle of Bourbon by La Caille, under more favou- rable circumstances ; and both of these astronomers agree in stating that the tail was distinctly visible by the naked eye, and varied in lenght at different periods from ten degrees to forty-seven degrees. These cir- cumstances are obviously in perfect accordance with the former appearances of the same body." Thus, at this time, it had again acquired a long tail, which, I conceive, can be well accounted for, by its having, between the two observations, attracted the mass of aqueous vapour in the vicinity of the sun, which then formed its new appendage. 157 tronomers Now it is plainly visible that our theory of this part of the purposes of comets will account naturally and with perfect ease for the increase of their tails, by the absorption by attraction of the aqueous vapours it found near the sun's atmosphere, after having deposited therein the combustible gases they were previously charged with. We now conclude our extracts with one from Mr. Iliggins's work to shew the vast length of the tails of comets : — "The nature of comets, and the purposes they serve in the system to which they belong, are almost entirely unknown. No probable explanation has yet been given of the character of that train of luminous matter frequently appended to them, and very inap- propriately termed the tail, since it frequently pre- cedes tht3 body itself. The tail is sometimes of very considerable length. Aristotle states that the tail of the comet that appeared in 371 A. C, occupied a third of the hemisphere, or 60 ® : that of 1580 is said to have covered an extent of more than 70 '^ ; and that of 1Gl8, 104 ® . But a tail is not a necessary appendage to a comet, for some have been quite destitute, as were those of 1585 and 1763 ; but there are also some that have several tails ; that of n4>4f had no less than six, which, spreading out in the form of a fan, extended over a space of nearly 30 ° . A very small condensed spot has been observed in the heads of some comets, but the fixed stars may be seen through the densest parts of many ; and from the circumstance that none of them have exhibited phases, though they undoubtedly shine by reflected light, we may gather that they have no claim to be considered as solid bodies, but have in all probability the condition of the lightest vapour." Now I am in a great hopes that should my theory of the purposes of the comets reach Mr. Arago's eye, he will agree, that as vast masses of vapour must be for- med by the combustion of the gases, that these masses must be attracted by the comets, and the formation of their tails be the natural consequence. The great author of the " Cosmos" says, in page 106, 1st vol. " The little knowledge which we yet o 158 possess of the physical qualities of the comets, renders it difficult to separate the essential from the accidental in phenomena recurring at intervals, and which have been observed with more or less accuracy," And happy I should be, if our present theory of these bodies should, in the opinion of that profound philosopher, throw anew light on this important subject. We have now to conclude this Sixth, and probably the last. Edition of our work. We humbly conceive we have, from natural results of our Svstem of the Crea- tion, shewn, a high degree of probability of what may be the purpose of the nebulao and cometary bodies, to produce in the stupendous scale of the universe of the Almighty, either by laws established by Him, or by His immediate and unceasing agency ; and we have now only to present these efforts to the calm conside- ration of a candid and intelHgent public, and more especially to the enlightened minds of sdentific men, bemg well convinced that the greater their zeal for the advancement of science, and the greater their powers therein, the more favourably they will receive our humble attempts to advance the study and the know^ ledge of it , t ' '■",»*•■ - ■ t,, . i lli ii i i i 159 SUPPLEMENT HO THE SEVENTH EDITION or THE SYSTEM OF TUB ' • CREATION OF THE GLOBE, PLANETS, AND SUN, CONTAINING TUE EXTRA MATTER OF THE SEVENTH EDITION. In the sixth edition of this work, in page 21 of the Appendix No 2, 1 shewed how the planets were at- tracted round the sun, supposing it, according to our theory (as sanctioned by the great astronomer Arago,) to be a body of gas in a state of combustion. I there shewed how the immortal Sir Isaac Newton considered this attraction was effected, as narrated in note 6th to the second edition from Good's Book of Nature. In the same part of the work, I stated ray belief that electricity had a great share in the ro- tation of the planets, by *' keeping the ethereal gaseous medium of Newton in a constant state of motion and activity, for producing the force which carries the pla- netary bodies in their courses round the sun." I there- fore beg to refer the reader to those pages 20, 21, and 22 of that appendix, No. 2, by which he will be made more clearly to comprehend the purpose of my in- serting the following extract from the recent lecture of the celebrated chemical philosopher Faraday, given in London, (England.) In " Chambers' Edinburgh Journal " of April 18, 184-6, is the following article — Professor Faraday's Further Reserches in Magnetism:" "In No. 114 of the present series of the Journal, we give a brief report of Mr. Faraday's lecture on the rela- tions of light and magnetism. Since its delivery, he has explained away a misappxchension existing in the I* I vk' !i 160 minds of many persons as to his experiments, which it was imagined were meant to prove that the lumin- oiisness of a ray of light is due to magnetism. The truth, however, resolves itself simply into this ; that, regardless of any of the existing theories on the nature of light, whatever is magnetic in a ray only has been effected ; the line of magnetic force was illuminated by the ray of light used in the experiment, as the earth is illuminated by the sun : there was no creation oj light j the ray was required to shew that light in common with ponderable matter, is acted on by magnetism.* " A second lecture was delivered by Mr. Faraday, at the beginning of March, 'On the new magnetic actions and on the magnetic condition of all matter.' — So great was the interest excited by the announcement of the subject, that the entrance-hall of the institution was thronged, long before the hour of admission, by a dense body of individuals from am.-ig the most scientific classeSjWho afterwards filled the theatre to overflowing, many being unable to obtain seats. It was impos sible to look round on the intellectual-looking assembly, withoutbeingslruck with the reflection that they had met to do homage to some of, the highest truths of science. " Punctual to the hour, the lecturer made his appear- ance, and observing that he would not waste time in idle regrets that a portion of the audience was unable to find accommodation, proceeded to the discussion of the subiect. The apparatus used on this occasion was the same as at the former lecture, with a little diiference of arrangement. The heiix stood perpendicularly on the floor, connected as before by wires with the electro- galvanic battery ; and the large horse-shoe magnet was placed so that the two poles only were seen rising through openings to a level with the surface of the table in front of tUe operator, who by tnis arrangement, had the great powei of the apparatus completely under command, while it afforded the best means of exhibi- * This sncws that Faraday does not consider light and magnetism "s t'le same thing. 161 ting the effects. A few experiments were made to display the energy of the magnetic force, with less than which, the lecturer observed, it would be in vain to look for the phenomena. He succeeded in shewing, with a quantity of iron nails, the line of force passing from one pole of the magnet to the other ; along this curve they were seen clinging to each other, and des- cribing a regular arch several inches in length and height ; which position they retained until, on break- ing communication with the battery, thay instantly fell in a confused heap to the table, " Mr. Faraday next adverted to the popular ideas of magnetism with regard to iron and some other metals, which point freely north and south, and explained the importance of showing the relation of the power he employed to common magnetism. A small bar of iron was suspended by a thread to move fVeely in the line of force between the poles, and, on charging the magnet, the bar was seen to obey the natural law by pointing north and south, in a line from one pole to the other, or what the lecturer terms the axial line. This simple experiment was necessary to enable the audience to understand the allusions to the axial line in the subse- quent portion of the lecture. Among the metals, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, titanium, and a few others possessed of the same property, are classed as magnetics. " The power here afforded for testing the magnetism of all substances, was noticed and exemplified by sus- pending, in the place of the iron, a small bar of copper, which was found to be neither attracted or repelled, remainmg, with the exception of some very feeble ma- nifestations, indifferent to either position. — A piece of paper was also tried, and, afler some vibrations, proved to be magnetic, by remaining stationary in the axial line " Mr. Faraday then recalled to the memory of his hearers the experiment of his former lecture, shewing the peculiar action of glass on light. On that occasion the piece of glass, through which the magnetism found its way as readily as though no substance intervened, o2 I ^1 i' 41 I 162 was named a diamagnetic ; and it was to the testing of this peculiar property that the subsequent experiments were directed. To insure a satisfactory result, more than ordinary care and delicacy were required in the manipulation Threads of cocoon silk, free from tor- sion, were used as the suspending medium, bearing at their extremity a small stirrup of non-mr.gnetic paper, in which was laid the substance forming the subject of the experiment, and the whole was hung inside a glass chamber, to protect it from currents of air. On pla- cing a small bar of the heavy glass in the stirrup, instead of pointing north and south, it took up a direc- tly contrary direction east and west, or what the lecturer termed the equatorial, in contradistinction to the axial line j describing it, further as * a tendency of the particles to move outwards, or into the position of weakest magnetic action,' the whole of the particles beir • ^ygen, to set free their heat and light; for oxyg., itse'?^ will not burn by itself' — it is not in- flammable, it is mei ely the supporter of the combustion of combustible bodies, by the mode above shewn, when in contact with them. The author subsequently at- tempts to account for the combustion of hydrogen in air, or oxygen gas, by opposite electricities ; but as I conceive I have shewn that his theory of the nature of oxygen gas is untenable, and as oxygen gas goes con- stantly to the positive pole, T cannot concede to his explanation of this cause of the combustion. In page 162 of his work, Mr. Brewster very candid- ly states, that if any person is prepared in any other plausible or rational way than that of his theory, to ac- count for the otherwise unavoidable waste of the sun, he will willingly become a learner, &c. I am now preparing for the press this seventh edition of my work, called a " System of the Creation of our Glode, PlanetSi and Sun ;" and I, with humility, shall be happy to present Mr. Brewster with a copy, should an oppor- tunity offer. In this work I trust to have shewn the great probability that our sun was originally formed by the cembustion of the gases of oxygen and hydrogen, which must have taken place at the formation of the waters or ocean of Genesis. 1 have presumed that the Deity could not have applied to a more needful pur- pose a part of the stupendous quantity of heat and light which must have been evolved by that combustion, than the concentration of that heat and light to form a sun for our system. In page 10 of the Appendix No. 2 to the work, it will be seen that the great astronomer 169 ence of this course evolv- jfthe gas is ror with re- it is not in- t"ifalight- , it will be no body in Lit the access it and light ; -it is not in- ! combustion hewn, when equently at- hydrogen in sj but as I tie nature of fis goes con- cede to his [. ery candid- any other leory, to ac- ofthe sun, I am now )f my work, de, PlanetSj e happy to an oppor- shewn the f formed by hydrogen, ion of the ed that the eedful pur- Lt and light ombustioD, t to form a lendix No. istronomer (( Arngo has sanctioned this theory of the sun. After having proved to muthenmtical demonstration, as Dr. Lurdner says (as shewn in page 129 of this Aj)pendix,) that the atmosphere of the sun is an ocean of Uame," Arago, from subsccpiont experiments coHckules, " that the sun is nothing but a grand mass of gas agglomerat- ed in sj)acc." Now, with respect to " accounting for the unavoidable waste of the sun," I have to say, that Sir Isaac Newton, Avith the same wonderful sagacity with which bo foretold the combustibility of the dia- mond, suggested that comets were employed in restoring the waste of the light and heat of thr sun. It was known probably in his time^ that the con. es f the comets generally were towards the sv"". ; • I since the discovery by Professor Black and rK'i!.,s, oi the gaseous sciences, it has been shewn that uv enor- mous tails of the comets, some of them near fift^ mil- lions of miles long, are gaseous; I hav( h*. .efore adopted this idea of Newton in my theory or tne sun, and believe that it will naturally " account for the sup- ply of the unavoidable waste of the suns material." Mr. Brewster's idea that the light returns to the sun, reminds meof Buffors theory, that the earth and pla- nets were striick off from the sun by the stroke of a comet, which theory has been long disproved by the astronomical fact, *' that if that were the case, they must return to the sun in every revolution ; so this idea of light returning to the sun after leaving its heat with the earth and planets, which it must do, forms a very insufficient cause for restoring the waste of heat in the sun. Besides this, must not two counter currents of light mutually oppose and retard each other? I submit, therefore, to the candid sagacity of the author of the " New Philosophy of Matter," whether there be any necessity to refer to that theory, when the known fact of the gaseous tails of the comets rushing continually to the sun, and as Sir John Herchell says, *' millioiis of them depositing their tails there," is not ample evi- dence of their purpose being to restore the waste of his heat and light. With respect to this author's ques- tion, " What becomes of the light, if it does not return Ml 170 to the sun 1 " I answer, lijjht is known to enter into combination with alm(^st all bodies on the earth, and by analogy, on the planets also. It changes the colours of al'i bodies, and probably by some unknown process of nature, assumes in them a liquid or a solid state. The lately discovered Daguerreotype is a proof of this ; the rays of light from the countenance fall on a plate cor ted with icdine, or other chemical mixture, and the impiession of the countenance is embodied and solidi- fied in it : row, light is supposed to be imponderable, but I believe that is only supposed, because we have no means of weighing it ; for a grain of light may per- haps be enough to fill a house. What an immensely small space, then, light must require when entering into combination with, and becoming absorbed by the liquid and yolid bodies on the earth, planets and their satellites, their oceans and atmospheres, and assuming the liquid or solid state. To shew the immense tenuity of light, I will state, that Sir Isaac Newton calculated that even the tail of a comet, forty or fifty millions of miles long, might, if, solidified, be almost comprised in a nutshell. In page 71, the author says, " Heat is only light in a state of diffusion. This is proved by the fact, that if you condense it sufficiently, you make it light." But the effect of heating anything is not to condense it, but to rarify it. The author falls into the same error here as in the case of hydrogen and oxygen above stated. He supposes the light to come from the heated iron, whereas it is produced by heating it to that degree at which the iron absorbs the oxygen from the atmos- phere, and sets free its light and heat. To prove this, if the author analyzes the external scales of the heated iron, he will find them to contain a calx or oxyde of iron^ by the absorption of the oxygen from the atmos- phere. Moreover, if light were only heat condensed, how is it that the light of the moon gives no heat at all to the most delicate thermometer * So also when the current is stopped in the telegraph offices, the current probably absords oxygen from the aii, and a spark is produced by the decomposition of that oxygen. « 8ee page 143, Extract from Arago and Lardiusr's Astronomer. 171 I:i page 104, tho author, ultliough ho has all along contenJtMl that heat, or calorie, unci liglit are identical with electricity here avows that *'the essence ofeleciricity lie ntner attempted nor proposed to explain." 'J'here is, th(!n, something more in electricity than either heat or light, hy his own aee^ nt of it. Tn the sixth edition olrny work, in pnge 44 of this Appendix No. 2, I have given my idea of electricity, namely, " that it consists of heat and light conihinod together in some unknown and unique manner ; and that the energy and violence of its effects are occasioned by the mutual expansive efforts of the heat and light to disangage themselves." In fact, I conceived that latent elc^jtricity exists in bodies in a condensed state ; for we now know, that scjme of the gases (tho car- bonic acid, for instance,) can be condensed by pressure to a solid state, but its energy and ])ower to recover the gaseous state are so great, that when the pressure was removed, as shewn by Professor Leibig, in his " Familiar Letters," — " it burst the condensing apparatus, and killed the operator:'' so 1 conceived it might be the case with condensed heat and light in electricity. I must acknowledge, however, that on contem})lating the action of electricity in the telegra2)h wires, I am much inclined to believe, that there is some much more energeticallly powerful ingredient in electricity, than either heat or liglit; some gaseous power of such vehement action, that it has eluded as yet our discovery, formhig perhaps, what Mr. Brewster calls its " essence ; '' and I conceive there is no greater proof that electricity is not heat and light alone than its amazing velocity on these wires. What progress, in fact, would heat and light alone applied in any degree to these wires, be able to make, perhaps not ten miles in an hour, while electricity goes, perhaps, five hundred miles in a minute or much more. In page 150 of the " New Philosophy," the author states that, from certain analogies he has brought for- ward, he infers, *' that no creation of materials is progressing to supply the waste of the sun." In page 172 ^ ■ 146 of the AjipciHlix No. 2 to iho, scventli edition of our System of th'! Crnati )ii, T have said : "I have thorofore come to the conclusion, as is stated ahovc, that there must he ohihoratorics for tlie forma- tion of the gases rerjuired, in which ehiboratories a constant act of creiition of the elementary matter of those «rases woukl ho indispensahU*, to supply the unceasing and stunondous waste. If, therefore, our theory of the sun continue to he substantiated ('and, ns will he shortly sh'^v/n, the planet lately discovered offers a strong'coiifirmation of it,) and as nothin{^ short of a direct act of creation could produce a supply of gaseous matter for all the suns of the universe, wo must refer to such an act of creation for that supply, and wc trust we shall iiuleod thereby lead our readers ** through Nature's works, up to Nature's God.'' We believe we shall have found a more clear and positive proof of the reality of an existing and actually present creation of matt(!r, than has vet been offered to man- kind." In the same page, I have stated my reasons for com- ing to this conclusion ; and in page 151 of said Appen- dix, the reader will see a recapitulation of our theory of the ])robable design of some of the nebulte in these distant regions of space, and of the real purposes of the vast number of comets said by the astronomers to oc- cu])y these regions of space. It will be then seen, thai the oxygen and hydrogen gases thus conveyed to the sun to restore its waste are by this combustion transformed into aqueous vapour, and we conceive it to be a two-fold purpose of the comets on their return, to carry off by their power of attraction this aqueous vapor into di.stant regions of space, to be afterwards condensed into oceans, for the pu/pose of forming new ])lanetary bodies, ju.st as our earth was formed in the ocean of Genesis. Hence the gaseous matter convey- ed by these comets would be ultimately changed into the liquid and solid bodies of these new planets ; hence the original stock of gaseous matter, however immense, would be in time consumed j and hence we concluded 173 lition of our that a constant new creation of the elementary matter of tliesf gusos must be continually pfoing on. The author of the "New Philosophy," considers "thut the supposition of a new creation to supply any deficiency would be derogatory to the skill of the great architect." 1, on the contrary, conceive it would be greatly adding to our conceptions of hiy omnipotence and glory. "Nature' say Shakespeare and Gnathe, **could not exist without action.'' The astronomers tell us that old stars have disappeared from the heavens, and new ones liave been discovered. lie who cieated one world, c^n, without 'jubt, create millions ; and we have reason .o believe the benevolence, wisdom and power of the Dicty is not circumscribed, while there is infinite space for their exertion, thereby to be replen- ished with life and animation, enjoyment and happiness. Now, the gaseous matter supplied, being converted into the liquid and solid matter of the new planetary bodies created, we therefore humbly conceive that the creation of elementary matter j for the supply of the waste of the stars or suns (as they are allowed to be by all astronomers,) of the universe, is proceeding at this moment as it was at the time of the creation of our system In page 204, Mr. Brewster states a theory, by which the earth and planets are carried round the sun. This movement he considers is done by the power of elec- tricity. In the Appendix No. 2, to our sixth edi- tion of the System of the Creation, I stated that — " In addition to the strong arguments employed by Newton himself, (which will be seen in note 6, second edition, containing his explanation of gravitation by means ot he elastic gaseous medium), I have to state that it is known that electricity pervades almost all na- ture. Our atmosphere, our earth, and all water, es- pecially when in a vaporized state, are charged with the electric fluid. Our earth is pervaded by magnt tic and electric currents ; and what I wish now to state, therefore, in addition to Sir Isaac Newton's argiimf nt, on the ethereal gaseous medium, is, that I conceive that medium, is also excited to motion by the electric iiuid. p2 * i J 74 I believe that this electric fluid is a most potent ngent of nature, by which she keeps the ethereal gaseous me- dium in a constant state of motion and activity, for pro- ducing the force wh^'^^h carries the planetary bodies in their courses round the sun ; and I believe this is the very purpose for which this ethereal electric medium exists in space.'' In this very important part of his work, I have then the pleasure of partly agreeing with him. ; for although our theory of the sun goes to shew that the enormous waste of his light and heat is restored by the oxygen and hydrogen gases brought to his vicinity by the co- mets ; still, we are well aware, that both positive and negative electricity are evolved in the combustion of those gases, and, most probably, that is the mode by which a sufficient quantity of electric fluid is furnished to the system, which electricity, acting upon the gase- ous medium of Sir Isaac Newton, produces sufficient force to carry the earth and planets in their revolutions round the sun ; and I should conceive that to effect this purpose, there are two currents of electricity employed by nature, one forcing the earth and planets in a right line, corresponding with the projectile force, and the other operating upon the planets ai a sidelong direction ninety degrees to the northward of the right line cur- rent, both which currents, operating upon the surround- ing gaseous medium, would, I humbly conceive, pro- duce ample force to carry the planets in their present orbits round the sun. While we agree, then, that electricity is a very pow- erful agent of nature in carrying the earth and planets in their orbits round the sun, we have, in conclusion to observe, on the " New Philosophy of Matter," that altho'igh the author of that work derives his electricity from the sun, his theory does not show how that elec- tricity is formed there, whereas, our theory shows it to, be produced from the combustion of the gases that are supplied by the comets to restore the sun's waste. 175 tent ogent jaseoLis me- ity, for pro- j bodies in ;his is the ic medium [ have then or although 3 enormous the oxygen by the co- lositive and tibiistion of e mode by is furnished )n the gase- is sufficient revohitions o effect this y employed 3 in a right •e, and the iig direction it line cur- surround- iceive, pro- leir present very pow- ind planets. conclusion tter," that electricity that elec- shows it to, ses that are ^aste. EXTRA MATTER FOR THE EIGHTH EDITION OF THIS AV'ORK. Since the publication of the seventh edition no new discoveries that I know of have yet been published relating to the theory of the work, except in an article from the London Afhnnreum which we give below. In the fourth edition in pages 2 and 3, of the Ap- pendix No. 2, is stated, Dr. Lardner's account of the confii-niation of our theory of the sun, wherein he says " The conclusion," &c. ( Vide Appendix No. 2,) down to " ocean of flame." In a work called " A Sketch of Conspicuous Characters living in France," it is stated, under the article, " Life of Arago," " Subjecting thus," see Appendix No, 2, down to end of paragraph. Now it is certainly matter of surprise to me, that when such an important change in the theory of the sun is made by such an astronomer as M. Arago, and when, more particularly in his *' Scientific Notices on Comets," he gives an entirely new account of the cause of the spots on the sun, corroborating our theory of these spots. See Appendix No. 2, page 126, from " The rapid changes, &c., down to end of paragraph. I say therefore, that as these opinions of so eminent an astro- nomer have not yet produced any observations on the subject by astronomers, it would then seem that they have agreed to their results. The same may be said respecting any later publication of what Lord Ross has been doing for many months with that wonderful teles- cope, which has so much excited the admiration and expectation of mankind. To account however for this delay, I have been informed that that telescope cannot be employed with effect except in very bright states of the atmosphere, which seldom occur, and also that his Lordship is employed in extending his discoveries on the resolving of the nebulas into stars, or rather suns as all astronomers now allow Ihem to be. In the ab.sence then, of any late discoveries bearing particularly on our theory of the Earth, Planets and Sun of our System, we have however in this eighth I -.) I I 176 edition, to state, from Professor Lou mis s work on " The Recent Astronomy," an extract which is sufficient to astonish even the modern astronomer, and topredictthe astounding discoveries which are perhaps yet reserved for that science, viz : " Alcyone is the most prominent of the pleiades, as the centre around which our sun is revolving, and he calls it the central sun oi' the great system. " This is partially corroborated by the fact that the most palpable and greatest of the real motions of the fixed stars, are found in a" great circle described about the pleiades as a pole," the very place where such must occur. " But the astounding wonders are now to come. Professor Madler computes the distance of Alcyone to be " thirty-four millions of times thai of the sun (from the earth,) requiring 537 years for its light to come to us, at the rate of 200,000 miles a second, or of twelve millions of miles j^er minrte. If this be so, the periodic time of the sun, and of our system, about Alcyone is estimated at e'Kjhtcen millions of years." " For enlargement Oi human conceptions, this is magnificent enough. Should it not all prove to be an approximation to the truJh, the world will see in it the heavings and aspirations of the astronomical spirit." The distances and magnitudes of the remote hea- venly bodies are indeed so immense, as stated in astro- nomy, and particularly modern astronomy, that the minds of many cannot overcome their doubts on the subject j and certainly if there were only a few astro- nomers who had come to these conclusions these doubts might be justifiable ; but when we find such numbers of these astronomers recorded in the history of the science who have all been narrowly watching to detect the slightest errors in each others calculations and statements, and when we find all nearly agreeing in the same results, we can no longer doubt that the results themselves, and the basis on which they have been begun and finished, must be correctly founded in nature. 177 In onr Ajipehdix No. 2, we have stated our idea liow the stupendous quantities of the gases required for the su[)ply of tlio waste of the combustion of our sun and of the suns of the other systems of the universe may be replaced by elaboratories of these gases appointed by the Creator in the distant regions of space. The immortal Sir Isaac Newton was of opinion that the comets were intended to supply the wusle of the sun's combustion, — in Sir Irsaac s time the knowledge of the existence of gasx^ous matter was hardly known, but it is 720iv known that Ihe tails of comets, some of which are 120 millions of miles long, are formed of gaseous matter ; they all make for the sun, fron. whatever part of the heavens they come, and it ap- pears by Lardner and Arago's astronomy, {i-idc our Addendum l)age 152 " that comets increase their volume as th:!y recede from the sj.n, and this is a law to which there is no well-ascertained exception." By our theory of the conbuslion of the oxygen and hydrogen gases brought by the comets to the sun for the purpose O'* supplying his waste, the cause of these changes in the tails of the comets on receding from the sun, is accounted for, by the attraction and carrying off from the sun the aquegaseous vapors formed by the combustion of these gases for the above purposes. Now it appears to me that the opinion of Newton, as to tbese ])urposes of the comets, will be found to be equally correct as was his surprising assertion that "the diamond was combnstible" now fully proved by galvanic power. These immense volumes of gaseous matter carried through the heavens by the comets must be de- signed for some vast purpose. They all go to the sun, and for what more likely purpose could that be, than to supply the waste of combustion ? Accordingly, Sir John Hersehcll states in his astronomy, in speaking of the zodiacal light "that the tails of millions of comets slowly 8iibsi the suns ibustion ; by itself, ed by the points of ?e 122 of received onomers, humility. ^nsration end supply of gaseous matter to replace the waste of the sun's to their notice also. I shall now proceed to make some enquiry into what may be the effects of these discoveries of modern as- tronomy on the minds of men. It would appear that even that vast expanse of space occupied by the stars and sun of our firmament may be mere points com- pared with these discoveries. Sir John Herschell tells us in his late beautiful treatise on astronomy, that he usees" firmament upon firmament" totally independent of our own, and what numbers of them may not exist in a space that is considered infinite ? Ni >w it ap- pears to me that the effect of even the small knowledge the more ancient nations had of astronomy, produced in their minds the origin of the heathen mythology. The psalms of David say " The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the firmament sheweth forth hia handy work," the prophecy of the bible predicted a di- rect communication from the Deity to man. This has been verified by the Christian Religion, and indeed it has for many years seemed to me highly rational to suppose that the Creator, having exhibi- ted such wonders of creation to a being whom he has endowed with sagacity and power to ex- plore these wonders, it has, I say appeared to me highly rational to suppose, this benevolent creator would, by some direct communication to mankind disc' e to them some parts of their destination in futur , just as a sovereign of a great empire, which he has founded and established by his firmness and v isdom, would naturally inform the youthful mind of his son, of the advantages and enjoyments he wci derive from it in his future life. The Pvevelations of Diety by the Christiaii Religion have given this instruction to mankind, and I cannot but believe that the modern astronomy is giving a great confirmation of the truth of this /eligion. It has brought us immensely nigher to the pre nets of the Deity. It has shewn us that our sun and tsystem, and all the stars or suns of our firmament are wheel- y t j i 180 iiig round some immense centre. This very centre is even pointed out to be in Alcyone one of the plciudea of most astonishing distance as iy shewn in page 176, I have suggested the ide a in the early editions of my work, that we might conceive that centre to be the very " Empyreal Throne of God, mentioned in the fourth chapter of Revelations." See page 137, of this work, on the subject of " Paley's iNatural Theology." Again I have stated in my theory of the mode by which the combustible gasses for the supply of the waste of the suns of the universe are produced, that there must be anactof creative agency continually going on for the vast purpose, in the distant nebula?. In short I am led to conclude, that the discoveries now made in modern astronomy, and those which may be thereby induced hereafter, may be considered us the handmaids of Christianity. I believe that the >.'>wer of modern astronomical science which reveals to man, with so much certaintly and grandeur the existence of an unseen first cause of almighty power wisdom and enegy, will, when by the natural progress of society, this science shall be more generally diffused among the masses of mankind, p*t)duce a Avonderful advance in the character and state of the Christian Religion. I have in my late work on the " present condition of United Cannda," called on the various sects of the Pro- testant Religion, to promote a convocation thereof, for the purpose of ascending to the fountain head of that Religion, as given by the Saviour to mankind, to try if one national code could be formed by them entirely on this Saviour God s own principles, unity, peace and grod-will tc man. Yes, I do believe that as by the science .^f ffiodv.rn astronomy, the study of the vast \vork.v of God, will become more diffused Mikind they will see the folly of the nd annnosity occasioned by the working of »s sectarian bodies, and that they will feel, oii>. ascendi. 'y together to the time when this religion was given to them, that nothing could be further from 'he Saviour's desigr. in the government of his church, ior that (having faith in his divine commission,) they among i-: alienatioi" these vari 181 ?ry centre is the pleiudes in page 176, itions of my be the very n the fourth his work, on y." Again I f which the waste of the liere must be ^ on for the lort I am led ? in modern eby induced and maids of of modern an, with so ence of an wisdom and of society, used among •ful advance Religion. I onditioii of of the Pro- hereof, for ad of that nd, to try if entirely on peace and lat as by study of re diftlised ly of the working of y will feel. His religion irther from his church, sion,) they cannot but believe that he must have known that the language in which he gave this religion to mankind could be fully eoii^jrcliriidod 1 y them, and that there- fore the design of his church is unity and peace. Such then do I believe will be the efic'^ts of the science of Modern Astronomy in its powerful tendency to enlarge and expLind the mind of man, and thus unite the chris- tian world in sound, reasonable and practical know- ledge of the design of the Saviour, so that when his religion shall bo divested of that complicated state into which it has been brought, by the folly and pre- sumption of man in loading it with ceaesless discussion which only produces endless dilferences of opinion; and that when confined to the direct terms of the Saviour himself, it Avill produce the end designed by him, unity, peace and goodwill among men. In fine that when by the progress of astronomical science, the minds of the masses are enlightened with extended views of the Almighty power and benevolence, they will feel, tlint true devotion to him, that shall not be founded on their fears, but on that perfect love, which, as the scripture says, castelh out fear ; it will be then founded on the contemplation of the divine energies and wisdom, and on gratitude, in fine, for the manifold blessings and comforts he has bestowed on his 3reation ; and I further believe, that these comforts, being diffused through society by such imfirovenients as its wisdom may in future suggest, will lead to the practice univer- sally of those Christian virtues and graces which can- not fail to produce happiness here and hereatler. This is the advanced state of society which I believe the diffusion of the study of modern Astronomy will produce. We have only now to make one observation on the recent publication of the third volume of the cosmos as fiir as relates to its author's idea of the suns being an electro magnetic storm, I therefore give the following extract from the London Atheuceumof 12th April 1851, " Leading us again into cosmical space, the author lin- gers with feelings of evident pleasure among the fixed stars, he discusses the question of their movements, the \/ 182 i nature of the universe pervading ether, and the phe- nomena of stellar light. Ado})ting the views of lliiygen's Hook and other physichists, he endeavours to explain luminous and thermic i)henomena, by sup- posing them due to electro magnetic currents. 8ir W. Herschell once si)eculated on the sun being in the condition of a perpetual aurora, Humboldt imagines that orb to be under the constant excitation of an electro magneticstorm, by which the propulsion of luminous waves through all space is effected ; and the thermo electric influences ot the stars and })lanets in a similar manner drive back from their shores the waves of light which beat upon them, and hence their lustre. There is more of poetry than philosophy in this theory modified from that of Ersted; and Humboldt has allow- ed his mind to be carried on in that stream of modern thought which is disposed to refer everything which is unknown to electricity. The weight of his name will strengthen this probable error, and men satisfying them- selves that they have, by adopting a phrase, explainer^ a fact, will rest in ignorance, because they are too idle to enquire. To suppose that man has discovered all the r.odes of force, or to adopt a more material view, has tioced out all the imponderable agencies which are at work in the cosmos, is rash and unscientific : we believe that there are things between heaven and earth yet undreamt of in our philosophy, and we are not satisfied that magnetism is the prinium mobile. It needs little reflection on what we now know to per- cieve that there must be physical powers beyond those the effects of which have been searchingly examined, and that even the all-pervading force of gi.. tation, must be the result of some such higher power which the eagle eye of the philosopher has not yet traced in its mysterious operation. " Alexander Humboldt is a man to use Akensides phrase oi^'-'' chosen mind," he has worked diligently in his high vocation, and lingers lovingly over it : when we remember the advanced age of this great traveller and philosopher, w^e cannot but admire the zeal which like a pure flame expiring yet radiates light around, 183 llie plie- I'iews of ideavours by sup- Sir W. g in the ^ines that n electro luminous e thermo a similar waves of ir lustre, lis theory lasallow- f modern which is ame will ingt hem- explainer" re too idle vered all rial view, lich are flc : we and earth are not bile. It to per- iid those xa mined, tation, which raced in .kensides gently in when traveller il which around, and we can pardon the discursiveness of which twenty years since he would not have been guilty." In the A}>pendix No. 2, in the sixth edition of this work we reviewed several theories of .the sun, which had been presented to the world, and among them the electric theory, see page 14-2 a))pendix No. 2, shewing that " Jietbre we can refer to electricity as the cause of the light and heat of the sun, we have first to find whence is ])roduced the " indispensable materiel ''of this electricity," without which no electricity can ])e formed. With respect to IIumboldt"'s iden of a storm existing in the sun, I have often reflected on the vast noise that must ensue from the rushing oi' the immense volumes of the gases discharged into the body of the sun from the tails of the various comets designed to supply the waste of his combustion, according to the theory of the sun, stated in our system of Creation ; and if we wish to form some remote idea of the thunder-like noise or storm in the sun, that must be engendered by the draft of the sun's fire, we have only to think of the noise formed by the air passing into a common furnace whose aperture is only a few inches, and then to con- sider, that the noise or storm occasioned by two comets discharging their gases, the breadth of whose volume is perhaps millions of miles, in oj)posite points of the sun's surface, must be in like proportion. Yes, the rush- ing of these stupendous volumes of gas into the sun must needs produce a sound or storm with which all the loud thunders of our earth could they be so concen- trated, as to be heard by all its inhabitants, can bear no comparison, and well it is that the Highest planet to the sun is above 37 millions .,-f miles from it, for otherwise its inhabitants might not only be deafened, f)ut their planet blown to atoms. In addition also to this cause of storm, we know that electricity, both positive and negative, is evolved by the combustion of the oxygen and hydrogen gases, and that such stupendous quan- tities of each electricity as must be evolved by that combustion may tend to increase tlie storm of the rushing gases, is highly probable. Now we have jihewii in our review above mentioned in page 142 ol -1i !l W- '■ I i 184 the Appendix, that the materiel of electricity cannot exist in the body of the snn, and as our theory of the gaseous su})])ly by the comets, will give a palpable source of light, heat and also electricity, we certainly feel that theory is again confirmed by the opinio;! and observations of the Athenaeum on the convenient prac- tice of some writers of referring everything unknown to electricity ; just as Avas formerly done to chance formation, or to the nerves, for the cause of unknown diseases. Well then does the Athena?um observe, " that there is more of poetry than philosophy, in this idea of Hum- boldt, that electro magnetic electricity is the cause of the light and heat of the sun." The very fact that the immense number of the comets, (being according to Lardner and Arago's astronomy there upwards of seven millions existing in universal si)ace,) all of which when visible to us make lor and go round the sun, this very fact I say, would seem to account for the mode of suj^ply of the sun's waste in the most natural manner; in fact precisely, as the lamps of our cities are supj)lied with fuel, with hydrogen from the gas house, and oxygen from the atmosphere. Accordingly, the light and Heat from the sun, comes, to us with the most ge- nial and vivifying powers, biinging forth the buds and leaves and blossoms of the sj)ring, the beautiful flowers of summer, the nutritiours pulse and delightful fields of autumn, and cheering and reviving the vital powers of mankind, whereas when we know and often feel the deadly effects of electric storms in the heavens, what terrific effects would we be justified in expecting, if the vast body of the sun were an electric mass. I cannot then but consider that our theory of the sun rests upon more tangible facts and bases, and I wait with anxious expectation to learn that future dis- coveries of Lord Pvosse's telescope, when directed to the vast luminary, will give still more confirmation to our theory.* 'i| • In Tail's Magazine for March, 1848, under the head "Popular Lectures," page 147, " Nichol, on the contrary, seems to point to the 185 ty cannot ry of the palpuble certainly mnoxi and ieut prac- iinknown :o chance unkiiuvvn that there lof Ilum- 3 cause of :t that the ording to s of seven of which e sun, this e mode of 1 manner; e supplied ouse, and the light ; most ge- buds and ul flowers tful fields al powers :)ften feel heavens, xpecting, ass. *y of the es, and I uture dis- ed to the on to our cl "Popular )oint to the I We shall now observe respecting the belief (ex- pressed by the Alheufpum) that there are things be- tween heaven and earth yet undreamt of in our i)hilo- sophy. In th pear to me to be designed by nature to lead man to the contemplated expectation of a future state of existence. How is it possible to believe that Providence should present to his observation and study so vast a universe of worlds, and yet deny him the future contemplation of their glories. Yes, the soul of man in its perfection, is part of the vitality of God himself; it must therefore be immortal, and therefore it is in the wisdom of man by following the dictates of Christianity, to endeavour to secure for himself the blessings of that immortality. " All are hut parts of one stupendous whole, " Whose Body Nature is and God the soul," Alexr. Pope. Btars, not with a cold rod, hut with a wavina; torch. He never "^ doubts that the stars are fire' — no immeasurable icebergs Ihey, floating in frozen air, but glowing, burning, almost living orbs j end his words glow, burn, and nearly start from the page in unison," In this point then Nichol agrees with Newton and with our theory, that the stars, now called suns of other systems, are bodies of fire. q2 1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 6^' >..-!< ^4, Z/. ^g 1.0 I.I bai2.8 |50 "^ lis U 25 2.2 L° 12.0 IL25 i 1.4 Ilk Va ^ / f &>. v: 9. /A 'W 7 Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREfT WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S8C (716)S72-4S03 v ■ t 187 Heaven d in our ;hristiaa gth may dictates nation on the ry indi- med, all it will tiness of Creation verses )add to relating To any sublime il satis- )died in ■s, . .» ADDITION TO THE EIGHTH EDITION SYSTEM OF THE CREATION. On the occasion of binding the remaining copies of the eighth edition of this work, I take the opportu- nity of making this addition, first, to notice some confirmations of parts of our theory, by two authors of celebrity; and, secondly, to stale a suggestion which I had intended to present at a Lecture on my work on the Creation, which suggestion, I conceive, may hereafter prove of service to those students in Astronomy, who possess a lively zeal for discovery in that magnificient science. The fitfit of these confirmations of our theory of the production of the Geological Bodies, in the ocean of genesis, is taken from Harpers Magazine , June, 1850, to wit :— - (From Harper* s Magazine, June, 1850.) "The French savans, MM, Malgale, Derocher and Suzeau, announce that they have detected in the waters of the ocean the presence of copper, lead and silver. The water examined appears to have been taken some leagues off the coast of St. Male's in France, and the fiicoidal plants of that district are also found to contain silver. The F. Sermtus and the F. Ceramoides yielded ashes containing 1-1000,000 part, while the water of the sea contained but little more than 1-100,000,000 part. They state also that they find silver in sea salt and the ordinary muriatic acid, and in the soda of commerce, and that they have examined the rock-salt of Lorraine, in which they discovered this metal. Beyond these, pursuing their researches in terrestrial plants, they have obtained such indications as leave no doubt of the existence of silver in vegetable tissues. Lead is said to be always found in the ashes of marine 188 plants — usually about 18-100,000 parts — and inva» riably a trace of copper. Should these results be con* firmed by further examination, we shall have advanced considerably towards a hnowledge of the original for- mation of mineral veins in our earth." The second confirmation of this part of our theory, will be found, I believe, in Harper^s Magazine, for May or June, 1852, wherein it is shewn, that Prim- ary Earths and Metals have been found in the ashes of certain vegetables, which were raised in such manner as to preclude the possibility of these earths and metals to have derived their origin from any other source than the vital processes of these plants, acting on the air and water supplied them, which precisely agrees with our theory of the formation of these Pri- mary Earths. The above discoveries agree and confirm the state- ments of the great French chemists, Chaptal, Schrader and Braconnot, as given in the Eighth Edition of our System of the Creation, on which we based our theory of the formation of the metallic and geological bodies by the processes of vegetation and animalization. I have also seen, in a late astronomical publication, that Professor NichoU has now agreed to the opinion that the heat of the sun must be derived from some " external source." Now, a most ample " external source '' for this object is contained in our theory of the sun's formation, namely, the gasses conveyed to the sun by the tails of the comets, which is agreeable to Sir Isaac Newton's opinion, as shewn in page 150 of our appendix No. 2 to 8th edition. The last confirmation we shall give is from a lecture said to have been given by Sir David Brewster, the distinguished Optician, of England, wherein I am informed, he has taken a very complimentary notice of our System of the Creation, ei^pecially that part of it which refers to the Formation of the Suns of the Uni- verse, and the mode of restoring the waste of their Light and Heat. We now give the suggestion intended to have been given in the lecture above mentioned. d inva- be con* dvanced nal for* r theory, zine, for at Prim- le ashes in such ie earths ny other s, acting precisely lese Pri- he state- Schrader )n of our jr theory al bodies on. blication, ) opinion om some external theory of ed to the ;eable to 50 of our a lecture ster, the n I am notice of , part of it the Uni- of their kve been 189 With respect to the future possible discoveries of Modern Astronomy, I beg leave to say, that by the naked eye, (as we are told by Astronomers) only 2,000 stars can be seen : by the use of the telescope, I believe, hundreds of thousands can be seen. Sir John llcrs- chell, by his largest telescope, resolved into Stars a great uumbcrj of the 2,000 Xebuitc, which he and his father had catalogued ; but out of fifty of the se Nebulrc, unresolvable by ITerchell's telescope, Earl Rosse, by his six feet diameter telescope, succeeded in ascertain- ing that forty-three of them were resolvable into stars. Kow Astronomers say, that the light of the most dis- tant Stars, that can be seen by the eye, would take 120 years to reach the earth, and thus being at too great a distance to shine by a borrowed light, they agree that these Stars must, therefore, be Suns, and it is said by some that our Sun is one of the Stars of the Milky Way. If this view of the Stars of the Firmament be correct, we have a clear right, by induction, to conclude that these Suns are accompanied by families ol Planets, as our own Sun is. Further, we know that the wonderful discovery of the daguerrotype shews us, that by a certain mixture of Iodine and other chemi- cal ingredients, the rays of light from the human coun- tenance can be embodied on a metallic plate, in perfect resemblance of the face itself. Now, it is not impos- sible, that some future wealthy and zealous Astrono- mer may arise, to construct a twelve-foot telescope, being double that of the Fiarl of Rosse ; so it is also possible that some chemical mixture may be tound greatly to add to the powers of vision of such a teles- cope. May we not be hereafter enabled by such impro- vements, to discover the very Planets of those distant systems ? I state this suggestion, merely to shew that the future powers of Astronomy cannot be limited ; and to what astonishing scenes of astronomical discoveries they may possibly lead. I I I I ! 190 EXTRA MATTER , FOR THE NINTH EDITION • OF THE SYSTEM OF CREATION. In the Appendix No. 2, lo this work it is shewn on the unthority of a great philosophical writer, that the late M. Arago " a french astronomer of very great cele- brity, has proved to mathematical demonstration, that the sun's atmosj)here is an Ocean of Flame" and it is there also shewn, that by a work called " Sketches of conspicuous characters living in France, under " life of Arago" the foUowng paragraph appears. " Subjecting thus" (vide extra matter for 5th edition page 135 of this appendix) " down to space.'' Now M. Arago had shewn as above, that the sim'a atmos})here was an ocean of Flame : and this atmosphere of the sun is said by astronomers to be 2500 miles from his surface, and there can be no doubt then, that Arogo considered the body of the sun to be in a state of com- bustion for the purpose of heating and lighting the earth and planets. In the extra matter for the 6th Edition of our work see page 137, 1 have given some account of the nebular hypothesis and of the nebulae. This nebular hypo- thesis was of a very splendid nature, but supposed to be rather atheistical ; however as we have shewn in page 139, Doctor Scoresby of Dublin says " the grand nebular hypothesis of La Place has been resolved into a splendid astronomical dream, by the discoveries made by Earl Rosse's new telescope of 6 feet diameter. Our theory of the earth and sun is founded on the mosaic account of Creation, in the 1st. 2nd and subse- quent verses of genesis chapter 1st ; but there can be no doubt that the aqueous vapor formed by the combustion of the gasses of oxygen and hydrogen before they became condensed into what is called the waters, or 191 )N . ON. lewn on hat the eat cele- ion, that and it is tches of er « life L edition Now M. iosj)here 3 of the rom his t Arogo of com- he earth Lir work nebular • hypo- osed to ewn in ? grand d intoa 5 made on the I subse- n be no biistion e they iers, or ccean of Genesis, may have existed for ages previously in a vaporous or nebulous stale. Having in the 8th edition of this work endeavoured to shew, that by tVe discoveries made, and likely to be made in future by modern astronomy, the Christian Religion would be greatly confirmed, and the best effects produced on society from the diffusion uf those discoveries, I had conceived and intended that the 8th edition should be the final one of this work ; but I have found in the November number of 1852 of the Canadian journal, published by the Canadian Institute of the city of Toronto, an extract from the proceedings of the 22nd meeting of the British Association in England for the advancement of science, and in which extract is given the president of the associations address, in which a very surprizing discovery is stated to have been rriade, pur- porting that the magnetic variations of the marine compass are dependant on, and derived from the sun, as their Primary source. Nuw, as by the Theory of the Sun of this work on the Creation, the oxygen and hydrogen gasses arc brought into a state of combustion for the restoration of the waste of his heat and light, and as by the combustion of these gasses both electri- cities must be produced, the oxygen gas evolving the positive electricity and the hydrogen evolving the negative, it follows that a stupendous quantity of elec- tricity must be thereby produced in the sun, and there- fore, as by the above stated discovery, the magnetic variations of the compass are derived from the sun we consider a powerful sanction of our theory has been thus given ; and the 8th edition of our work being- soldoff, we have therefore concluded to produce belore the Public this ninth edition of the work. And we therefore present the following extract (from the speech of the president of the British Association in England for the advancement of science) to the Canadian Public. " The periodical variations in the terrestrial magnetic force, which I h:i ve before adverted to as distinguished, from its secular e iiange, are small in comparison with the force itself; but they are highly deserving of atten- tion on account of the probability that by suitable I It i Hi 192 methods of investigation they may be mada to reveal the sources to which they owe their orij^in and the agency by which they are produced. 'I'hey formed accordingly the sul)ject of a distinct recommendation from the fJritisli Association, which met with nn equally favourable reception. To investigate these variations by suitable instruments and methods, to separate each from the others, and to seek its period, its epochs of maximum and minimum, the laws of its progression, and its mean numerical value or amount, constituted the chief purposes for which magnetic observatories were established for limited periods at certain stations in Iler JNIajestys dominions, selected in a view that by a combination of the results obtained at them a general theory of each at least of the principal periodical vari- ations might be derived, and tests be thus supplied whereby the truth of physical theories propounded for their explanation might be examined. We are just beginning to profit by the collocation and study of the great body of facts which has been collected. Varia- tions corresponding in period to the earth's revolution around the sun, and to its rotation aroimd its own axis, have been ascertained to exist, and their numerical values approximately determined in each of the three elements, the Declination, Inclination, and Magnetic Force. We unhesitatingly refer these variations to the sun as their primary source, since we find that in whatever part of the globe the phenomena are observed, the solstice and equinoxes are the critical epochs of the variations whose period is a year, whilst the diurnal variation follows in all meridians nearly the same law of local solar hours. To these luiquestionable evi- dences of solar inrtuence in the magnetic affections of the earth, we have now to add the recently ascertained fact, that the magnetic storms, or disturbances, which in the absence of more correct knowledge were sup- posed to be wholly irregular in their occurence, are strictly periodical phenomena, conforming with syste- matic regularity to laws in which the influence of local solar hours is distinctly traced." ■gyagi own axis. 193 " But whilst we recognize the sun as the prinlury cause of variations whose periods attest the source from whence they derive their origin, the mode or modes in which the eflects are produced constitute a question which has been and may still be open to a variety of opinions ; the direct action of the S'm as being itself a magnet — its calorific agency in occasioning thermo- electric and galvanic currents, or in alternately exalting and depressing the magnetic condition of substances near the surface of the earth or in one of the consti- tuents of its atmosphere, — have been severally adduced as hypotheses affording plausible explanations. Of each and all such hypotheses the facts are the only true criteria ; but it is right that we should bear in mind that in the present state of our knowledge, the evidence which may give a decided countenance to one hypo- thesis in preference to others does not preclude their IKJssible co-existence. The analysii of the collected materials and the disentanglement of the various effects which *o comprehended in them, is far from being yet complete. The correspondence of the critical efjochs of the annual variation with the solstices and equinoxes, rather than with the epochs of maximum and minimum temperature, which at the surface of the earth, in the subsoil beneath the surface, or in the atmosphere above the surface, are separated by a wide interval from the solstitial epochs, appears to favour the hypothesis of a direct action ; as does also the remarkable fact which has been established, that the magnetic force is greater in both the northern and southern hemispheres in the months of December, January, and February, when the sun is nearest to the earth, than in those of May, June and July, when he is most distant from it: whereas if the effect were due to temperaturey the two hemispheres should be oppositely, instead of similarly affected in each of the two periods referred to; Still, there are doubtless minor periodical irregular variations which have yet to be made out by suitable analytical processes, whose, pos- sible iccordance with the epochs of maximum and minimum temperature, may support in a more limited R 194 i\. sense, not as a sole but as a co-ordinate cause, hilosopher of the mag- netic proi^erties of oxygen and of the manner in which they are modified and affected by differences of tem|>e- rature. It may indeed be difficult to suppose that the magnetic phenomena which we measure at the surface of the globe should liot be in any degree influenced by the variations in the magnetic conditions of the oxygen of the atmos|)here in different seasons and at different hours of the day and night ; but whether that influence be sensible or not, whether it be appreciable by our instruments or inappreciable by them, is a ques- tion which yet remains for solution by the more minute sifting of the accumulated facts which are now under- going examination in so many quarters." " To justify the anticipation that conclusions of the most striking character, and wholly unforeseen, may yet be derivable from the materials in our possession, we need only to recall the experience of the last few months, which have brought to our knowledge the existence of what may possible prove the most instruc- tive, as it is certainly at first sight the least explicable of all the periodical magnetic variations with which we have become acquainted. I refer to the concurrent testimony which observations at parts of the globe the most distant from each other, bear to the existence of a periodical variation or inequality, affecting alike the magnitude and frequency of the disturbance of storms. The cycle or period of this inequality appears to extend to about ten « f our years ; the maximum and minimum of the magnitudes affected by it being sejxirated by an interval of about five years, and the differences being much too great, and resting on an induction far too extensive, to admit of uncertainty as to the facts them- selves. The existence of a well-marked magnetic period which has certainly no counterpart in thermic conditions, appears to render still more doubtful the supposed connexion between the magnetic and calorific influences of the sun. It is not a little remarkable that ]9d cause, ths that are wholly inaccessible to our research; they must, therefore, have existed under the siluriau strata, and been composed of the same associ> ation of minerals which we term granite, augite, and quartzose porphyry, when they are made known to us by eruption through the surface. Basing our inquiries on analogy,- we .may assume that the substances which fill up deep fissures and traverse the sedimentar}' strata are merely the ramification of a lower de* posit. The foci of active volcanoes are situated at enormous depths, and, judging from the remarkable fragments which I '«iSk ^ 201 ters of the nebular hypothesis have now disclaimed it and, D( «^;tor Scoreshy says, that '' this grand nebular hypothesis of La Place, i» thus resolved into a splendid astronomical dream ; and it certainly seems difficult even to imagine that the bases of two or three primary gasses should be able to form the immense variety of solid bodies of which our earth and probably all the planets are composed. This leads me therefore to a comparison of the theory of gasseous or nebulous for- mation with our own, as shewn in this system of crea- tion, 9th edition. The theory of thAebulous formation derives the composition of all the solid Bodies of the earth from the in animate combinations of condensed gaseous or nebulous matter; whilst our theory embraces the most energetic source of formation, namely the action of the vital powers of the vegetable and animal creation of the oceanic waters of Genesis, to embody these bases of the gasses imbibed from those waters and the air contained in them and which gasses (by the aid of the electric fluid and the powers of their vitality,) this animal and vegetable creation of the waters of Genesis have transformed hito the solids composing their subs- tances, which finally, by the deposition of their remains after their death, have produced all the solid bodies of our "earth : " have found in various parts of the earth incrusted in lava cur- •* rents, I should deem it more than probable that a primordial " granite rock forms the substratum of the vhole stratified edifice " of fossil remains. Basalt containing: olivine first shows itself in " the period of the chalk, trachyte still later, while eruptions of " granite belong, as we learn from the products of their meta- " morphic action, to the epoch of the oldest sedimentary strata of " the transition formation. Where knowledge can not be attained " from immediate perceptive evidence, we may be allowed from " induction, no less than from a careful comparison of facts, to " hazard a conjecture by which granite would be restored to a " portion of its contested right and title to be considered as a " primordial rock. " The recent progress of geognosy, that is to say the more exten- " ded knowledge of the geogiostic epochs characterized by diffe- " rence of mineral formations, by the peculiarities and succession " of tlie organism contained within them, and by the position of " the strata, whether uplifted or inclined horizontally, leads us, by 202 We have shewn in the Preface to the 3rd edition of our work, that the celebrated geologist Hutton has sanctioned this theory of formation of which indeed I was not aware till some years after the publish- ing of my first edition in Toronto, 1836 " If, with Elie de Beaumont, we term the waters (in which the Jura limestone and chalk formed a soft deposit) the Jurassic or oolitic, and the cretaceous seas, the outlines of these formations will indicate, for the two corresponding epochs, the boundaries between the already dried land and the ocJfean in which these rocks were forming. Extract from C^^pos Page 286. Now this agrees with the theory of this work. I have shewn in the work that the depositions of the ocean are amply competent to account for the forma- tion of all the solid bodies of our earth, see page 51 of this work, I conclude therefore that the gaseous or nebulous matter supposed by some to have formed the solid bodies, have not been condensed into solid, but merely into a liquid form, and have thus produced the ocean of Genesis (as by 1st and 2nd verses, 1st chap- ter) which was designed by the creator to form the earth, and accordingly he replenished that ocean with animal and vegetable life, whose remains after death, and whose labours during their term of life, have formed all the solid bodies of the earth by deposition. " means of the causal connection existing amonu; all natural pheno- '' inena, to the distribution of solids and fluids into the continents " and seas which constitute the upper crust of oui planet. We *' here touch upon a point of contact between geological and geo- " graphical geognosy which would constitute the complete history " of the form and extent of continents. Th i limitation of the soliH " by the fluid parts of the earth's surface, and their mutual rela- " tions of area, have varied very considerably in the long series of " geognostic epochs. They were very difterent, for instance, when " carboniferous strata were horizontally deposited on the inclined " beds of the mountain limestone and old red sandstone ; when " lias and oolite lay on a substratum of keuper and muschelkalk, " and the chalk rested on the slopes of green sandstone and Jura " limestone. Here then it would appear by these two last pa.-agraphs the author of the cosmos considers the rocky formations to have been produced, nut by the condensation of a few gasses, but much more reasonably by the depositions of the water of those seas. 203 1 edition itton has h. indeed publish- vaters (in ;d a soft ts seas, the r the two ween the lese rock3 86. >rk. Lons of the the forma- page 51 of raseous or ve formed . into solid, s produced s, Istchap- o form the ocean with r death, and ave formed laturalpheno- ihe continents I planet. We igical and geo- mplete history ion of the solid mutual rela- ; long series of instance, when )n the inclined (idstone; when i muschelkalk, .tone and Jura paragraphs the 8 to have been but much more )se seas. Whilst therefore the processes of nature in our globe, appear, so fully competent for its formation, what need is there to resort to formation by the imaginary condensation of a few primary gasses in the nebula; ? and which have indeed been nearly overthrown, by the recent discoveries of modern astronomy made by the six feet diameter telescope of Earl Rosse. 1 now conclude this work, with some observations on the theory I have offered in the Gth edition pages 148-9 of elaboratories of the gasses to supply the waste of the sun's light and heat. The great Sir Isaac Newton was of opinion to the end of his days, that the waste by the incessant emanation of heat and light from the sun, was restored by means of the comets. His foundation for this oj)inion would appear to have arisen from his observations that the comets always went round the sun before they retired iiom it. In his days the gasseous sciences were unknown, but now we know the tails ol the comets must be gasseous, for many of them are 50 to 100 millions of miles in length and of great tenuity, and we have shewn in our adden- dum page 152, that the appearance of these tails are quite changed as tlie}'^ recede from the sun, making it most probable that their former tails have been absorbed by the sun for the great purpose of restoring his waste of light and heat. Being aware of these facts, ""e question upon reflec- tion, naturally arose in my mind, whence could the comets obtain this supply of gasseous matter ? that it must have been taken up by them in the course of the stupendous extent of some of their orbits, appeared to me self evident, and on the contemplation of the im- mense numbers and distances of these nebulous bodies, all of which are more or less luminous, and therefore contain light, it appeared to me J say, that this was that part of the distant regions of space which was most likely to furnish these gasses to the comets, whose powers of attraction acting on their nebulo), have drawn from them these gasses to form their tails It is impossible to suppose that this gasseous matter, could exist unconfined in space, because thep the t 204 ' » oxygen and hydrogen gasses might intermix and would that moment be made subject to combustion by the electric fluid , and thus endanrer the planetary bodies of ihe systems they might encounter. I therefore formed my theory on the idea that some of these distant nebulae were constructed by the creator into vast elaboratories, some for the formation of oxygen gas, and others for the format-ou of hydrogen, and that different comets were then charged with these separate gasses respectively. Now as it is known that neither of these gasses when separate are at all combustible, no danger could then happen in the courses of these comets towards the suns to doposit their gasses there. But if our sun be thus restored to its powers of ema* nation of heat and light, we may reason from the uni- formity of nature's laws that all the stars (now allowed to be suns) are so supplied by the comets and so immen- sely vast must be the supply of the gasses required for this stupendous purpose, that I have concluded in my theory of the comets, that the hand of the creator alone can be resorted to for this supply ; and therefore, that a present unceasing act of creation is carried on by him in these elaboratories to maintain the existence if the heavens and the earth he created at the " beginning." " Newton affirms (and who would doubt when New- ton affirms) ** that the same quantity of force could not be preserved in space; he even thinks that the universe would perish at length if the governor of the universe did not take care from time to time to renew its resources." Monde Primilif Paris» Thus should our theory of the comets and nebulae be in future substantiated and confirmed, as I may I believe, be allowed to say my theory of the sun has been, by several eminent astronomers and now chiefly by the great discovery made by the British Association for the diffiision of science, as above narrated, we may then consider we have indeed arrived THRO' NA- TURE, UP TO NATURE'S GOD. 205 ermix and bust ion by planetary I that some the creator n of oxygen jn, and that eae separate gasses when could then irds the suns wrers of eina* ^om the uni- now allowed nd so immen- i required for luded in my creator alone lerefore, that arried on by e existence if " beginning." )t when New- brce could not t the universe ■ the universe to renew its s and nebulae ;cl, as I may of the sun has id now chiefly ish Association •rated, we may THRO' NA- INDEX: ^ .•; REVISED FOR NINTH EDITION. PAGE. Prkface to first edition , 3 Ditto tu second edition 7 Ditto to third edition 12^ Ditto to sixth edition 18 Purposes of Geology 21 Some account of the Author 22 Insufficiency of the Chaotic System of the ancients to account for the Geological appearances of the Earth 22, 23 Formation of the Primitive Earths, Salts, and Metals, by the Vegetative Process 24 Our earth formed in a Fluid ib. The Doctrine of Chance Formation Refuted 25 Observatipns on the Doctrine of the Materiality of the Soul. 29 The Ourang Outang — Brain similar to Man's. ... 31 Age of the World by Boubee's Geol. Popul. Paris, 1833 32 This supposed Age explained and reconciled to the Mosaic account by our construction of first verse of Genesis ib.-3 Extract from Dr. Chalmer's Natural Theology. ., 33 Discoveries of Black, Priestly, and Lavoisier 35 The Combustion of the Gases " at the Beginning." produced the Universal Waters of Genesis, ib. 3S The Universal Ocean formed by Laws of Attraction ib. Account of Encke's Comet ib. Mode of P'ormation of the Solid Parts of our Earth. iK Order and Succession of Rocks and Organic Remains composing Crust of the Earth 39* Extract from Sharon Turner's Sacred History, on Marine Plants 4t Cause of Marine Productions being found above the level of the sea to be sought in the ori- ginal formation of the Waters of Genesis.. .42, 5 s i 1 I- 206 Carbon tbe solidifying principle of Vegetables. . . 46 Oxygen exists in a solid state in all tbe Oxydes. . 47 The Eartbs, Metals, and Minerals, found in Vegetables, are produced by the Vegetative Process 51 A Method suggested of forming Nutritive Matter not yet known to mankind 49 Siliceous Earth proved by Professor Tiinuaeus to be tbe result of the Vegetative Process 50 Curious extract from a work on " liie Animals and Monsters of our Oceans/' proving that the offspring of one Herring is sufficient to ■ form a mass of matter equal to ten of our Globes 51 The Granite Mass formed like the secondary and • ^' tertiary strata, by the deposition of Vegetable and Animal Matter 52, 3 Extract from Lyell on Shells in the earth 53 Rev. Mr. Fairholme's opinion on the Granite Mass answered 54 On the supposed antiquity of Mount iEtna 56 Salt Formations ib. Means by which the Sands of the Sea and Earth have been formed 58 Extract from Evans's Agriculture, proving the formation of Silica by the processes of Vege- tation.. . • ; . . . . ib. Observations supporting the Theory of Formation of this Earth 59 Extract from S.iaron Turner's Sacred History of the world, proving the power of the Vege- ., tative Functions to produde the Primary • Earths 60 Great part of the present surface of the Earth derived from the remains of animals that constituted the population of ancient seas, (Dr. Buckland) I AnimalcuIsB form extensive strata of Polishing Slate in Bohemia. • • . • ib. 207 The cause of entire genera of animals dissap- pearing in the Formations accounted for by our theory of Formation of the Strata 63, 4 The theory in this work of the mode of Formation of the Solid Bodies of the Earth stated 64, 5 The Wisdom of the Creator shewn in the Internal Fires of the earth 66 Observations on the Researches of Cuvier in Geology 66 a 68 Cause of the Creation of Marine Plants not being mentioned in Genesis, 1st chapter 69 Elucidation of the Theory of the Earth 70 Observations on Mr. Mantell's Wonders of Geology 76, 7 The theory of this work, of the Marine Formation of Coal, supported by Maletrenck 78 Theory of the Sun's Formation 80 A short account of Pneumatic Chemistry ib. Heat and Light 81 Remarks on Buffon's Theory of the Earth and Planets 82 Attraction of Matter 84 Cause of the Cold on High Mountains explained from Terrestrial causes 88 An idea of the cause of the Projectile Force 89 Cause of the Tides explained by our Theory of the Gaseous Medium in infinite space ib. Means by wbich the Waste of the Fire of our Sun and that of the other Stars or Snns are res- tored (see also Appendix No. H. ) 91 Enck's Comet, from Whewell's Bridgewater Tre- tise, supports the theory of the aeriform me- dium of this work ib* Observations on Hershell's idea of the opaqueness of the Sun 95 Two Queries presented to Men of Science in sup- port of our theory of the Spots on the Sun. . 96 Extract from Sir Richard Phillip's Theory 97 Do. from Sir John Herschell's Astronomy of last year 99 Dq^ from Graham '£ Elements of Chemistiy.. 100 [ ■If \, . 1 1 : !l! 208 The Dissolution of the Globe considered from its existing Phenomena. 101 Recombination of the separated Elements to form New Heavenly Bodies 104, 5 The Immortality of the Soul of Man drawn as a conclusion from the Indestructibility of the Laws of Nature '. 107 Table of Geological Formations 109 Appendix, containing the following Notes 1 10 Note. 1 — Observatations on Boffbn's Theory of the Earth ib^ The late discoveries of land in the South ;• • Sea, by Capt. Ross, foretold in first - / . . edition of this work, 1836 Ill ^otes to second edition, . Note 6. — Sir Isaac Newton on gravity, from Good's Book of Nature, shewing how Gra- vity is caused by the Ethereal ^ Gaseous Medium carrying the Earth ;* and Planets round the Sun lt9 ' ' ' Note to Sixth Edition, ..r ,,..'; Note I. — Shewing how M. Arago probably for- ,% med his conclusion that our Sun '' .. ' is a "Grand Mass of Gass" Agglome- rated in Space 121 Note 2. — Shewing how our Sun (being, according to our theory, a grand mass of Gas) '.' . is fixed in the regions of space 122 INDEXTOAPPENDIXNO.il. ' Extra Matter for the Fourth Edition 126 Extract from Lardner's Lectures ib. Our Sun's surface proved by Arago to be an Ocean of Flame 127,-129 Extra Matter for Fifth Edition 133 Extract from Lyal's Principles of Geology con- j troverting Central Fire. « • . ib. ^«.Jsiu.__J* ^rom its 101 iciits to 104,5 i^n as a of the 107 109 s 110 eory of ib, le South ill first Ill 1 Good's •' J iw Gra- 3thereal ' ' ^ le Earth '■ ii9 bly for- ,,f ur Sun 5gIome- 121 !Cording >f Gas) ' 123 I. t;i • ••••• 1D« be an ...127,-129 133 \y con- ..... ib. 209 Extract from a work containing the Life of M. Arngo, and his induction "That tho Sun is a (iraud Mass of Gas Agglomerated in Space." , 135 Extra Matter for Sixth Edition 137 Extract from London Globe and Dr. Scoresby, giving an account of Lord Kosse's great ciisc(»very 138 Electric Theory of the Sun refuted 142 Number of Comets computed in our system 145 Cause assigned for the (iravitation of the Planets round the Sun, considering him as a Body of Ciaseous Matter 146 Elaboratories of the Gases formed by the Creator in the Nebulae of the distant Region of Space 148 Recapitulation of our Theory of the purposes of tho Nebulae and Comets 151 Extract from tho "Cosmos* of Baron Von Humboldt 154 The New Planet, as a proof of our Theory of the Sun \ 155 Presentation of the Extra Matter of this work to the Public and to Men of Science 158 Supplement to 7th edition 159 Extra Matter for 8th edition 175 Addition to 8th edition 187 Extra Matter for 9th edition 193 List of Subscribers to this work 210 a 212 « « •I w . . Notice to thk Subscribers To a work to be entitled " Observations on some late Events in the recent Session oj the Provincial Parliament, and on the suppo- sed intention of the Imperial Parliament to unite " all the Provinces of British JVorlh America in " Federal Union. ^^ THIS WOBK NOW UKDEB SVBSCBIPTION ,i . M will it is hoped be shortly in print. Quebec, May 1855. > ,. • . HENBY TAYLOR. 1^' li I I I- ! I filO NAMES OF SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS WORK. « QUEBEC, 1840. J. Hale, M. J. Wil- Bell, J. S. Campbell, Hon. Judge Cochrane ; Messrs son, J. Daintry, D. Wilkie, N E. S. King, J. Grieves,— Clapham, F. B. Lindsay, D McCarthy, J. G. Irvine, T. Gary, Edw. Burroughs, Louis Panet, T. A. Stayner, (jeorge Augustus Bedford, H. Gowen, J. Musson, A. Macnider, George Hall, James Houohette, Rev. R. R, Burrage, M. White, L. A. Cannon, T. G. Cathro, G. Peniberton, John Neilson, Alexander Hadden, William McM aster, Thos. Bickell, George Mountain, A. McGill, A. Wilson, W. B. Jefferys, D. Logie, C. T. 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Bracken, Ken., Thomas Bruunlie, J W Pe/et, Regis Roy, R Mucfarlane, Paul Lepper, Artimas Jackson, J D Lefurgy, W D Dupont, Mrs Hendry, R H Scott, W Andrews, W Lane, Rev W Torrance, Ralph Hunter, J J Lowndes, P Len- festy, Dunhar Ross, C Stuort, (i D Bal/arctti, A M Vidal, H Black, Jas Laurin, J H Kerr, C S Bounie, Mr Benjamin, J M P>aser, J Jill, Mrs Young, Chas Smith, Anthy. Anderson, Doctor Kelly, A McDonald, George Black, Wm I'hompson, Henry Jessup, H Dyde, Joseph Legare, fils W' K Rayside, Rev Dr Wilkie, Rev Mr Wood, Rev Mr Burrox. ►Hf*^ — LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO THIRD EDITION. ,, MONTREAL, 1842. 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In title page, for "Discovries" read Discoveries, and for "con'passes*' read compass. Page CO, line 15, from foot, for "basses" read bases. Page 91, line 6, for page 28 read page 148 and line 13. for 21 and 22, read page 151. "age 94, line 10 from foot, after tire read " that is by oxygen and hydrogen. Page 124, last line for " remanis" read remains. Page 128 line 15, from foot, for " in" read is. Page 130, line 12, for '< every" read very. Page 168, line 9, from foot, for "cembnstion" /ead com- bustion. Page 175, line 7, for 2 and 3, read page 129. Page 178, line 1st, « If " misplaced Page 178, line 2, for " they go" read i/they go. Page 179, line 10, for ^' uses" read sees. Page 196, line 2 for " elective" read electric. Page 204, line 3, for " endanrer" read endan -er.