appropriate that which belongs to another; as he may innocently speak of
things hereafter, the idea of which has occurred to others. It is not
his intention here to say a word _pro_ or _con_ on the nebular
hypothesis; it is sufficient to allude to the facts, that the direction
of rotation and of revolution is the same for all the planets and
satellites of our system; and that the planes on which these motions are
performed, are nearly coincident. That this concordance is due to one
common cause, no one acquainted with the theory of probabilities will
pretend to deny.


GREAT OBJECT OF LA PLACE.

The science of Astronomy occupies a pre-eminent rank in the physical
circle, not only on account of that dignity conferred upon it in the
most remote antiquity, or as being the grand starting point--the
earliest born of science--from whence we must contemplate the visible
creation, if we would reduce its numerous details into one harmonious
whole; but also on account of its practical fruits, of the value of
which modern commerce is an instance. Accordingly we will glance at its
past history. In the earliest ages there was no doubt a rational view
entertained of the movements of the planets in space. From the Chaldeans
to the Arabs, a belief prevailed, that space was filled with a pure
ethereal fluid, whose existence probably did not rest on any more solid
foundation than analogy or tradition. One hundred years after Copernicus
had given to the world the true arrangements of our planetary system,
Descartes advanced his theory of vortices in the ethereal medium, in
which the planets were borne in orbits around the sun, and the
satellites around their primaries. This idea retained its ground with
various additions, until the Geometry of Newton reconciled the laws of