Chapter XLI: Section XXXVII (1)

Diffusion of Matter through Space—Gravitation—Its Velocity—Simplicity of
its Laws—Gravitation independent of the Magnitude and Distances of the
Bodies—Not impeded by the intervention of any Substance—Its Intensity
invariable—General Laws—Recapitulation and Conclusion.

THE known quantity of matter bears a very small proportion to the immensity of space. Large as the bodies are, the distances which separate them are immeasurably greater; but, as design is manifest in every part of creation, it is probable that, if the various systems in the universe had been nearer to one another, their mutual disturbances would have been inconsistent with the harmony and stability of the whole. It is clear that space is not pervaded by atmospheric air of such density as that we breathe, since its resistance would long ere this have arrested the motion of the planets: it certainly is not a void, but replete with a medium possibly in itself electric or magnetic, but at all events capable of transmitting light, heat, magnetism, gravity, and probably influences of which we can form no idea.

Whatever the laws may be that obtain in the more distant regions of creation, we are assured that one alone regulates the motions, not only of our own system, but also of the binary systems of the fixed stars; and, as general laws form the ultimate object of philosophical research, we cannot conclude these remarks without considering the nature of gravitation—that extraordinary power whose effects we have been endeavouring to trace through some of their mazes. It was at one time imagined that the acceleration in the moon’s mean motion was occasioned by the successive transmission of the gravitating force. It has been proved that, in order to produce this effect, its velocity must be about fifty millions of times greater than that of light, which flies at the rate of 192,000 miles in a second. Its action, even at the distance of the sun, may therefore be regarded as instantaneous; yet, remote as the fixed stars are, the solar gravitation must have some influence on the nearest of them, as, for example, α Centauri, which is only 20,602 times the radius of the earth’s orbit from the sun, while La Place has computed that the solar gravitation extends a hundred millions of times farther than the semidiameter of the terrestrial orbit. Possibly the star dust in the Milky Way may be beyond, or on the verge of, that enormous limit; yet it is very unlikely that either the sun, or any of the stars which form the great cluster to which we belong, should be unconnected bodies.

The curves in which the celestial bodies move by the force of gravitation are only lines of the second order. The attraction of spheroids, according to any other law of force than that of gravitation, would be much more complicated; and, as it is easy to prove that matter might have been moved according to an infinite variety of laws, it may be concluded that gravitation must have been selected by Divine Wisdom out of an infinity of others, as being the most simple, and that which gives the greatest stability to the celestial motions.

It is a singular result of the simplicity of the laws of nature, which admit only of the observation and comparison of ratios, that the gravitation and theory of the motions of the celestial bodies are independent of their absolute magnitudes and distances. Consequently, if all the bodies of the solar system, their mutual distances, and their velocities, were to diminish proportionally, they would describe curves in all respects similar to those in which they now move; and the system might be successively reduced to the smallest sensible dimensions, and still exhibit the same appearances.

The action of the gravitating force is not impeded by the intervention even of the densest substances. If the attraction of the sun for the centre of the earth, and of the hemisphere diametrically opposite to him, were diminished by a difficulty in penetrating the interposed matter, the tides would be more obviously affected. Its attraction is the same also, whatever the substances of the celestial bodies may be; for, if the action of the sun upon the earth differed by a millionth part from his action upon the moon, the difference would occasion a periodical variation in the moon’s parallax, whose maximum would be the 1/15 of a second, and also a variation in her longitude amounting to several seconds—a supposition proved to be impossible by the agreement of theory with observation. Thus all matter is pervious to gravitation, and is equally attracted by it.

Gravitation is a feeble force, vastly inferior to electric action, chemical affinity, and cohesion; yet, as far as human knowledge extends, the intensity of gravitation has never varied within the limits of the solar system; nor does even analogy lead us to expect that it should: on the contrary, there is every reason to be assured that the great laws of the universe are immutable, like their Author. Nor can we suppose the structure of the globe alone to be exempt from the universal fiat of general laws, though ages may pass before the changes it has undergone, or that are now in progress, can be referred to existing causes with the same certainty with which the motions of the planets, and all their periodic and secular variations, are referable to the law of gravitation. The traces of extreme antiquity perpetually occurring to the geologist give that information, as to the origin of things, in vain looked for in the other parts of the universe. They date the beginning of time with regard to our system, since there is ground to believe that the formation of the earth was contemporaneous with that of the rest of the planets; but they show that creation is the work of Him with whom “a thousand years are as one day, and one day as a thousand years.”

In the work now brought to a conclusion, it has been necessary to select from the whole circle of the sciences a few of the most obvious of those proximate links which connect them together, and to pass over innumerable cases both of evident and occult alliance. Any one branch traced through its ramifications would alone have occupied a volume; it is hoped, nevertheless, that the view here given will suffice to show the extent to which a consideration of the reciprocal influence of even a few of these subjects may ultimately lead. It thus appears that the theory of dynamics, founded upon terrestrial phenomena, is indispensable for acquiring a knowledge of the revolutions of the celestial bodies and their reciprocal influences. The motions of the satellites are affected by the forms of their primaries, and the figures of the planets themselves depend upon their rotations. The symmetry of their internal structure proves the stability of these rotatory motions, and the immutability of the length of the day, which furnishes an invariable standard of time; and the actual size of the terrestrial spheroid affords the means of ascertaining the dimensions of the solar system, and provides an invariable foundation for a system of weights and measures. The mutual attraction of the celestial bodies disturbs the fluids at their surfaces, whence the theory of the tides and of the oscillations of the atmosphere. The density and elasticity of the air, varying with every alternation of temperature, lead to the consideration of barometrical changes, the measurement of heights, and capillary attraction; and the doctrine of sound, including the theory of music, is to be referred to the small undulations of the aërial medium. A knowledge of the action of matter upon light is requisite for tracing the curved path of its rays through the atmosphere, by which the true places of distant objects are determined, whether in the heavens or on the earth. By this we learn the nature and properties of the sunbeam, the mode of its propagation through the ethereal medium, or in the interior of material bodies, and the origin of colour. By the eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites the velocity of light is ascertained; and that velocity, in the aberration of the fixed stars, furnishes a direct proof of the real motion of the earth (N. 237). The effects of the invisible rays of the spectrum are immediately connected with chemical action; and heat, forming a part of the solar ray, so essential to animated and inanimated existence, is too important an agent in the economy of creation not to hold a principal place in the connexion of physical sciences; whence follows its distribution in the interior and over the surface of the globe, its power on the geological convulsions of our planet, its influence on the atmosphere and on climate, and its effects on vegetable and animal life, evinced in the localities of organized beings on the earth, in the waters, and in the air. The correlation between molecular and chemical action, light, heat, electricity, and magnetism, is continually becoming more perfect, and there is every reason to believe that these different modes of force, as well as gravity itself, will ultimately be found to merge in one great and universal power. Many more instances might be given in illustration of the immediate connexion of the physical sciences, most of which are united still more closely by the common bond of analysis, which is daily extending its empire, and will ultimately embrace almost every subject in nature in its formulæ.

These formulæ, emblematic of Omniscience, condense into a few symbols the immutable laws of the universe. This mighty instrument of human power itself originates in the primitive constitution of the human mind, and rests upon a few fundamental axioms, which have eternally existed in Him who implanted them in the breast of man when He created him after His own image.

NOTES.

NOTE 1, page 2. _Diameter._ A straight line passing through the centre, and terminated both ways by the sides or surface of a figure, such as of a circle or sphere. In fig. 1, q Q, N S, are diameters.

NOTE 2, p. 2. _Mathematical and mechanical sciences._ Mathematics teach the laws of number and quantity; mechanics treat of the equilibrium and motion of bodies.

NOTE 3, p. 2. _Analysis_ is a series of reasoning conducted by signs or symbols of the quantities whose relations form the subject of inquiry.

NOTE 4, p. 3. _Oscillations_ are movements to and fro, like the swinging of the pendulum of a clock, or waves in water. The tides are oscillations of the sea.

NOTE 5, p. 3. _Gravitation._ _Gravity_ is the reciprocal attraction of matter on matter; _gravitation_ is the difference between gravity and the centrifugal force induced by the velocity of rotation or revolution. Sensible gravity, or weight, is a particular instance of gravitation. It is the force which causes substances to fall to the surface of the earth, and which retains the celestial bodies in their orbits. Its intensity increases as the squares of the distance decrease.

NOTE 6, p. 4. _Particles of matter_ are the indefinitely small or ultimate atoms into which matter is believed to be divisible. Their form is unknown; but, though too small to be visible, they must have magnitude.

NOTE 7, p. 4. _A hollow sphere._ A hollow ball, like a bomb-shell. A sphere is a ball or solid body, such, that all lines drawn from its centre to its surface are equal. They are called radii, and every line passing through the centre and terminated both ways by the surface is a diameter, which is consequently equal to twice the radius. In fig. 3, Q q or N S is a diameter, and C Q, C N are radii. A great circle of the sphere has the same centre with the sphere as the circles Q E q d and Q N q S. The circle A B is a lesser circle of the sphere.

NOTE 8, p. 4. _Concentric hollow spheres._ Shells, or hollow spheres, having the same centre, like the coats of an onion.

NOTE 9, p. 4. _Spheroid._ A solid body, which sometimes has the shape of an orange, as in fig. 1; it is then called an oblate spheroid, because it is flattened at the poles N and S. Such is the form of the earth and planets. When, on the contrary, it is drawn out at the poles like an egg, as in fig. 2, it is called a prolate spheroid. It is evident that in both these solids the radii C q, C a, C N, &c., are generally unequal; whereas in the sphere they are all equal.

NOTE 10, p. 4. _Centre of gravity._ A point in every body, which if supported, the body will remain at rest in whatever position it may be placed. About that point all the parts exactly balance one another. The celestial bodies attract each other as if each were condensed into a single particle situate in the centre of gravity, or the particle situate in the centre of gravity of each may be regarded as possessing the resultant power of the innumerable oblique forces which constitute the whole attraction of the body.

NOTE 11, pp. 4, 6. _Poles and equator._ Let fig. 1 or 3 represent the earth, C its centre, N C S the axis of rotation, or the imaginary line about which it performs its daily revolution. Then N and S are the north and south poles, and the great circle q E Q, which divides the earth into two equal parts, is the equator. The earth is flattened at the poles, fig. 1, the equatorial diameter, q Q, exceeding the polar diameter, N S, by about 26-1/2 miles. Lesser circles, A B G, which are parallel to the equator, are circles or parallels of latitude, which is estimated in degrees, minutes, and seconds, north and south of the equator, every place in the same parallel having the same latitude. Greenwich is in the parallel of 51° 28ʹ 40ʺ. Thus terrestrial latitude is the angular distance between the direction of a plumb-line at any place and the plane of the equator. Lines such as N Q S, N G E S, fig. 3, are called meridians; all the places in any one of these lines have noon at the same instant. The meridian of Greenwich has been chosen by the British as the origin of terrestrial longitude, which is estimated in degrees, minutes, and seconds, east and west of that line. If N G E S be the meridian of Greenwich, the position of any place, B, is determined, when its latitude, Q C B, and its longitude, E C Q, are known.

NOTE 12, p. 4. _Mean quantities_ are such as are intermediate between others that are greater and less. The mean of any number of unequal quantities is equal to their sum divided by their number. For instance, the mean between two unequal quantities is equal to half their sum.

NOTE 13, p. 4. _A certain mean latitude._ The attraction of a sphere on an external body is the same as if its mass were collected into one heavy particle in its centre of gravity, and the intensity of its attraction diminishes as the square of its distance from the external body increases. But the attraction of a spheroid, fig. 1, on an external body at m in the plane of its equator, E Q, is greater, and its attraction on the same body when at mʹ in the axis N S less, than if it were a sphere. Therefore, in both cases, the force deviates from the exact law of gravity. This deviation arises from the protuberant matter at the equator; and, as it diminishes towards the poles, so does the attractive force of the spheroid. But there is one mean latitude, where the attraction of a spheroid is the same as if it were a sphere. It is a part of the spheroid intermediate between the equator and the pole. In that latitude the square of the sine is equal to 1/3 of the equatorial radius.

NOTE 14, p. 4. _Mean distance._ The mean distance of a planet from the centre of the sun, or of a satellite from the centre of its planet, is equal to half the sum of its greatest and least distances, and, consequently, is equal to half the major axis of its orbit. For example, let P Q A D, fig. 6, be the orbit or path of the moon or of a planet; then P A is the major axis, C the centre, and C S is equal to C F. Now, since the earth or the sun is supposed to be in the point S according as P D A Q is regarded as the orbit of the moon or that of a planet, S A, S P are the greatest and least distances. But half the sum of S A and S P is equal to half of A P, the major axis of the orbit. When the body is at Q or D, it is at its mean distance from S, for S Q, S D, are each equal to C P, half the major axis by the nature of the curve.

NOTE 15, p. 4. _Mean radius of the earth._ The distance from the centre to the surface of the earth, regarded as a sphere. It is intermediate between the distances of the centre of the earth from the pole and from the equator.

NOTE 16, p. 5. _Ratio._ The relation which one quantity bears to another.

NOTE 17, p. 5. _Square of moon’s distance._ In order to avoid large numbers, the mean radius of the earth is taken for unity: then the mean distance of the moon is expressed by 60; and the square of that number is 3600, or 60 times 60.

NOTE 18, p. 5. _Centrifugal force._ The force with which a revolving body tends to fly from the centre of motion: a sling tends to fly from the hand in consequence of the centrifugal force. A tangent is a straight line touching a curved line in one point without cutting it, as m T, fig. 4. The direction of the centrifugal force is in the tangent to the curved line or path in which the body revolves, and its intensity increases with the angular swing of the body, and with its distance from the centre of motion. As the orbit of the moon does not differ much from a circle, let it be represented by m d g h, fig. 4, the earth being in C. The centrifugal force arising from the velocity of the moon in her orbit balances the attraction of the earth. By their joint action, the moon moves through the arc m n during the time that she would fly off in the tangent m T by the action of the centrifugal force alone, or fall through m p by the earth’s attraction alone. T n, the deflection from the tangent, is parallel and equal to m p, the versed sine of the arc m n, supposed to be moved over by the moon in a second, and therefore so very small that it may be regarded as a straight line. T n, or m p, is the space the moon would fall through in the first second of her descent to the earth, were she not retained in her orbit by her centrifugal force.

NOTE 19, p. 5. _Action and reaction._ When motion is communicated by collision or pressure, the action of the body which strikes is returned with equal force by the body which receives the blow. The pressure of a hand on a table is resisted with an equal and contrary force. This necessarily follows from the impenetrability of matter, a property by which no two particles of matter can occupy the same identical portion of space at the same time. When motion is communicated without apparent contact, as in gravitation, attraction, and repulsion, the quantity of motion gained by the one body is exactly equal to that lost by the other, but in a contrary direction; a circumstance known by experience only.

NOTE 20, p. 5. _Projected._ A body is projected when it is thrown: a ball fired from a gun is projected; it is therefore called a projectile. But the word has also another meaning. A line, surface, or solid body, is said to be projected upon a plane, when parallel straight lines are drawn from every point of it to the plane. The figure so traced upon a plane is a projection. The projection of a terrestrial object is therefore its daylight shadow, since the sun’s rays are sensibly parallel.

NOTE 21, p. 5. _Space._ The boundless region which contains all creation.

NOTE 22, pp. 5, 11. _Conic sections._ Lines formed by any plane cutting a cone. A cone is a solid figure, like a sugar-loaf, fig. 5, of which A is the apex, A D the axis, and the plane B E C F the base. The axis may or may not be perpendicular to the base, and the base may be a circle, or any other curved line. When the axis is perpendicular to the base, the solid is a right cone. If a right cone with a circular base be cut at right angles to the base by a plane passing through the apex, the section will be a triangle. If the cone be cut through both sides by a plane parallel to the base, the section will be a circle. If the cone be cut slanting quite through both sides, the section will be an ellipse, fig. 6. If the cone be cut parallel to one of the sloping sides as A B, the section will be a parabola, fig. 7. And if the plane cut only one side of the cone, and be not parallel to the other, the section will be a hyperbola, fig. 8. Thus there are five conic sections.

NOTE 23, p. 5. _Inverse square of distance._ The attraction of one body for another at the distance of two miles is four times less than at the distance of one mile; at three miles, it is nine times less than at one; at four miles, it is sixteen times less, and so on. That is, the gravitating force decreases in intensity as the squares of the distance increase.

NOTE 24, p. 5. _Ellipse._ One of the conic sections, fig. 6. An ellipse may be drawn by fixing the ends of a string to two points, S and F, in a sheet of paper, and then carrying the point of a pencil round in the loop of the string kept stretched, the length of the string being greater than the distance between the two points. The points S and F are called the foci, C the centre, S C or C F the excentricity, A P the major axis, Q D the minor axis, and P S the focal distance. It is evident that, the less the excentricity C S, the nearer does the ellipse approach to a circle; and from the construction it is clear that the length of the string S m F is equal to the major axis P A. If T t be a tangent to the ellipse at m, then the angle T m S is equal to the angle t m F; and, as this is true for every point in the ellipse, it follows that, in an elliptical reflecting surface, rays of light or sound coming from one focus S will be reflected by the surface to the other focus F, since the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection by the theories of light and sound.

NOTE 25, p. 5. _Periodic time._ The time in which a planet or comet performs a revolution round the sun, or a satellite about its planet.

NOTE 26, p. 5. Kepler discovered three laws in the planetary motions by which the principle of gravitation is established:—1st law, That the radii vectores of the planets and comets describe areas proportional to the time.—Let fig. 9 be the orbit of a planet; then, supposing the spaces or areas P S p, p S a, a S b, &c., equal to one another, the radius vector S P, which is the line joining the centres of the sun and planet, passes over these equal spaces in equal times; that is, if the line S P passes to S p in one day, it will come to S a in two days, to S b in three days, and so on. 2nd law, That the orbits or paths of the planets and comets are conic sections, having the sun in one of their foci. The orbits of the planets and satellites are curves like fig. 6 or 9, called ellipses, having the sun in the focus S. Several comets are known to move in ellipses; but the greater part seem to move in parabolas, fig. 7, having the sun in S, though it is probable that they really move in very long flat ellipses; others appear to move in hyperbolas, like fig. 8. The third law is, that the squares of the periodic times of the planets are proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the sun. The square of a number is that number multiplied by itself, and the cube of a number is that number twice multiplied by itself. For example, the squares of the numbers 2, 3, 4, &c., are 4, 9, 16, &c., but their cubes are 8, 27, 64, &c. Then the squares of the numbers representing the periodic times of two planets are to one another as the cubes of the numbers representing their mean distances from the sun. So that, three of these quantities being known, the other may be found by the rule of three. The mean distances are measured in miles or terrestrial radii, and the periodic times are estimated in years, days, and parts of a day. Kepler’s laws extend to the satellites.

NOTE 27, p. 5. _Mass._ The quantity of matter in a given bulk. It is proportional to the density and volume or bulk conjointly.

NOTE 28, p. 5. _Gravitation proportional to mass._ But for the resistance of the air, all bodies would fall to the ground in equal times. In fact, a hundred equal particles of matter at equal distances from the surface of the earth would fall to the ground in parallel straight lines with equal rapidity, and no change whatever would take place in the circumstances of their descent, if 99 of them were united in one solid mass; for the solid mass and the single particle would touch the ground at the same instant, were it not for the resistance of the air.

NOTE 29, p. 5. _Primary_ signifies, in astronomy, the planet about which a satellite revolves. The earth is primary to the moon.

NOTE 30, p. 6. _Rotation._ Motion round an axis, real or imaginary.

NOTE 31, p. 7. _Compression of a spheroid._ The flattening at the poles. It is equal to the difference between the greatest and least diameters, divided by the greatest, these quantities being expressed in some standard measure, as miles.

NOTE 32, p. 7. SATELLITES. Small bodies revolving about some of the planets. The moon is a satellite to the earth.

NOTE 33, p. 7. _Nutation._ A nodding motion in the earth’s axis while in rotation, similar to that observed in the spinning of a top. It is produced by the attraction of the sun and moon on the protuberant matter at the terrestrial equator.

NOTE 34, p. 7. _Axis of rotation._ The line, real or imaginary, about which a body revolves. The axis of the earth’s rotation is that diameter, or imaginary line, passing through the centre and both poles. Fig. 1 being the earth, N S is the axis of rotation.

NOTE 35, p. 7. _Nutation of lunar orbit._ The action of the bulging matter at the earth’s equator on the moon occasions a variation in the inclination of the lunar orbit to the plane of the ecliptic. Suppose the plane N p n, fig. 13, to be the orbit of the moon, and N m n the plane of the ecliptic, the earth’s action on the moon causes the angle p N m to become less or greater than its mean state. The nutation in the lunar orbit is the reaction of the nutation in the earth’s axis.

NOTE 36, p. 7. _Translated._ Carried forward in space.

NOTE 37, p. 7. _Force proportional to velocity._ Since a force is measured by its effect, the motions of the bodies of the solar system among themselves would be the same whether the system be at rest or not. The real motion of a person walking the deck of a ship at sea is compounded of his own motion and that of the ship, yet each takes place independently of the other. We walk about as if the earth were at rest, though it has the double motion of rotation on its axis and revolution round the sun.

NOTE 38, p. 8. _Tangent._ A straight line which touches a curved line in one point without cutting it. In fig. 4, m T is tangent to the curve in the point m. In a circle the tangent is at right angles to the radius, C m.

NOTE 39, p. 8. _Motion in an elliptical orbit._ A planet m, fig. 6, moves round the sun at S in an ellipse P D A Q, in consequence of two forces, one urging it in the direction of the tangent m T, and another pulling it towards the sun in the direction m S. Its velocity, which is greatest at P, decreases throughout the arc to P D A to A, where it is least, and increases continually as it moves along the arc A Q P till it comes to P again. The whole force producing the elliptical motion varies inversely as the square of the distance. See note 23.

NOTE 40, p. 8. _Radii vectores._ Imaginary lines adjoining the centre of the sun and the centre of a planet or comet, or the centres of a planet and its satellite. In the circle, the radii are all equal; but in an ellipse, fig. 6, the radius vector S A is greater, and S P less than all the others. The radii vectores S Q, S D, are equal to C A or C P, half the major axis P A, and consequently equal to the mean distance. A planet is at its mean distance from the sun when in the points Q and D.

NOTE 41, p. 8. _Equal areas in equal times._ See Kepler’s 1st law, in note 26, p. 5.

NOTE 42, p. 8. _Major axis._ The line P A, fig. 6 or 10.

NOTE 43, p. 8. _If the planet described a circle, &c._ The motion of a planet about the sun, in a circle A B P, fig. 10, whose radius C A is equal to the planet’s mean distance from him, would be equable, that is, its velocity, or speed, would always be the same. Whereas, if it moved in the ellipse A Q P, its speed would be continually varying, by note 39; but its motion is such, that the time elapsing between its departure from P and its return to that point again would be the same whether it moved in the circle or in the ellipse; for these curves coincide in the points P and A.

NOTE 44, p. 8. _True motion._ The motion of a body in its real orbit P D A Q, fig. 10.

NOTE 45, p. 9. _Mean motion._ Equable motion in a circle P E A B, fig. 10, at the mean distance C P or C m, in the time that the body would accomplish a revolution in its elliptical orbit P D A Q.

NOTE 46, p. 9. _The equinox._ Fig. 11 represents the celestial sphere, and C its centre, where the earth is supposed to be. q ♈ Q ♎ is the equinoctial or great circle, traced in the starry heavens by an imaginary extension of the plane of the terrestrial equator, and E ♈ e ♎ is the ecliptic, or apparent path of the sun round the earth. ♈ ♎, the intersection of these two planes, is the line of the equinoxes; ♈ is the vernal equinox, and ♎ the autumnal. When the sun is in these points, the days and nights are equal. They are distant from one another by a semicircle, or two right angles. The points E and e are the solstices, where the sun is at his greatest distance from the equinoctial. The equinoctial is everywhere ninety degrees distant from its poles N and S, which are two points diametrically opposite to one another, where the axis of the earth’s rotation, if prolonged, would meet the heavens. The northern celestial pole N is within 1° 24ʹ of the pole star. As the latitude of any place on the surface of the earth is equal to the height of the pole above the horizon, it is easily determined by observation. The ecliptic E ♈ e ♎ is also everywhere ninety degrees distant from its poles P and p. The angle P C N, between the poles P and N of the equinoctial and ecliptic, is equal to the angle e C Q, called the obliquity of the ecliptic.

NOTE 47, p. 9. _Longitude._ The vernal equinox, ♈, fig. 11, is the zero point in the heavens whence celestial longitudes, or the angular motions of the celestial bodies, are estimated from west to east, the direction in which they all revolve. The vernal equinox is generally called the first point of Aries, though these two points have not coincided since the early ages of astronomy, about 2233 years ago, on account of a motion in the equinoctial points, to be explained hereafter. If S ♈, fig. 10, be the line of the equinoxes, and ♈ the vernal equinox, the true longitude of a planet p is the angle ♈ S p, and its mean longitude is the angle ♈ C m, the sun being in S. Celestial longitude is the angular distance of a heavenly body from the vernal equinox; whereas terrestrial longitude is the angular distance of a place on the surface of the earth from a meridian arbitrarily chosen, as that of Greenwich.

NOTE 48, pp. 9, 58. _Equation of the centre._ The difference between ♈ C m and ♈ S p, fig. 10; that is, the difference between the true and mean longitudes of a planet or satellite. The true and mean places only coincide in the points P and A; in every other point of the orbit, the true place is either before or behind the mean place. In moving from A through the arc A Q P, the true place p is behind the mean place m; and through the arc P D A the true place is before the mean place. At its maximum, the equation of the centre measures C S, the excentricity of the orbit, since it is the difference between the motion of a body in an ellipse and in a circle whose diameter A P is the major axis of the ellipse.

NOTE 49, p. 9. _Apsides._ The points P and A, fig. 10, at the extremities of the major axis of an orbit. P is commonly called the perihelion, a Greek term signifying _round the sun_; and the point A is called the aphelion, a Greek term signifying _at a distance from the sun_.

NOTE 50, p. 9. _Ninety degrees._ A circle is divided into 360 equal parts, or degrees; each degree into 60 equal parts, called minutes; and each minute into 60 equal parts, called seconds. It is usual to write these quantities thus, 15° 16ʹ 10ʺ, which means fifteen degrees, sixteen minutes, and ten seconds. It is clear that an arc m n, fig. 4, measures the angle m C n; hence we may say, an arc of so many degrees, or an angle of so many degrees; for, if there be ten degrees in the angle m C n, there will be ten degrees in the arc m n. It is evident that there are 90° in a right angle, m C d, or quadrant, since it is the fourth part of 360°.

NOTE 51, p. 9. _Quadratures._ A celestial body is said to be in quadrature when it is 90 degrees distant from the sun. For example, in fig. 14, if d be the sun, S the earth, and p the moon, then the moon is said to be in quadrature when she is in either of the points Q or D, because the angles Q S d and D S d, which measure her apparent distance from the sun, are right angles.

NOTE 52, p. 9. _Excentricity._ Deviation from circular form. In fig. 6, C S is the excentricity of the orbit P Q A D. The less C S, the more nearly does the orbit or ellipse approach the circular form; and, when C S is zero, the ellipse becomes a circle.

NOTE 53, p. 9. _Inclination of an orbit._ Let S, fig. 12, be the centre of the sun, P N A n the orbit of a planet moving from west to east in the direction N p. Let E N m e n be the shadow or projection of the orbit on the plane of the ecliptic, then N S n is the intersection of these two planes, for the orbit rises above the plane of the ecliptic towards N p, and sinks below it at N P. The angle p N m, which these two planes make with one another, is the inclination of the orbit P N p A to the plane of the ecliptic.

NOTE 54, p. 9. _Latitude of a planet._ The angle p S m, fig. 12, or the height of the planet p above the ecliptic E N m. In this case the latitude is north. Thus, celestial latitude is the angular distance of a celestial body from the plane of the ecliptic, whereas terrestrial latitude is the angular distance of a place on the surface of the earth from the equator.

NOTE 55, p. 9. _Nodes._ The two points N and n, fig. 12, in which the orbit N A n P of a planet or comet intersects the plane of the ecliptic e N E n. The part N A n of the orbit lies above the plane of the ecliptic, and the part n P N below it. The ascending node N is the point through which the body passes in rising above the plane of the ecliptic, and the descending node n is the point in which the body sinks below it. The nodes of a satellite’s orbit are the points in which it intersects the plane of the orbit of the planet.

NOTE 56, p. 10. _Distance from the sun._ S p in fig. 12. If ♈ be the vernal equinox, then ♈ S p is the longitude of the planet p, m S p is its latitude, and S p its distance from the sun. When these three quantities are known, the place of the planet p is determined in space.

NOTE 57, pp. 10, 59. _Elements of an orbit._ Of these there are seven. Let P N A n, fig. 12, be the elliptical orbit of a planet, C its centre, S the sun in one of the foci, ♈ the point of Aries, and E N e n the plane of the ecliptic. The elements are—the major axis A P; the excentricity C S; the periodic time, that is, the time of a complete revolution of the body in its orbit; and the fourth is the longitude of the body at any given instant—for example, that at which it passes through the perihelion P, the point of its orbit nearest to the sun. That instant is assumed as the origin of time, whence all preceding and succeeding periods are estimated. These four quantities are sufficient to determine the form of the orbit, and the motion of the body in it. Three other elements are requisite for determining the position of the orbit in space. These are, the angle ♈ S P, the longitude of the perihelion; the angle A N e, which is the inclination of the orbit to the plane of the ecliptic; and, lastly, the angle ♈ S N, the longitude of N the ascending node.

NOTE 58, p. 10. _Whose planes, &c._ The planes of the orbits, as P N A n, fig. 12, in which the planets move, are inclined or make small angles e N A with the plane of the ecliptic E N e n, and cut it in straight lines, N S n passing through S, the centre of the sun.

NOTE 59, p. 11. _Momentum._ Force measured by the weight of a body and its speed, or simple velocity, conjointly. The primitive momentum of the planets is, therefore, the quantity of motion which was impressed upon them when they were first thrown into space.

NOTE 60, p. 11. _Unstable equilibrium._ A body is said to be in equilibrium when it is so balanced as to remain at rest. But there are two kinds of equilibrium, _stable_ and _unstable_. If a body balanced in stable equilibrium be slightly disturbed, it will endeavour to return to rest by a number of movements to and fro, which will continually decrease till they cease altogether, and then the body will be restored to its original state of repose. But, if the equilibrium be unstable, these movements to and fro, or oscillations, will become greater and greater till the equilibrium is destroyed.

NOTE 61, p. 14. _Retrograde._ Going backwards, as from east to west, contrary to the motion of the planets.

NOTE 62, p. 14. _Parallel directions._ Such as never meet, though prolonged ever so far.

NOTE 63, pp. 14, 16. _The whole force, &c._ Let S, fig. 13, be the sun, N m n the plane of the ecliptic, p the disturbed planet moving in its orbit n p N, and d the disturbing planet. Now, d attracts the sun and the planet p with different intensities in the directions d S, d p: the difference only of these forces disturbs the motion of p; it is therefore called the disturbing force. But this whole disturbing force may be regarded as equivalent to three forces, acting in the directions p S, p T, and p m. The force acting in the radius vector p S, joining the centres of the sun and planet, is called the _radial force_. It sometimes draws the disturbed planet p from the sun, and sometimes brings it nearer to him. The force which acts in the direction of the tangent p T is called the _tangential force_. It disturbs the motion of p in longitude, that is, it accelerates its motion in some parts of its orbit and retards it in others, so that the radius vector S p does not move over equal areas in equal times. (See note 26.) For example, in the position of the bodies in fig. 14, it is evident that, in consequence of the attraction of d, the planet p will have its motion accelerated from Q to C, retarded from C to D, again accelerated from D to O, and lastly retarded from O to Q. The disturbing body is here supposed to be at rest, and the orbit circular; but, as both bodies are perpetually moving with different velocities in ellipses, the perturbations or changes in the motions of p are very numerous. Lastly, that part of the disturbing force which acts in the direction of a line p m, fig. 13, at right angles to the plane of the orbit N p n, may be called the perpendicular force. It sometimes causes the body to approach nearer, and sometimes to recede farther from, the plane of the ecliptic N m n, than it would otherwise do. The action of the disturbing forces is admirably explained in a work on gravitation, by Mr. Airy, the Astronomer Royal.

NOTE 64, pp. 16, 74. _Perihelion._ Fig. 10, P, the point of an orbit nearest the sun.

NOTE 65, p. 16. _Aphelion._ Fig. 10, A, the point of an orbit farthest from the sun.

NOTE 66, pp. 16, 17. In fig. 15 the central force is greater than the exact law of gravity; therefore the curvature P p a is greater than P p A the real ellipse; hence the planet p comes to the point a, called the aphelion, sooner than if it moved in the orbit P p A, which makes the line P S A advance to a. In fig. 16, on the contrary, the curvature P p a is less than in the true ellipse, so that the planet p must move through more than the arc P p A, or 180°, before it comes to the aphelion a, which causes the greater axis P S A to recede to a.

NOTE 67, pp. 16, 17. _Motion of apsides._ Let P S A, fig. 17, be the position of the elliptical orbit of a planet, at any time; then, by the action of the disturbing forces, it successively takes the position Pʹ S Aʹ, Pʺ S Aʺ, &c., till by this direct motion it has accomplished a revolution, and then it begins again; so that the motion is perpetual.

NOTE 68, p. 17. _Sidereal revolution._ The consecutive return of an object to the same star.

NOTE 69, p. 17. _Tropical revolution._ The consecutive return of an object to the same tropic or equinox.

NOTE 70, p. 17. _The orbit only bulges, &c._ In fig. 18 the effect of the variation in the excentricity is shown where P p A is the elliptical orbit at any given instant; after a time it will take the form P pʹ A, in consequence of the decrease in the excentricity C S; then the forms P pʺ A, P pʹʹʹ A, &c., consecutively from the same cause; and, as the major axis P A always retains the same length, the orbit approaches more and more nearly to the circular form. But, after this has gone on for some thousands of years, the orbit contracts again, and becomes more and more elliptical.

NOTE 71, pp. 18, 19. _The ecliptic_ is the apparent path of the sun in the heavens. See note 46.

NOTE 72, p. 18. _This force tends to pull, &c._ The force in question, acting in the direction p m, fig. 13, pulls the planet p towards the plane N m n, or pushes it farther above it, giving the planet a tendency to move in an orbit above or below its undisturbed orbit N p n, which alters the angle p N m, and makes the node N and the line of nodes N n change their positions.

NOTE 73, p. 18. _Motion of the nodes._ Let S, fig. 19, be the sun; S N n the plane of the ecliptic; P the disturbing body; and p a planet moving in its orbit p n, of which p n is so small a part that it is represented as a straight line. The plane S n p of this orbit cuts the plane of the ecliptic in the straight line S n. Suppose the disturbing force begins to act on p, so as to draw the planet into the arc p pʹ; then, instead of moving in the orbit p n, it will tend to move in the orbit p pʹ nʹ, whose plane cuts the ecliptic in the straight line S nʹ. If the disturbing force acts again upon the body when at pʹ, so as to draw it into the arc pʹ pʺ, the planet will now tend to move in the orbit pʹ pʺ nʺ, whose plane cuts the ecliptic in the straight line S nʺ. The action of the disturbing force on the planet when at pʺ will bring the node to nʹʹʹ, and so on. In this manner the node goes backwards through the successive points n, nʹ, nʺ, nʹʹʹ, &c., and the line of nodes S n has a perpetual retrograde motion about S, the centre of the sun. The disturbing force has been represented as acting at intervals for the sake of illustration: in nature it is continuous, so that the motion of the node is continuous also; though it is sometimes rapid and sometimes slow, now retrograde and now direct; but, on the whole, the motion is slowly retrograde.

NOTE 74, p. 18. _When the disturbing planet_ is anywhere in the line S N, fig. 19, or in its prolongation, it is in the same plane with the disturbed planet; and, however much it may affect its motions in that plane, it can have no tendency to draw it out of it. But when the disturbing planet is in P, at right angles to the line S N, and not in the plane of the orbit, it has a powerful effect on the motion of the nodes: between these two positions there is great variety of action.

NOTE 75, p. 19. _The changes in the inclination_ are extremely minute when compared with the motion of the node, as evidently appears from fig. 19, where the angles n p nʹ, nʹ pʹ nʺ, &c., are much smaller than the corresponding angles n S nʹ, S nʺ, &c.

NOTE 76, p. 20. _Sines and cosines._ Figure 4 is a circle; n p is the sine, and C p is the cosine of an arc m n. Suppose the radius C m to begin to revolve at m, in the direction m n a; then at the point m the sine is zero, and the cosine is equal to the radius C m. As the line C m revolves and takes the successive positions C n, C a, C b, &c., the sines n p, a q, b r, &c., of the arcs m n, m a, m h, &c., increase, while the corresponding cosines C p, C q, C r, &c., decrease; and when the revolving radius takes the position C d, at right angles to the diameter g m, the sine becomes equal to the radius C d, and the cosine is zero. After passing the point d, the contrary happens; for the sines e K, l V, &c., diminish, and the cosines C K, C V, &c., go on increasing, till at g the sine is zero, and the cosine is equal to the radius C g. The same alternation takes place through the remaining parts g h, h m, of the circle, so that a sine or cosine never can exceed the radius. As the rotation of the earth is invariable, each point of its surface passes through a complete circle, or 360 degrees, in twenty-four hours, at a rate of 15 degrees in an hour. Time, therefore, becomes a measure of angular motion, and _vice versâ_, the arcs of a circle a measure of time, since these two quantities vary simultaneously and equably; and, as the sines and cosines of the arcs are expressed in terms of the time, they vary with it. Therefore, however long the time may be, and how often soever the radius may revolve round the circle, the sines and cosines never can exceed the radius; and, as the radius is assumed to be equal to unity, their values oscillate between unity and zero.

NOTE 77, p. 20. The small excentricities and inclinations of the planetary orbits, and the revolutions of all the bodies in the same direction, were proved by Euler, La Grange, and La Place, to be conditions necessary for the stability of the solar system. Subsequently, however, the periodicity of the terms of the series expressing the perturbations was supposed to be sufficient _alone_, but M. Poisson has shown that to be a mistake; that these three conditions are requisite for the necessary convergence of the series, and that therefore the stability of the system depends on them _conjointly_ with the periodicity of the sines and cosines of each term. The author is aware that this note can only be intelligible to the analyst, but she is desirous of correcting an error, and the more so as the conditions of stability afford one of the most striking instances of design in the original construction of our system, and of the foresight and supreme wisdom of the Divine Architect.

NOTE 78, p. 22. _Resisting medium._ A fluid which resists the motions of bodies, such as atmospheric air, or the highly elastic fluid called ether, with which space is filled.

NOTE 79, p. 23. _Obliquity of the ecliptic._ The angle e ♈ q, fig. 11, between the plane of the terrestrial equator q ♈ Q, and the plane of the ecliptic E ♈ e. The obliquity is variable.