em
existed--that is, that our orbit had its place in the beginning just
as it has now; that the orbit was not determined by solar revolution
and centrifugal action, but that it was mathematically existent in the
nebular sheet out of which the solar system was produced.

Other lines existed in the same sheet of matter. One of these lines or
pathways was destined for the orbit of Mercury; another for the orbit
of Venus. One was for the pathway of Mars; another for the belt of
the asteroids; another for Jupiter; another for Saturn, and still two
others, far off on the rim, for Uranus and Neptune. The theory
continues that such are the laws of matter that these orbital lines
_must_ exist in a disc of fire mist such as that out of which our
solar universe has been produced. The New Astronomy holds firmly to
the notion that the orbits of the planets are as much a part of the
system as the planets themselves, and that both orbit and planet exist
in virtue of the deep-down mathematical formulae on which the whole
material universe is constructed.

Secondly, the New Astronomy differs from the old by a whole horizon in
the notion of world-production. About the middle of the century the
theory began to be advanced that the worlds _grew_ by accretion of
matter; that they grew in the very paths which they now occupy; that
they began to be with a small aggregation of matter rushing together
in the line or orbit which the coming planet was to pursue. The
planetary matter was already revolving in this orbit and in the
surrounding spaces. It was already floating along in a nebulous
superheated form capable of condensation by the loss of heat, but in
particular capable of growth and development by the fall of
surrounding matter upon the forming globe. We must remember that in
the primordial state the elements of a planet, as for instance our
earth, were mixed together and held in a state of tenuity ranging all
the way from solid to highly vaporized forms, and that these elements
subsequently and by slow adjustment got themselves into something
approximating their present state.

The New Astronomy contemplates a period when each of the planets was a
germinal nucleus of matter around which other matter was precipitated,
thus producing a kind of world-growth or accretion. Thus, for
instance, our earth may be considered at a time when its entire mass
would not, according to our measurement, have weighed a hundred
pounds! It consisted of