iials have ciyi-ii s

I v

ine

the

table si winch prove that the distance between

cat t n ana sun i mcreiiMiii; annually, mnl argue

Ironi it that Ibe uicteiisiiiK butnidity of oui ntiiiner

and the lo of fertility hy the earth, an-to In-attributed

solely to this circuit stance

No credit hn heietofore been given to tradition

of ancient ligyptians and Chinese, anonlm;: lo

which these people fonnerly sttid the sun's dik was

almost four time as huge a we now es il, for they

estirmitsil the aipaieul iliamc'sr of the sun na double

of what it i een in our day

If, how-fvc, we tity nttsutioii ui the coiitititud

tliimnution of the apparent diameter of the sun, uc

cordiiiK to the best observation of scveiul rentiiriss,

... - , . ,

we must suppo. that the ancients w ere not mistaken

in the estimate the V have transmitted to us

In the course of six thousand year from the pie­

sent time, they assume that the tlistanot1 will ho so

preat

that only an eighth putt tif the warmth we

now enjoy from the sun w ill he communicated to the

entin, anu it w i

inen ne covercu witii eternal ce in

the san e manner as we now see the plains of the

ninth, where the elephant formerly lived, anil have

neither spring nor autumn.