THE GATHERING STORM

Being Studies in Social and Economic TendenciesIn passing, however, one may remark that Haec kel s dictum that, The organic history of the earth could not commence until it was possible for water to settle on the earth in fluid condition, would have been more correctly written, The organic history of the earth could not commence until it was possible for matter to settle on the earth in solid condition for, by reason of centripetal force, those heavier gases which go to form solids must have been nearer to the centre of the world s heat than the lighter gases, hydrogen and oxygen, and therefore must have cooled more slowly than these latter, thus the exterior of the world must have been enveloped in a vast ocean, whilst the interior was yet in a gaseous state