But I have already named two assumptions which must be made: first, that the celestial spaces must be absolutely empty; and secondly, that the sun and planets must be solid bodies. The first is at least the case as far as astronomical observations reach, for they have never been able to detect any retardation of the planets, such as would occur if they moved in a resisting medium. But on a body of less mass, the comet of Encke, changes are observed of such a nature: this comet describes ellipses round the sun which are becoming gradually smaller. If this kind of motion, which certainly corresponds to that through a resisting medium, be actually due to the existence of such a medium, a time will come when the comet will strike the sun; and a similar end threatens all the planets, although after a time, the length of which baffles our imagination to conceive of it. But even should the existence of a resisting medium appear doubtful to us, there is no doubt that the planets are not wholly composed of solid materials which are inseparably bound together. Signs of the existence of an atmosphere are observed on the Sun, on Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Signs of water and ice upon Mars; and our earth has undoubtedly a fluid portion on its surface, and perhaps a still greater portion of fluid within it. The motions of the tides, however, produce friction, all friction destroys _vis viva_, and the loss in this case can only affect the _vis viva_ of the planetary system. We come thereby to the unavoidable conclusion, that every tide, although with infinite slowness, still with certainty, diminishes the store of mechanical force of the system; and as a consequence of this, the rotation of the planets in question round their axes must become more slow; they must therefore approach the sun, or their satellites must approach them. What length of time must pass before the length of our day is diminished one second by the action of the tide cannot be calculated, until the height and time of the tide in all portions of the ocean are known. This alteration, however, takes place with extreme slowness, as is known by the consequences which Laplace has deduced from the observations of Hipparchus, according to which, during a period of 2000 years, the duration of the day has not been shortened by the one-three-hundredth part of a second. The final consequence would be, but after millions of years, if in the mean time the ocean did not become frozen, that one side of the earth would be constantly turned towards the sun, and enjoy a perpetual day, whereas the opposite side would be involved in eternal night. Such a position we observe in our moon with regard to the earth, and also in the case of the satellites as regards their planets; it is, perhaps, due to the action of the mighty ebb and flow to which these bodies, in the time of their fiery fluid condition, were subjected.