If, therefore, we regard the Sun and the Earth, or
the Earth and the Moon, as double-stars, and the whole of our planetary
solar system as a multiple cluster of stars, the analogy thus suggested must
be limited to the universality of the laws of attraction in different
systems, being alike applicable to the independent processes of light and to
the method of illumination.
For the generalization of cosmical views, corresponding with the plan we
have proposed to follow in giving a delineation of nature or of the
universe, the solar system to which the Earth belongs may be considered in a
two-fold relation: first, with respect to the different classes of
individually agglomerated matter, and the relative size, conformation,
density, and distance of the heavenly bodies of this system; and secondly,
with reference to other portions of our starry cluster, and of the changes
of position of its central body, the Sun.
The solar system, that is to say, the variously-formed matter circling round
the Sun, consists, according to the present state of our knowledge of
'eleven primary planets',* eighteen satellites
p 91
or secondary planets, and myriads of comets, three of which, known as the
"planetary comets," do not pass beyond the narrow limits of the orbits
described by the principal planets.
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