CHAPTER XIV.
THE ORIGIN OF METEORITES.
AVING thus given grounds for believing that meteorites have come neither from the comets nor from the moon, neither from the planets great nor the planets small, nor yet from the stars or the other orbs which may revolve at stellar distances, I have now to explain the source from which, according to evidence, the meteorites do seem to have been derived. I am, however, quite conscious that the question is by no means free from difficulty. The descent of a meteorite, whatever be its source, is one of the most astonishing facts in nature. The improbability that such an occurrence should take place is indeed great. But we know that it does take place, and the only course to follow in the search for the origin of these bodies is to bring under review all conceivable sources, and then to adopt that one which on the whole appears to have most in its favour.
It seems perfectly demonstrable that one suggested source of meteorites is much less improbable than any of those which have been discussed in the last chapter. We are to advocate a prosaic solution of the origin of these mysterious wanderers which reach us from the
