The planets of our solar system originate from the solar matter—taken up by Buffon, Kant, Laplace, and others.
The earth—and the other planets—have gradually removed themselves from the sun and received a gradually lengthened time of revolution—a view again expressed by G. H. Darwin.
The earth’s time of rotation, that is to say, the day’s length, has been gradually increased—a view again expressed by G. H. Darwin.
The suns are arranged around the milky way—taken up by Wright, Kant and Lambert.
There are still greater systems, in which the milky ways are arranged—taken up by Lambert.›
During this period of his investigations Swedenborg enters into very deep speculations. He desires to grasp the innermost constitution of things, their causes and origin, and seeks to attain this end through a long process of analyses and by applying a geometrical explanation to the phenomena in the world of the senses. This method he employs in explaining the inner constitution of chemical bodies, and likewise the varieties of physical phenomena, etc. He thus comes at last to the—geometrical points: through the combination of these, in different ways, have all things of the universe originated in a mathematically definable manner; and the motion of these points is the all connecting, life-giving power.[25]
SWEDENBORG’S ANATOMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS.
After Swedenborg had so thoroughly searched through and speculated upon inorganic nature, he turns himself to the organic. He breaks away from all other work, travels abroad, and throws himself with intense zeal into anatomical and physiological studies. These researches were, for the most part, carried on in the Netherlands, France, and especially in Italy, where he remained for nearly a year.
After five years he was ready with his first work in this field, the large, famous ›Œconomia Regni Animalis,› which was printed in Amsterdam, 1740-1741. It was then published in two large volumes; but that it was designed to be still larger, is evident, among other things, from Swedenborg’s own statement;[26] and furthermore, the Englishman J. J. G. Wilkinson published, in 1847, as a third volume, some annotations which he regarded as belonging to Swedenborg’s manuscript of the same work.[27]