Note 11 — Chapter IV · SPACE.
Reading edition
We do not inquire how the original nebula came into being; our history must commence with the actual existence of this nebula. There is, let it be confessed, a great deal of obscurity still clinging to the subject. Though we may be sure, that the great nebula once existed we cannot with much confidence trace out the method by which the planets were actually formed.
Sir Robert Ball, “In Starry Realms,” p. 348.