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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af83336 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #56302 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56302) diff --git a/old/56302-8.txt b/old/56302-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1e1e2a8..0000000 --- a/old/56302-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8612 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Source and Mode of Solar Energy -Throughout the Universe, by Isaac Winter Heysinger - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Source and Mode of Solar Energy Throughout the Universe - -Author: Isaac Winter Heysinger - -Release Date: January 4, 2018 [EBook #56302] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOURCE AND MODE OF SOLAR ENERGY *** - - - - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - THE - SOURCE AND MODE - OF - SOLAR ENERGY - THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE. - - BY - I. W. HEYSINGER, M.A., M.D. - - - - ILLUSTRATED. - - PHILADELPHIA: - J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. - - 1895. - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - Introduction 7 - - CHAPTER I. - - Statement of the Problem of Solar Energy 17 - - CHAPTER II. - - The Constitution and Phenomena of the Sun 39 - - CHAPTER III. - - The Mode of Solar Energy 70 - - CHAPTER IV. - - The Source of Solar Energy 96 - - CHAPTER V. - - The Distribution and Conservation of Solar Energy 139 - - CHAPTER VI. - - The Phenomena of the Stars 162 - - CHAPTER VII. - - Temporary Stars, Meteors, and Comets 187 - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Phenomena of Comets 210 - - CHAPTER IX. - - Interpretation of Cometic Phenomena 225 - - CHAPTER X. - - The Resolvable Nebulæ, Star-Clusters and Galaxies 237 - - CHAPTER XI. - - The Gaseous Nebulæ 253 - - CHAPTER XII. - - The Nebular Hypothesis: its Basis and its Difficulties 268 - - CHAPTER XIII. - - The Genesis of Solar Systems and Galaxies 282 - - CHAPTER XIV. - - The Mosaic Cosmogony 308 - - CHAPTER XV. - - Conclusion. The Harmony of Nature's Laws and - Operations 341 - - Reference Index of Authorities Cited 349 - - Classified Index of Subject-Matter 353 - - - - - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - - Figs. 1 to 8. Types from nature, illustrating development - of a solar system from the attenuated matter of - space Frontispiece. - Fig. 9. A typical sun-spot 57 - Fig. 10. Structure of the sun, analytical illustration of 60 - Fig. 11. Electrical polarities of sun and planets 82 - Fig. 12. Ideal view of the generation and transmission of - planetary electricity 89 - Fig. 13. The aurora borealis, view of 91 - Fig. 14. Diffused brush discharge of an electrical machine 91 - Fig. 15. Planetary generation and transmission of electrical - energy to the sun, analytical illustration of 101 - Fig. 16. Gradual discharge of electricity from one conductor - to another in a partial vacuum 103 - Fig. 17. Sudden electrical discharge through the atmosphere 103 - Fig. 18. Position of planets with reference to the generation - of sun-spots; maximum and minimum of electrical - action 108 - Fig. 19. Analysis of a typical sun-spot 112 - Fig. 20. Retardation of sun-spots in their travel across the - solar face; development to the rear and recession in - front 114 - Figs. 21 and 22. Complex lines of planetary electrical action - upon the sun produced by the inclination of the solar - axis to the plane of the ecliptic 120 - Figs. 23 to 29. Examples of electrical repulsion: Fig. 1, - similarly electrified pith-balls; Fig. 2, the - electrical windmill; Fig. 3, repulsion of a flame; - Fig. 4, self-repulsion around a conductor; Fig. 5, - attraction between opposite and repulsion between - similar electricities; Fig. 6, mutual repulsion - between similar + electrospheres of the earth and - the moon; Fig. 7, mutual repulsion between the - similar--electrospheres of sun and comet 124 - Figs. 30 to 34. Spectra of solar light, incandescent sodium - and calcium, and the absorption and bright-line - spectra of hydrogen gas 155 - Figs. 35 to 37. Reversal and neutralization of spectroscopic - lines of hydrogen in the light of a variable star - like Betelgeuse 160 - Fig. 38. A double-sun nebula in process of development into - a solar system 164 - Fig. 39. Double stars with complementary colors, - interpretation of the phenomena of 167 - Fig. 40. A solar system which would explain the regular - variability of the star Mira 178 - Fig. 41. Lineal nebula in Sobieski's Crown which has been - affected by currents in the ocean of space 189 - Figs. 42 to 45. Four stages in the phenomena of a new or - temporary star, a "star in flames;" reversal of the - hydrogen lines in its spectrum 196 - Figs. 46 and 47. Illustration of repulsion of the tail of a - comet by the similarly electrified solar - electrosphere; comparison with similar repulsion in - a vacuum-chamber experiment 211 - Figs. 48 and 49. The electroscope, and mutual electrical - repulsion in a bundle of dry straws 225 - Fig. 50. Experiment with a candle and currents of air from - between two disks, illustrating the radial - semi-rotation of a comet's tail during perihelion 230 - Figs. 51 to 54. Four non-systemic gaseous nebulæ: Fig. 1, - crab nebula; Fig. 2, dumb-bell nebula; Fig. 3, lineal - nebula in Sobieski's Crown; Fig. 4, Catherine-wheel - nebula. The latter illustrates the formation of a - planetary nebula with a hollow center, or else - dispersion into the elements of space again 263 - Fig. 55. Great spiral nebula in Canes Venatici and a small - adjacent nebula affected thereby 273 - Figs. 56 to 59. Four gaseous nebulæ in process of development - into solar systems: Fig. 1, divergent spiral; Fig. 2, - later stage of a similar spiral; Fig. 3, subsequent - stage of rupture of the nearly circular convolutions - of a similar nebula; Fig. 4, the same stage in the - development of a solar system with a double sun 279 - Fig. 60. Nucleated planetary nebula, showing its external ring - split and held apart, in part of its circumference, - by electrical repulsion 288 - Fig. 61. Divergent spiral nebula on cover of book. - - - - - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -This work is not presented to the reader as a treatise on astronomy, -although the different phenomena pertaining to that splendid science -are reviewed with some detail, and the established facts bearing -upon the subjects discussed are briefly cited in the very words of -the great writers upon whose authority they rest. A considerable -experience in chemistry, electricity, and the other allied physical -sciences long since convinced the author of this work that some -simple and uniform principle must control the production of the -physical phenomena of astronomy,--some general law capable of being -extended in its application to the widest, as well as applied to the -narrowest, limits of that science. Knowing the absolute certainty of -a magnetic and electrical connection between the sun and the earth, -as evidenced by the reflected energy of sun-spots, auroras, etc., -and that no known cause except electricity could account for some, -at least, of the cometic phenomena, it seemed that any comprehensive -law must at all events include this mode of energy as an effective -cause, and that if the law be uniform in its application, it must -equally exclude all others which may be either antagonistic or not -necessary. A careful investigation was therefore made of those -less generally known principles concerned in the generation and -transformations of electrical energy, in order to determine the -sufficiency or insufficiency of this agency in the grander operations -of nature (for, of course, mere currents of electricity could play no -part in these phenomena), with the result that every line of research -led irresistibly to the conclusions presented in this work. These -investigations, specifically directed, at first, to the source and mode -of the solar energy of our own system alone, were found to be equally -applicable to others, and were successively extended to the whole -sidereal, nebular, and cometic field, and finally to space itself, -for all the phenomena of which it seemed to furnish an adequate -and harmonious interpretation. The fact, when once demonstrated, -that the true source of solar energy is not to be found in the sun -itself, but in the potential energy of space, served as a guiding -principle, and, by its continuously extended application, was found -to cover perfectly the source and mode of all solar energy. Every -step of the investigation has been based on the established facts -of science and the observations of eminent astronomers as laid down -by the best authorities; and the quotations herein made from their -works are full and fair, and are properly credited in every case, -and taken from books easily accessible to the general reader. It is -hoped that further attention may be directed to this field of research -by far more capable investigators than the author of this work, so -that systematic astronomy may no longer bear the reproach that it is -largely an empirical science, but that it may henceforth be based -upon rational and comprehensive principles, capable of universal -extension and of general scientific application. - -The authorities cited in this work include many illustrious names: -Proctor, Tyndall, Helmholtz, Langley, Huggins, Newcomb, Young, -Flammarion, Balfour Stewart, R. Kalley Miller, Herschel, Nichol, -Lord Rosse, Urbanitsky, Crookes, Fraunhofer, Ball, and many others, -all of whom are known throughout the world as among the master minds -of science. From them we have drawn the rich stores of knowledge -of the phenomena with which this work deals, and which we have so -fully and freely cited, as the basis of the splendid superstructure -which astronomy to-day reveals. No one will venture to controvert the -statements of fact made by these eminent men, and, where conflict of -opinion has arisen among them, we have quoted all parties, so that -the reader can form his own conclusion, in each case, for himself. So -diverse, apparently, are the phenomena reviewed that they present -the aspect of a great picture-gallery, in which the paintings totally -differ from each other in subject, in treatment, and in origin, their -only common qualities being those of grandeur and fidelity to truth -and to the principles of art. But they are not merely paintings, they -are the moving panorama of creation, and, diverse as they may appear, -they will be found to show the same "handling," which reveals the same -universal artist; they have, in truth, a common mode of development and -a common principle of construction, obscure as these may seem to be. - -For thousands of years "Natural History," so called, was studied and -taught; zoölogy was a well-known science far back in old historic -times. But it was left for modern biological research to turn -from these fixed and fully-developed forms of life, and go back to -trace their primal development through what is now the science of -embryology, and thus we have learned that nature traverses the same -paths in forming a man as in producing a frog or a bird. The process -is carried further along in one case than in another, but the lines -of development are almost identical; and the tracing out of these -common lines and their subsequent divergencies has shed a flood of new -light upon these dark and hitherto unknown places, so that we are now -fairly on the true highway of physical life at last. When adult forms -were alone compared, animal with animal, no common ground of origin -or development could be discerned; nature was believed to work by -"special creations," and vast cataclysms were devised to utterly -destroy the organic life of one terrestrial epoch after another, -leaving a few hardy accidental survivors, or "types," perchance, -to trace back their lines of descent beyond such periods of cyclical -destruction. All this is now changed, and these views, so recently held -and taught, have been abandoned forever, and continuously operative -natural processes of development, modified by environment and heredity, -have taken their place, and biology now has a future as well as a -past. And so it must be with the less complex, but far more extended, -creations and transformations in the vast fields of astronomical -science with which this book is concerned. Hitherto we have here, -too, dealt with "special creations" and cataclysms; henceforth we -must follow the uniform and eternal laws of progressive development. - -Among the multitude of hitherto unsolved problems of astronomy we may -enumerate the following: Why sun-spots travel faster around the sun -when near his equator than when more distant from it. The physical -causes of sun-spots, faculæ, and solar prominences. Why the number and -size of sun-spots seem to affect terrestrial magnetism. The rational -interpretation of the eleven-year and the long sun-spot cycles. The -origin of the aurora borealis. The causes of the periodicity of -regularly variable stars. How to explain, in accordance with the -nebular hypothesis, why Algol and its companion, which are not -greatly different in mass and volume, and both obviously gaseous, -should so differ in character, one being a bright sun and the other -a dark planet. Whether there are great, compact, but dark bodies, -comparable to suns and planets in magnitude, and unconnected with -any solar system, floating about in space. Why double and multiple -stars are so frequently of contrasted or complementary colors. Why -regularly variable stars are longer in decline than in growth of -brilliancy, since such decline is no criterion of loss of heat, -but rather the reverse. Why the sun and fixed stars have atmospheres -largely composed of free hydrogen, and the planets have atmospheres -of free oxygen and nitrogen. Why a small and sometimes even scarcely -visible star occasionally is seen to suddenly blaze up, in a few -hours, to hundreds of times its normal brilliancy, and then far more -gradually fade, through months and years, back to its former state, -in which thenceforth it continues to maintain its original lustre. Why -comets, when they have tails, always project these appendages radially -from the direction of the sun. How to account for the presence of -cyanogen, and how for the absence of oxygen and the constant presence -of hydrocarbon vapors around the nuclei of comets. Why some comets -split up into separate comets and others sometimes show multiple -tails. Why comets, when they pass around and behind the sun, in -some cases reappear shorn of their splendor and in other cases with -their splendor greatly enhanced. Whence comets are derived, where -is their permanent abiding-place, and how did they originally reach -those distant regions which they occupy before entering our system, -if merely the débris left behind from contraction of the mass of plasma -out of which our solar system is supposed to have been formed. Why so -many of the irresolvable nebulæ present the appearance of divergent -spirals of many different forms. How to account for the annular nebulæ -with hollow centers and for those partially-completed planetary nebulæ, -so called, which afterwards appear to retrograde into diffused gaseous -nebulæ again or gradually disappear. What is the ultimate constitution -of interstellar space? Have the fixed stars planetary systems like -our own, or not? Must they have such, or merely may they have? What -principle of conservation of energy is it possible to apply to the -vast quantities of light and heat which constantly disappear in -the interstellar realms of space? How to account for this enormous -emission of solar energy during the long period of time requisite for -the development of the earth during its past geological ages. How to -explain why the moon always presents the same face to the earth. Why, -if the law of gravity prevails there, there are no visible traces of -atmosphere or moisture in the moon. What is the basic principle on -which depends the ratio of mean planetary distances, 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, -etc., always plus 4? What is the origin of the planetary satellites -and the cause of their irregular distribution, and what the origin -of Saturn's rings? How was the belt of asteroids formed between -Mars and Jupiter? Why is the orbit of Neptune relatively compressed -against that of Uranus? Why is the mass of Neptune out of its proper -proportion compared with those of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune -in a diminishing series? What is the rational interpretation and what -the origin of the sun's corona and the cause of the coronal streamers? - -There are many other problems equally difficult which are -encountered in the study of this noble science, but the above are -surely sufficiently striking. Any complete interpretation of these -various phenomena, even singly, would seem to be an important step in -advance; then how much more so if the explanation of one and all of -these is to be found in a single, all-embracing cause, a few simple -and uniformly operative principles, as unquestionably operative here -as in the other fields of science to which they pertain, and which, -once thoroughly comprehended and rigidly applied, will be found to -elucidate all the multifarious phenomena of sidereal space so clearly -and precisely that any intelligent observer and reasoner can determine -each question finally for himself, and solve not only these, but all -the other astronomical problems and paradoxes which have from time to -time arisen? It is not to be understood that this sublime science and -these illimitable realms are to be laid off with the metes and bounds -of a farmer's meadow, for all the lines of the different sciences are -linked together at a thousand points, but that the operative principles -which nature constantly employs once firmly grasped, the intricacy of -each series of phenomena encountered will become gradually lessened, -link by link, as observations and deductions are more closely and -rationally made along these well-established lines of research, -instead of here and there, empirically, and at hap-hazard, as has been -the only method hitherto possible to pursue. When the relatively few -fixed principles which control the operations of nature in the field -of astronomy are thoroughly comprehended, for on this vast panorama -she lays her colors with a heavy brush, we can study her phenomena -and interpret her processes even more readily than the kindred -sciences have enabled us to do in the adjacent fields of biology, -wherein the splendid achievements of less than a quarter of a century -past have not only aroused the interest and enthusiasm of the world, -but already point the way to still grander triumphs yet to come. - - - - - - - - -THE SOURCE AND MODE OF SOLAR ENERGY. - - -CHAPTER I. - -STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM OF SOLAR ENERGY. - - -In endeavoring to present a new and rational interpretation of -the source and mode of solar energy, based upon the established -principles of recent science, it becomes necessary to briefly cite -the facts bearing upon the problem to be solved and the authorities -for their support, as well as to describe concisely the different -hypotheses at present in vogue, and to point out the well-established -insufficiency of these theories, one and all, to account for or explain -the difficulties encountered, and which so far have remained as an -unsolved enigma. And this problem of solar energy is the grandest and -most important question of all physics, for upon the light and heat -of the sun depend all physical life and its consequences, animal -and vegetable, past, present, and future. If within finite time, -and relatively, compared with the enormous vistas of the past, a very -brief time, this source of energy is to cease, and our whole system -be involved in darkness and death, such darkness and death must be -eternal; for the dead sun in his final stage of condensation will be -as fixed and unchangeable as the operation of eternal laws can make -it, and henceforth there can be no revival or reversals, no turning -back of the hand upon the dial, while the laws of nature continue; -and outside the uniform operation of the laws of nature there is no -source, or mode, or continuance of solar energy conceivable. It is true -that when our system shall have ran down to its culmination in death, -other present systems may continue for a time to exist and new ones -spring into being; but these, too, must inevitably follow the same -course, and likewise end in eternal darkness, until finally the great -experiment of creation shall have ended in eternal failure. The changes -we see in progress around us, however, are not of this nature. The -individual dies, but the forces which gave life and strength to the -race persist, and others will take his place, and the same forces will -continue to operate with constant renewals, since we draw our light -and heat and life from without; but in the death of suns and their -attendant planets there is no analogous process, for such suns are -constantly expending their enormous energies in the support of life -external to themselves, and only the smallest part of this energy, -even, can ever be utilized by themselves or by other suns or planets -under any mode of interpretation now in vogue, the boundless realms -of so-called inert and empty space receiving the same proportionate -quota of light and heat as the almost microscopic points in the sky -which constitute the suns and systems we see, and practically all, -or nearly all, of this enormous energy is an absolute dead waste; so -that whether receiving new supplies from a constant rain of adjacent -meteor streams, or from the gradual contraction of the solar volume, -the vast realms of space are the useless recipients of what can never -return to the sun again, and, of course, in such case the inevitable -end can be predicted; for contraction of volume, with a given mass, -must have an effective limit, and meteoric aggregation must also find -an effective limit, if the planets are not to be thrown out of place -as they continue to revolve around the sun. - -All accepted theories begin with a primordial impulse, the energies -of which are of necessity constantly frittered away and wasted, -until finally all light and heat and life must cease to exist, -and that at a stage in which no further impulse can ever be given, -since the whole universe will have passed through every possible -stage of degradation down to the final one of universal and eternal -death. And yet this is the best that science has to suggest; the only -comfort offered us is that it will not happen in our time, and so, -"after us the deluge." The nebular hypothesis, so called, of Laplace, -has required much modification, in the light of more recent science, -but the essential principles of this theory are still generally -accepted, for they fairly well account for the primal connection of -the sun and planets, and the position of the central sun within, -with the orbital and rotational planetary movements, as no other -theory has yet done. By this theory the limits of our solar system -were once occupied by an attenuated gaseous nebula containing within -itself all the matter which now forms our solar system. This great -nebular mass, primordially assumed, was given by gravity a slow but -gradually increasing rotation upon its center; the force of gravity -acted more strongly upon this rotating body as it contracted, so -that rings of nebulous matter were successively thrown off, which -coalesced into single masses and these finally into planets. These -planetary globes themselves, as they coalesced and contracted, left -behind or threw off rings of their outer matter, which, in turn, -became moons, and finally our solar system with its central sun was -evolved as we now see it; development continued, the planets cooled -and condensed, life appeared when the conditions became suitable, -and the original progressive condensation of the central mass--the -sun--still continuing, the evolution of light and heat continues, -and will continue in a correlative degree. As our moon has passed, -apparently, beyond the stage of life, and is cold, airless, waterless, -and dead, so will the earth pass; and the larger planets, such as -Jupiter and Saturn, which have not yet reached the life stage of -condensation, are still hot, but they, too, will pass through the -present stage of the earth, then through that in which the moon now -is; and the central sun, still glowing, but more and more dimly, will -itself pass through the stages in which Jupiter and Saturn now are, -then through that of our present earth, and finally into that of the -moon, long before which time the emission of all light and heat will -have ceased from the sun to its encircling planets, and finally the -sun itself will sink into eternal frigidity, and all its store of -light and heat will have been dissipated into boundless space, and -the possibility of anything resembling what we know as life will have -been forever extinguished. In considering the question of the sun's -energy, the author of the article "Sun," in Appleton's Cyclopædia, -says, "How to account for the supply of the prodigious amount of heat -constantly radiated from the solar surface has offered a boundless -field of hypothesis. One conjecture is that the sun is now giving -off the heat imparted to it at its creation, and that it is gradually -cooling down (1). Another ascribed it to combustion (2), and a third -to currents of electricity (3). Newton and Buffon conjectured that -comets might be the aliment of the sun (4); and of late years a -somewhat similar theory (first broached by Mr. Waterston in 1853) -has been in vogue,--viz., that a stream of meteoric matter constantly -pouring into the sun from the regions of space supplies its heat, -by the conversion into it of the arrested motion (5). As the sun may, -indeed, derive a small amount of heat from this cause, it deserves more -attention than previous conjectures. But conjecture and hypothesis -may be said to have given place to views which claim a higher title, -as it is now becoming generally recognized, in accordance with modern -physical theories of heat, that in the gravitation of the sun's mass -toward its center, and in its consequent condensation, sufficient -heat must be evolved to supply the present radiation, enormous as this -undoubtedly is. It appears to be susceptible of full demonstration that -a contraction of the sun's volume of a given definite amount, which -is yet so slight as to be invisible to the most powerful telescope, -is competent to furnish a heat-supply equal to all that can have been -emitted during historical periods. According to this theory, then -(which is largely due to the development by Helmholtz of Mayer's -great generalization), the sun's mass remains unaltered, and its -temperature nearly constant, while its size is slowly diminishing as -it contracts; so slowly, however, that the supply may be reckoned on -through periods almost infinite as measured by the known past of our -race, and which are in any case to be counted by millions of years -(6)." To these must be added the hypothesis of Dr. Siemens, fully -described in Professor Proctor's "Mysteries of Time and Space." This -ingenious theory, in brief, is that the rotation of the sun on its axis -causes a suction in the manner of a fan, at the poles, and a tangential -projection, at the equator, of a disk-like stream of gaseous matter -into space. The light and heat of the sun, dispersed through space, -slowly but continuously act upon the compound gases with which space -is universally pervaded to disassociate them into their elements. The -disassociated gases thus sucked in at the solar poles at an extremely -low temperature are brought into a state of combustion by friction -and condensation, thus generating new supplies of light and heat, and -the gases thus reunited by combustion are again projected into space, -to be again slowly disassociated by the operation of the sun's light -and heat. The result of this combustion is to form aqueous vapor and -carbonic acid and carbonic oxide, and these gases, when disassociated -in space, are resolved into carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, which again -and again are thus recombined and again and again decomposed as they -pass over the sun's surface (7). - -The seven hypotheses above described are the only ones now in vogue, -and a brief analysis will show that no single one of them, nor all -combined, will give sufficient results to account for the essential -difficulties or known conditions of the problem. The first and second -hypotheses are answered by the fact set forth by Helmholtz (Popular -Scientific Lectures, article "On the Origin of the Planetary System"), -that, if the mass of the sun were composed of the two elements capable -by combination of producing the greatest possible light and heat,--to -wit, hydrogen and oxygen in the proportions in which they unite to -form water,--"calculation shows that under the above supposition the -heat resulting from their combustion would be sufficient to keep up -the radiation of heat from the sun three thousand and twenty-one -years. That, it is true, is a long time, but even profane history -teaches that the sun has lighted and warmed us for three thousand -years, and geology puts it beyond doubt that this period must be -extended to millions of years." - -The third hypothesis relates to currents of electricity. We have no -knowledge of currents of electricity which could produce, however -multiplied or intensified, such light and heat as are constantly -poured forth from the sun into all space. That electricity is the -intermediate cause of our sun's energy, and of all solar energy, it -is the purpose of this work to demonstrate, but not electric currents, -which find their attractiveness to theorists in the vague suggestion of -which Professor Proctor speaks, referring to comets, in his article on -"Cometic Mysteries," "that perhaps this is an electrical phenomenon; -perhaps that other feature is electrical, too; perhaps all or most -of the phenomena of comets depend on electricity." But he adds, "It -is so easy to make such suggestions, so difficult to obtain evidence -in their favor having the slightest scientific value. Still, I hold -the electrical idea to be well worth careful study. Whatever credit -may hereafter be given to any electrical theory of comets will be -solely and entirely due to those who may help to establish it upon -a basis of sound evidence,--none whatever to the mere suggestion, -which has been made time and again since it was first advanced by -Fontanelle." It will be seen that the present work, in demonstrating -the true source and mode of solar energy, in itself presents a full -and sufficient explanation of all the cometic mysteries referred to, -as well as all those pertaining to other solar systems in space, and -the multifarious phenomena which they present. Indeed, the philosophic -mind will not be satisfied with the sufficiency of any hypothesis -which will not unlock the mysteries and clearly explain the phenomena -of other systems,--of comets, variable and temporary stars, double -stars, and all the complicated celestial economy which to the eye -of the mere observer presents a bewildering scene of the operation -of independent and inscrutable forces. The fifth hypothesis cited, -that of meteoric impact, doubtless plays a part, as we know from the -generation of light and heat by the constant passage of similar bodies -through our own atmosphere. And we know, of course, that the sun, by -its vastly-increased attraction, must be subjected to the constant -impact of such meteoric bodies in enormous numbers. But the fatal -defect in the theory is that such impacts, to produce the radiant -energy of the sun, must constantly add to its mass in like proportion, -and as the motions and distances of the planets in their orbits are -regulated and preserved by virtue of the substantially constant mass -of the sun, any progressive and considerable increase in its mass must -constantly bring the planets nearer and nearer, and thus increase -their orbital velocity. Helmholtz quotes from Sir William Thomson's -investigation, that, "assuming it to hold, the mass of the sun should -increase so rapidly that the consequences would have shown themselves -in the accelerated motion of the planets. The entire loss of heat from -the sun cannot, at all events, be produced in this way; at the most a -portion, which, however, may not be inconsiderable." R. Kalley Miller, -in "The Romance of Astronomy," says, "But more recent observations -have led Sir William Thomson to a modification of his theory. He -has calculated that if the meteoric shower were sufficiently heavy -to make up for the sun's whole expenditure of heat, the matter -of the corona must be so dense as seriously to perturb the orbits -of certain comets which pass very close to his surface,--a result -which is found not to be the case. But the meteoric theory is only -thrown back a step. If the sun's mass were originally formed, as is -not at all improbable, by the agglomeration of these particles, Sir -William Thomson has calculated that the heat generated by their thus -falling together would be sufficient to account for a supply of twenty -million years of solar heat at the present rate of emission. And thus, -though the meteors are not sufficient to maintain the energy of our -system unimpaired, they may yet have been the original storehouse -from which all that energy was derived.... But if the economy of our -system be spared long enough, the day must come when the sun with age -has become wan; when the matter of the corona has all been drawn in -and used up without avail; when the lavish luxuriance with which he -has showered abroad his light and heat has finally exhausted all his -stores. He has still power, aided by the resisting medium, to drag his -satellites one by one down upon his surface; and the shock of each -successive impact will, for a brief period, give him a fresh tenure -of life. When the earth crashes into the sun it will supply him with -a store of heat for nearly a century, while Jupiter's large mass will -extend the period by nearly thirty thousand years. But when the last -of the planets is swallowed up, the sun's energies will rapidly die -out and a deep and deathly gloom gather about nature's grave. Looking -into the ages of a future eternity, we can see nothing but a cold -and burnt-out mass remaining of that glorious orb which went forth -in the morning of time, joyful as a bridegroom from his chamber, -and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race." - -The sixth hypothesis is that to which most credence is now given. It -is that of evolution of energy by condensation of volume. Professor -Proctor ("The Sun as a Perpetual Machine") says, "In company with this -great mystery of seeming waste comes the yet more difficult problem, -how to explain the apparent continuance of solar light and heat during -millions of years. We know from the results of geological research -that the earth has been exposed to the action of the solar rays with -their present activity during at least a hundred million years. Yet it -is difficult to see how, on any hypothesis of the generation of solar -heat, or by combining together all possible modes of heat generation, -a supply for more than twenty millions of years in the past and a -possible supply for as long a period in the future can be accounted -for." Of these vast periods of terrestrial existence in the past we -quote the following from a recent publication: - -"Professor C. D. Wolcott expresses the opinion that geologic time -is not to be measured by hundreds of years, but simply by tens of -millions. This is widely different from the conclusion arrived at -by Sir Charles Lyell, who, basing his estimate on modifications of -certain specimens of marine life, assigned 240,000,000 years as the -required geological period; Darwin claimed 200,000,000 years; Crowell, -about 72,000,000; Geike, from 73,000,000 upward; McGee, Upham, and -other recent authorities claim from 100,000,000 up to 680,000,000." - -Helmholtz ("On the Origin of the Planetary System") says, "It is -probable rather that a great part of this heat, which was produced by -condensation, began to radiate into space before this condensation -was complete. But the heat which the sun could have previously -developed by its condensation would have been sufficient to cover -its present expenditure for not less than 22,000,000 of years of the -past.... We may therefore assume with great probability that the sun -will still continue in its condensation, even if it only attained the -density of the earth, though it will probably become far denser in -its interior, owing to its far greater pressure; this would develop -fresh quantities of heat, which would be sufficient to maintain for -an additional 17,000,000 of years the same intensity of sunshine -as that which is now the source of all terrestrial life." Of this -process of condensation Professor Ball, in his recent work, "In -the High Heavens," says, "It goes without saying that the welfare -of the human race is necessarily connected with the continuance -of the sun's beneficent action. We have indeed shown that the few -other direct or indirect sources of heat which might conceivably -be relied upon are in the very nature of things devoid of necessary -permanence. It becomes, therefore, of the utmost interest to inquire -whether the sun's heat can be calculated on indefinitely. Here is -indeed a subject which is literally of the most vital importance, -so far as organic life is concerned. If the sun shall ever cease -to shine, then it must be certain that there is a term beyond which -human existence, or indeed organic existence of any type whatever, -cannot any longer endure on the earth. We may say once for all that -the sun contains just a certain number of units of heat, actual or -potential, and that he is at the present moment shedding that heat -around with the most appalling extravagance." Quoting from Professor -Langley, he says, "We feel certain that the incessant radiation -from the sun must be producing a profound effect on its stores of -energy. The only way of reconciling this with the total absence of -evidence of the expected changes is to be found in the supposition -that such is the mighty mass of the sun, such the prodigious supply -of heat or what is the equivalent of heat which it contains, that -the grand transformation through which it is passing proceeds at a -rate so slow that, during the ages accessible to our observations, -the results achieved have been imperceptible.... We cannot, however, -attribute to the sun any miraculous power of generating heat. That -great body cannot disobey those laws which we have learned from -experiments in our laboratories. Of course no one now doubts that the -great law of the conservation of energy holds good. We do not in the -least believe that because the sun's heat is radiated away in such -profusion it is therefore entirely lost. It travels off, no doubt, -to the depths of space, and as to what may become of it there we have -no information. Everything we know points to the law that energy is -as indestructible as matter itself. The heat scattered from the sun -exists at least as ethereal vibration, if in no other form. But it -is most assuredly true that this energy, so copiously dispensed, is -lost to our solar system. There is no form in which it is returned, -or in which it can be returned. The energy of the system is as surely -declining as the store of energy of the clock declines according as -the weight runs down. In the clock, however, the energy is restored -by winding up the weight, but there is no analogous process known in -our system." The purpose of the present work, however, is to clearly -demonstrate that just such a process is actually being carried on, and -has been so carried on from the beginning, and will be forever. This -writer continues reviewing the suppositions formerly entertained, -that the sun was a heated body gradually cooling down, or that it -was undergoing absolute combustion, and shows that they were utterly -insufficient. He then refers to the theory of meteoric supply, of -which he says, "It can, however, be shown that there are not enough -meteors in existence to supply a sufficient quantity of heat to the -sun to compensate the loss by radiation. The indraught of meteoric -matter may, indeed, certainly tend in some small degree to retard the -ultimate cooling of the great luminary, but its effect is so small -that we can quite afford to overlook it from the point of view that we -are taking in these pages. It is to Helmholtz we are indebted for the -true solution of the long-vexed problem. He has demonstrated in the -clearest manner where the source of the sun's heat lies.... A gaseous -globe like the sun, when it parts with its heat, observes laws of a -very different type from those which a cooling solid follows. As the -heat disappears by radiation the body contracts; the gaseous object, -however, decreases in general much more than a solid body would do for -the same loss of heat.... The globe of gas unquestionably radiates heat -and loses it, and the globe, in consequence of that loss, shrinks to -a smaller size.... In the facts just mentioned we have an explanation -of the sustained heat of the sun. Of course we cannot assume that -in our calculations the sun is to be treated as if it were gaseous -throughout its entire mass, but it approximates so largely to the -gaseous state in the greater part of its bulk that we can feel no -hesitation in adopting the belief that the true cause has been found." - -Regarding the constitution of the sun, it may be stated, however, -that we only see its photosphere, which is the visible sun, and -the whole volume has a density about that of water; but no man -has ever seen the body of the sun itself. In this respect it is -like the planet Jupiter: we only know that its density cannot be -less than one-fourth the density of the earth's solid globe. If -the photosphere extend to a depth of one thousand, ten thousand, -or a hundred thousand miles, the density of the sun's body or core -will be correspondingly increased. Even computing the whole visible -volume, the density is far greater than that of any gas we know, even -with the solar pressure of gravity; with the sun's metallic vapors, -if the whole core were already vaporized, we would not, to say the -least, be likely to observe the sun-spots and other solar phenomena -as we find them actually to occur; this, however, will be more fully -considered later on. The author continues, "But there is a boundary -to the prospect of the continuance of the sun's radiation. Of course, -as the loss of heat goes on the gaseous parts will turn into liquids, -and as the process is still further protracted the liquids will -transform into solids. Thus, we look forward to a time when the -radiation of the sun can be no longer carried on in conformity with -the laws which dictate the loss of heat from a gaseous body. When this -state is reached the sun may, no doubt, be an incandescent solid with -a brilliance as great as is compatible with that condition, but the -further loss of heat will then involve loss of temperature.... There -seems no escape from the conclusion that the continuous loss of solar -heat must still go on, so that the sun will pass through the various -stages of brilliant incandescence, of glowing redness, of dull redness, -until it ultimately becomes a dark and non-luminous star.... There -is thus a distinct limit to man's existence on the earth, dictated -by the ultimate exhaustion of the sun.... The utmost amount of heat -that it would ever have been possible for the sun to contain would, -according to this authority (Professor Langley), supply its radiation -for eighteen million years at the present rate.... It seems that the -sun has already dissipated about four-fifths of the energy with which -it may have originally been endowed. At all events, it seems that, -radiating energy at its present rate, the sun may hold out for four -million years or for five million years, but not for ten million -years.... We have seen that it does not seem possible for any other -source of heat to be available for replenishing the waning stores of -the luminary." He concludes by saying that the original heat may have -been imparted as the result of some great collision, the solar body -having itself been dark before the collision occurred, and that it -may be reinvigorated by a repetition of a similar startling process, -but indicates in general terms that such an operation would be bad -for the round world and all contained therein. It would, in fact, -be rough treatment for even a hopeless case. - -Condensation of the solar volume is unquestionably a source of heat, -for we know that the solid or liquid interior of the earth increases -in temperature at a definite ratio as we descend through its crust; -but long before the sun shall have become contracted to the density of -the earth all its heat will have become substantially internal heat, -and it can then supply no more by radiation to its surrounding planets. - -It will be seen that the radiant energy of the sun on any of the above -hypotheses is not sufficient to account even for the life period of the -earth in the past, and that its future period of energy must be still -more brief. Professor Ball ("In the High Heavens"), basing his views -on Laplace's "Nebular Hypothesis," says, "Looking back into the remote -ages, we thus see that the sun was larger and larger the further back -we project our view. If we go sufficiently far back, we seem to come -to a time when the sun, in a more or less completely gaseous state, -filled up the surrounding space out to the orbit of Mercury, or, -earlier still, out to the orbit of the remotest planet." According -to this hypothesis, all these brilliant suns, the author says, will -"settle down into dark bodies like the earth," and that "every analogy -would teach us that the dark and non-luminous bodies in the universe -are far more numerous than the brilliant suns. We can never see the -dark objects; we can discern their presence only indirectly. All the -stars that we can see are merely those bodies which at this epoch -of their career happen for the time to be so highly heated as to be -luminous.... It may happen that there are dark bodies in the vicinity -of some of the bright stars to which these stars act as illuminants, -just in the same way as the sun disperses light to the planets." One -would naturally suppose, however, that there must be some sort of -laws to govern such stupendous operations, and that nature is not -merely engaged in blowing bubbles. To quote Professor Newcomb: "At the -present time we can only say that the nebular hypothesis is indicated -by the general tendencies of the laws of nature; that it has not been -proved to be inconsistent with any fact; that it is almost a necessary -consequence of the only theory by which we can account for the origin -and conservation of the sun's heat; but that it rests on the assumption -that this conservation is to be explained by the laws of nature as -we now see them in operation. Should any one be sceptical as to the -sufficiency of these laws to account for the present state of things, -science can furnish no evidence strong enough to overthrow his doubts -until the sun shall be found growing smaller by actual measurement, -or the nebulæ be actually seen to condense into stars and systems." - -While the validity of the views set forth in the present volume -does not depend on the sufficiency or insufficiency of the nebular -hypothesis, and in fact requires the condensation as well as the -expansion of the solar volume under the influence of heat to be -recognized and its extreme importance pointed out, yet it must not -be supposed that this great generalization of Kant and Laplace, -based on the views presented originally by Sir William Herschel, is -established, or that the difficulties in its way are not so enormous -as to be almost insuperable. Professor Ball points out that thousands -of bodies occupy our solar system, and together compose it as a whole; -that these have orbits of every sort of eccentricity and direction, -and occupying all possible planes which can pass through the sun; that -the bodies circle around the sun, some backward and others forward, -and that only the planets seem to conform to some common order; and -without this order, which may be accidental, so far as our knowledge -goes, the system would have been disrupted long since, if it ever -could have begun its operations; and that in this view the heavens -may be strewn with wrecks of systems which failed to survive from -inherent want of harmony,--that is to say, as based on observation -only. Whether the nebular hypothesis be a universal or a partial law -of development, or whether the real processes be quite different, -cannot, however, depend on the continued maintenance and evolution -of the sun's energy, as this source must in truth be sought for in -quite a different direction. - -The remaining hypothesis (the seventh) is considered in detail in -Professor Proctor's work, "Mysteries of Time and Space." The fatal -defect in Dr. Siemens's theory is, that his gases will not be projected -from the sun's equator. Professor Proctor says, "Thus the centripetal -tendency of matter at the sun's equator is very much greater (many -hundreds of times greater) than its centrifugal tendency, and there -is not the slightest possibility of matter being projected into space -from the sun's surface by centrifugal tendency. Nor is there any part -of the sun's mass where the centrifugal tendency is greater than at -the surface near the equator. So that, whatever else the sun may be -doing to utilize his mighty energies, he is certainly not throwing -off matter constantly from his equatorial regions, as Dr. Siemens's -theory requires." There are other difficulties which Professor Proctor -considers, such as the doubt as to the power of the sun's rays to -disassociate combined gases in space, and also that, since both light -and heat must be utilized in this work, if the sun's energies are to -be perpetually renewed, these forces would sensibly disappear in work, -and the result would be that the fixed stars would be invisible beyond -their domains, and their light, when not totally cut off, would be -greatly diminished, in any event, as distances increased, which is -not the case. Besides, these gases thus disassociated could never be -entirely used by the sun, and the remainder would be wasted, and the -part wasted would vastly exceed that utilized, probably in as great -proportion of waste as that of the sun's light not utilized by the -planets, which gather but one two-hundred-and-thirty-two-millionths -of the whole. It may be further added that these gases would be -mechanically mixed, the combined and the disassociated, and this -would be mostly the case in those parts nearest the sun, so that large -volumes of spent and useless gases would have to be carried in to no -purpose whatever. In fact, these gases would gradually form a closed -circuit of supply and discharge, and surrounding space would be but -slightly affected. Professor Proctor concludes, "We have, in fact, -the fallacy of perpetual motion in a modified form." - -It will be apparent that under any single one, or all, of these -hypotheses, the future prospect for created forms and continued -existence is hopeless, and that the inevitable result must do -violence to every conception of either an intelligent creative -power or the operations of universal law. The mind revolts from -the continued degradation and destruction of all organic creation, -while the malevolent and iconoclastic forces of nature hold high -revel over final ruin and eternal destruction, brought about by their -own incessant efforts, striking out blindly to make or mar, and they -alone the deathless survivors, the half-blind fates and furies of the -eternal future. It betokens, not the processes of orderly government, -but the reign of anarchy. - -Note.--Since this work has been in press, at the annual meeting of the -British Association, August 8, 1894, Lord Salisbury, the President, -delivered a powerful and lucid address on the present status of -scientific knowledge and its limitations. With reference to the -antiquity of the earth we quote the following: "It is evident, -from the increase of heat as we descend into the earth, that the -earth is cooling, and we know, by experiment within certain wide -limits, the rate at which its substances--the matters of which it is -constituted--are found to cool. It follows that we can approximately -calculate how hot it was so many million years ago; but if at any -time it was hotter at the surface by fifty degrees Fahrenheit than it -is now, life would then have been impossible upon the planet, and, -therefore, we can without much difficulty fix a date before which -organic life on earth cannot have existed. Basing himself on these -considerations, Lord Kelvin limited the period of organic life upon -the earth to a hundred million years, and Professor Tait, in a still -more penurious spirit, cut that hundred down to ten." If a period of -anything like ten million years, even, has been requisite to cool the -earth's surface only fifty degrees in temperature, what time must have -elapsed since the terrestrial globe had a temperature high enough to -effect the difficult chemical combinations of many of the elements -which compose its structure? And even this must have been far less -than the vast cycles of time during which original consolidation was -effected. Through all these ages the sun must have been pouring out -his radiant energy at at least his present rate. Radiation of heat -from the earth may have been relatively less rapid from a denser -carbon-laden atmosphere in times past than at present, but it never -could have been more so. The whole address cited is, indeed, strongly -corroborative of the facts upon which the present work is based. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE CONSTITUTION AND PHENOMENA OF THE SUN. - - -The various theories thus reviewed, while not sufficient in themselves -to account for the facts of our own solar system, are fatally defective -in another respect. While they aim to account for the sun's light -and heat, they all fail to consider the active medium of the solar -light and heat in the sun itself. It is not simply a highly-heated -central mass glowing in space. It is a vast orb surrounded by -different envelopes of incandescent vapors or gases, and by far -the most vast in volume, as well as in light and heat-radiating -power, are the photosphere and its superincumbent chromosphere, -composed almost entirely of free hydrogen gas in a state of intense -incandescence. Whence comes this enormous mass of hydrogen? And -how explain the entire absence of free hydrogen gas from our own -atmosphere and its replacement by oxygen? There is a recent theory -propounded by Mr. A. Mott, which is set forth in detail in Professor -Ball's "In the High Heavens," and which endeavors to account for the -remarkable absence of free hydrogen gas from the earth's atmosphere, -for, as the author states, "It is a singular fact that hydrogen in -the free state is absent from our atmosphere." The theory, in brief, -is that the molecules of hydrogen gas have an average speed of about a -mile a second,--which, however, is only one-seventh that required to -shoot them off into space,--but that these molecules are continually -changing their velocity, and may sometimes attain a speed of seven -miles a second; the result is that "every now and then a molecule -of hydrogen succeeds in bolting away from the earth altogether -and escaping into open space." During past ages the molecules of -hydrogen would thus have gradually wiggled up through the air, and -finally disappeared into outer darkness for good and all; and thus -"the fact that there is at present no free hydrogen in the air over -our heads may be accounted for." Since the molecules of oxygen have -only a velocity of a quarter mile a second, that unfortunate gas -remains behind and is consumed. - -The first difficulty with this theory is to explain how, if the -hydrogen wiggled off in this unceremonious manner, it ever wiggled -on. There is no objection to a gait of this rapidity, however; it -is highly creditable, in fact; but we have a right to expect some -degree of consistency in even so light-headed a body as hydrogen -gas. The article quoted thus continues: "If the mass of the earth -were very much larger than it is, then the velocities with which -the molecules of hydrogen wend their way would never be sufficiently -high to enable them to quit the earth altogether, and consequently we -might in such a case expect to find our atmosphere largely charged with -hydrogen." It will be seen that, according to this theory, hydrogen is -able to achieve a speed of seven miles per second under exceptional -excitement, and that this molecular velocity is just enough, and no -more than enough, to give it egress. We know that Jupiter's mass is -three hundred times as great as that of the earth, and the attraction -of gravity is so powerful on the surface of that planet that, as the -writer just quoted says, "Walking, or even standing, would involve the -most fearful exertion, while rising from bed in the morning would be a -difficult, indeed, probably, an impossible, process." We also know that -the atmosphere of this planet is laden with enormous clouds floating -at various altitudes and with incessant movements. We are told that -"the molecular speed of aqueous vapor averages only one-third of that -attained by the molecules of hydrogen." Of course, on the planet -Jupiter, hydrogen would have no chance of escape at all: it would -just have to stay and take it, like the rest of us. Jupiter must thus -have an atmosphere like our own, except that it is "largely charged -with hydrogen." Of the clouds upon this planet, Professor Ball says, -"In fact, the longer we look at Jupiter the more we become convinced -that the surface of the planet is swathed with a mighty volume of -clouds so dense and so impenetrable that our most powerful telescopes -have never yet been able to pierce through them down to the solid -surface of the planet." With the densities, molecular velocities, -and specific gravity of the oxygen, nitrogen, and the hydrogen, with -which latter the atmosphere of Jupiter must be "largely charged," as -it is said, it is difficult to understand how such enormous clouds -of aqueous vapors, themselves composed of oxygen, which is a very -slow-footed gas, and hydrogen, could travel about with such facility; -we ought to find them packed down like London fog, to say the least, -upon the surface of that planet, with the supernatant gases all -adrift overhead. Jupiter is a hot body; it has not yet cooled down; -and if it is provided with volcanoes, such as its great red spot and -the analogies of the earth and moon would suggest, we can tell pretty -nearly what would have happened long ago with a Jovian atmosphere like -ours; but "largely charged with hydrogen," if we compare it with, -say, an equal mass of dynamite touched off by a volcanic explosion; -there would not have been enough of old Jupiter left to swear by, and -what was left would not have had any atmosphere at all. On Mars, the -same writer thinks the oxygen would still cling, like the fragrance of -the rose, but that all the molecules of the fleet-footed and excitable -hydrogen would long since have taken French leave, as it did from the -earth; but at the moon, on account of its small size and mass, both -gases would have gone off incontinently together. "It is now easy," -the author says, "to account for the absence of atmosphere from the -moon.... Neither of the gases, oxygen or nitrogen, to say nothing of -hydrogen, could possibly exist in the free state on a globe of the -mass and dimensions of our satellite.... Indeed, the weight of every -object on the moon would be reduced to the sixth part of that which -the same object has on earth." Nevertheless, it may be said that -the moon has considerable weight, as weights go, but with a comet -it is quite a different matter. "These bodies," the author says, -"demonstrate conclusively that the quantity of matter even in a -comet is extremely small when compared with its bulk. The conclusion -thus arrived at is confirmed by the fact that our efforts to obtain -the weight of a comet have hitherto proved unsuccessful.... It has -thus been demonstrated that, notwithstanding the stupendous bulk of -a great comet, its mass must have been so inconsiderable as to have -been insufficient to disturb even such unimportant members of the -solar system as the satellites of Jupiter." Now, here is a state of -things; for the spectroscope shows that comets are fully provided with -a large supply of hydrogen, enough and to spare for ornament, even, -and of nitrogen also, while it is the abnormally fugacious oxygen -which has, apparently, taken its departure. Of course, such facts -demonstrate the untenability of the theory, which is, besides, in -direct contradiction with the laws governing gaseous diffusion. Gases -pass into each other with the same velocity as into a vacuum, and -it is not to be imagined that the molecules of hydrogen could thus -move individually off, unless forced upward by the pressure of some -other gas, which the law of gaseous diffusion makes impossible. We -should as readily expect to see a tumbler full of iron balls, into -the interstices of which loose sand has been poured, manifest a -similar phenomenon by the wiggling out of the less dense sand at the -top of the glass. One might also ask whence, if this theory had any -substantial basis, could come the enormous volumes of hydrogen gas -in the atmosphere of a new or temporary star, in a few hours, or the -changes manifested in the atmospheres of the variable stars. So, also, -the nebular or any other hypothesis of creation would be impossible -under this theory, as the heavier and less mobile gaseous elements -would remain behind, or be condensed nearest the center of gravity of -the aggregating nebula, while the more rapid gases would disappear -outwardly, and in consequence the sun would be found to be composed -of the heavier elements exclusively, and each of the planets, in -turn, would consist of only one or two elements, in accordance with -the more and more mobile character of their molecular movements, and -the uniformity of chemical constitution between the sun and planets, -as well as the fixed stars, would not be found to exist. The theory, -in fact, is an example of the endeavor to explain an easily understood -difficulty by a less easily understood impossibility. - -None of the different theories even attempt to account for the -prodigious volumes of hydrogen in the solar atmosphere, and without its -presence the sun, so far as we know, would be almost an inert mass, -considered as a source of energy for the supply of our planetary -system. We know, of course, that meteors contain sometimes as much -as six volumes of gases, largely composed of hydrogen, at our own -atmospheric pressure. But the pressure at the sun's surface is more -than twenty-seven times that at the surface of the earth, and yet the -volume of hydrogen there existing visibly is vaster beyond computation -than any possible mass of meteoric material could supply. So, also, -while it may be granted that condensation of volume must vastly raise -the solar temperature, how could it produce the enormous masses of -hydrogen, the lightest of all the elements, unless they have been -temporarily occluded and finally thrown out from within, which is -impossible? These vast volumes of hydrogen are to be considered first -of all in any attempt whatever to solve the problem of the source -and mode of solar energy. - -Considering the phenomena presented within the limits of our own solar -system alone, we find that the earth is one of a single family of -planets, each of which very closely resembles it, and all of which -circle, in slightly elliptical orbits, at various distances around -the sun, their orbits occupying substantially the same plane, -thus making our solar system a flat disk of space occupied by -the sun as a center, with the planets and their satellites moving -harmoniously around it. The planets differ from each other in size, -mass, and temperature, but each is surrounded by an envelope of -aqueous vapor, suspended in an atmosphere substantially like our -own. Professor Proctor, in his "Light Science for Leisure Hours," -says of the planet Jupiter, "His real surface is always veiled by -his dense and vapor-laden atmosphere. Saturn, Venus, and Mercury -are similarly circumstanced." Of Mars he says that it is "distinctly -marked (in telescopes of sufficient power) with continents and oceans -which are rarely concealed by vapors." Now, whence comes this aqueous -vapor surrounding all the planets? Whether received originally from -the diffused nebular mass from which our solar system is supposed -to have been condensed, or attracted by the force of gravity from -interplanetary space, like the meteors which fall upon the earth's -surface, it is evident that interplanetary space must once have been -pervaded with aqueous vapor, since the nebular mass from which our -solar system was constituted must have occupied at least the space -embraced within its largest planetary orbit, and doubtless much more; -and if so, such aqueous vapor, and other vapors also, must still -persist in space, just as the meteoric particles which so constantly -manifest themselves in our atmosphere. If the planets had no common -origin, the evidence is equally conclusive, since then this identical -substance could only have been derived from a common source, which -can only be interplanetary space. This also is in accordance with -the laws of attraction, which would operate to gather and condense -the rarefied aqueous vapor of space around the planetary masses in -definite proportions. In his "Familiar Essays on Scientific Subjects," -Professor Proctor says, "In fact, we do thus recognize in the spectra -of Mars, Venus, and other planets the presence of aqueous vapor in -their atmosphere;" and in his "Mysteries of Time and Space" he says, -"We may admit the possibility that the aqueous vapor and carbon -compounds are present in stellar or interplanetary space." But -in addition to this aqueous vapor which surrounds the planetary -bodies, we find free oxygen in vast quantities, and, with this, free -nitrogen in mechanical admixture, and these together constitute the -atmosphere we breathe, and which sustains organic life by a process -of slow combustion. But we find no free hydrogen either in our own -atmosphere or in that of other planets. Turning now to the sun, we -find that it is surrounded by an atmosphere as well as the planets, -but that this atmosphere is composed not of free oxygen, but of free -hydrogen. In his article, "Oxygen in the Sun," Professor Proctor says, -"Fourteen only of the elements known to us, or less than a quarter -of the total number, were thus found to be present in the sun's -constitution; and of these all were metals, if we regard hydrogen as -metallic.... But most remarkable of all, and most perplexing, was the -absence of all trace of oxygen and nitrogen, two gases which could -not be supposed wanting in the substance of the great ruling center -of the planetary system." The researches of Dr. Draper indicated, -however, that oxygen could be found in the sun; not in his external -atmosphere but far down within his surface. Professor Proctor says, -"Dr. Draper mentions that he has found no traces of oxygen above the -photosphere." Such free oxygen cannot be associated with the hydrogen, -however, even if its presence be finally determined, but it may be -due to the deoxidation of solid compounds precipitated upon the sun -from space, and held at a temperature above that of disassociation, -as hydrogen is sometimes generated at the surface of the earth. - -The vast mass of the solar atmosphere is composed of hydrogen gas, with -which are found commingled vapors of the various elements which enter -into the sun's constitution, and this solar atmosphere corresponds -in proportion, speaking generally, with our own atmosphere, except -that the volume of solar hydrogen is vastly greater than that of -terrestrial oxygen, for the reason, as will be explained, that water -contains two volumes of the former to one of the latter. - -In Appleton's Cyclopædia the sun is thus described, (article by -Professors Langley and Proctor): "To sum up briefly the received -hypotheses of the physical constitution of the sun: of its internal -structure we know nothing, but we can infer, from the low density of -the solar globe as a whole, that no considerable portion is solid or -liquid. The regions we examine appear to consist of cloud layers at -several levels floating in a complex atmosphere, in which probably -most of the elements are known to us, and certainly many of them -exist in the form of vapor. Outside this complex atmosphere extend -envelopes of simpler constitution, though into them occasionally -arise the vapors which ordinarily lie lower down. The sierra, for -instance, consists in the main of glowing hydrogen gas and that gas, -whatever it may be, which produces the line near the orange-yellow -sodium lines. The prominence region may be regarded as simply the -extension of the sierra." Of these prominences, Professor Ball says, -"The memorable discovery made by Janssen and Lockyer, independently, in -1868, showed that the prominences could be observed without the help of -an eclipse, by the happy employment of the peculiar refrangibility of -the rosy light which these prominences emit.... We can now obtain, not, -as heretofore, merely isolated views of special prominences through -the widely opened slit of the spectroscope, but we are furnished, -after a couple of minutes' exposure, with a complete photograph of -the prominences surrounding the sun.... The incandescent region of -the chromosphere from which these prominences arise is also recorded -with accuracy." Resuming our quotation from Appleton's Cyclopædia: -"The inner corona is still simpler than the sierra, so far as its -gaseous constitution is concerned; but here meteoric and cometic matter -appears, extending to the outer corona and to great distances beyond -even the visible limits of the zodiacal. Returning to the photosphere, -we find it subject to continual fluctuations, both from local causes -of agitation and from the subjacent vapor acting by its elasticity to -burst through it; the faculæ, which are found to be above the general -level of the photosphere, are taken to be heapings up of the luminous -matter like the crested surges of the sea. All the strata are subject -to great movements, which sometimes have the character of uniform -progression analogous to our trade-winds, and sometimes are violent, -and resemble in their effects our tornadoes and whirlwinds. Eruptive -action appears to operate from time to time with exceeding violence, -but whether the enormous velocities of outrush are due to true -explosive action (which would compel us to believe that the sun is -enclosed by a liquid shell, so as to resemble a gigantic bubble) or to -the uprising of lighter vapors from enormous depths, as heated currents -rise in our own atmosphere, is not as yet certainly known." The -sierra, or chromosphere, is thus described in the same article: -"The sierra presents four aspects: 1, smooth with defined outline; -2, smooth but with no defined outline; 3, fringed with filaments; -and, 4, irregularly fringed with small flames. The prominences may -be divided into three orders,--heaps, jets, and plumes. The heaped -prominences need no special description. The jets ... originate -generally in rectilinear jets either vertical or oblique, very bright -and very well defined. They rise to a great height, often to a height -of at least eighty thousand miles, and occasionally to more than twice -that; then bending back, fall again upon the sun like the jets of our -fountains. Then they spread into figures resembling gigantic trees -more or less rich in branches. Their luminosity is intense, insomuch -that they can be seen through the light clouds into which the sierra -breaks up. Their spectrum indicates the presence of many elements -besides hydrogen. When they have reached a certain height they cease -to grow, and become transformed into exceedingly bright masses, which -eventually separate into fleecy clouds. The jet prominences last but -a short time--rarely an hour, frequently but a few minutes,--and they -are only to be seen in the neighborhood of the spots. Wherever there -are jet prominences there also are faculæ. The plume prominences are -distinguished from the jets in not being characterized by any signs of -an eruptive origin. They often extend to an enormous height; they last -longer than the jets, though subject to rapid changes of figure; and, -lastly, they are distributed indifferently over the sun's surface. It -would seem that in the jets a part of the photosphere is lifted up, -whereas in the case of plumes only the sierra is disturbed." Of these -eruptions Professor Ball says, "Vast masses of vapors are frequently -expelled from the interior of the sun by convulsive throes with a -speed of three hundred, four hundred, and sometimes nearly a thousand -miles a second.... The spectroscope enables the observer actually to -witness the ascent of these solar prominences." - -The corona, which extends beyond the chromosphere, has been determined -by its continuous spectrum to be a vast envelope extending at -least a million miles from the sun's surface. "It cannot be a solar -atmosphere," Professor Proctor observes in his article on this subject, -in his "Mysteries of Time and Space."... "It will be seen, then, -how inconceivably great the pressure exerted by a solar atmosphere -some eight thousand times as deep as ours would necessarily be, -let the nature of the gases composing it be what it may."... "If a -man could be placed on the solar surface, his own weight would crush -him as effectually as though while on earth a weight of a couple of -tons were heaped upon him.... Now, it happens that we know quite well -that the pressure exerted by the real solar atmosphere, even close -by the bright surface which forms the visible globe of the sun, is -nothing like so great as it would be if the corona formed part of -that atmosphere." In the article "Sun," in Appleton's Cyclopædia, -it is stated that "Mr. Arthur W. Wright, of Yale College, has -succeeded in showing that this light (the zodiacal) is not emitted -from incandescent gas, but reflected from particles or small bodies, -and hence derived from the sun."... "There is reason to believe that -the true solar corona extends much farther (than a million miles), -and that, in reality, the zodiacal light forms the outer part of the -solar corona." Proctor, again, in his article on the corona, says, -"It would seem to follow that the corona is due to bodies of some sort -travelling around the sun, and by their motion preserved either from -falling towards him (in which case the corona would quickly disappear) -or from producing any pressure upon his surface, as an atmosphere -would." In his article on "The Sun as a Perpetual Machine," he says, -"There is every reason for regarding the zodiacal as consisting in -the main of meteorolithic masses, a sort of cosmical dust, rushing -through interplanetary space with planetary velocities. To such -matter, assuming, as we well may, that space really is occupied -by attenuated vapors, ... the luminosity of the zodiacal would be -attributable to particles of dust emitting light reflected by the sun -or by phosphorescence (this last may be seriously questioned). But -there is another cause for luminosity of these particles which may -deserve a passing consideration. Each particle would be electrified -by gaseous friction in its acceleration, and its electric tension -would be vastly increased in its forcible removal, in the same way -as the fine dust of the desert has been observed by Werner Siemens -to be in a state of high electrification on the apex of the Cheops -Pyramid. Would not the zodiacal light also find explanation by slow -electric discharges backward from the dust towards the sun?" It may be -observed in passing that such electrical glow is much more prominently, -and more likely to be, the result of induction than of friction. In -the article "Sun," previously quoted, Professor Young says, "There is -surrounding the sun, beyond any further reasonable doubt, a mass of -self-luminous gaseous matter, whose spectrum is characterized by the -green line 1474 Kirchhoff. The precise extent of this it is hardly -possible to consider as determined, but it must be many times the -thickness of the red hydrogen portion of the sierra, perhaps, on an -average, 8' or 10', with occasional horns of twice that height. It -is not at all unlikely that it may even turn out to have no upper -limit, but to extend from the sun indefinitely into space." In the -same article the sun's apparent diameter is placed at about 32', -so that the thickness of the above gaseous envelope would be not -less than one-fourth the sun's diameter, or more than two hundred -thousand miles. This coronal envelope, extending out from the solar -body until gradually merged into the attenuated matter of space, has -a light so feeble that it can only be clearly observed during total -eclipse. Professor Ball ("In the High Heavens") says, "The sunlight -is so intense that if it be reduced sufficiently by any artifice, -the coronal light also suffers so much abatement that, owing to its -initial feebleness, it ceases altogether to be visible." During the -great eclipse of 1893 it was photographed, and of these photographs -the same author says, "One of the most remarkable features in the -structure of the corona is the presence of streamers or luminous -rays extending from the north and south poles of the sun. These -rays are generally more or less curved, and it is doubtful whether -the phenomena they exhibit are not in some way a consequence of the -rotation of the sun. This consideration is connected with the question -as to how far the corona itself shares in that rotation of the sun -with which astronomers are familiar. I should perhaps rather have -said that rotation of the sun's photosphere which, as the sun-spots -prove, is accomplished once every twenty-five days. Even this shell -of luminous matter does not revolve as a rigid mass would do. By some -mysterious law the equatorial portions accomplish their revolution in -a shorter period than is required by those zones of the photosphere -which lie nearer the north and south poles of the luminary. As to how -the parts of the sun which are interior to the photosphere may revolve, -we are quite ignorant.... We have no means of knowing to what extent -the corona shares in the rotation. It would seem certain that the -lower parts which lie comparatively near the surface must be affected -by the rapid rotation of the photosphere; but it is very far from -certain that this rotation can be shared to any great extent by those -parts of the corona which lie at a distance from the sun's surface -as great as the solar radius or diameter.... The corona presents a -curious green line that seems to denote some invariable constituent -of the sun's outer atmosphere, but the element to which this green -line owes its origin is wholly unknown." The same author quotes from -Dr. Huggins as follows: "It is interesting to read what Dr. Huggins -has to tell us about the solar corona. The nature of this marvellous -appendage to the sun is still a matter of uncertainty. There can, -however, be no doubt that the corona consists of highly-attenuated -matter driven outward from the sun by some repulsive force, and it is -also clear that if this force be not electric, it must at least be -something of a very kindred character.... So far as the spectrum of -the corona is concerned, we may summarize what is known in the words -of Dr. Huggins: 'The green coronal line has no known representative -in terrestrial substances, nor has Schuster been able to recognize any -of our elements in the other lines of the corona.'" The account given -by General Myer--quoted in Professor Proctor's article, "The Sun's -Corona"--of the great eclipse of 1869, as viewed from an altitude -of five thousand five hundred feet above sea-level, is as follows: -"As a centre stood the full and intensely black disk of the moon, -surrounded by an aureola of soft bright light, through which shot out, -as if from the circumference of the moon, straight, massive silvery -rays, seeming distinct and separate from each other, to a distance -of two or three diameters of the lunar disk; the whole spectacle -showing as upon a background of diffused rose-colored light. The -silvery rays were longest and most prominent at four points of the -circumference, ... apparently equidistant from each other. There was -no motion of the rays: they seemed concentric." Three diameters would -make these rays extend two and a half million miles at least from the -sun's photosphere, or even its chromosphere. The coincidence between -these rays and those observed (see above) in the eclipse of 1893 must -be noted, since these latter were conceived at one time to be meteor -streams. As those seen in 1893 radiated from the poles, and were curved -in form, while those last noted radiated at four equidistant points, -none polar, and were straight, it will be seen that, if both phenomena -were of the same class, they could not have been due to meteor streams. - -The sun's spots, which we will next refer to, are deep, -relatively dark, but in fact extremely bright depressions in the -photosphere. "Many spots are of enormous size" (see article, "Sun"); -"one had a diameter exceeding fifty thousand miles, and many far larger -than this have been seen. The spots are not scattered over the whole -surface of the sun, but are for the most part confined to two belts -between latitude five degrees and thirty degrees, on either side of the -solar equator. An equatorial zone six degrees wide is almost entirely -free from spots.... The inclination of the solar equator is about -seven degrees.... The spots on the sun usually have a dark central -region called the umbra, within which is a still darker part called -the nucleus, while around this there is a fringe of fainter shade than -the umbra, called the penumbra. Although the umbra and nucleus appear -dark, however, it is not to be supposed that they are really dark; -... though the nucleus looks perfectly black by contrast with the -general surface, it shines in reality with a light unbearably brilliant -when viewed alone, while his thermal measurements show that the heat -from the nucleus is even greater proportionately than the light, and -not very greatly below the heat of the surrounding surface.... The -recognition of a nucleus within the umbra would seem to indicate that -a third cloud layer (besides the outer or photosphere and a darker -cloud layer beneath) exists within the second or internal layer of -Herschel's theory. But the observations of Professor Langley show that -most probably all the features of the solar photosphere yet observed -are phenomena of cloud envelopes, since he has been able to recognize -cloud forms at one level floating over cloud forms at a lower level, -while even in the (relatively) darkest depths of the nucleus clouds -are still to be perceived, though so deep down that their outlines -can be barely discerned." Professor Ball says of the heat-wave of -1892, "As to the activity of the sun during the past summer, a very -striking communication has recently been made by one of the most -rising American astronomers, Mr. George E. Hale, of Chicago. He has -invented an ingenious apparatus for photographing on the same plate -at one exposure both the bright spots and the protuberances of the -sun.... On the 15th of July a photograph of the sun showed a large -spot. Another photograph taken in a few minutes exhibited a bright -band; twenty-seven minutes later a further exposure displayed an -outburst of brilliant faculæ all over the spot. At the end of an -hour the faculæ had all vanished and the spot was restored to its -original condition. It was not a mere coincidence that our magnetic -observatories exhibited considerable disturbances the next day, and -that brilliant auroras were noted." Carrington's observations have -shown that spots in different solar latitudes travel at different -rates. "Taking two parts of the visible solar surface in the same -longitude, but one in latitude forty-five degrees (say), the other on -the equator, the latter will advance farther and farther in longitude -from the former, gaining daily about two degrees, so that in the -course of about one hundred and eighty days it will have gained a -complete revolution. That is to say, the sun's equator makes about two -revolutions more per annum than regions in forty-five degrees north -and south solar latitude." The sun is about 850,000 miles in diameter; -its density is one-fourth that of the earth; its mass is 316,000 times -greater, and its volume 1,253,000. Gravity at its surface is 27.1 times -that of the earth; its distance is approximately 92,000,000 miles; -it rotates upon its axis, which is inclined to the planetary plane at -an angle of seven degrees, once in twenty-five and one-third days, -apparently increased to thirty days by the earth's orbital advance -in the same direction around the sun; and it has a motion around its -center,--a true orbital motion,--due to displacement by gravity of -the planetary masses, which, however, is always within its own mass. - -The above, in brief, is, so far as we know, the constitution of -the sun and its appendages. Its internal globe is surrounded by -a glowing gaseous envelope, the photosphere, which is the visible -orb, composed of cloud masses of glowing hydrogen gas intermingled -with vapors of many of our terrestrial elements, all in a state -of apparent disassociation. Of the constitution of the sun's mass, -Professor Ball says, "Professor Rowland has shown that thirty-six -terrestrial elements are certainly indicated in the solar spectrum, -while eight others are doubtful. Fifteen elements have not been -found, though sought for, and ten elements have not yet been compared -with the sun's spectrum. Reasons are also given for showing that, -though fifteen elements had no lines corresponding to those shown in -the solar spectrum, yet there is but little evidence to show that -they are really absent from the sun. Dr. Huggins epitomizes these -very interesting results in the striking remark, 'It follows that -if the whole earth were heated to the temperature of the sun, its -spectrum would resemble very closely the solar spectrum.'" Outside -the photosphere is the simpler chromosphere, composed largely of -hydrogen, and merging into the corona at a distance of hundreds of -thousands of miles from the sun's apparent surface, and this corona -extends outward to a vast distance, and is itself largely composed -of self-luminous matter, the action of gravity being counterbalanced -by the centrifugal force of orbital rotation, or more probably by -electrical repulsion. The metallic vapors in the sun's photosphere -are suspended in glowing hydrogen, which vastly preponderates over -all the others in mass and volume, the incandescence of which is -the principal source of solar light and heat. The planets revolve -in elliptical orbits around this central sun, and crossing these -orbits at various angles rush streams of cometic matter and comets -and meteoric bodies, in streams and clouds, which, swiftly sweeping -around at various distances, are again thrown off into space. Meteors -constantly fall into the sun's mass, as they do upon the earth; but the -grand key-note of all his life and energy, so far as we can perceive, -is the vast envelope of glowing hydrogen gas. - -Conversely, the planetary envelopes are of relatively cool oxygen -mixed with nitrogen gas, which hold in suspension diffused aqueous -vapors. If our own aqueous vapors are derived by the attraction of -gravity from the interplanetary space, as they must have been, we can -be sure that, were the sun at a sufficiently low temperature, he, too, -would gather to himself a surrounding envelope of aqueous vapor, larger -than our own in proportion to his mass, and larger than that of all -the planets together, the combined mass of which he exceeds by seven -hundred and fifty times. We should also expect similar aggregations -of aqueous vapors to surround all the fixed stars in proportion to -their various masses, yet we do not find aqueous vapor there, but -hydrogen instead. And in the distant telescopic nebulæ we still find -hydrogen and nitrogen; even in the comets we find free hydrogen in -vast predominance, but not free oxygen; so that we may roughly divide -the bodies of stellar space into two grand categories,--those with -atmospheres of hydrogen and those with atmospheres of oxygen. It is -true that the latter are limited to the planets of our own system, so -far as direct observation goes, for we cannot see such dark planets -as exist beyond our own solar system; but if such planets exist, -as they must, for reasons stated later on, and revolve around their -own central suns, we may infer, with the strength of demonstration -almost, that if their suns correspond to our sun in this respect, their -planets will correspond to our planets in a similar respect. But the -bodies with atmospheres of oxygen are those which rotate around the -sun substantially as a center, while with reference to themselves the -sun is more or less a fixed body in space. It is true that our whole -system is drifting through space, at present in the direction of the -constellation Lyra, and directly away from that portion of space -occupied by Sirius and Canopus, with an annual motion of probably -hundreds of millions of miles. Professor Ball ("In the High Heavens") -says, "In conclusion, it would seem that the sun and the whole solar -system are bound on a voyage to that part of the sky which is marked -by the star Delta Lyræ. It also appears that the speed with which -this motion is urged is such as to bring us every day about 700,000 -miles nearer to this part of the sky. In one year the solar system -accomplishes a journey of no less than 250,000,000 miles." A speed of -eight miles per second gives an annual rate of 252,288,000 miles. This -speed, however, is greatly exceeded by many stars (as determined -by displacement of the lines of the spectrum); the star No. 1830, -of Groombridge's catalogue (see "In the High Heavens"), has a rate -of two hundred miles per second. The author says, "Indeed, in some -cases stellar velocities are attained which appear to be even greater -than that just mentioned. We do not, therefore, make any extravagant -supposition in adopting a speed of twenty miles per second," which -he takes as the average. "I have adopted this particular velocity as -fairly typical of sidereal motions generally. It is rather larger than -the speed with which the earth moves in its orbit." The distances, -of course, are equally enormous. This author says, "The nearest star, -as far as we yet know, in the northern hemisphere is 61 Cygni.... I -think we cannot be far wrong in adopting a value of fifty millions -of millions of miles.... In the course of a million years a star with -the average speed of twenty miles a second would move over a distance -which was about a dozen times as great as the distance between 61 -Cygni and the solar system." This assuming that the solar system is -at rest, which is not the case, as the author says, "Unless binary, -stars do not remain in proximity, so far as we know; the general rule -appears to be that of universal movement through space." This drift -through space, however, no more affects the terms of the problem than -the rotation of the earth upon its axis or its orbital motion affects -the operations of an electric machine as the handle may be rotated to -or from the direction of these motions. Both machine and reservoir -of energy occupying a fixed relation with reference to each other, -the positions of each are the same as though absolutely fixed. This -is true of gravitation, likewise, as well as of all other natural -and universal forces. - -The fact established, then, that attenuated aqueous vapor is -diffused throughout the interplanetary space occupied by our own -solar system, and that it tends to surround our sun and planetary -bodies with aqueous envelopes of increased density, proportionate to -the action of gravity, the question arises, Is there any known force -which will act through such interplanetary space to decompose such -aqueous vapor into its constituent elements and deposit hydrogen gas -around the sun and oxygen gas around the planets, and which, while -maintaining a planetary temperature such as we find on the planets, -will at the same time raise the hydrogen envelope of the sun to such a -temperature of incandescence that it will become a glowing sphere of -heated hydrogen, in which other constituents of the sun's mass will -be raised to incandescence and partially volatilized in the intense -heat of that incandescent gas; in which, in fact, the phenomena of -the sun will become manifest? If so, two vastly important corollaries -are inevitable: first, that the fixed stars, which also shine with -the light of their own glowing hydrogen, are themselves surrounded by -a similar aqueous vapor, diffused through their own adjacent space, -and that, in consequence, not only our own planetary distances, but all -interstellar space, as far as the utmost distance of the faintest fixed -stars, is likewise pervaded by the same attenuated aqueous vapor, and -that this is the grand source from which is derived all solar energy, -not only of our own sun, but of all the other flaming orbs of space; -and, second, which is still more important to us as citizens of the -universe, that each flaming hydrogen sun must have surrounding it a -correlative dark planetary system of its own, and that the complement -of glowing hydrogen, as an incandescent envelope of the central -orb, necessitates the corresponding supplement of cool oxygen as -an envelope for each of such planetary bodies; in other words, that -without such planets as our system possesses, there can be no suns such -as our own and the other suns we see. Vast orbs might be conceived -of as rotating in eternal darkness without associated satellites, -but the incandescent atmosphere of hydrogen must have--not may have, -but must have--subordinate planets substantially similar to ours, -surrounded by atmospheres substantially similar to our own (for we -find free nitrogen in comets, in meteorites, and in the faintest -nebulæ), and these planets are thus fitted, so far as we can know, -for the support of organic life and for the same orderly courses -of nature as we see manifest around us. They must be cool, for at -the planetary poles there must be a moderate temperature in contrast -with the solar pole, which becomes, of necessity, highly heated; they -must have an atmosphere of oxygen in order that the solar center may -have an atmosphere of hydrogen; these planetary atmospheres must be -supplied with nitrogen, because nitrogen is universally available, -and similar causes operating under similar circumstances will produce -like effects; these atmospheres must be charged with condensed aqueous -vapors, and, if cool enough, must have deposited water in liquid form, -for aqueous vapors when condensed by gravity are the correlated sources -of supply of their respective gaseous components at both solar and -planetary poles; and these planets must rotate in orderly periods -around their central suns, or the aqueous vapors cannot be regularly -and continuously disassociated into their elemental gases. These -planets may be few or many--perhaps even a single one sometimes--for -each sun, but they must be large enough or numerous enough to operate -by their aggregate mass, so as to disassociate around the planets -as much oxygen as their central sun disassociates of hydrogen in -their combining proportions,--that is, two volumes of hydrogen for -each one of oxygen. We will therefore find in such planets all the -potentialities of life--we can see and study these planets, though -physically invisible, as easily and as thoroughly as we do our own, -for having the relationship of constitution between our own planets -and our sun, we may thereby learn the essential relationship between -any fixed star and its planets by directly studying the constitution -of such star alone. Among the planets of our own system Neptune and -Mercury, and those which exist adjacent to their boundaries, can be -studied with difficulty and uncertainty; but what astronomer doubts -that they are constituted much like the other planets, and have passed, -or will pass, through such stages of progress as we find apparent among -those more directly under our observation? While we shall thus find -universality and harmony among all the starry systems, we shall not -find identity; but with the guiding light of demonstrated scientific -principles, we may apply our knowledge as a key to unlock the mysteries -of the most distant stars. The Milky Way will gleam with new meaning, -Sirius, Aldebaran, the Pleiades, will send us messages of fellowship, -and the established sphere of creative energy will have expanded, -with all its wondrous mechanism, to fill the universe. When we see -at night a vast factory building with every window lighted, one -who understands the operation and mechanism essential to the work -of a mill sees not alone the illuminated windows, but the looms -in motion, the flying shuttles, the spindles humming, the wheels -turning, and all the complicated machinery in active operation. And -he can even picture operatives at work in their various avocations, -and the flashing windows, though themselves silent, are the visible -index of the light within which illuminates and makes possible the work -there performed. And so, when thus comprehended, the flaming stars, -but points of light in the archways of the sky, themselves will reveal -to us the wondrous workings within the realm which they illuminate -and warm and vivify. We may also reasonably infer, as will be more -fully explained further on, that there can be no actual basis for the -opinion sometimes expressed, that great, dark, solid orbs--independent -worlds, in fact--are drifting about through space at random, as it -were, like homeless vagabonds. In these sparsely-occupied domains -the head of each household, as in every well-regulated family, has -all its different members gathered around in strict subordination, -to aid in the support of the establishment. No sun no planets; no -planets no sun, is the general statement of the sidereal formula. Like -a sexual duality, the mutually correlated parts constitute a single, -composite, and interdependent whole: one generates, concentrates, -and transmits; the other receives, transforms, and delivers. - - - Note.--Regarding the absence of oxygen from the sun's atmosphere - we quote the following from Lord Salisbury's very recent address - (see note at end of Chapter I.): "It is a great aggravation of - the mystery which surrounds the question of the elements, that, - among the lines which are absent from the spectrum of the sun, - those of nitrogen and oxygen stand first. Oxygen constitutes the - largest portion of the solid and liquid substances of our planet, - so far as we know it; and nitrogen is very far the predominant - constituent of our atmosphere. If the earth is a detached bit - whirled off the mass of the sun, as cosmogonists love to tell - us, how comes it that in leaving the sun we cleaned him out so - completely of his nitrogen and oxygen that not a trace of these - gases remains behind to be discovered even by the sensitive - vision of the spectroscope?" We shall find that the absence of - oxygen in the solar envelope is a necessary corollary of its - presence in those of the planets. The same is true, possibly, of - nitrogen. Ammoniacal vapors are decomposable into hydrogen and - nitrogen, and hydrocarbon gases into hydrogen and carbon, just - as aqueous vapors are resolvable into hydrogen and oxygen. In the - earlier stages of the earth's development we have abundant evidence - of an atmosphere heavily laden with carbonic vapors, which have - disappeared, to remain stored as fixed carbon, and the oxygen - has also largely disappeared, to constitute the enormous mass of - oxides in the earth's mass, while the nitrogen remains to dilute - the remaining oxygen and constitute the air we breathe. Their - common correlative, hydrogen, intermingled with metallic vapors, - composes the vast atmosphere of the sun. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE MODE OF SOLAR ENERGY. - - -But is there such an available force? There is one, and only -one,--electricity, when properly generated and suitably applied. It -is an axiom of electrical science that any fluid which will at all -conduct a current of electricity can be decomposed by a current of -electricity. (See Urbanitsky's work, "Electricity in the Service of -Man," Cassell's edition, page 154.) It is there stated (page 152), -"We have frequently had occasion to mention certain chemical effects -of electricity,--namely, the decomposition of gaseous compounds -into simple gases." Page 157, "Whatever the substances we expose -to the action of the galvanic current, decomposition takes place -proportional to the strength of the current." Page 152, "Hydrogen is -always evolved at the negative pole of the battery and oxygen at the -positive pole. The gases can then be collected in different tubes, -the hydrogen tube receiving twice as much gas as the oxygen tube; -since water consists of two volumes of hydrogen and one volume -of oxygen, it follows that the galvanic current decomposes water -into its constituents. As chemically pure water has so great a -resistance as almost to force us to consider it a non-conductor, -it is generally acidulated with sulphuric acid. The smallest amount -of acid diminishes the resistance considerably. The silent discharge -is far more effective in bringing about this transformation than the -spark discharge." Page 37, "Gases are bad conductors of electricity; -if it had been otherwise, we should never have become acquainted with -electricity, as it would have been conducted away by the air as fast -as it was generated. The vacuum also does not conduct electricity, -but moist air becomes a partial conductor. Moist air also will spoil -the insulation of non-conducting supports. All bodies are more or -less hygroscopic, and the moisture condensed on their surfaces thus -turns the best insulators into conductors. Change of temperature also -influences conductivity." Page 63, "When using induction machines, the -moisture of the air often causes experiments to fail, especially before -large audiences. The atmosphere becomes saturated with moisture, and -it is often impossible to get the machine in working order." Several -desiccating devices are mentioned by the authors of this work, as -used with such machines, to prevent such dissipation or conduction -of electricity from the machine into space by the aqueous vapor of -the atmosphere. In describing the aurora borealis (page 93), these -authors say, "The rarefied air is nearer the earth at the poles than -the equator, in consequence of the earth's centrifugal motion, and, -the earth being negatively electrified, negative electricity will flow -from this point, directed against the positively electrified upper -layers of rarefied air." Same work, pages 127, 128, "The resistance -(in liquids) diminishes as the temperature increases, a result which -is exactly opposite to what occurs with metals. Conductivity for -carbon increases with the temperature, thus agreeing with the action -of liquids." Page 133, "To determine the resistance in liquids, -the above methods cannot be employed, liquids being decomposed by -the electrical current." Referring to the voltaic arc and the spark -of the induction apparatus (page 200), it is said, "Dry air under -great pressure offers a high resistance, but a perfect vacuum is a -perfect insulator, and between these extremes there are degrees of -rarification which admit of a flow of electricity." In general, it -is said that electrical decomposition requires that the electrolyte -be in liquid form, but this is not universally true, and throughout -interplanetary space may not be true at all. In Ferguson's work on -Electricity, it is stated that, "The passage of electricity through -compound gases in a state of great rarity, as in the so-called vacuum -tubes, frequently separates them up into their constituents." So, also, -the opinion that electricity cannot be readily conducted through -dry gases is refuted by the play of the auroral streamers. The -distance from the surface of the earth of these electrical waves -and the auroral arch is variously estimated at from seventy to two -hundred and sixty-five miles, and in one instance "at a height of -from four thousand to six thousand miles;" see article in Appleton's -Cyclopædia. Certainly there could be no sensible moisture at the -temperatures there prevalent, and especially at night and during the -fall and winter months when these displays are very frequent. Whether -the currents be due to induction, as between neighboring bodies one of -which is electrified, or from direct emission, as in brush discharges, -there must obviously be some medium of contact and continuity for -the free transference of electrical energy through space. Regarding -the rationale of electrolysis ("Electricity in the Service of -Man"), after discussing certain other theories, the authors say, -"Clausius, too, assumes an electrified condition of the molecules -of each electrode, but he neither attributes to the galvanic current -the force of direction nor power of decomposing. He points out that -both the molecules of fluids and also their atoms are in continual -motion. The atoms in molecules of fluids are held together but by a -moderate force, and the molecules themselves constantly undergo changes -both of synthesis and analysis. The galvanic current merely effects a -regulated motion of the atoms; the positive ions are attracted by the -negative electrode, and the negative ions by the positive electrode, -and by this means are separated out from the liquid." Page 91, "The -upper layers of air are more or less electrified, so as to have a -potential differing from that of the earth, but how their electrical -condition has been produced is not at present known. Condensation of -water-vapor is supposed to produce electricity. Close to the earth -the air has little or no electricity; the farther from the earth -the greater the amount of electricity in the air." Referring to the -sparking discharge, it is said, page 75, "The density of the air, -however, has to be taken into account; the sparking distance is -lessened in denser air, and becomes greater when the atmospheric -pressure is diminished. Not only the density, but also the chemical -composition of the medium influences the sparking distance. Faraday -found the distances considerably less in chlorine gas, but twice -as long in hydrogen gas as in air." Page 74, "The sparking distance -increases at a somewhat greater rate than the difference of potential -of the discharging bodies.... When the sparking distance becomes very -great ... it is proportional to the difference of potential." Page 91, -"There is a difference of potential between the earth and points in the -air above. In fine weather the potential is higher the higher we go, -increasing usually at the rate of twenty to forty volts for each foot." - -It will be seen that, continued upward at this rate, the increased -electrical pressure for each mile of elevation would be between 100,000 -and 200,000 volts, or for each one hundred miles more than 10,000,000 -volts; and at an altitude of one thousand miles, if carried so far, -the potential would be between one and two hundred million volts, -an electrical pressure quite inconceivable to us. Such a potential -in currents of enormous quantity continually flowing from the earth -to the sun would certainly decompose any aqueous vapors condensed -around these bodies. But the question at once arises, What reason -is there to suppose that such currents could possibly flow between -the earth and the sun, across that vast intervening region of space, -a distance of more than 90,000,000 miles? And would not the resistance -to such currents in transit be so enormous that the entire potential, -however great, would have been practically lost long before reaching -the sun? To this there is a complete and irrefutable answer, not -based upon any abstract theory, but upon established fact. It is an -absolute certainty that electrical currents of enormous quantity and -high potential are constantly passing between the earth and the sun, -and that these currents have so free a passage--far more free than -through any metallic circuits that we know of--that they pass over -this enormous distance absolutely without appreciable resistance. We -may note in this connection the well-known facts, now being largely -utilized, though the art is still in its infancy, of telegraphing and -transmitting all sorts of electrical currents over large distances -without wires or any conductors, except those furnished by nature. - -Of the currents between the earth and the sun, Professor Proctor, -in his "Light Science for Leisure Hours," says, "Remembering the -influence which the sun has been found to exercise upon the magnetic -needle, the question will naturally arise, Has the sun anything to do -with magnetic storms? We have clear evidence that he has. On the 1st of -September, 1859, Messrs. Carrington and Hodgson were observing the sun, -one at Oxford and the other in London. Their scrutiny was directed to -certain large spots which at that time marked the sun's face. Suddenly -a bright light was seen by each observer to break out on the sun's -surface and to travel, slowly in appearance, but in reality at the rate -of about seven thousand miles in a minute, across a part of the solar -disk. Now, it was found afterwards that the self-registering magnetic -instruments at Kew had made at that very instant a strongly-marked -jerk. It was learned that at that moment a magnetic storm prevailed -in the West Indies, in South America, and in Australia. The signal -men in the telegraph stations at Washington and Philadelphia received -strong electric shocks; the pen of Bain's telegraph was followed by -a flame of fire; and in Norway the telegraphic machinery was set on -fire. At night great auroras were seen in both hemispheres. It is -impossible not to connect these startling magnetic indications with -the remarkable appearance observed upon the sun's disk. But there is -other evidence. Magnetic storms prevail more commonly in some years -than in others. In those years in which they occur most frequently -it is found that the ordinary oscillations of the magnetic needle -are more extensive than usual. Now, when these peculiarities had been -noticed for many years, it was found that there was an alternate and -systematic increase and diminution in intensity of magnetic action, -and that the period of the variation was about eleven years. But at -the same time a diligent observer had been recording the appearance -of the sun's face from day to day and from year to year. He had -found that the solar spots are in some years more freely displayed -than in others, and he had determined the period in which the spots -had successively presented with maximum frequency to be about eleven -years. On a comparison of the two sets of observations it was found -(and has now been placed beyond a doubt by many years of continual -observation) that magnetic perturbations are most energetic when the -sun is most spotted, and vice versa. For so remarkable a phenomenon -as this none but a cosmical cause can suffice. We can neither say -that the spots cause the magnetic storms nor that the magnetic storms -cause the spots. We must seek for a cause producing at once both sets -of phenomena." It will be observed that the phenomena seen in the sun -were marked at the same instant by violent electric perturbations on -earth. Hence something must have passed with the velocity of light, -which we know to be at the rate of 188,000 miles per second, or in -about eight minutes from the sun to the earth. But it is stated in -"Electricity in the Service of Man," page 82, that, "According to the -theoretical calculations of Kirchhoff, as well as of Ayrton and Perry, -the velocity of electricity in a wire without resistance would be -equal to the velocity of light." Hence we perceive that the apparent -difficulty has vanished in the light of observed fact, and that -currents of electricity do pass and are constantly passing between -the earth and the sun without the slightest loss of speed,--that -is to say, without resistance. We shall find in the sequel that the -above phenomena were caused most probably by a partial interruption -of a constant direct current from the earth to the sun, instead of -by an opposite return current from the sun to the earth. In further -illustration of the above facts we quote the following, page 172, -"Electricity in the Service of Man:" "Many attempts have been made -to find a connection between the spots and prominences in the sun and -the electrical phenomena on the earth. Professor Forster says that by -numerous magnetic observations of the last thirty or forty years it -has been proved that the formation of black spots on the surface of -the sun, and the generation of pillars and clouds of glowing gases -in the immediate neighborhood of the sun, stand in close connection -with certain deviations in direction and intensity of the earth's -magnetic forces." Professor Proctor, in his "Light Science for Leisure -Hours," says, "From all this it appears, incontestably, that there -is an intimate connection between the causes of auroras and those -of terrestrial magnetism.... The magnetic needle not only swayed -responsively to auroras observable in the immediate neighborhood, -but to auroras in progress hundreds and thousands of miles away. Nay, -as inquiry progressed, it was discovered that the needles in our -northern observatories are swayed by influences associated even with -the occurrence of auroras around the southern polar regions.... Could -we only associate auroras with terrestrial magnetism, we should -still have done much to enhance the interest which the beautiful -phenomenon is calculated to excite. But when once this association -has been established, others of even greater interest are brought -into recognition; for terrestrial magnetism has been clearly shown -to be influenced directly by the action of the sun.... We already -begin to see, then, that auroras are associated in some mysterious -way with the action of the solar rays. The phenomenon which had been -looked on for so many ages as a mere spectacle, caused perhaps by some -process in the upper regions of the air of a simple local character, -has been brought into the range of planetary phenomena. As surely as -the brilliant planets which deck the nocturnal skies are illuminated -by the same orb which gives us our days and seasons, so are they -subject to the same mysterious influence which causes the northern -banners to wave respondently over the starlit depths of heaven. Nay, -it is even probable that every flicker and coruscation of our auroral -displays correspond with similar manifestations upon every planet -which travels round the sun." In Professor Ball's late work, "In the -High Heavens," the author says, "Dr. Schuster suggests that there may -be an electric connection between the sun and the planets. In fact, -with some limitations, we might even assert that there must be such a -connection. It is well known that great outbreaks on the sun have been -immediately followed, I might almost say accompanied, by remarkable -magnetic disturbances on the earth. The instances that are recorded -of this connection are altogether too remarkable to be set aside as -mere coincidences. Dr. Huggins has not referred in this connection -to Hertz's astonishing discoveries; but it seems quite possible that -research along this line may throw light on the subject, at present so -obscure, of the electric relation between the sun and the earth." Of -this common electrical relationship between our sun and the different -planets, and of these with each other, Professor Proctor says, in -his article, "Terrestrial Magnetism," "Interesting as are the bonds -of union which Copernicus and Kepler and Newton have traced in the -relations of our system, it would seem as though we were approaching -the traces of a yet more wonderful law of association. We see the -earth's magnetism responding to the solar influences, not merely -in those rhythmic motions which belong to the periodic variations, -but in sudden thrills affecting the whole framework of our globe. The -magnetic storms which are called into action by such solar disturbances -as the one of September, 1859, are, we may feel sure, not peculiar -to our own earth. The other planets feel the same influence,--not, -perhaps, in exactly the same way, but according to the constitution -and physical habitudes which respectively belong to them. So that one -can scarce conceive a subject of study at once more promising and more -interesting." Of these prophetic shadows which science often seems to -cast before, Professor Nichol, in his "Architecture of the Heavens" -(referring to Sir William Herschel), says, "Without difficulty or -pretence he there casts aside an idea which had not been questioned -before, unless in a few of those obscure, indefinite speculations -which, strangely enough, often prelude important discoveries." These -facts are thus incontestably established: that electric currents of -enormous energy and vast quantity are constantly passing without -appreciable resistance and with the speed of light between the -earth and the sun; that such currents cannot be conducted through -vacua, or through dry gases, or through a dense medium; and that, -whatever other matter may exist in the intervening space, such space -is pervaded throughout by an attenuated vapor of such constitution -and density that it will transmit such electrical currents with the -highest conceivable efficiency. We know that such passage of these -currents cannot depend upon the ether of space which is acted upon by -the sun to produce the ethereal undulatory vibrations of light and -heat, for, after we have produced the most perfect vacuum possible, -we find that the rays of light continue to pass through it as freely -as they pass through space, while currents of electricity cannot be -made to pass at all. Hence we know to a certainty that the medium -which transmits these enormous currents of electricity must be a vapor -capable of conducting electricity, that it must hence be decomposable -by the electric current, and that when decomposed one of its elements -must consist of hydrogen gas and the other of oxygen; in other words, -that this conducting medium must consist of attenuated aqueous vapor, -commingled doubtless with other vapors which themselves, like the acid -of the acidulated water used in electrolysis, aid in the conduction -of these enormous currents. We also know that such vapors in space -will be necessarily attracted, by gravitation, around the solar and -planetary bodies immersed therein, and must form condensed vaporous -atmospheres or cloud masses, and if these are decomposed by the passage -of such currents of electricity, that hydrogen gas will be liberated -at the solar galvanic pole and oxygen at the terrestrial or other -planetary pole, precisely as we find to be the case in nature. Will -such gaseous envelopes, then, have the same temperature for each -gas when thus liberated, or will the hydrogen envelope of the sun be -heated to incandescence, due to the passage of the electrical current? - -The temperature of interplanetary space is probably very low. Of this -Professor Ball says, "What this may be is a matter of some uncertainty, -but from all the evidence available it seems plain that we may put it -at not less than three hundred degrees below zero;" and the same author -adds, "The temperature is taken to be sixty-four degrees below zero, -being presumably that at the confines of the atmosphere." Whatever -the temperature of space, or its variations, may be, the passage of -the planetary electricity through the condensed hydrogen envelope of -the sun will produce great changes in the heat of that body and of -the solar core within. While with a small electrolytic apparatus we -find no special differences of temperature in the gases, with large -quantities of electricity, driven at a high potential, we find that -a new and startling result ensues. Something of this sort is seen -in the operation of electric arc-light lamps, now in common use, -in which two slightly separated carbon points are traversed by a -current of considerable potential. The current is driven across the -intervening space between the points, carrying with it an atmosphere -of disintegrated carbon, through which the electricity is carried -at its highest speed, and a most brilliant light is produced. In -"Electricity in the Service of Man," page 151, it is said, "We may -conclude from this that the current does not cease when the arc -of light is formed. The resistance of the arc seems to be only very -slight; in fact, the current must be conducted by it." Of the structure -and constitution of the luminous electrosphere, or arc, produced in -these lamps, "Professor J. A. Fleming," says the Scientific American, -"has shown that the well-known color of the light of the electric -arc from carbon points is due to the incandescence of the carbon -filling the space between the positive and the negative rods. The true -arc is here, and exists in a space filled with the vapor of carbon, -which has a brilliant violet color. Examined by the spectroscope, the -central axis of the carbon arc gives a spectrum marked by two bright -violet bands. Outside this is an aureole of carbon vapor of yellow or -golden color. The electrical strain of the arc occurs chiefly at the -surface of the crater which forms at the end of the positive rod, -where, in fact, the principal work of generating light is done; -for eighty per cent. of the total light of the arc comes from the -incandescent carbon at this place. Thus, in a sense, the arc light is -mainly an incandescent light, the effect being produced by the layer of -carbon which is being constantly evaporated at an extremely elevated -temperature. Hence the light of the carbon arc is not, and can never -be, white, as it is sometimes described as being, but must always be -tinted violet by the carbon vapor normally present between the rods." - -The significance of the above-quoted extract will be readily perceived -when we come to consider the action of the direct planetary electrical -currents upon the solar envelope, the effects in both cases being -substantially identical. The quantity and intensity of the electric -current, as it passes through the incandescent arc to the negative -pole, and thence back to the dynamo, are diminished exactly in -proportion to the energy expended in the generation of the light -and heat of the arc. It is precisely the same as in the operation -of a turbine water-wheel; if working at its highest efficiency, the -discharged water is almost deprived of force: its gravity has been -converted into work. In the electric light this conversion is only -partial, owing to atmospheric and other conditions; but in the case -of the solar envelope and its core, it is nearly, if not altogether, -perfect, so that the currents of electricity are almost entirely -converted into light and heat, or expended in the electrolytic -decomposition of the surrounding aqueous vapors, and do not reappear -as electricity, but as converted solar energy. Brilliant, however, -as the light rays are in a powerful arc lamp,--perhaps the nearest -to solar light we can produce,--the obscure heat rays are far more -numerous and powerful. On page 476 of the work just cited a table is -given, showing the proportion of visible and invisible rays emitted -by different illuminants, and with the electric lamp, even, ninety per -cent. of all the rays emitted by the voltaic arc are heat rays, which -are obscure and invisible. But the startling effects of electricity -of large quantity and high potential, in the decomposition of water, -are far more strikingly exhibited by an apparatus shown in 1893 at the -Chicago Exhibition by a firm from Brussels, and which is described -in the Electrical Review as follows: "An ordinary wooden pail is -three-quarters filled with water slightly acidulated; a lead plate -about nine inches broad by sixteen inches long dips to the bottom of -the pail and is connected to an incandescent dynamo machine capable of -giving over one hundred and fifty ampères. The iron rod, or article to -be heated, is connected to the pole of the dynamo and simply dipped -into the water; it immediately becomes heated and rapidly rises to a -melting temperature; only that portion of the metal completely immersed -becomes heated, and the heating is so rapid that neither the water nor -that portion of the metal out of the water becomes very warm. Wrought -iron and steel actually melt if long enough held under water. A carbon -rod subjected to this process becomes amorphous carbon, proving that -a temperature of at least four thousand degrees Centigrade has been -reached, and it is stated that with two hundred and twenty volts' -pressure a temperature of eight thousand degrees Centigrade has been -reached. There are various theories to account for this phenomenon, -but from close observation it appears to be a case of arc heating. The -moment the metal is plunged into the water it is enveloped in hydrogen -gas decomposed from the water. This envelope of gas parts the water and -metal, forming an arc, which raises the surrounding gaseous envelope -to an enormous temperature; the metal surrounded by this arc is almost -immediately raised to the same temperature. A flame of burning hydrogen -appears around the metal on the surface of the water. The principle of -the method is the same as that on which the burning of an arc light -between two carbon points under water depends. An arc lamp will burn -quite steadily under water if the connections are made water-proof; -the arc itself requires no protection." - -It will be seen that the process above described is precisely -analogous to that involved in the problem of the sun's energy. The -planets correspond with the leaden plates, upon which oxygen is -disengaged from the water, while at the same moment the liberated -hydrogen necessarily appears at the opposite pole. The generation -of hydrogen gas forms an envelope or atmosphere of hydrogen around -the sun which forces back the aqueous vapor. The current, in passing -through this gaseous envelope to the metal core within, intensely -heats the hydrogen, which rapidly communicates its rising heat to the -central core. If this core is composed of metals, and the temperature -be raised sufficiently high, which only depends upon the quantity and -working pressure of the electricity employed, the metal core will be -volatilized in whole or in part, and, if of mixed metals, we will -find the presence of these elements revealed in the spectroscopic -lines corresponding thereto, and the flames and flashes of hydrogen -at the surfaces beyond the envelope, at the surface of contact with -the matter of space, will be also seen. In fact, such an experiment, -properly prepared, could be made to show roughly most of the phenomena -of solar light and heat as they actually appear, such as sun-spots, -prominences, jets, plumes, faculæ, the photosphere, chromosphere, -absorption bands, vortical disturbances, metallic vapors, and the -complete solar spectrum, with the different Fraunhofer lines. In -the case of the sun, these currents must be measured by millions of -ampères, and possibly by hundreds of millions of volts, instead of by -mere hundreds, while the hydrogen envelope extends outward from the -sun's surface hundreds of thousands of miles until, perhaps, finally -merged into the corona. As the currents pass from the planets and -planetoids (for not only the larger planets, but all the planetary -bodies of our system must contribute, if any of them contribute) to -the sun, or rather to the sphere of its electrical action, without -resistance, so long as these planets generate constant currents of the -same, or nearly the same, potential, so long will the sun maintain -his constant light and heat; if these are increased or diminished, -the sun's light and heat will be temporarily, but only temporarily, -increased or diminished; and this process must continue, without -further loss or change, indefinitely into the future. Whatever the -sun may gain by increment of meteoric masses may pass for what it -is worth, but the gradual contraction of his volume cannot proceed -while his present temperature is maintained by the passage of such -currents,--that is to say, his light and heat will remain constant, -and also his mass and volume, so long as the electric currents which -pass from the planets to the sun and the constitution of space which -surrounds the sun and planets themselves remain constant. - -It now remains to consider how such enormous currents of electricity -can be generated and maintained. We know, of course, that chemical -changes cannot operate to produce them. They must be derived from -something contained in or diffused through interplanetary space, -and the planets themselves must be the means by which such currents -of electricity are brought into effective operation. On our own -earth we have many kinds of mechanically-constructed electrical -apparatus which generate electricity, to use a popular expression, -or which, more properly, separate the opposite potentials from -an unstable electrical tension or equilibrium of the matter of -space. These machines practically take positive electricity from -the mutually-balanced electric potentials of which the earth and -its surrounding gaseous envelope are the vast common storehouse, -in such manner that the positive electricity thus drawn out from and -again passing into the common storehouse shall, during such transit, -be compelled to pass through channels which will cause it to do work, -at the expense of its potential or pressure, during its passage, -or in which electricity is raised in its electro-motive force from -a lower to a higher potential or pressure, just as the pressure of -water is increased when delivered from a greater or a still greater -height, or steam, when confined in space under higher and still higher -temperatures. But none of these machines actually generate electricity -ab initio; they merely put into effective operation the pre-existing -force. The mass of the earth is of irregularly negative polarity, the -air above is positive, and as we ascend, the potential, or voltage, -or pressure increases at a nearly uniform rate of from twenty to forty -volts for each foot. The earth is thus surrounded by an electrosphere -as well as an atmosphere, and the two are not coincident, for while -the pressure of the atmosphere diminishes as we ascend, that of the -electrosphere increases. The moon, too, and each planet must have -its electrosphere, and around the sun's core we can see the solar -electrosphere in its visible glory. Thus, all our planets rotate upon -their axes and revolve around the sun, each surrounded by an enormous -electrosphere, just as an electrical induction machine is surrounded, -when in operation, with an electrosphere of its own, and which, -by breaking connection with the conductor which carries away its -current, becomes, when shown in a darkened room, clearly visible. In -"Electricity in the Service of Man" it is said, page 63, "The inductive -action of the machine is quite as rapid and as powerful when both -collectors are removed and nothing is left but the two rotating -disks and their respective contact or neutralizing brushes. The whole -apparatus then bristles with electricity, and if viewed in the dark -presents a most beautiful appearance, being literally bathed with -luminous brush discharges." This is a true aurora. - -Let us now examine some of these more recent electric machines,--the -later induction, not the older frictional machines, for it is -obvious that the rotation of the planets, if they operate as -electric generators, or separators, must act by induction and not by -friction. The frictional machines are of the old type and are well -known from the books; in these a glass disk or cylinder is rubbed -upon in its rotation by an amalgamated (so called) friction pad fixed -securely to the bed of the machine. But more recently these have -been replaced by far more powerful and simple machines which operate -entirely by induction, like approaching thunderclouds, for instance, -and in which one or more glass disks are merely rotated rapidly and -freely in the air, these disks having a number of light metallic -sectors, such as bits of tin-foil, pasted on their outer sides at -equal radial intervals, and with metallic collecting brushes which, -however, barely graze the surfaces of the rotating disk. There is -no pressure and no friction, except that of the disks as they freely -revolve in the atmosphere. - -In the above-quoted work, page 61, is a description of Wimshurst's -influence machine, one of the most recent and most powerful, which we -condense as follows: This machine was produced about 1883. It consists -of two circular disks of thin glass fourteen and one-half inches in -diameter in the sample described, attached at their centers to loose -bosses, so as to be rotated by cords and pulleys operated by a handle, -in opposite directions. The disks rotate parallel with each other and -are not more than one-eighth of an inch apart, and have their surfaces -well varnished; and attached by cement to their outer surfaces are -twelve or more radial, sector-shaped plates of thin brass- or tin-foil, -disposed around the disks at equal distances apart. These sectors -take the place of the "inductors" of Holtz's instrument, and appear -to act also as carriers, though the exact nature of their action is -somewhat mysterious. It appears, however, probable that those acting -for the time as carriers on the one disk act at the same time as -inductors on the other. The two sectors on the same diameter of each -disk, at opposite sides of the center, are twice in each revolution -momentarily placed in metallic connection with one another by means of -a pair of fine wire brushes attached to the ends of a bent metal rod -loosely pivoted at the center of each disk, the metal sectors just -grazing the tips of the wire brushes as they pass. There is one of -these bent rods on the outside of each disk, and their position as -pivoted on their center can be varied at will, both with reference -to the one on the opposite side and to the position of the fixed -collecting combs. The efficiency of the machine varies with their -position, and the maximum appears to be generally when the brushes -touch the disks on diameters crossing the position of the collecting -combs at about forty-five degrees, and with the bent rods on opposite -sides at right angles to each other. The collecting combs are simple -forks with collecting points turned inward, which forks embrace the -opposite sides of the disks outside, which freely rotate between them, -and they are supported on insulated posts. These supports may be small -Leyden jars or condensers, with discharging knobs, or may be connected -with similar condensers at a distance, or arranged in batteries or -otherwise. The presence of the collecting combs is not necessary to -the operation of the machine, their sole function being to carry away -the positive electricity as generated. The machine is self-exciting, -and it is believed that the initial action must be due to friction in -the layer of air contained between the plates, which, as above stated, -are only about one-eighth of an inch apart. It is nearly independent -of atmospheric conditions, and not liable to reverse its polarity, -as are the Voss machines. The Voss machine uses a larger glass disk -which does not rotate, but is fixed, and which has a central opening -three inches wide, with a different arrangement of tin-foil disks or -sectors, and a smaller glass disk rotates parallel with it. The Holtz -machine is somewhat similar, using a single rotating, well-varnished -glass disk revolving opposite a well-varnished larger disk, the latter -provided with three sector-shaped openings or windows, with varnished -paper inductors or flaps passing through these windows so as to touch -the revolving disk. There are also two series of fine metal points held -by brass bars provided with insulated handles and discharging knobs. - -It is only necessary to give a general idea of the construction and -operation of such machines, as their specific construction can be -readily learned from the books. Of the mode of operation, however, -it is said, "What takes place when the machine is in action is of -a very complicated nature, and can hardly be said to be perfectly -understood." With a Wimshurst machine having disks of a diameter -of fourteen and one-half inches "there is produced under ordinary -atmospheric conditions a powerful spark discharge between the knobs -when they are separated by a distance of four and one-half inches, -a pint size Leyden jar being in connection with each knob (one on each -opposite diameter of the two disks), and these four-and-one-half-inch -discharges take place in regular succession at every two and a half -turns of the handle. It is usual to construct the machine with small -Leyden jars or condensers attached to conductors, by which the spark -is materially increased. A machine has been constructed with plates -seven feet in diameter, which, it was believed, would give sparks -thirty inches long; but no Leyden jars have been found to withstand -its discharge, all being pierced by the enormous tension." Three -of Toepler's induction machines (see page 59, "Electricity in the -Service of Man"), connected together, gave a current which maintained -a platinum wire one-fifth of a millimeter thick continually at a red -heat, and was also capable of decomposing water. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE SOURCE OF SOLAR ENERGY. - - -The remarkable resemblance between the mode of operation and effects of -these electrical induction machines and the vast rotating electrosphere -of the earth must be at once apparent. The operation is precisely -the same, and the results must, pari passu, be substantially -similar. We need not seek for precise parallelism of structure, -because these machines themselves, it has been shown, widely differ -in structure among themselves. But the almost infinitely more vast -terrestrial electrosphere, which cannot be less than ten thousand -miles in diameter, and perhaps much more (if we may form an opinion -from the relative magnitude of the field of action of the hydrogen -envelope which constitutes the solar electrosphere), rotating in the -attenuated vapors of space, among which vapors that of water plays a -most important part, and which vapors constantly impinge with various -disturbances of contact against the more and more attenuated layers of -the terrestrial atmosphere, and which gradually, from within outward, -less and less partakes of the earth's rotation until, finally, its -rotatory movement is lost in the vast ocean of space, establishes -the certainty that enormous quantities of electricity must there be -disengaged, precisely as in the machines which we have described, -and to learn the potential or active pressure of this electricity -we have only to consider the fact that we find a rise so rapid, -as we ascend through our atmosphere, that the potential increases -by from twenty to forty volts for each foot. That these currents -are transmitted to the sun without appreciable resistance we already -know, and that they are there transformed into light and heat we can, -from the previously cited experiments, see. - -But it may be urged that the resistance of such attenuated vapors in -space, and the generation of electricity in such quantities, would -inevitably retard and finally destroy planetary motion. The sufficient -answer to this is found in the consideration that the same facts must -exist under any possible mode of organization of our solar system, -and that such interference, besides, must have absolutely prevented -its formation at all, if such were the case. All the matter of our -planetary system together is only one seven-hundred-and-fiftieth -that of the sun; if this were added to the sun's bulk it would but -slightly enlarge it. But all this solar and planetary matter together, -if distributed over the space occupied by our planetary system,--and, -by the nebular hypothesis of the organization of our solar system, -this is requisite,--and having an axial diameter one-half that -of its equatorial (see Proctor's "Familiar Essays on Scientific -Subjects,"--"Oxygen in the Sun"), would have had a density of only -about one four-hundred-thousandth that of hydrogen gas at atmospheric -pressure. This nebular mass must have had a diameter at least sixty -times that of the distance of the earth from the sun and a depth -of thirty times its distance. That this enormous mass of attenuated -matter should ever have been made to rotate as a whole by any force of -attraction, repulsion, or rotation, with a tenuity so great that, if -measured by an equal volume of hydrogen gas,--the lightest substance -known to us,--it would have furnished material for four hundred -thousand such systems as ours, presupposes a resistance so slight -that the planets themselves, when coagulated out of such a mass, -could never in any conceivable time exhibit retardation from such -a source; and we know to a certainty that such attenuated vapors do -exist in space, for electricity cannot be transmitted through a vacuum, -and it is transmitted with perfect freedom between the earth and the -sun. But it may be said that the laws were then different. If they -were different then, they are doubtless different now. If, on the -other hand, we assume that the bodies of which our solar system is -composed were simply aggregated into concrete masses from meteoric -dust, the difficulty is not lessened; for if the resistances to their -operation now are such as to perceptibly retard their motions, they -must have operated still more powerfully to originally prevent them; -while, if hurled forth by an almighty fiat, complete from the hand -of creative energy, the same force which impelled them forward must -have also established the laws under which they now move. - -It is calculated that our earth must be losing time, by tidal -retardation, at the rate of one-half the moon's diameter in each twelve -hundred years (see Proctor, "Light Science for Leisure Hours,"--"Our -Chief Timepiece Losing Time"), and that "the length of a day is now -more by about one eighty-fourth part of a second than it was two -thousand years ago." Perhaps, however, we may discover that these -changes are themselves periodic and increase in cycles to a maximum, -and then diminish, as is the case with magnetic, planetary, and stellar -variations, and other similar changes, when sufficiently long observed; -for while such changes may very well accompany a theory under which -our system and all other systems are slowly running down to decay and -death, it is entirely incompatible with the primal forces under which -they must have been originally formed. In other words, if the tides -are dragging back our earth without compensation, this dragging back -can only come from the oceanic deposit of water on the earth from -the aqueous vapors of space which do not partake of the planetary -rotation and orbital movement of the earth. But if these can now -retard the earth's motion, they must have originally prevented it in -the beginning. This loss of time is, moreover, merely inferential from -mathematical computations, and its basis is found in the belief that -all the operations of nature are in a slow process of degradation, -and the calculated loss itself may be merely theoretical, and not true -in fact. Professor Proctor himself concedes the uncertainty of this -alleged retardation when he says in the same article, "At this rate -of change our day would merge into a lunar month in the course of -thirty-six thousand millions of years. But after a while the change -will take place more slowly, and some trillion or so of years will -elapse before the full change is effected." - -While the processes of nature are generally believed to be running -down, everything is bent to that belief; but the forces of nature -must, nevertheless, be uniform and supreme, for it is by these forces -that the expected results are to be achieved. That changes occur -constantly is inevitable, but the source of these must be looked for -in the interaction of original forces, and not in the degradation -of systems. There is reason to believe, in fact, that the repulsion -of the terrestrial electrosphere by that of the moon may itself -be sufficient to counteract such retarding force of lunar gravity, -for the tides upon earth are not merely oceanic, but atmospheric, -and on the latter the electrical repulsion of the moon must act very -powerfully and with directly counteractive effect. - -Let us now apply the preceding principles to the problem under -review. All planetary space is pervaded with attenuated vapors or -gases, among which aqueous vapor occupies a leading place. The planets -and all planetary bodies, having opposite electrical polarity from -the central and relatively fixed sun, by their orbital motions around -and constant subjection thereto act as enormous induction machines, -which generate electricity from the ocean of attenuated aqueous vapor, -each planet being surrounded by an enormous electrosphere, carried -with the planet in its axial and orbital movements, the successive -atmospheric envelopes gradually diminishing in rotational velocity -until merged into the outer ocean of space. As the planets advance in -their orbits they plunge into new and fresh fields, and, as the whole -solar system gradually moves onward through space, these fields are -never re-occupied. These electrospheres, by their rotation, generate -enormous quantities of electricity at an extremely high potential,--so -high that we can scarcely even conceive it,--and this electricity flows -in a constant current to the sun, where it disappears as electricity, -to reappear in the form of solar light and heat. These planetary -currents also flow towards such other negatively electrified bodies -as may exist in space--the comets and fixed stars, for example--in -proportion to their distance; for, since resistance is not appreciable -between ourselves and the sun, as is also the case with light, so, like -light, our electricity must pass outward as well as inward to take part -in the harmonious operations of the whole universe. But it should be -noted that the distribution of electric energy in the form of currents -is quite different from that of light or other radiant energy; for -while light is diffused from a center outward through space, electric -currents, on the contrary, are concentrated and directed along lines -of force to concrete centers of opposite polarity. As a consequence, -the intensity of light decreases according to the squares of the -distances traversed plus the resistance to the passage of the light -itself, while the electric current is only diminished by the resistance -of the medium through which it passes. As the light of the sun has a -velocity of one hundred and eighty-eight thousand miles per second, -and the electric current between the earth and the sun the same, -it will be seen that the resistance is practically alike for these -two forms of energy. Indeed, the striking resemblance between the -ethereal vibrations which constitute light and heat and exceedingly -rapid alternating currents of electricity through molecular media may -suggest that the transformation of one force into the other is some -sort of a "step-up" or "step-down" process, much higher in degree, -but of the same character as the well-known analogous electrical -transformations used in the arts. It should also be borne in mind -that, while the intensity of light diminishes according to the above -law, the quantity remains the same, less resistance, as the area -covered increases precisely in the same proportion as the intensity -diminishes,--that is, in the ratio of squares. - -Around the earth and other planets gravity attracts the aqueous vapors -in increased density, the same as around the sun; but the electric -currents passing between the planets and the sun decompose this aqueous -vapor into its constituent gases, hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is -deposited within the positive electrospheres of the planetary bodies, -where it mingles with nitrogen to form our atmosphere and those of -the other planets. In this float the aqueous vapors condensed from -space, which are lighter than air. (See Tyndall, "The Forms of Water:" -"It also sends up a quantity of aqueous vapor which, being far lighter -than air, helps the latter to rise.") These aqueous vapors, condensed -into clouds and precipitated upon the earth, form our oceans and their -affluents. The hydrogen gas disengaged upon the sun's surface forms -a similar envelope, which is penetrated by the planetary electric -currents, and is thus highly heated and rendered incandescent; the -glowing hydrogen transmits its heat to the sun's mass within, which -is thus raised to, and permanently maintained in, a liquid or densely -gaseous state, its metallic constituents being volatilized in part, -and these metallic vapors mingle with the lower strata of hydrogen -to form the sun's photosphere, while, above, the glowing hydrogen -grows more pure, and finally, at a distance of hundreds of thousands -of miles, is merged into the corona, which is composed, in part at -least, of cosmical dust rotating around and repelled by the sun, -and which shines partly by reflected light, partly by that of the -relatively cooler hydrogen, and partly, perhaps, by electrification -of its constituents by the powerful currents passing through it. Each -of the planetary bodies, large or small, takes its proportionate part -in the generation and transmission of electricity, according to its -volume, mass, and motion. As an adjunct to this electrical sequence -we have learned that any interruption of such currents between the -generator and the receiver will cause the generating apparatus to glow -with diffused electrical light, as is the case with the Wimshurst -machine already described. When such connection is removed, it is -said, "the whole apparatus bristles with electricity, and if viewed -in the dark presents a most beautiful appearance, being literally -bathed with luminous brush discharges." Such a phenomenon recalls at -once the aurora borealis; and when we find this as a sequence of the -electrical storm of the first of September, 1859, before described -("at night great auroras were seen in both hemispheres"), and connect -with this the persistence of electricity upon insulated surfaces (see -"Electricity in the Service of Man," page 53: "Glass being a bad -conductor, the electricity does not spread all over the plate, but -remains where it is produced"), we shall inevitably conclude that there -was some partial interruption in the current flowing from the earth -to the sun at that moment; and if we recall that at that very instant -"suddenly a bright light was seen by each observer to break out on the -sun's surface and to travel across a part of the solar disk," we shall -learn that the processes connected with the production of such a bright -light will interrupt in part the terrestrial current. We can readily -understand that if this bright light exceeded in electrical intensity -that due to the earth's current, it might temporarily reverse the -polarity of the afferent current or retard its flow, like the so-called -"backwater" of a mill. It would be like attempting to discharge steam -at sixty pounds' pressure into a vessel filled with other steam at -sixty-one pounds. Whence, then, came this bright light? Perhaps from -the conjoint action of some other planet, perhaps from sudden chemical -disassociation beneath the surface, perhaps by the abnormal piling up -of depths of transparent glowing hydrogen or other local disturbance. - -And this leads to the consideration of the uniformity of solar -action. The planetary electrospheres will be constant in their -operation if the constitution of surrounding space remains uniform; -but we shall find reason to believe that there are currents in -the ocean of space, as there are currents in our own seas, and -electrical generation will necessarily vary when such currents are -encountered. The sun itself in such case, however, will become an -automatic regulator, for his density being but one-fourth that of the -earth, and the spectroscope having shown his chemical composition -to a large extent, we know that his mass must be either liquid or -vaporous, and perhaps in part both. Such masses readily respond to -variations of temperature, expanding as it rises and contracting as -it falls. Hence, if a portion of space were reached where the action -of the planetary electrospheres was increased by relative increase of -temperature in some interstellar "Gulf Stream," the sun's volume would -expand and compensation be at once established, while, conversely, -with diminution of such planetary action, the solar volume would -contract and an increased supply from his reserve store be given out -thereby. In this way the condensation relied upon to give us heat for -seven or seventeen million years becomes a compensating mechanism, -self-operative through the most distant cycles of time. We shall -also find in such electric currents an explanation of sun-spots. It -is not meant that a full knowledge can be obtained of their minute -constitution, nor is it necessary; but the equatorial belt of six -degrees, nearly free from sun-spots, we can readily understand to be -caused--since sun-spots are depressions in the photosphere down to -the deeper and denser cloud strata beneath--by the equatorial piling -up of the sun's atmosphere by its rotation. Any point on the sun's -equator travels at four times the rotational velocity of one on the -earth's equator, but the sun's attraction of gravity is twenty-seven -and one-tenth times that of the earth, so that the piling up of an -atmosphere of hydrogen would be considerable, and such depressions -would not ordinarily exist there. Similarly, near the sun's poles we -should find a gradual darkening, as is the case; but from five degrees -to thirty degrees latitude, the sun, in its rotation, by reason of -the inclination of its axis, passes at every point directly beneath -the planets, or within their area of control, and here we find the -solar spots in their greatest number, size, and intensity. These -sun-spots cross the face of the sun in about fifteen days, and vary -in development from year to year, having a cycle of 11.11 years from -maximum to maximum. They also have a long cycle of about fifty-six -years. (See article "The Sun," in Appleton's Cyclopædia.) "Wolf, in -1859, presented a formula by which the frequency of spots is connected -with the motions of the four bodies, Venus, the earth, Jupiter, and -Saturn. Professor Loomis, of Yale College, has since advocated a theory -(suggested by the present writer [Proctor] in 1865, in 'Saturn and -his System,' page 168, note) that the long cycle of fifty-six years -is related to the successive conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter. But -the association is as yet very far from being demonstrated, to say the -least." Should such fact be established, an explanation for it will -be found in the direct impact of the condensed electric currents from -several planets approaching conjunction, and raising a portion of the -sun's atmosphere suddenly to a higher temperature and volatilizing an -abnormal proportion of the semi-vaporous metallic core beneath. This -would form an upburst piling the intensely heated faculæ up on the -sides and revealing the relatively darker masses of cloud beneath, the -cooler supernatant hydrogen pouring in from the upper layers to fill -the returning void. This is precisely what is seen in such spots and -their surrounding disturbances. In the article "The Sun," above quoted, -we read, "Mr. Huggins has found that several of the absorption bands -belonging to the solar spectrum are wider in the spectrum of a spot, -a circumstance indicative of increased absorption so far as the vapors -corresponding to such lines are concerned.... Near the great spots or -groups of spots there are often seen streaks more luminous than the -neighboring surface, called faculæ. They are oftenest seen towards the -borders of the disk." This writer also describes "luminous bridges -across spots which sink into the vortex and are replaced by others -of the numberless cloud-like forms from one hundred to one thousand -miles in diameter, the brilliancy of which so greatly exceeds that of -the intervening spaces that they must be recognized as the principal -radiators of the solar light and heat." The apparent retardation of -the spots most distant from the sun's equator may also be partially, -at least, explained by planetary currents of electricity, as the -equatorial atmosphere is deeper and more likely to carry forward -such vortices when formed, while the planets act more directly on -the sun's mass beneath their direct influence. - -Let us consider this retardation of sun-spots somewhat more in -detail. Take, for example, the case of a large planet at such orbital -position that its direct line of electrical impact will penetrate -the photosphere at (say) seven degrees north solar latitude, which -is about fifty-two thousand miles from his equator. During its annual -revolution this planet will traverse, with its line of energy, every -point of the sun's surface down to seven degrees south latitude and -back again to its initial point, thus tracing a close spiral around -the sun for fourteen degrees, or about one hundred and four thousand -miles in width. The centrifugal force of the solar rotation piles -up the photosphere and the chromosphere around the sun's equator, -precisely as our atmosphere is piled up around our own equator. If -the planet be a large one (for distance has but little to do with -these electrical currents at planetary distances, in which they -differ entirely from light, heat, and gravity), or if there be two -planets nearly in conjunction, the body of the chromosphere and -the surface of the photosphere will gradually become highly heated, -for currents of electricity, of themselves, do not directly heat the -solar core any more than a like current heats the under carbon of an -arc lamp, the high temperature in both cases being altogether due -to the incandescent heat of the interposed arc or envelope. Faculæ -of intense brightness will then appear upon the photosphere, and -these will be driven forward and also outward in the direction of -the higher latitudes, producing an oblique forward movement from -difference of rotational speed at different portions of the sun's -surface. Similar phenomena are constantly observed on the surface -of the earth in the generation and behavior of cyclones and other -atmospheric disturbances. They may be compared to the wake of a vessel -anchored in a strong tide-way. These faculæ will slowly raise the -temperature of the surface of the sun's core beneath to the point -of eruptive volatilization, and particularly so if the planet is -receding from, instead of advancing towards, the solar equator. At -some point in advance of the line of planetary energy an eruption of -volatilized metals will suddenly occur, first thrusting up a vast -area of the photosphere and then bursting it asunder, which will -drive these ruptured masses with enormous speed forward and obliquely -outward from the equator. Such faculæ (see Proctor's "Light Science") -sometimes reach a velocity of seven thousand miles per minute, while -the sun's rotational movement at the equator is less than seventy -miles per minute. This sudden eruption will be almost immediately -succeeded by great expansion and consequent fall of temperature, so -that within a few hours the heavy volatile metals begin to condense -and rapidly recede into their crater, and the faculæ in front and at -the sides will now stream inward to occupy this vacuum with constantly -accelerated velocity, pouring over the edges like the rush of waters -at the Falls of Niagara. As they sweep downward over the inner rim of -the funnel, these streams of faculæ will glow with increased whiteness, -and appear to be sharply cut off at their inner ends; but this is only -apparently so, and is due to the position of the observer, who looks -almost directly downward upon these descending streams. It is for -the same reason that the faculæ appear more brilliant when near the -borders of the solar disk (see page 109). Any good view of a sun-spot -when analyzed will show the streams of faculæ thus pouring inward, -and they are among the most peculiar and conspicuous phenomena -to be observed. The drawings of Professor Langley, reproduced in -the Popular Science Monthly for September, 1874, and July, 1885, -are particularly striking in their illustration of these effects, -though their significance and interpretation were not then at hand. - -But while these heavy metallic vapors so rapidly condense and subside -in the forward or initial portion of the sun-spot under observation, -new depths of intensely-heated faculæ are generated behind, and these -operate with renewed energy upon the fresh surface of the solar core -in rear of the original seat of eruption; so that each sun-spot, -while in an active state, will exhibit two entirely distinct aspects, -the forward portion of the crater in a state of rapid condensation -and subsidence of the recently erupted metallic vapors, and with -inflowing streams of incandescent hydrogen from the front and sides, -and the rear portion of the crater up to its rearward wall, and even -streaming forth from beneath it, in a state of violent eruption. The -large volcanic craters of the Hawaiian Islands exhibit similar -partial eruptions and subsidences progressing simultaneously in the -same depths. The sudden formation of the great incandescent loops and -plumes to which Professor Langley calls especial attention, and which -have hitherto been so perplexing, can now be readily understood and -explained. If one of these inflowing streams be carried partially -down into and across the crater, and then caught, in its advance, -by the uprush in the central or rear portions of the cavity, it will -be at once swept upward alongside the ascending eruption, and either -scattered at its forward extremity into sprays and plumes, or else -thrown forward bodily in the form of a more or less complete loop. In -a sun-spot fifty thousand miles in diameter, such a loop, having a -long diameter of twenty thousand miles, if we give a speed to the -faculæ of seven thousand miles per minute, would be formed in about -seven minutes, during which the sun-spot would itself have advanced -less than five hundred miles across the face of the sun. The luminous -bridges which form so suddenly across portions of the crater may be -explained in a similar manner: they are streams of faculæ floated on -the nearly balanced uprush of metallic vapors from beneath. - -It will thus be seen that a sun-spot is not merely a fixed eruption, -like a volcano, but rather a continuous series of eruptions, like -a line of activity following, for example, the great terrestrial -volcanic curve which extends up the western coast of America, across -the Pacific Ocean and Asia, and into Central and Southern Europe, -for during its progression its scene of action is constantly being -shifted to the rear; it is like a furrow cut by a plough, in which -the upturned sod is constantly falling in at one end of the furrow -while the plough is cutting a new furrow at the other, except that -in this case the plough is relatively fixed overhead, and the field -itself passes along beneath it. Consequently, the center of activity -of a sun-spot is only in its rear portions, generally considered, and -the whole sun-spot is gradually retreating, by successive filling up in -front and opening out behind, farther and farther to the rear,--that is -to say, to the east,--so that retardation relatively to the rotational -advance of the photosphere necessarily ensues. - -But when the sun-spot is developed upon or near the equatorial -line this retardation is not so considerable, for the deeper layers -of the photosphere in those regions are slower to act and require -greater energy to affect them, so that all except deep and violent -eruptions fail to show themselves at the surface at all, and the -heated faculæ are carried directly forward along the surface of the -equatorial swell, so that the center of activity is driven forward -more rapidly than in the higher latitudes, and the rate of progression -is more nearly coincident with that of the photosphere. But if these -facts are correctly stated and explained, we may have to revise our -calculations of the sun's rotational period, for retardation to some -extent must occur in all cases, if in any. - -A sun-spot, we thus perceive, is an elongated wave or ridge of eruption -along the rotational direction of the sun's body. Why, then, it may -be asked, is not this line of eruption continuous entirely around the -sun? For the same reason, it may be answered, that our own cyclones -are not continuous, though caused substantially in the same manner, -and that volcanic eruptions only occur at long intervals, though -the forces at work are continuous. Lowering of temperature follows -swiftly after eruption, and as the deeper structures of the solar -nucleus become gradually affected, instead of volatilization of the -outer layers of the surface, we will have diffused gaseous expansion -of large portions, and finally of the entire solar mass, which cannot -as a whole be volatilized by any conceivable planetary energy. We see -these operations exemplified in heating a bar of copper in a Bunsen -flame; the latter first turns green from surface volatilization of -the copper, but as the heat is communicated to the deeper structures -the green flame disappears, and the whole additional heat goes to -raise the temperature of the mass. - -These processes in the sun are thus seen to be self-compensatory in -their nature. They are the means provided to distribute the restricted -areas of abnormally heated photosphere over the solar surface, and -finally to cause the absorption of the whole excess of heat in the -sun's central mass. The balance is so evenly maintained, however, that, -were all the planets equally distributed with reference to the sun's -surface, such sun-spots would be the exception and not the rule, and -their distribution would be equal and constant; but, as the planets -continually change their positions with reference to the sun and to -each other, only by some such provision of nature could the internal -structure of the sun be maintained without serious derangement, or, -indeed, final disruption. So nature distributes her stores of heat -upon the earth. These beautiful self-compensations we shall find -suddenly appearing, as we advance, in all parts of the field of -astronomical research. - -It may seem like temerity to advance statements so positive and -specific as to the cause, constitution, and progression of sun-spots, -in the absence of any considerable accumulation of observations -to sustain them, but the few examples which we have noted are in -accordance with these views, and when attention is once called to the -basic principles on which they depend, observations will doubtless be -made in abundance to prove or disprove what has been here stated. The -mere fact of a differential rate of advance among sun-spots, as they -pass across the solar face, of itself demonstrates that the active -causes of these phenomena must be extra-solar, and if so, their only -possible dynamic source must be looked for in the planets, and the -remaining conclusions will of necessity follow as a corollary. We may -even, by merely examining an accurate drawing of a sun-spot, determine -its position and direction upon the solar sphere from which it was -delineated by its lines of active eruption and influx of faculæ, -and also whether it be a new spot or one which has passed entirely -beyond its active stage and is about to finally disappear. - -As for the faculæ which striate the photosphere, the mottlings and -so-called "willow-leaves," any one who will quietly gaze downward -upon the turbid surface of the Mississippi or other similar river, -in mid-channel, will see plenty of such faculæ: the river is full of -them. The heavier, intermingled clay, slowly subsiding, is caught up in -the turmoil beneath the surface and swept upward in elongated ovals and -eddies, the larger swells nearly colorless, and others of all shades -of ochre and yellow, and the whole as richly mottled, sometimes, as -the variegated pattern of a Persian carpet. If we substitute for the -subsiding clay the rapidly sinking heavy metallic vapors, and enlarge -the scale from the dimensions of the river to those of the sun, we -will have the mottled solar surface with its kaleidoscopic changes, -the so-called "willow-leaves," and the faculæ in all their glory. A -careful study of the sun will show most clearly that only in some -such explanation as the present view affords can a rational basis -for its varied phenomena be found. - -If the sun's equator were coincident with the plane of the planetary -orbits, it is obvious that all the planetary energies would be -directed, whatever the position of the planets around the sun, -immediately upon this equatorial great circle, and that, at each -revolution upon his axis, corresponding nearly to our calendar month, -the same part of his sphere would be exposed to these direct currents, -so that the intensity would be, in its aggregate, nearly a constant -quantity. But, by reason of the sun's axial inclination of seven -degrees to the plane of the planetary orbits, a far more complex and -important condition of affairs ensues. It will be seen at once that -the plane of the planetary orbits intersects the sun's equator at -opposite sides, and that, from a minimum of nothing, this line reaches -a maximum, twice in each circumference, of seven degrees, one north -and the other south of the equator, and that this arc of fourteen -degrees, thus traversed by every planet in its orbital rotation -around the sun, measures more than one hundred thousand miles from -north to south upon the solar surface, nearly one-half the distance -which separates the earth from the moon. If all the planets were in -conjunction or nearly so, on one side of the sun, for example, and in -the vertical plane of the sun's axis, they would continue to deliver -their electrical currents with their greatest intensity upon a single -point of his surface fifty-two thousand miles north of his equator, -while the opposite point, one hundred and four thousand miles distant, -would be unaffected by any direct currents at all. Conversely, if -in conjunction on the opposite side of the sun, they would continue -to deliver these currents upon a corresponding point fifty-two -thousand miles south of the equator; but if in conjunction in the -vertical plane transverse to the sun's axial inclination, these -currents on either side of the sun would be delivered directly upon -the solar equator. The importance of this will be understood when -it is considered that for many of our years such planets as Jupiter -and Saturn must continue to direct their currents upon a very slowly -changing point of the sun's surface, by reason of their vast annual -rotational period, while with the earth and the interior planets these -various points are struck with ever-increasing rapidity as the year -decreases in length with the different planets, the earth, Venus, -and Mercury. There is a solar equinoctial, so to speak, just as there -is a terrestrial equinoctial in which the sun crosses the line twice -each year, and the meteorological disturbances faintly shown on the -earth at such times are vastly increased on the sun, and rendered -far more complex by the interaction of many planets upon the sun, -instead of a single sun upon each planet. While our equinoctial has -to do with gravity and light and heat, and probably magnetism, the -solar equinoctial deals with the vast electrical streams which feed -its fires and set it boiling with furious energy, first at one point, -then at another, until the increment has been absorbed and adjusted, -and thus equalized throughout his mass. What a new interest this must -arouse in our study of sun-spots, faculæ, prominences, sun-storms, -and the vast panorama of solar action hung up before our astonished -eyes! A new world here awaits its Columbus. - -But not only the planets thus gather, so to speak, electricity for -the sun's support from space; the moon also must do its part, as it -rotates in the same manner, subject to the sun, and has its own motion -through space. But an examination of the moon shows no atmosphere -and no aqueous matter visible to us, and also the singular fact -that it constantly presents one side only to the earth. R. Kalley -Miller, in his "Romance of Astronomy," article "The Moon," says, -"After an elaborate analysis, Professor Hausen, of Gotha, found that -it could be accounted for only by supposing that the side of the moon -nearest us was lighter than the other, and hence that its center of -gravity was not at its center of figure, but considerably nearer -the side of it which is always turned away from us. He calculates -the distance between these centers to be nearly thirty-five miles, -evidently a most important eccentricity, when we remember that the -radius of the moon is little over a thousand miles. It must have been -produced by some great internal convulsion after the moon assumed its -solid state; but the forces required to produce this disruption are -less than might at first sight appear necessary, owing to the fact -that the force of gravitation and the weight of matter are six times -less at the moon than with us." Those who are fond of the so-called -"Argument of Design" will be gratified to learn that, if the moon -had a rotation upon its own axis similar to that of the earth, -all life--past, present or future--would have been impossible on -that satellite or planet; and that, on the contrary,--provided she -always turns the same side of her surface to the earth,--it is quite -possible that air, water, and life may exist, or may have existed, -on the opposite side of the moon, but not otherwise. In fact, air and -water must now exist on the opposite side; and, since her whole supply -will thus be condensed upon half her surface or less, even with her -small force of gravity, it may be quite sufficient in quantity and -density for the support of animal, vegetable, or even human life. By -reason of this difference in the lunar center of gravity, the side -presented to the earth in physical position is similar to the summit -of a mountain upon the earth's surface two hundred miles high, and -surely we would not expect to find much air or water or life at that -altitude. But the opposite side would resemble a champagne country -at the foot of this enormous mountain, and might be well fitted for -human existence. Now, we know that similar electricities repel each -other, and air or gases charged with similar electricities are equally -self-repellent. Professor Tyndall, in his "Lessons in Electricity," -says, "The electricity escaping from a point or flame into the air -renders the air self-repulsive. The consequence is, that when the -hand is placed over a point mounted on the prime conductor of a good -machine, a cold blast is distinctly felt.... The blast is called the -'electric wind.' Wilson moved bodies by its action; Faraday caused -it to depress the surface of a liquid; Hamilton employed the reaction -of the electric wind to make pointed wires rotate. The wind was also -found to promote evaporation." - -While electrical repulsion is doubtless analogous to, and correlative -with, the attraction of gravitation, this force, and even gravity -itself, has been sometimes interpreted as derived from the mutually -interacting molecules of space itself. We may even learn somewhat -of how such repulsions of similar and attractions of opposite -electrospheres might occur. We constantly speak of positive -and negative electricity as though these were different fluids, -but such expressions are employed only in the same manner as the -analogous terms, heat and cold. We know, of course, that cold is the -relative absence of heat, the dividing line being not a fixed, but a -constantly changing one, so that one body is cold to another by reason -of relative, and not absolute, deprivation of heat. It is well known, -however, that cold, which is purely a negative state, manifests the -same apparent radiant energy as heat. A vessel near an iceberg is -exposed to a wave of cold, precisely as of heat from a heated body at -the same distance. This, of course, is due to abstraction and not to -increment. All space being occupied by attenuated matter in a state -of unstable electrical equilibrium, as we say, which simply means -a condition ready to be raised or lowered in tension by absorption -from or into outside media, all concrete bodies floating in that -space must have an electrical potential either equal to, or higher, -or else lower than that of their surrounding space. A solitary body in -space, if we can conceive of such, in either a higher or lower state -of electrical tension, would be drawn upon from all sides to equalize -the distribution and restore the general average. But if two bodies -occupy the same field, and are widely different from each other in -electrical potential, one higher and the other lower than that of -space, this distribution will be towards each other, and must be -manifested by mutual attraction. But if, on the contrary, these two -bodies are both equally higher or lower than the spatial average, -they have nothing to give to each other, but have this difference -to give to or receive only from outer space, and hence they will be -drawn apart or, as we say, mutually repelled. The case is similar to -what we see in the case of bodies of water at various levels. Suppose -there be a lake of a fixed level, and communicating with it and with -each other, by open channels, two ponds of water occupying an island -in the middle of the lake. If one of these ponds be higher in level -and the other lower than the lake, their waters will rapidly converge, -the higher flowing into the lower; but if both are at the same level, -and higher than the lake, they will flow apart into the lake. Or, if -both are at the same level, and lower than the lake, the water of the -latter will equally flow from outside into both ponds, and their waters -will still be held separate from each other. The analogies of these -various levels may be pursued to any desired extent, as electrical -tensions find their most exact analogies in the pressures of bodies -of water at different levels and of different quantities, and these -analogies are those most constantly used in the interpretation of -such electrical phenomena. - -The great electrical activity of the electrospheres of the earth and -moon, while they discharge their tremendous currents directly into -the sun, at the same time must cause their similarly electrified -atmospheres to mutually repel each other, while gravity continues -to operate to maintain the earth and moon at their fixed distances -from each other, and to retain their gaseous envelopes around their -own bodies. The result must be that these similarly electrified -atmospheres repel each other with a force proportioned to their masses -of atmosphere and the intensity of the electricities of each. The -moon's axial rotation being completed but once in twenty-eight days, -and that of the earth once in each day, and the moon's mass and volume -being so much less than those of the earth, whatever of electrified air -or moisture she may have (and she must have both, proportionate to her -attributes) would have been driven as by a cyclone to the opposite side -of the moon and there retained. Now, with an atmosphere and water only -on one side of the moon, and that the side opposite the earth, it is -obvious that a rotation on her axis at all resembling that of the earth -would carry every part of her surface, at each complete rotation, from -a region of air and moisture into one deprived of both, and in such -a condition she would of necessity be deprived of both life and its -possibility; hence, as the laws of nature compel the lunar atmosphere -and moisture to reside permanently on the side always opposite the -earth, a co-ordinate arrest of the moon's axial motion with reference -to the earth could alone compensate for such a state of things, -and, curiously enough, we find as a solitary exception, compared -with the planets, that such is the case. The moon unquestionably has -both atmosphere and water on its opposite side. In his recent work, -"In the High Heavens," Professor Ball reviews the physical conditions -of the other planets as possible abodes of life. He pronounces against -the moon because night and day would each be a fortnight in length; -but this is surely no objection, for even in Norway and Greenland such -nights and days are not uncommon at different seasons, and thousands -of human beings, even as at present constituted on earth, spend their -lives there in content and happiness. That the moon also would be -terribly scorched by the long day and frozen by the long night does -not necessarily follow, for the atmosphere of Mars, that author says, -"to a large extent mitigates the fierceness with which the sun's rays -would beat down on the globe if it were devoid of such protection." As -the moon's opposite face must have a double quota both of atmosphere -and clouds, the difficulty will be correspondingly less than on Mars; -and as for the "lightness" of bodies on the moon, they would probably -get along quite as well as mosquitoes and like "birds of prey" in the -marshes along our coasts. The author refers constantly to our bodies; -for example, "Could we live on a planet like Neptune?" No, we could -not; we would be dead before we got there. Nor could we live in the -bark of a tree, or at the bottom of the ocean, or in a globule of -serum; but living beings are found there nevertheless. The principle -is that wherever life is possible there we may expect to find life; -and surely life is, or has been, or will be possible, not only on -the moon, so far as our knowledge of physical conditions can go, but -also on some of the other planets. Of course each planet has its life -stage, but this applies not only to the earth, but to all the other -planets as well, and not only to the planets of our own system, but -to those of all other solar systems. Each has had, or will have, its -stage in which life is possible, and these planets may be like human -habitations, in which whole races at times migrate from one home to -another. There is no conceivable reason why this may not be the general -law of creation, and every analogy leads us to believe that it is so. - -It has been recently announced that, from telescopic observations, -the atmosphere of Mars must be at least as attenuated as that among -the highest mountainous regions of the earth, if this planet has any -atmosphere at all. That it must be far less dense than that of the -earth at sea-level is obvious, for the mass and volume of Mars are -very much less than those of our own planet; but that Mars is devoid -of a gaseous envelope or atmosphere is contrary to what we know of all -sidereal physics. The sun, the fixed stars, the comets, the nebulæ, -and even the meteorolithic fragments which fall upon the earth, all -show the same elementary chemical constitution as the earth itself, -and we cannot believe that Mars alone is differently constituted from -every other body we have been able to examine. We have direct evidence, -on this planet, of polar snows and their melting away under the sun's -heat; we see the apparent areas of sea and land; it has its moons as -the earth has hers, and exhibits all the characteristic phenomena of -the earth and other planets. All sidereal bodies that we know of, -except, perhaps, our moon, which exception we have fully accounted -for, are found to be surrounded by gaseous envelopes or atmospheres -of some sort. The sun, the fixed stars, the nuclei of comets, the -condensing nebulæ, the planets Jupiter and the earth, which are -those under our most direct observation, and even the meteorites, -when examined, reveal the presence of many times their own volumes of -independent atmospheric gases; and whatever may be the theory of the -origin or development of Mars, it must have been subjected to the same -influences, the same environment, and the same processes of creation as -those of our solar system generally; and that this body alone should -possess no gaseous envelope--for the denial of atmosphere denies, -at the same time, the presence of any or all surrounding gases--is -quite incredible. Only the most positive, direct, and long-continued -proofs of such fact could be accepted, and even then the history of all -scientific progress shows that what are believed to be facts themselves -fluctuate like fancies till, by their accumulated force, they solidify -into universally accepted demonstration. The fact, moreover, that -the atmospheres of the smaller planets are more attenuated than our -own and those of the larger ones denser has no bearing, in itself, -on the probability of the existence of life on these other planets, -for in our own atmosphere oxygen, which is the efficient element, -is diluted with four times its quantity of inert nitrogen. These -proportions doubtless vary largely in other atmospheres, so that -the oxygen may be much richer in some and far poorer, relatively, -in others. The mere fact that the presence of nitrogen, probably, and -aqueous vapor, certainly, depends on the gravity of the mass of each -planet, while the oxygen is due to electrolytic decomposition induced -by the combined volume, mass, and rotation, and other causes,--such -as the axial inclination of such planets, for example,--renders -these variations in the constitution of planetary atmospheres a -certainty. As Mars has a diameter much more than one-half that of -the earth, and a diurnal rotational period nearly the same, while his -mass, which controls the action of gravity, is only about one-ninth -that of the earth (see Appleton's Cyclopædia), it is obvious that his -oxygen-gathering power, compared with that for accumulating nitrogen -and aqueous vapor, is much higher than that of the earth, and we should -expect to find there an attenuated atmosphere very rich in oxygen, -and with a relatively smaller proportion of aqueous vapor, or even -water, on his surface. Such seem to be the facts as far as observed. - -In operating an electric machine the strength of the current is -directly proportionate to the speed of rotation,--that is to say, -to the velocity of the generating surface; for example, of the -Wimshurst induction machine it is stated (page 63, "Electricity -in the Service of Man"), "These four-and-one-half inch discharges -take place in regular succession at every two and a half turns of -the handle." It is also a well-established law of electrolysis that -"The amount of decomposition effected by the current is in proportion -to the current strength." Professor Ferguson ("Electricity," page -225) says of the voltameter, an instrument devised by Faraday, -and used for testing the strength of currents by the proportionate -decomposition of acidulated water, "Mixed gases rise into the tube, -and the quantity of gas given off in a given time measures the -strength of the current." Roughly estimating the diameter of Mars at -five-eighths, the surface velocity at three-fifths, and the mass at -one-ninth those of the earth, this planet should have an atmosphere -containing about sixty per cent. of oxygen and forty of nitrogen, with -a barometric pressure at sea-level of about six and one-half inches of -mercury. This would be an excellent atmosphere,--about equal in its -quota of oxygen for each respiration to that of the higher areas of -Persia, a great country for roses. The aqueous vapors lying low and -near the surface would serve as a vaporous screen to concentrate and -retain the sun's heat and retard radiation from that planet. Nothing -in particular seems to be the matter with Mars. - -On the contrary, the mass of Jupiter is so great, and his attraction -of gravity so powerful, that it is only by his exceedingly rapid -diurnal rotation (once in less than ten hours) that it is possible -for him to accumulate any effective percentage of oxygen at all. But -there is certainly plenty of water there. - -We may approximately compute, in general terms, the proportion -of oxygen in the atmospheres of the other planets in the same -way. Neptune, it is true, is so far distant from the sun that the -solar orb only "appears about the same magnitude as Venus when at -its greatest brilliancy, as viewed from the earth," but we must not -forget that "the intensity of the sun's light would be more than ten -thousand times greater than that of Venus" (Professor Dunkin, in "The -Midnight Sky"). Unless the moon gathers a portion of the earth's oxygen -(the planetary satellites, like Saturn's rings, thus constituting -in their rotations a constituent part of the planets themselves), -the percentage of this gas in her atmosphere must be exceedingly -small, for her axial rotation has a period of a whole lunar month, -being the same as that of her revolution around the earth as a center. - -The absence of apparent atmosphere and moisture from the visible lunar -surface has already been mentioned and explained. The means by which -this fact has been approximately determined are described by Professor -Dunkin, in "The Midnight Sky," as follows: "Among the many proofs of -the non-existence of a lunar atmosphere, it may be mentioned that -no water can be seen; at least there is not a sufficient quantity -in any one spot so as to be visible from the earth. Again, there are -no clouds; for if there were, we should immediately discover them by -the variable light and shade which they would produce. But one great -proof of the absence of any large amount of vapor being suspended over -the lunar surface is the sudden extinction of a star when occulted by -the moon. The author has been a constant observer of these phenomena, -and, though his experience is of long standing, he has never observed -an occultation of a star or planet, especially at the unilluminated -edge of a young moon, without having his conviction confirmed that -there is no appreciable lunar atmosphere.... Professor Challis has -subjected the results of a large number of these observations to a -severe mathematical test, but he has not been able to discover the -slightest trace of any effect produced by a lunar atmosphere." - -In Appleton's Cyclopædia, article "The Moon," it is stated that -"Schröter (about 1800) claimed to have discovered indications of -vegetation on the surface of the moon. These consist of certain traces -of a greenish tint which appear and reappear periodically; much as -the white spots covering the polar regions of Mars.... As we are able, -under the most favorable conditions, to use upon the moon telescopic -powers which have the effect of bringing the satellite to within one -hundred and fifty to one hundred and twenty miles of us, we should -doubtless notice any such marked changes on her surface as the passage -of the seasons produces, for example, on our own globe." Very recently -(August 12, 1894), it has been stated, Professor Gathmann has observed -a peculiar green spot about forty by seventy miles in area near the -crater of Tycho Brahe, "on the northwestern edge of the satellite's -upper limb," which had disappeared twenty-two hours afterwards. - -We understand, of course, that the moon's librations, by the variation -of position of the lunar body, enable us to see, at times, around -the edge of this satellite somewhat, so that, instead of observing -only one-half, we can in this way see nearly six-tenths of her -surface, but not at the same time, of course. When the moon is dark -it occupies a position between the earth and the sun, and only its -opposite face is illuminated. In this position the attraction of -solar gravity and the attraction of the electrically opposite solar -electrosphere both accumulate their forces upon the moon's atmosphere -in the same line as the repulsion of the earth's similar electricity, -so that the lunar moisture and atmosphere are, at this part of her -subordinate orbit, most powerfully forced away from the direction -of the earth. As the moon now proceeds towards her first quarter, -the terrestrial repulsion drives her atmosphere radially outward, -while solar gravity and electrical attraction tend to hold it in the -direction of the sun. The result will be an electrospheric libration, -so to speak, and the moon's atmosphere and moisture will be carried -around towards its illuminated face and, to some extent, will overlap -the area of terrestrial repulsion. But as the moon advances this will -gradually diminish, soon cease, and finally be reversed as it again -approaches darkness. We can now understand why the green surface, if -it really was due to vegetation, appeared along the lunar margin at -the time described above, and also that the observation of planetary -occultations "at the unilluminated edge of the young moon" was the -very worst part of the moon and its orbit in which to look for air -or moisture; as the sun's influence is then directly away from the -unilluminated surface of the moon, and his "pull" would have, in fact, -still further denuded the very portion most persistently examined, -and where this absence of atmosphere was especially noted. - -When considering the transference of energy from the peripheral -regions of the solar system to the center, its conversion there into -a new form of molecular force, and its subsequent distribution, we -find a curious and instructive parallel in the action of the reflex -nervous system of animal life. This system is one in which the brain -or other conscious center of nerve-energy takes no part. Tickle -the foot of a child, for example, and its whole muscular system is -thrown into uncontrollable convulsions of laughter. Here an exciting -contact with the terminal filaments of the afferent or sensory nerves -is rapidly carried into the local nerve-center of this part of the -system,--that is, the sensory column of the spinal cord. This center -of ganglionic nerve-matter lies directly against the corresponding -motor mass, both freely communicating with each other. The sensory -current passing into its central ganglion undergoes some peculiar -change of character, probably one of intensification, such as is -observed in the action of the condenser of an electrical machine, -through which sensory ganglion, thus raised in potential, it passes to -the motor ganglion adjacent, where it is instantly transformed into -an entirely different form of energy. The sensory character has now -entirely disappeared, and it has been converted into and is flashed -forth as motor energy to the different muscles of the body, which are -immediately contracted, the violent molecular motion of the fibres -being at once converted into muscular motion in mass. The changes are -entirely analogous to those we see in the different conversions of -energy in our solar system. Considering the surface of the body as a -planetary electrosphere, it is acted upon by excitation from without; -currents of energy are engendered, which are at once transmitted to -the sensory ganglion, corresponding to the hydrogen atmosphere or -electrosphere of the sun; intensification of action here ensues, the -current passing through this ganglion or atmosphere into the solar body -itself, which corresponds to the motor ganglion; both ganglia are now -highly excited; the electrical force is converted into the radiant -molecular motor energy of heat and light in the sun and muscular -excitement in the body, and these are flashed forth and find scope -for their action within the body of the subject or upon the surface -of the planets, which lie, like the muscular structure of the body, -within the genetic electrosphere where, acted upon from without and -by agencies entirely external, moving contact has induced the primary -molecular action, which was then instantaneously transferred to the -center, there converted into another form, that of motor energy, -and thence sent forth to produce action in the muscles of the body -in the one case, and in the other upon the planetary bodies and their -satellites and other structures which occupy surrounding space. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE DISTRIBUTION AND CONSERVATION OF SOLAR ENERGY. - - -What, then, becomes of the light and heat flashed forth with -eternal energy from the fiery waves of the sun's incandescent -atmosphere? Professor Ball ("In the High Heavens") says, "Much -of what has been said with regard to light may be repeated with -regard to heat. We know that radiant heat consists of ethereal -undulations of the same character as the waves of light. Hence we -see that the heat or the light radiated from a glowing gas is mainly -provided at the expense of the energy possessed by the molecules -in virtue of their internal oscillations." Conversely, of course, -the ethereal undulations thus induced by high molecular motion in -the heated gas or vapor must disappear in so-called absorption or -transference by contact with other molecules, themselves devoid of -such specific internal oscillations. The heat motion then disappears -as heat by its conversion into work, just as the motion of a belt -in a mill disappears in the work of the machine which it drives. One -two-hundred-and-thirty-two-millionth part of the radiant solar energy, -we know, is caught by the flying planets of our system in the forms of -heat and light, adapted to sustain life and its continued potentiality, -and we know that this solar energy is the sole source of all the -development and maintenance of the planets as the possible abodes of -organic life, past, present or future. - -But what of the vast total, of which we consume so minute a -fraction? It is true that, in addition to the planets, space is -occupied by many small meteoric bodies, which manifest themselves to us -as shooting stars and meteorites, but the mass of these is too trifling -to be estimated. Professor Helmholtz, in his "Popular Scientific -Lectures," says, "According to Alexander Herschel's estimates, each -stone is, on an average, at a distance of four hundred and fifty miles -from its neighbors." When these bodies enter our atmosphere by force of -the earth's attraction they are heated by its atmospheric friction to -incandescence, and in most cases are even volatilized before reaching -the earth's surface. The vast volumes of solar heat and light, however, -are poured forth from the sun indiscriminately in all directions into -illimitable space, wherein all the masses of concrete matter, including -the stars, are relatively far less in volume than the flying motes of -the purest morning air which sparkle in the flood of light sent forth -by the rising sun. Is all the rest wasted? Professor Balfour Stewart, -in his work "The Conservation of Energy," says, "If this be the fate of -the high-temperature energy of the universe, let us think for a moment -what will happen to its visible energy. We have spoken already about -a medium pervading space, the office of which appears to be to degrade -and ultimately extinguish all differential motion, just as it tends to -reduce and ultimately equalize all difference in temperature. Thus, -the universe would ultimately become an equally heated mass, utterly -worthless as far as the production of work is concerned, since such -production depends upon difference of temperature." - -It is obvious that the starting-point taken by the author last -quoted, but which, nevertheless, is in accordance with the views -now generally prevalent, is diametrically opposed to that sought -to be established in this work. Professor Stewart takes the sun's -inherent energy as the initial point of departure, and reasons from -that as to the final consequence when all its light and heat shall -have been distributed or dissipated into the attenuated medium which -occupies space, and which will be thus slowly heated until all space -has been raised in temperature to that of the last dying sun, when -all will thenceforth remain unchanged and unchangeable, silent, dark, -and dead, to all eternity. On the contrary, the purpose of the present -work is to establish a directly opposite principle, based, however, on -demonstrated scientific facts and not on theory, that the medium which -pervades all space was originally in the same equally and universally -potential state (with its molecules raised to a tension constituting -an unstable equilibrium) in which, practically, Professor Stewart's -argument leaves it finally, and that this universal molecular energy -of position was permanently maintained by the employment of the forces -which afterwards, transformed into light and heat, were shed abroad -by the sun in the work of again overcoming the intermolecular tension -of cohesion, and that the light and heat of the sun are merely caught -up again by these same or other molecules and successively employed in -the same manner, while the planetary electrospheres utilize these same -forces of internal tension in the generation of electricity, which, -sent to the sun, is converted into light and heat, and these are again -transferred to their original source. The rotation of the planets is -the grand exciting cause, and the process, in its complete cycle of -development, has live stages: first, planetary generation; second, -transference by currents of electricity to the sun; third, conversion -into light and heat; fourth, emission; and, fifth, reabsorption and -conversion again into molecular energy of position. All space is thus -found to be pervaded by extremely attenuated vapors, which contain -the elemental constituents out of which suns and planets are evolved -under favorable circumstances of development, and, among other vapors, -aqueous vapor, and that these are the agency upon which the planetary -electrospheres operate in their generation of electrical currents, and -which vapors, in turn, by absorption of the solar energy of radiation, -again transform this energy into mutually balanced electric potential, -until it is once more disengaged as electricity by the rotating -planetary electrospheres, and so on in a constant circuit forever -repeated. It differs from perpetual motion, however, in that the -planetary rotation is the external and not the internal generative -cause, since the electrical forces neither cause nor control these -motions; they belong to the realm of gravity. The disassociation, -moreover, is electrical and not chemical disassociation. The tensions -are against cohesion and not against chemical affinity; are, in fact, -similar to those which constitute our atmosphere a vast electrical -reservoir; and the aqueous vapors, through all their changes, -permanently remain as aqueous vapors, except those condensed portions -disassociated by electrolytic action at the electrospheric poles, and -which have no relation to the attenuated vapors of space, except in -that the latter are their sources of supply. The process is analogous -to what we see around us at all times in the atmosphere. While the -process described by Professor Stewart resembles the emptying of the -inherent water of a cloud, in the form of rain, into an ocean which -never yields up its water again, so that, when the cloud has rained -itself out, it is gone forever, the processes here sketched are like -the vapors which are caught up by the heated air, carried over the -thirsty lands, distributed in rain to fertilize and vivify them, -then gathered in a thousand tiny rills from countless fountains, -again descending to the sea and again carried up in vapor, and so on -over and over in unceasing round. It is the difference between an -old-fashioned flintlock musket and a modern magazine rifle, except -that the magazine is always full. - -This great ocean of space was primordially charged with these -potential vapors; it is the constitution of space itself. We are so -accustomed to consider space as empty, and that it is nothingness, -the antithesis of something or anything, that it is a negation or -a blank, that it requires an effort to even think of it as a fully -stocked establishment with all the goods necessary for use or ornament, -in the latest styles and of prime quality, only not made up, and that -all our suns and worlds are merely tailoring establishments where -the operatives cut and fit and make them up to order. When more goods -are wanted they have to go to the store. - -Is space, then, eternal, and is this constant round of energies to -be eternal? If one is eternal, so is the other, and surely nothing -can be more eternal than space, and we cannot conceive of any -other space than this space. Out of it came all created things, -and so long as the orbs rotate without retardation, so long will -these interchanges go on without impairment, and that they do so -rotate is the necessary corollary of the fact that they ever began -to rotate. If rotation, on the contrary, was imparted by special -creative power, then the same power established the laws by which -they rotate, and took cognizance of resistance as well. Whatever the -impulse was, it still remains; whatever caused the rotation to begin -maintains it; if the cause is eternal the rotation may be eternal; -and, in any case, its period must be measured by cycles of æons, -to which the allotted lifetime of a dying sun--a few million years, -perhaps--is but as the sunburst of a morning-glory flower to the -hoary age of a mighty planet. Compared with the popular view of the -sun's life-period, we may formulate the terms of an equation in which -the sun's mass, compared with the realms of infinite space, is as -the sun's lifetime--on a basis of contraction of his volume--to the -lifetime which actually is to be. As one of the terms is practically -infinite, so must be the answer to the problem. Professor Stewart says, -"We cannot help believing that there is a material medium of some -kind between the sun and the earth; indeed, the undulatory theory -of light requires this belief." It has already been shown that the -transmission of electricity also requires it, but that there must be -a medium quite different from the undulatory ether. Professor Proctor -("Mysteries of Time and Space") says, "We may admit the possibility -that the aqueous vapor and carbon compounds are present in stellar -or interplanetary space." Again he says, "Assuming, as we well may, -that space is really occupied by attenuated vapors." The same writer -says further, "To this end all thoughtful study of the mechanism -seems to tend (associating, perhaps, our visible universe with others, -permeating it as the ether of space permeates the densest solids, and -in turn with others so permeated by it); there may be that constant -interchange, that perpetual harmony, of which Goethe sung: - - - 'Balanced worlds from change defending, - While everywhere diffused is harmony unending.'" - - -The light and heat poured forth from the sun are, as stated, in -the form of radiated energy. They penetrate the attenuated vapors -as far as vision extends, and doubtless farther, but they cannot -reach the boundaries of space, for even the mind of man cannot reach -those limits. Aqueous vapor absorbs heat; we know this without any -demonstration, for the radiated heat of the earth is arrested by -a veil of clouds, so that on cloudy nights frost will not form. So -also the sun shining into water will raise its temperature, as in -a glass globe, and such absorption of heat by aqueous vapors or -water would be much more manifest were not a large part employed in -loosening the tension of the constituent molecules, since, when thus -employed, it is not manifest as sensible heat. Professor Tyndall, in -"The Forms of Water," states that "The quantity of heat which would -raise the temperature of a pound of water one degree would raise the -temperature of a pound of iron ten degrees." Professor Stewart, in -"The Conservation of Energy," says, "That peculiar motion which is -imparted by heat when absorbed into a body is, therefore, one variety -of molecular energy.... Part of the energy of absorbed heat is spent in -pulling asunder the molecules of the body under the attractive force -which binds them together, and thus a store of energy of position is -laid up, which disappears again after the body is cooled. - -"Heat will only be changed into work while it passes from a body of -high temperature to one of low.... At very high temperatures it is -possible that most compounds are decomposed, and the temperature -at which this takes place, for any compound, has been termed its -temperature of disassociation. Heat energy is changed into electrical -separation when tourmalines and certain other crystals are heated." It -may be added that it is also changed into electrical energy by the -operation of all electrical machines, as molecular motions are all -mutually interconvertible, and heat itself is only a mode of such -motion. Of radiant energy, the same writer says, "This form of energy -[radiant heat] is converted into absorbed heat whenever it falls upon -an opaque substance ... and heats it. It is a curious question to ask -what becomes of the radiant light from the sun that is not absorbed -either by the planets of our system or by any of the stars. We can -only reply to such a question that, as far as we can judge from -our present knowledge, the radiant energy that is not absorbed must -be conceived to be traversing space at the rate of one hundred and -eighty-eight thousand miles a second." - -We know, of course, that aqueous vapors are partially opaque to heat -rays, as the radiated heat of the earth is partially arrested by -such vapors in the atmosphere, but they are apparently transparent to -the rays of light. But we know that this cannot be entirely true in -fact, for light rays only differ from heat rays in the comparative -length of their waves or impulses, while rays of light are always -accompanied--when emitted by a thermally incandescent body--by a much -larger number of those of heat. As a body is raised in temperature -radiant dark rays first appear; these being raised higher, become -visible as light, and new dark rays are radiated behind them, and this -continues till after the state of highest incandescence is reached -and the invisible chemical rays beyond the spectrum appear. It is -like a crowd surging forth in flight from the doors of a building; -as the speed of those in front increases to a run, others follow more -slowly in the mass, and as these gain speed others continue to follow, -while the great mass of laggards still trails along in a lengthening -line to the rear. The perception of light is itself merely due to the -constitution of the optic apparatus of the observer, which only takes -cognizance of vibrations radiated from the middle portion of the scale, -just as the ear does with sounds, and not to any actual difference in -their mode of production. That heat rays and light rays are identical -in constitution can be readily shown by the experiment described by -Professor Tyndall in his "Forms of Water," in which an opaque screen -of iodine solution in bisulphide of carbon was employed to arrest, in -a beam of light, all the light waves (to which it is entirely opaque), -while transmitting the dark rays. These non-luminous rays are then -converged by a lens: "Let us, then, by means of our opaque solution, -isolate our dark waves and converge them on the cotton. It explodes -as before.... At the same dark focus sheets of platinum are raised -to vivid redness; ... a diamond is caused to glow like a star, being -afterwards gradually dissipated." Sir William Herschel (see article -"Spectrum," Appleton's Cyclopædia) says, "If we call light those rays -which illuminate objects, and radiant heat those which heat bodies, -it may be inquired whether light be essentially different from radiant -heat. In answer to which I would suggest that we are not allowed by the -rules of philosophizing to admit of two different causes to explain -certain effects, if they may be accounted for by one."... "Tyndall, -by similar experiments, found that the thermal energy of the invisible -radiation of a very powerful electric light is eight times that of -the visible.... Seebeck showed that the position of maximum heat -in the spectrum changes with the nature of the prism and sometimes -occurs in the red." Melconi, with prisms of alcohol and water, found -it in the yellow. Athermic bands are also found in the heat-spectrum, -corresponding to the Fraunhofer lines seen in the visible spectrum. - -We may illustrate this successive development of more and more rapid -light-waves by conceiving of a harp having musical strings of various -length and thickness, but not strung up, so that, when swept by the -hand, the vibrations are felt, but no musical tones are produced. If, -now, all the strings are simultaneously and gradually stretched -while under continuous vibration, we will first hear the hum of -the lighter strings, but deep down in the scale; and as the tension -gradually increases the pitch of these will rise higher and higher -and be succeeded by other new tones below, until the whole register -is simultaneously sounded. And if the tension be further increased, -the vibrations of the upper strings will gradually grow so rapid -that the ear can take no cognizance of them, corresponding to the -invisible chemical rays of the spectrum, while the middle strings -will be sounding loudly, and others will be slowly vibrating below the -musical scale, but without sound, corresponding to the invisible heat -rays. In addition to this gradual ascent of pitch along the scale, -however, there is reason to believe that sympathetic vibrations are -induced in the spectrum of thermal and chemical light corresponding to -the over-tones in music and to those hidden rhythms which differentiate -the "timbre" of one kind of musical instrument from that of another, -so that a definite wave-length will not only repeat itself among -adjacent molecules, but will give rise to harmonious vibrations -quite different in amplitude and velocity. An example of this is -found in some of the phenomena of phosphorescence and fluorescence, -in which chemical rays totally invisible are able, under suitable -conditions, to excite molecular movements corresponding to parts -of the visible spectrum, and quite different in wave-lengths and -in rapidity. This process is precisely the converse of what we -perceive in thermal light; in the latter case the colors ascend, -loaded with invisible heat rays; in the former they descend, loaded -with invisible chemical rays, only noted, perhaps, by their actinic -action on the photographic plate. Others, as the sulphide of calcium -paints and the like, repeat their own vibrations for many hours, and -we find in certain chemical salts of some rare metals, as lanthanum -and cerium, the curious property of suddenly raising the whole scale, -as in a recently introduced gas-lamp, in which a skeleton mantle of -these oxides glows with a wondrously beautiful white light under the -relatively low temperature of a small Bunsen burner; similar phenomena -are manifested in the behavior of electric discharges in attenuated -gases, as well as in what is known to children as "fox-fire," wood -undergoing slow decomposition in damp places, or in the self-luminous -secretions (corresponding, perhaps, to ptomaines or like products) -of glow-worms and other animals. If we ever--as we probably soon -shall--reach that point where we can illuminate our dwellings with -"cold candles," as the inhabitants of tropical countries carry about a -few fire-flies in a paper box for a lantern on dark nights, it must be -by the study of these phenomena. But meantime "Old Sol" will continue -to discharge his accumulating stores of both heat and light, for both -these are essential, not only for use upon the planets, but throughout -all the realms of space. In the transformation into and emission of -his radiant energy the sun is not a chemical engine, but a mill,--one -of those which "grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small." - -The difference between radiated thermal light and heat is obviously -one of degree only and not of kind. The undulations of light may -be compared to the thrust of a rapier, and the more massive waves -of radiant heat to the blow of a bludgeon, but the same resistance -which arrests the advance of the one must retard and finally arrest -that of the other, if sufficiently extended. Within the limits of -a space in which Professor Stewart conceives that the first rays of -light which ever flashed forth at the dawn of creation, in the primal -æons of the universe, are still to this day, along their original -lines of radiation, "traversing space at the rate of one hundred -and eighty-eight thousand miles per second," there must certainly -be room enough and absorption enough (which even a few yards of mist -will supply) to curb these runaway steeds somewhere along their lines -of flaming passage. At that very point they are at work acting upon -the molecules of the attenuated vapors of space, and assisting to -re-establish the potential energy which has there been converted, into -another form of force by the planetary rotations of the solar systems -of those distant regions. By the law of the diffusion of gases, and -that of the diffusion or transference of heat-energy from molecule -to molecule, the vast realms of interstellar space must tend to be -all brought into approximate uniformity of tensions, and the force -abstracted at those points of space occupied by the relatively few -and insignificant solar systems will be returned, not directly at -the identical places where such solar systems may exist, but at every -part of space to which their radiant energy extends. As we give from -our own supplies to other systems for their support, so they, in turn, -give back again to us. It is said that in the earliest days of creation -the stars sang together; they still sing together, planets and suns, as - - - "Jura answers from her misty shroud - Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her aloud." - - -When old Earth lifts his brimming beaker from the great crystal sea -and drains it to the good health of all the stars of heaven, they each -respond with fiery energy, and by their merry twinkle we may know -how highly they appreciate the toast. We are all one family,--but -what a family! Comets, planets, double stars, variable stars, stars -of complementary colors, blue, yellow, orange, and red stars, stars -which blaze up in sudden conflagration, apparently new stars, nebulæ -half star and half vapor, nebulæ all vapor and others all stars, the -vast milky-way like a wondrous river of hundreds of millions of solar -systems, the insulated stars scattered through space like watchmen -on the distant hills beyond the city walls, streams of stars, stars -which are parting from each other in space like scattering families, -and those which travel together in groups like pioneers in a strange -country,--all these and doubtless other unknown types and forms -compose this sidereal family. Will they fall into their categories as -lawful subjects, so as to be properly classified in a single scheme -of the visible order of creation, or shall we fail to interpret their -apparent mysteries when we apply the same principles which have been -successfully applied to the phenomena of our own solar system? Let -us see. - -In examining the sun, we find that a beam of its light passed -through a prism is thrown upon the wall in a wedge-shaped streak of -rainbow-tinted colors. Fraunhofer, many years ago, found that this -spectrum was crossed at irregular intervals by a series of dark lines, -of variable width and distance apart, of which he catalogued more -than five hundred. These lines were subsequently found to correspond -in the aggregate, in their position in the spectrum, with a series of -bright lines of different colors which formed the separate spectra -of various metals when burned, in vapor or powder, in the flame of -an alcohol lamp. Each of these transverse lines was found to have a -fixed and invariable position in the extended scale of the spectrum, -and scarcely any lines of the different elements are alike; so that, -when the spectrum is properly magnified under telescopic observation -and the lines identified, we have the means of determining the -presence or absence of such elements in the vaporous constitution -of any incandescent body by examination of its spectrum. In this way -many of our terrestrial elements are found to exist in the sun,--so -many, in fact, that we know that the sun's nucleus, or core, must -be composed substantially of the same elements, the same sort of -matter, as exists on earth,--that we are, in fact, "a chip of the -old block." But it was found--and this is the real basis of spectrum -analysis--that if a certain metal or other element be burned in the -flame of an alcohol lamp, and a more brilliant flame of the same metal -or element burned in another lamp be observed through the first flame, -it will be seen that, "while the general illumination of the spectrum -is increased, the previous bright lines characterizing the element -are now replaced by dark lines or lines relatively very faint; in -a word, the spectrum characteristic of the given element is exactly -reversed" (Appleton's Cyclopædia, article "Spectrum Analysis"). We have -referred to this fact above in considering the origin of sun-spots, -showing that they are due to increased heat acting upon the core of -the sun so as to volatilize an abnormally large proportion of the -elements usually in a more condensed state upon the surface of the -solar body beneath its hydrogen envelope. These vapors, thus raised -in temperature, are driven upward by their volatilization into the -incandescent atmosphere of hydrogen, and the vaporous matters in the -higher strata thus produce the characteristic absorption bands of -these elements, while the overheated vapors, by a vast uprush from -beneath, hurl aside the more highly heated hydrogen above to appear -as faculæ around the sun-spot, the cooler upper layers of hydrogen -following downward the subsiding vaporous metallic uprush as it sinks -back beneath the photospheric level. - -It is obvious that by similar spectrum analysis we may determine -to a large extent the constitution of the fixed stars and other -self-luminous bodies of space and interpret the phenomena which they -exhibit. We quote the following from the previously cited article -in Appleton's Cyclopædia, by Professor Proctor: "Spectroscopic -analysis applied to the stars has shown that they resemble the sun in -general constitution and condition. But characteristic differences -exist, insomuch that the stars have been divided into four orders -distinguished by their spectra. These are thus presented by Secchi, -who examined more than five hundred star spectra: The first type is -represented by Alpha Lyræ, Sirius, etc., and includes most of the -stars shining with a white light, as Altair, Regulus, Rigel, the -stars Beta, Gamma, Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta of Ursa Major, etc. These -give a spectrum showing all the seven colors, and crossed usually -by many lines, but always by the four lines of hydrogen, very dark -and strong. The breadth of these four lines indicates a very deep, -absorptive stratum at a high temperature and at great pressure. Nearly -half the stars observed by Secchi [more than two hundred out of five -hundred] showed this spectrum. The second type includes most of the -yellow stars, as Capella, Pollux, Arcturus, Aldebaran, Alpha of Ursa -Major, Procyon, etc. The Fraunhofer lines are well seen in the red -and blue, but not so well in the yellow. The resemblance of this -spectrum to the sun suggests that stars of this type resemble the -sun closely in physical constitution and condition. About one-third -of the stars observed by Secchi [more than one hundred and fifty -out of five hundred] showed this spectrum. The third type includes -Antares, Alpha of Orion, and Alpha of Hercules, Beta of Pegasus, -Mira, and most of the stars shining with a red light. The spectra -show bands of lines; according to Secchi, there are shaded bands, -but a more powerful spectroscope shows multitudes of fine lines. The -spectra resemble somewhat the spectrum of a sun-spot, and Secchi has -advanced the theory that these stars are covered in great part by -spots like those of the sun. About one hundred [out of five hundred] -of the observed stars belong to this type." (It should be noted that -the presence of sun-spots is no evidence of diminished heat in a sun; -see Professor Proctor in his "Myths and Marvels of Astronomy," article -"Suns in Flames:" "It may be noticed, in passing, that it is by no -means certain that the time when the sun is most spotted is the time -when he gives out least light.... All the evidence we have tends to -show that when the sun is most spotted his energies are most active. It -is then that the colored flames leap to their greatest height and show -their greatest brilliancy, then also that they show the most rapid and -remarkable changes of shape.") ... "The fourth type differs from the -preceding in the arrangement and appearance of the bands. It includes -only faint stars. A few stars, as Gamma of Cassiopeia, Eta of Argus, -Beta of Lyra, etc., show the lines of hydrogen bright instead of dark, -as though surrounded by hydrogen glowing with a heat more intense -than that of the central orb itself around which the hydrogen exists." - -All the above five hundred stars reveal the presence of hydrogen under -precisely such conditions as conform to the general principle involved -in the source and mode of solar energy as herein stated. But a single -star (Betelgeuse) was observed by Huggins and Miller in England which -showed the lines of sodium, magnesium, iron, bismuth, and calcium, -"but found those of hydrogen wanting." Of the spectrum of this gas, -Professor Ball says, "The hydrogen spectrum appears to present a -simplicity not found in the spectrum of any other gas, and therefore -it is with great interest that we examine the spectra of the white -stars, in which the dark lines of hydrogen are unusually strong and -broad." Referring to the new star in the Northern Crown, which burst -forth in 1866, the same writer says, "The feature which made the -spectrum of the new star essentially distinct from that of any other -star that had been previously observed was the presence of certain -bright lines superposed on a spectrum with dark lines of one of the -ordinary types. The position of certain of these lines showed that -one of the luminous gases must be hydrogen." Of this particular star -(Betelgeuse) it is said (Proctor's "Familiar Essays"), "Red stars -and variable stars affect the neighborhood of the Milky Way or of -well-marked star-streams. The constellation Orion is singularly rich -in objects of this class. It is here that the strange 'variable' -Betelgeuse lies. At present this star shows no sign of variation, -but a few years ago it exhibited remarkable changes." We thus see -that Betelgeuse is a variable star, and it must have passed in its -different variations between the limits of extreme brilliancy, in which -the lines of hydrogen appear bright, and that of a less brilliant -stage, in which they appear dark,--that is, as absorption bands. It -has thus, in fact, run the gamut, so to speak, of color changes, and -now occupies an intermediate position in the scale. In his article -"Star unto Star," the same writer says, "On this view we may fairly -assume that the darkness of the hydrogen lines is a characteristic -of stars at a much higher temperature than our sun and suns of the -same class." We have already seen that the spectra of stars of the -fourth type--Appleton's Cyclopædia, "Spectrum Analysis"--"show the -lines of hydrogen bright instead of dark, as though surrounded by -hydrogen glowing with a heat more intense than that of the central -orb itself." Professor Dunkin says, in his work "The Midnight Sky," -"One of the conclusions drawn by Kirchhoff from these experiments -is that each incandescent gas weakens, by absorption, rays of the -same degree of refrangibility as those it emits; or, in other words, -that the spectrum of each incandescent gas is reversed when this gas -is traversed by rays of the same refrangibility emanating from an -intensely luminous source which gives of itself a continuous spectrum -like that of the sun." ... "The third division, including Betelgeuse, -Antares, Alpha Herculis, and others of like color, seems to be -affected by something peculiar in their physical composition, as if -their photospheres contained a quantity of gas at a lower temperature -than usual. The stars in this class have generally a ruddy tint, -probably owing to their light having undergone some modification -while passing through an absorbing atmosphere.... A great number of -the stars in the third division are variable in their lustre." We may -therefore readily conclude that midway between the inverted lines which -constitute the dark absorption bands and the faint spectra which show -the bright lines of hydrogen direct there must be an atmosphere of -glowing hydrogen superposed upon a deeper one in such proportion that -it will not reveal its presence in the spectroscope at all; for when -the dark and light bands, which occupy precisely the same position in -the spectrum, are of approximately equal intensity the result will -obviously be the neutralization of both. That among a myriad suns, -some with dark hydrogen lines and some with bright, there should occur -occasionally an example corresponding to this point of divergence, -and especially among variable stars, is not only to be expected, but -is, in fact, confirmatory of the general hypothesis itself. It is an -exception which emphatically proves the rule, when we can trace the -operative cause which has produced it. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE PHENOMENA OF THE STARS. - - -Let us now consider the phenomena of the double stars. These -were formerly believed to be single orbs, but the more powerful -telescopes of recent years have shown them to consist of two suns, -each substantially similar to our own sun, revolving around each -other at a relatively small distance apart. In Appleton's Cyclopædia, -article "Star," we read, "It is noteworthy that few simple stars -show such colors as blue, green, violet, or indigo; but among double -and multiple star systems not only are these colors recognized, but -such colors as lilac, olive, gray, russet, and so on. A beautiful -feature in many double stars remains to be noticed: it is often found -that the components exhibit complementary colors. This is oftener -seen among unequal doubles, and then the larger component shows a -color from the red end of the spectrum, as red, orange, or yellow, -while the smaller shows the corresponding color from the blue end, -as green, blue, or purple. The colors are real, not merely the result -of contrast, for when the larger star is concealed the color of the -smaller remains (in most cases) unchanged. Spectrum analysis shows -that the colors of many double stars are due to the absorptive vapors -cutting off certain portions of the light.... The components are -circling around each other, or rather around their common center of -gravity." Professor Ball, in his work "In the High Heavens," says, -"There is no more pleasing phenomenon in sidereal astronomy than -that presented by the contrasted hues often exhibited by double -stars.... It seemed not at all impossible that there might be some -optical explanation of colors so vividly contrasted emanating from -points so contiguous. It was also remembered that blue stars were -generally only present as one member of an associated pair.... When, -however, Dr. Huggins showed that the actual spectrum of the object -demonstrated that the cause of the color in each star arose from -absorption by its peculiar atmosphere, it became impossible to doubt -the reality of the phenomena. Since then it has been for physicists -to explain why two closely neighboring stars should differ so widely -in their atmospheric constituents, for it can be no longer contended -that their beautiful hues arise from an optical illusion." - -Of these double stars with complementary colors we quote the following -from Professor Dunkin (who, in turn, quotes from Admiral Smyth, the -author of "Sidereal Chromatics"): "In Eta Cassiopeiæ the large star -is a dull white and the smaller one lilac; in Gamma Andromedæ, a deep -yellow and sea-green; in Iota Cancri, a dusky orange and a sapphire -blue; in Delta Corvi, a bright yellow and purple; and in Albiero, -or Beta Cygni, yellow and blue. In most of the remaining stars of -the list the contrasting colors are equally marked, and also in many -others which are not included in it." Some of these double stars are -variable in their colors, as are the ordinary single variables, and, -of course, for a similar reason,--to wit, the varying intensity of -more or less cumulative planetary impacts. - -The interpretation, of course, as explained below, is that these suns, -each one of different mass and consequently of different electrical -resistance, are arranged in parallel circuit along a single line of -electric current; a pair of different-sized arc or incandescent lamps, -similarly arranged, would exhibit precisely the same phenomena. A -compound solar system of this sort, apparently, with double sun and -single planetary system in process of formation, nearly completed -from a spiral nebula, is shown in a gaseous nebula within the -constellation Ursa Minor, illustrated in Lord Rosse's drawing (see -Nichols "Architecture of the Heavens," Plate X., lower figure). - -More than three thousand of these binary stars have been catalogued, -and some of them make a complete revolution about their common -centers of gravity--so distant are they from each other--in periods -of not less than sixty, or even eighty, years. Of the double star -Mizar,--the middle one of the three which form the tail of the Great -Bear,--Professor Ball states that, by new methods of spectroscopic -analysis, the component stars which form this double have been found -to be one hundred and fifty millions of miles apart, while Alcor, a -smaller star, visible to the naked eye, and enormously farther from -Mizar than are the components of the latter from each other, moves -through space in a parallel direction and with the same velocity as -its double companion. What the connection may be, if any, we do not -know, but their identical course is obviously related to some common -circumstance of origin, as is the probable case with those other -groups of stars which drift through space together. They show that -solar systems are not necessarily individual creations, but may be -formed in groups at the same period of time, and by the operation of -natural laws simultaneously directed upon or into the creative matter -from which solar systems are built up and sent along their way. It -has been already shown that our sun has a motion around the center -of gravity of our own solar system, as a whole, similar to that of -the binary stars around each other, but that, by reason of his vast -relative mass (seven hundred and fifty to one for all the planets), -this center is always within the confines of his own volume. If, -however, our sun were divided into two suns one, two, or five million -miles apart, each revolving around a common center of gravity situated -between the two, and the planets revolving around the same center -of gravity, but relatively more distant, the planets would thus -rotate around both suns as a common center, and with the electric -polarity of both suns the same, as must necessarily be the case, -they would present phenomena precisely similar to those exhibited by -the double stars. And such might very easily be the case in even a -system so small as our own, for the planet Mercury has so elliptical -an orbit that its distance from the sun varies in different parts -of its annual movement from twenty-eight to forty-five millions -of miles. There would then be mutual electric repulsion of the two -solar electrospheres, such as we see in the case of comets and in -the sun's corona and long streamers. Professor Proctor, article -"The Sun's Long Streamers," says, "These singular appendages, like -the streamers seen by Professor Abbe, extend directly from the sun, -as if he exerted some repellent action.... I cannot but think that -the true explanation of these streamers, whatever it may be (I am not -in the least prepared to say what it is), will be found whensoever -astronomers have found an explanation of comets' tails.... Whether -the repulsive force is electrical, magnetic, or otherwise, does not -at present concern us, or rather does concern us, but at present we -are quite unable to answer the question." A similar example is to -be found in the self-repellent positive electrospheres of the earth -and moon, illustrated on a previous page, which, in fact, are types -among planets of precisely what we find in double stars. Now, if -these double central suns, with a common system of planets revolving -around them both, differ one from the other in size, they will differ -also in the depth and density of their hydrogen atmospheres, and the -electric forces directed against them will produce different results -in each. In one we will have high temperature, great volatilization, -and wide absorption bands; in the other, a shallow atmosphere, -a temperature below that of an extensive volatilization of its -metallic components, and a spectrum rich in light at the blue end, -while the former one will be correspondingly richer in the yellow -and red rays at the opposite and lower end of the spectrum. One, -in fact, will manifest the phenomena of blue-white stars, the other, -those of orange-red, but variously modified in a chromatic series. The -case may be extended to multiple stars, and complementary colors, -more or less perfect, may be almost predicated as the law of compound -solar bodies having cores like that of our sun, but each of different -mass, and surrounded by hydrogen atmospheres of different depths and -densities, both acted upon by the same exterior planetary electrical -currents. It is certainly true of double stars, and probably so of all -the others. Of course such enormously massive double suns presuppose -enormous planets, rotating around them at enormous distances; but -when we compare the distance of our own satellite, the moon, from -the earth with the distance of Neptune from the sun, and consider -that the light of the sun will reach Neptune in about four hours, and -then compare this distance with the inconceivable distances of space -requisite to retard and merge all radiant energy into the diffused -molecular energy of position, our wonder will cease. - -We have also to consider those single stars which (see Appleton's -Cyclopædia, article "Star") are variable in their brilliancy. "These -stars may be divided into periodic variables, irregular variables, -and temporary stars. Periodic variable stars are those which undergo -increase and diminution of light at regular intervals. Thus, the -star Mira, or Omicron of Cetus, varies in lustre, in a period of -three hundred and thirty-one and one-third days, from the second -magnitude to a faintness such that the star can only be seen with -a powerful telescope, and thence to the second magnitude again. It -shines for about a fortnight as a star of the second magnitude, -and then remains invisible for five months, the decrease of lustre -occupying about three months, the increase about seven weeks. Such -is the general course of its phases. It does not always, however, -return to the same degree of brightness, nor increase and diminish -by the same gradations; neither are the successive intervals of its -maxima equal. From recent observations and inquiries into its history, -the mean period would appear to be subject to a cyclical fluctuation -embracing eighty-eight such periods, and having the effect of gradually -lengthening and shortening alternately those intervals to the extent -of twenty-five days one way and the other. The irregularities in -the degree of brightness attained at the maximum are probably also -periodical.... It suggests a probable explanation of these changes of -brightness, that when the star is near its minimum, its color changes -from white to a full red, which, from what we know of the spectra of -colored stars, seems to indicate that the loss of brightness is due -to the formation of many spots over the surface of this distant sun. - -"Algol is another remarkable variable, passing, however, much more -rapidly through all its changes. It is ordinarily a second-magnitude -star, but during about seven hours in each period of sixty-nine hours -its lustre first diminishes until the star is reduced to a fourth -magnitude, and after it has remained twenty minutes at its minimum its -lustre is gradually restored. It remains a second-magnitude star for -about sixty-two hours in each period of sixty-nine hours. These changes -seem to correspond to what might be expected if a large opaque orb -is circling around this distant sun in a period of sixty-nine hours, -transiting its disk at regular intervals." - -Of this star, Professor Ball says, "Applying the improved spectroscopic -process to Algol, he [Vogel] determined on one night that Algol -was retreating from the earth at a speed of twenty-six miles per -second.... When Vogel came to repeat his observations, he found that -Algol was again moving with the same velocity, but this time towards -the earth instead of from it.... It appeared that the movements were -strictly periodic; that is to say, for one day and ten hours the star -is moving towards us, and then for a like time it moves from us, the -maximum speed being ... twenty-six miles a second.... It is invariably -found that every time the movement of retreat is concluded the star -loses its brilliance, and regains it again at the commencement of the -return movement.... The spectroscopic evidence admits of no other -interpretation save that there must be another mighty body in the -immediate vicinity of Algol.... Algol must be attended by a companion -star which, if not absolutely as devoid of intrinsic light as the -earth or the moon, is nevertheless dark relatively to Algol. Once in -each period of revolution this obscure body intrudes itself between -the earth and Algol, cutting off a portion of the direct light from -the star and thus producing the well-known effect." This is, in fact, -a periodic transit or eclipse of Algol by a planet, such as we see in -eclipses of our own sun by the moon and the inner planets, except that -Algol's planet is apparently single like our moon with reference to -the earth, and that it is relatively much larger than any of our own -planets, as we would necessarily suppose it to be, if solitary. Its -mass has been computed by the effects which it produces, and we learn -that it is not a dark sun with a brilliant planet, but a brilliant -sun with a dark planet, just as our solar system presents. "Algol, -at the moment of its greatest eclipse, has lost about three-fifths -of its light; it therefore follows that the dark satellite must have -covered three-fifths of the bright surface.... The period of maximum -obscuration is about twenty minutes, and we know the velocity of the -bright star, which, along with the period of revolution, gives the -magnitude of the orbit." From these data it has been computed that -the globe of Algol itself is about one-fourth larger than that of -our visible sun, but its mass is so much less that its weight is only -one-half that of our sun, so that its body is probably gaseous. The -author concludes, "No one, however, will be likely to doubt that it -is the law of gravitation, pure and simple, which prevails in the -celestial spaces, and consequently we are able to make use of it to -explain the circumstances attending the movements of Algol's dark -companion. This body is the smaller of the two, and the speed with -which it moves is double as great as that of Algol, so that it travels -over as many miles in a second as an express train can get over in an -hour. The companion of Algol is about the same size as our sun, but -has a mass only one-fourth as great. This indicates a globe of matter -which must be largely in the gaseous state, but which, nevertheless, -seems to be devoid of intrinsic luminosity. Their distance [apart] -is always some three million miles. This is, however, an unusually -short distance when compared with the dimensions of the two globes -themselves." With this exception, the author says, "the movements of -Algol and its companion are not very dissimilar to movements in the -solar system with which we are already familiar." It will be seen that -the want of luminosity in the dark companion of Algol finds a ready -explanation in the fact that it is a planet, acting precisely as our -own planets do, and that the luminosity of Algol itself is directly -attributable to the electricity developed by the presence of this -planet rotating axially and orbitally around it, and the darkness of -the planet itself is the necessary correlative of the heat and light -of its sun. The planet has about one-half the density of Saturn, while -Algol has one-half the density of the sun, and hence we should expect -to find on Algol an atmosphere largely composed of glowing hydrogen, -and on its planet an atmosphere largely composed of oxygen, in which, -doubtless, float enormous clouds of aqueous vapor. The interpretation -is direct and conclusive, and upon no other hypothesis can the facts -be explained, for their close connection with each other demonstrates -their common origin, and their masses are not so different one from the -other as to permit, on any theory of their coequal origin as suns, one -to glow with the fires of youth and energy and the other to have grown -dark and dead from old age and exhaustion, and especially so if still -in its gaseous stage, which is that which must characterize its highest -state of incandescent energy from the most active condensation of its -volume, if the nebular hypothesis has any validity whatever. In fact, -this example alone, if the constitution of Algol's dark satellite is -really gaseous, must go very far to throw the gravest doubt, in itself, -on the validity of this hypothesis. - -The star Beta, of the constellation Lyra, has a full period of twelve -days and twenty-two hours, divided into two periods of six days and -eleven hours, in each of which the star has a maximum brightness of -about the three and one-half magnitude, but in one period the minimum -is about the four and one-third magnitude, while in the other it -is about the four and one-half magnitude. This peculiarity points, -it is said, to an opaque orb with a satellite, the satellite being -occulted by the primary in the alternative transits, and therefore -the loss of light is less. - -The star Delta of Cepheus is quite different, however, for, while it -takes only one, day and fourteen hours in passing from its minimum -to maximum of brightness, it occupies three days and nineteen hours, -or somewhat more than double this time, in passing from maximum to -minimum. Two or three hundred of these variable stars are already -known. The above examples are cited in detail because they furnish -the strongest possible proof of the truth of the hypothesis which we -are endeavoring to present. While the movements of the stars Algol -and Beta Lyræ may find an adequate interpretation in the one case -in a large occulting planet, and in the other in an occulting planet -with a satellite, it is obvious that Mira and Delta Cephei cannot be -explained except by the presence of planetary bodies or satellites -which do not mechanically occult the light of their suns. In these -regularly variable stars it is the light which varies, but of course -the solar heat must vary also,--that is to say, the solar energy varies -regularly, but with unequal periods of growth and decline and with -larger periods of cyclical variation in addition. Such variations can -only be produced by the action of permanently connected and orbitally -rotating planetary bodies, acting dynamically through space, to -regularly increase and diminish the solar energy, and such bodies can -only do this by their orbital positions with reference to each other -and to the central sun itself. In this case, since the activity of -solar energy is most unquestionably varied by the planetary energies, -by their position and movements, at least a portion of solar energy -must be due to planetary action, and if this be so, it may be affirmed -with certainty that substantially all solar energy may be produced in -the same way; for, otherwise, we seek for two diverse causes to produce -a single effect, which may be produced by one. We have no knowledge, -however, of any planetary energy which could operate to increase or -diminish the energy of the central sun in its emission of light, except -that which we have already presented, and no theory of our own sun's -energy hitherto advanced has ever taken cognizance of the planetary -energies of our system as an effective cause for those of the sun. But -while the sun's energy is--as it must be in this case--the outcome of -that of the planets, it is equally obvious that the planets themselves -can have no permanent, inherent energy of their own to generate or -modify such energy of the sun, since they are in fact supplied by -the solar energy, and their motions are controlled and regulated by -the sun itself. Hence the inference is irresistible that the planets -must derive their primary force from an external source not solar, -and this they can only do by means of their rotation in space, and -the only force derivable from space of which we have any knowledge -is electricity, so that the circle thus becomes complete. How now -shall we explain these periodical aberrations of energy? The color -of a star, as we know, is no criterion of its age or size. The color -is due to atmospheric absorption of the radiant light. The double -stars, for example, revolve around each other at regular periods, -and they are necessarily of nearly the same age, as sidereal ages -are computed, but they frequently differ one from the other in color, -and multiple stars may be all different each from the others; and the -color, as before stated, is no criterion of size, for a small sun, -with its glowing hydrogen in a state of high incandescence, and with -few absorption bands in its spectrum, will appear bluish-white, or of -that specific type of stars, without reference to size, while a much -larger sun, with its light darkened by broad absorption bands and -sun-spots, will appear orange or red; and, consequently, difference -of color can be no criterion of distance, since a blue-white star of -small size will outshine a red orb of much greater magnitude, whether -it be more or less distant. The variable stars, for these reasons, -belong to the order of red stars mostly, if not altogether. We must -also bear in mind that sun-spots do not diminish the solar heat, as -they are the result of increased and not of diminished energy. Electric -currents of high potential pass directly, as we know, along the lines -of least resistance to their opposite center of polarity, so that two -planets nearly in conjunction with each other transmit their currents -almost directly towards the sun's center, and upon the same point -of solar latitude, while, if at right angles with the sun, they must -deliver their electricity along converging lines and thus strike the -solar surface at different points. Currents of electricity of high -potential also (see "Electricity in the Service of Man," page 75), -by their own passage, facilitate the passage of succeeding currents, -so that generators discharging along the same lines find less and -less resistance. It is true that we find no appreciable resistance -in the passage of these currents between the earth and the sun, as -their velocity is that of light, but both light and electricity may -be equally retarded by resistance in a small degree. We know also -that in the condensed hydrogen atmosphere of the sun there must be -resistance, and also that the resistance in fluids diminishes as the -temperature rises. Considering now the variable star Mira, as above -described, we observe, as is the case with Delta Cephei, also cited, -that the period between its greatest light, in a descending scale, -and its least is about twice as long as its rise from minimum to -maximum. During a period of four years (1672 to 1676) it is said that -it was not visible at all. - -If Mira be considered a relatively small sun, with its axis strongly -inclined to the planetary plane, and having three planets only, two of -them constituting a double planet, like the earth and moon, but nearly -equal in size, and having a rotation about the sun in nearly eleven -months and a rotation about each other in the same period, and, besides -these, a much more distant large planet, something like our Jupiter, -with an orbital period of many years, so that the cycle of relative -positions is complete in about eighty-eight of the shorter periods of -variation, we would have such results as we see in Mira. Twice in each -revolution of the double planet its two members and their sun would be -in conjunction, and we would have great brilliancy and whiteness until -the metallic elements began to volatilize in increased proportions; -then an era of wide absorption bands and redness, gradually increasing -to a maximum after its periods of greatest light, and then slowly -diminishing as the double planet advanced in its rotation; and, -finally, as it again approached conjunction, the brilliant hydrogen -illumination, subsequently followed by the gradually darkened spectrum, -and so on, while the large outer planet by its various positions -would first relatively retard and then accelerate the variation -until its grand cycle was complete. The permanent disappearance for -years, if true, may be due to other causes, which will be referred -to in considering the phenomena of new and temporary stars. Many of -the irregular variables may doubtless be similarly explained,--our -own sun, in fact, being a variable with a period of about eleven -years,--and doubtless the apparent irregularity in most cases is -due to lack of sufficient time for observation. Those stars which -are in fact really irregular in their variation owe their changes, -doubtless, to the same causes which produce new stars, so called, -and "suns in flames," which will be next considered. - -Among the countless stars of heaven a great catastrophe seems -occasionally to occur. A star bursts out into sudden flame, to all -appearance, or a great fixed star appears where no star had ever been -seen before. In Professor Proctor's article, "Suns in Flames" ("Myths -and Marvels of Astronomy"), we will find an extended discussion of -these wonderful phenomena. The astronomer Tycho Brahe described the -one which appeared in 1572 as follows: "It suddenly shone forth in -the constellation Cassiopeia with a splendor exceeding that of stars -of the first magnitude, or even Jupiter or Venus at their brightest, -and could be seen by the naked eye on the meridian at full day. Its -brilliancy gradually diminished from the time of its first appearance, -and at the end of sixteen months it entirely disappeared, and has never -been seen since. During the whole time of its apparition its place in -the heavens remained unaltered, and it had no annual parallax, so that -its distance was of the same order as that of the fixed stars." Tycho -described its changes of color as follows: first, as having been of a -bright white; afterwards of a reddish-yellow, like Mars or Aldebaran; -and, lastly, of a leaden white, like Saturn. In 1604 a first-magnitude -star suddenly appeared in the right foot of Ophiucus. "It presented -appearances resembling those shown by the former, and disappeared -after a few months." Many other cases are cited by astronomers, and -in 1866 "a star appeared in the Northern Crown, the observations of -which threw great light on the subject of so-called new stars. In -the first place, it was found that where this new star appeared there -had been a tenth-magnitude star; the new star, then, was in reality -a star long known, which had acquired new brilliancy. "When first -observed with this abnormal lustre, it was shining as a star of the -second magnitude. Examined with the spectroscope, its light revealed a -startling state of things in those remote depths of space. The usual -stellar spectrum, rainbow-tinted and crossed by dark lines, was seen -to be crossed also by four exceedingly bright lines, the spectrum of -glowing hydrogen.... The greater part of the star's light manifestly -came from this glowing hydrogen, though it can scarcely be doubted -that the rest of the spectrum was brighter than before the outburst, -the materials of the star being raised to an intense heat. The maximum -brightness exceeded that of a tenth-magnitude star nearly eight hundred -times. After shining for a short time as a second-magnitude star, -it diminished rapidly in lustre, and it is now between the ninth -and tenth magnitudes" (Appleton's Cyclopædia). Of this new star, -Professor Ball says, "Another memorable achievement in the early part -of Dr. Huggins's career is connected with the celebrated new star that -burst forth in the Crown in 1866. It seemed a fortunate coincidence -that just at the moment when the spectroscope was beginning to be -applied to the sidereal heavens a star of such marvellous character -should have presented itself.... The feature which made the spectrum -of the new star essentially distinct from that of any other star -that had been previously observed was the presence of certain bright -lines superposed on a spectrum with dark lines of one of the ordinary -types. The position of certain of these lines showed that one of the -luminous gases must be hydrogen.... The spectroscope showed that there -must have been something which we may describe as a conflagration -of hydrogen on a stupendous scale, and this outburst would account -for the sudden increase in luminosity of the star, and also to some -extent explain how so stupendous an illumination, once kindled, could -dwindle away in so short a time as a few days." It will be seen that -these new stars leap suddenly into great brilliancy: it is a matter -of a few hours only. After remaining a very short time in this stage -of abnormal incandescence, they gradually die out again in lustre and -revert to their original condition; they are not consumed either in -body or atmosphere. - -Several theories have been advanced to account for these remarkable -phenomena; see "Suns in Flames," by Professor Proctor. One is, in -effect, that by some sudden "internal convulsion a large volume of -hydrogen and other gases was evolved from it, the hydrogen by its -combination with some other element giving out the lines represented -by the bright lines, and at the same time heating to a point of -vivid incandescence the solid matter of the star's surface.... As the -liberated hydrogen gas became exhausted the flame gradually abated, -and with the consequent cooling the star's surface became less vivid -and the star returned to its original condition;" which, by the way, -it never could have done if its atmosphere had been exposed to such a -disintegration, without the construction of an entirely new atmosphere -precisely similar to the one just destroyed. The process would be one -of simple combustion. It requires the evolution of enormous volumes -of hydrogen from within the planet, and of other enormous volumes of -something else, by which to burn it up and yet not burn up the original -hydrogen envelope. This other element could not have previously -existed outside the solar body and contiguous thereto, or it would -have burned up the ordinary hydrogen envelope of the sun long before, -as well as the metallic vapors floating therein. Both these mutually -hostile gases must have come from within, and this is manifestly -impossible, as we should thus have explosion and solar destruction, -but not combustion. There is no reason to believe that hydrogen, -the lightest of elements, could have remained occluded within the -solar mass, to the exclusion of the heavier metals, if disassociated, -and if held combined no such sudden liberation could occur. Besides, -such convulsion would be impossible in any sun at all resembling ours, -as any further liberation of gases from internal condensation must be -due to solar contraction, hence gradual, and not sudden. Moreover, -such liberation of hydrogen gas from within would show its spectrum -loaded, at its earliest eruption, with absorption bands; and, finally, -the convulsion presupposes as great an activity, and consequently as -great a difficulty, before the phenomenon as the phenomenon itself -presents; for such vast disturbance of mass would be more difficult -to account for, and require more energy to produce, than the results -themselves. Moreover, the whole mass of the star appeared to increase -equally in temperature, as shown by the spectrum, and, if produced by -an internal convulsion, this must have extended to, if not proceeded -from, its core; so that while the combustion of hydrogen might have -ceased in a very brief time, the intense heat of the solar mass could -not have been dissipated for thousands of years. It would, in fact, -have disrupted the whole orb. - -Another theory is that this vast incandescence was caused by the -"violent precipitation of some mighty mass--perhaps a planet--upon -the globe of that remote sun, by which the momentum of the falling -mass would be changed into molecular motion; in other words, into -heat and light." This theory is no more plausible than the other, -since it fails to account for the enormous volume of hydrogen, with -bright lines, as a result of such contact; while Professor Proctor -very clearly shows that such contact would have been preceded, -necessarily, by repeated partial grazings, as the outside body -repeatedly passed in swifter and closer passage by the sun in its -gradually approaching orbital revolutions, and that the increase -of light and heat must have been measured by years instead of by -hours. The same difficulties exist in the supposed passage of the star -through nebulæ or star clouds, of which Professor Proctor says, "As -for the rush of a star through a nebulous mass, that is a theory which -would scarcely be entertained by any one acquainted with the enormous -distances separating them.... All we certainly know suggests that the -distances separating them from each other are comparable with those -which separate star from star." In fact, no tenable theory has been -advanced which will cover the phenomena. Professor Proctor describes -a star which flamed out in 1876. At midnight, November 24, a star -of the third magnitude was noticed in the constellation of the Swan; -its light was very yellow; its brilliancy rapidly faded. On December -2 it was equal to a star of the fifth magnitude only, and the color, -which had been yellow, was now greenish-blue. "The star's spectrum -at this time consisted almost entirely of bright lines. December 5 he -found three bright lines of hydrogen, the strong double line of sodium, -the triple line of magnesium, and two other lines. One of these last -seemed to agree exactly in position with a bright line belonging -to the corona seen around the sun during total eclipse." The star -afterwards faded away gradually until quite invisible to the naked -eye. It will be noticed that none of the above elements--sodium, -potassium, or magnesium--are such as would combine with hydrogen -to produce the phenomena in question. Professor Proctor concludes, -"This evidence seems to me to suggest that the intense heat which -suddenly affected this star had its origin from without." He suggests -possible meteoric flights; but meteoric stones themselves are separated -in space by enormous distances, and these, if converged in orbital -flight, would present the same phenomena of successive grazings as -a small planet approaching under like circumstances, and by their -gradually increasing incandescence we should certainly have other -elements visible in the spectroscope besides those observed. And these -meteoric bodies, if projected into the sun, would pass in a very brief -time through the hydrogen envelope, producing only local phenomena, -so that their first blow would be manifested in volatilization of the -outer portions of the mass and broad absorption bands, and consequent -redness of the planet, exhibiting great heat, but not great light. In -such case the bright lines of hydrogen, if they appeared at all, would -only be visible as an after-consequence, and not at the earliest moment -of conflagration,--that is, the star might grow from red to white, -but by no possibility the reverse. It is, however, characteristic -of these new stars that their first flash, as it were, is into the -incandescence of directly glowing hydrogen, with its bright lines, -then through a series of gradually increasing sun-spots, and finally -a slow return to their original condition and apparent magnitude. It -is obviously a surface phenomenon of the solar atmosphere, primarily, -then followed by consequences involving only the outer surface of the -solar core, but with no observable permanent change in the character -or constitution of the mass of the sun itself. These characteristics -are invariable, and the sequence of phenomena is the same in all the -cases observed. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -TEMPORARY STARS, METEORS, AND COMETS. - - -What, then, is the probable cause of these terrific conflagrations, -as they appear to us? Take an ordinary electric induction machine,--a -Holtz or a Wimshurst,--and, if the surrounding air is moist, as we -operate it we will find that the results are poor, the sparks short -and relatively few; but let us take the machine into another room -in which the atmosphere is dry and crisp. A wondrous change will -occur, and instead of a current which could scarcely flash across -a few inches of space, we will now have so great an increase of -energy that its tension will even cause the spark to perforate and -destroy the glass walls of the heavy Leyden jars in which it is -condensed. The vast realms of space, with their attenuated vapors, -are the field in which the planetary electric generators operate, -and into which, likewise, myriads of suns constantly pour their -light and heat. We may consider this space, according to the popular -view, to be uniform in constitution and density throughout all its -parts,--that it is, in fact, like a vast, silent, and motionless dead -sea. But this cannot possibly be true, any more than throughout the -vast compass of our own atmosphere; for while some parts of space are -peopled by millions of solar systems, others, as we can plainly see, -so far as telescopic vision extends, are comparatively vacant. Far -more electricity is being abstracted (so to speak) in some parts of -space than in others, and far more heat and light are being poured -back to restore the equilibrium in some than in others. We have -already seen that the temperature at the exterior surface of the -terrestrial atmosphere is estimated to be more than two hundred -degrees higher than in the realms of open interplanetary space; -hence there must be currents,--currents of rotation like cyclones, -vortical currents like whirlwinds, currents of transmission like our -land- and sea-breezes and the trade-winds,--and, in fact, all space -must be in a state of constant displacement and replacement, and, if -visible, we should see it like a vast room filled with smoke, in which -currents of every shape and direction and of all velocities would be -manifest. Such currents could throw nebulæ during their condensation -into rotation which could never rotate of their own motion, or gather -to centers of aggregation vast whirling clouds of spatial matter, -and in the spiral nebulæ we may see many such movements of rotation in -apparent active progress. Of these we read in Appleton's Cyclopædia, -"They have the appearance of a maelstrom of stellar matter, and are -among the most interesting objects in the heavens." In Professor -Nichol's splendid work ("The Architecture of the Heavens," 1850) -we may see magnificent engravings of these wonderful phenomena, -from the drawings by Lord Rosse, and no one can study these figures -without realizing the presence of vast currents in space. - -In the great spiral nebula in the constellation Canes Venatici (see -illustration in Chapter XII.) we perceive that the tail of the smaller -nebula has been drawn into the outer convolution of the great spiral, -against the radial repulsion of the latter nebula, as we can see by -its curvature. This can only be due to a tremendous inflowing current -in space. Were the deflection due to gravity the trend would be to the -center and not to the outer convolution of the larger nebula. Professor -Nichol says, "The spiral figure is characteristic of an extensive -class of galaxies." Not only in the spiral, but in other forms of -nebulæ we may observe these currents of space, so that we cannot fail -to perceive that they exist, and we should even conclude, a priori, -that these must exist. - -In the elongated linear nebula in Sobieski's Crown, illustrated -above, its length is deflected into irregular curves apparently due -to counter-currents of space. These gaseous nebulæ, Flammarion says, -"appear like immense vaporous clouds tossed about by some rough winds, -pierced with deep rents, and broken in jagged portions." It may be -said generally that every sun, as it drifts through space, must leave -a wake of increased electric potential among the molecules which -line its pathway. Beyond the limits of every vortex extend radial -or tangential, polar or equatorial, streams of space, and these -must extend without limit until deflected or neutralized by other -conditions. Throughout all space, just as in our own atmosphere, -but vastly more slowly, there must be an infinitude of movements in -every direction,--movements in lines, circles, vortices, ellipses and -irregular curvatures, and of all possible varieties of mass and volume. - -Suppose, now, a sailing vessel lighted with incandescent lamps, -the electrical currents for the support of which are derived from -the chemical action of sea-water on multiple pairs of suitable -metallic plates arranged to extend downward as a galvanic battery -into the ocean as the ship sails along, and that these plates, -by the chemical action of the sea-water at ordinary, temperatures, -should furnish a sufficient current to properly light the vessel. If -the constancy of such current depended on the average temperature -of the sea-water, at, say, sixty degrees Fahrenheit, we should find -that, on suddenly crossing into the Gulf Stream, with a temperature -twenty degrees higher, the energy of the battery would be rapidly -increased and the lights would glow with increased brilliancy until, -on emerging from the Gulf Stream at its opposite side, the original -status would be gradually restored. If these distant solar systems, -in their drift through space, should encounter a corresponding stream -under an increased molecular tension, more highly heated, for example, -or charged with electrical potential by the surrounding solar systems, -or otherwise, we should expect a similar result to ensue,--that the -currents would be increased suddenly, both in quantity and intensity, -and all the phenomena of "blazing" stars be revealed in the precise -order in which we see them. Professor Proctor seems to have had -some such idea of space vaguely in his mind when he says, in his -"Familiar Essays," "One is invited to believe that the star may have -been carried by its proper motions into regions where there is a more -uniform distribution of the material whence this orb recruits its -fires. It may be that, in the consideration of such causes of variation -affecting our sun in long-past ages, a more satisfactory explanation -than any yet obtained may be found of the problem geologists found -so perplexing,--the former existence of a tropical climate in places -within the temperate zone, or even near the arctic regions. Sir John -Herschel long since pointed to the variation of the sun as a possible -cause of such changes of climate." In confirmation of the view that -such changes may be due to the passage of a solar system into or -through such a "Gulf Stream" of space, we quote the following from -Professor Proctor's "Suns in Flames:" "It is noteworthy that all the -stars which have blazed out suddenly, except one, have appeared in -a particular region of the heavens,--the zone of the Milky Way (all, -too, in one-half of that zone). The single exception is the star in -the Northern Crown, and that star appeared in a region which I have -found to be connected with the Milky Way by a well-marked stream -of stars; not a stream of a few stars scattered here and there, but -a stream where thousands of stars are closely aggregated together, -though not quite so closely as to form a visible extension of the Milky -Way.... Now, the Milky Way and the outlying streams of stars connected -with it seem to form a region of the stellar universe where fashioning -processes are still at work." In just such regions of potential energy -should we look for such currents in space, as, on our own earth, -the Gulf Stream and the trade-winds, as well as cyclones and other -atmospheric movements, find their origin under precisely parallel -circumstances,--to wit, the outpour upon and direct precipitation of -increased quantities of heat at the tropics or other local centers -of such development. The effects of such an increase of quantity and -potential in an electrical current are clearly illustrated in the -device previously referred to, in which electrolytic decomposition -was effected in a pail of water; we find it also in the burning out -of the brushes and commutators in dynamo-electric machines and in -telegraphic apparatus during thunder-storms and the like. Allowing a -solar system a drift through space only equal to that of our own, which -has a relatively slow movement, it would traverse such a "Gulf Stream" -of space seven hundred thousand miles wide in a single day. But it may -not even have passed through; it may merely have grazed the margin of -such a current; for the motions of solar systems are not controlled by -the same forces as those upon which their electrical energies depend. - -Professor Ball, in his chapter on the great heat-wave of 1892, says, -"Towards the end of July an extraordinarily high temperature, even -for that period of the year, prevailed over a very large part of the -North American continent. The so-called heat-wave then seems to have -travelled eastward and crossed the Atlantic Ocean; ... a fortnight -after the occurrence of unusually great heat in the New World there -was a similar experience in the Old World.... This discussion will at -all events enable us to make some reply to the question which has often -been asked, as to what was the cause of the great heat-wave.... It is, -however, quite possible that certain changes in progress on the sun -may act in a specific manner on our climate.... It cannot be denied -that local, if not general, changes in the sun's temperature must be -the accompaniment of the violent disturbances by which our luminary -is now and then agitated. It is, indeed, well known that there are -occasional outbreaks of solar activity, and that these recur in a -periodic manner; it is accordingly not without interest to notice that -the present year has been one of the periods of this activity. We -are certainly not going so far as to say that any connection has -been definitely established between a season of exuberant sun-spots -and a season remarkable for excessive warmth; but, as we know that -there is a connection between the magnetic condition of the earth -and the state of solar activity, it is by no means impossible that -climate and sun-spots may also stand in some relationship to each -other." These local deviations are doubtless due to planetary positions -with reference to the sun, but more general variations must depend upon -the constitution of such parts of space as the solar system may occupy; -but even then they will be but temporary, since the sun's volume will -rapidly expand or contract so as finally to restore the normal emission -of solar heat, as will be further explained later on in this work. - -There are other causes also, readily conceivable, for such increased -electrical action; for instance, in that thickly-peopled region of -space, two solar systems adjacent might easily have their exterior -planets so related to each other as suddenly, at their points of -nearest approach, to cause one or more to direct an abnormally large -electrical current into the sun of the adjacent system; this would -correspond in electric energy, in fact, to a violent "perturbation" -in its orbit by the action of gravity produced by a neighboring -planet or system. No reversal of polarity could take place between -these planets under these circumstances, any more than between the -earth and the moon. In some portions of the Milky Way, doubtless, -suns blaze by dozens across the sky at night, and by day as well, -to which, in our more solitary skies, we are strangers. Revolving -in perfect harmony, perturbations must nevertheless be frequent, and -to what limits they may there be confined we shall never know until -we realize the extent of these galaxies and the relative contiguity -of their solar systems to each other. It is enough to show how such -variations may occur; in what particular way they do occur does not -affect the question of their origin. Even if such increased energy -were to continue by permanently increased planetary action, it is not -necessary to suppose that a corresponding permanent increase of light -and heat would result on the part of the sun, for its density is such -(only one-fourth that of the earth) that, under the tremendous force -of its gravity (twenty-seven and one-tenth times that of the earth), -its constituents cannot be maintained in solid form, but must be, -as before stated, either liquid or gaseous, and perhaps in part -both. Now, as it has been computed that the sun, by contraction to -its present density, would have evolved its present light and heat -for a period of millions of years, it is obvious that any increase in -its present volume, without increase of mass, would produce precisely -opposite and compensated results, so that the sun could receive from -outside sources as much heat as would expand its present volume -to that at the initial point of such assumed condensation without -increased emission of light and heat. The sun is thus, in effect, -a self-compensating machine, and its passage through a region of -increased electrical generation would first manifest itself in -a vast increase of brilliancy, due to higher incandescence of its -hydrogen envelope; this, in turn, would be communicated to the deeper -structures of the sun, producing increased volatilization and dark -absorption bands, and finally to the whole solar mass, expanding -its volume in proportion to the heat absorbed. Hence we should see -precisely the phenomena that we do see in flaming stars or so-called -new stars. We find such compensations all through nature, and it is -simply in accordance with her universal laws that they occur. It is a -singular circumstance that the catastrophe which is foretold in the -biblical record as the termination of all human life on earth, for -the present cycle, at least, should be almost literally in accordance -with the phenomena characteristic of such an increase of solar energy, -and one produced in some such manner. If the temperature of the solar -atmosphere were rapidly raised by increased planetary action to a -point which would reverse the lines of hydrogen from dark to bright, -say to a brightness eight hundred times that of the normal, as in -the case of the temporary star cited, though the heat would not, of -course, be increased in any such proportion, yet the heavens would be -indeed rolled up as a scroll, and all life would be extinguished in a -very brief period. But the planets would continue to roll along their -orbits, the integrity of the earth's mass would still be intact, and -after a few days or weeks the sun would begin to decline in brightness, -the volatilized vapors would slowly recede within the solar atmosphere, -and the temperature would gradually fall again to its normal, leaving, -however, a lifeless world to roll on its way henceforth, but as bright -and cheerful in all its possibilities, when the former conditions had -gradually become restored, as before. Perhaps some distant astronomer -in the neighborhood of Sirius--if we shall have travelled so far away -by that time--might send a note to the morning papers to announce -that the temporary star near Alpha Centauri had again receded to the -tenth magnitude. In due time--perhaps a thousand years--all would be -ready for a new development of life, and the cycle would continue as -before. Perchance, too, in some deep abyss, or buried far beneath -the surface, some germs of life might still continue to exist; -and from these, like the seeds resurrected from buried mummies, -a new life might again begin, guided along once more through vast -ages in a progressive ascent from development to development until, -in some new and strange forms, the higher types of life might again -appear. To these there would indeed be revealed a new heaven and a -new earth. Who knows how many such cycles of life may have come and -gone on earth, in which, like the dwellers of Jerusalem, new peoples -have built new cities, one above another, upon the unknown graves of -the past? In the words of Tennyson,-- - - - "A wondrous eft was of old the Lord and Master of earth, - For him did his high sun flame, and his river billowing ran, - And he felt himself in his force to be Nature's crowning race. - As nine months go to the shaping an infant ripe for his birth, - So many a million of ages have gone to the making man: - He now is first, but is he the last?" - - -Whatever the coming, the progress, or the going of life on earth, -the course of our solar system will go on the same, the processes of -creation unchanged and her mechanism unimpaired. It is obvious that -no such conditions could prevail in the return to unorganizable chaos -which must be the consequence of any possible planetary collisions -in space. No conceivable process of creation could return a system -disrupted into meteorites to an operative solar system again. Even -the nebular hypothesis contemplates nothing of that sort as, by the -wildest conjecture, ever possible. But with us the danger is far -distant. Professor Proctor says, in his article "Suns in Flames," -"As Sir William Herschel long since pointed out, we can recognize in -various parts of the heavens various stages of development, and chief -among the regions where as yet nature's work seems incomplete is the -Galactic zone,--especially that half of it where the Milky Way consists -of irregular streams and clouds of stellar light. As there is no reason -for believing that our sun belongs to this part of the galaxy, but, -on the contrary, good ground for considering that he belongs to the -class of insulated stars, few of which have shown signs of irregular -variation, while none have ever blazed suddenly out with many hundred -times their former lustre, we may fairly infer a very high degree of -probability in favor of the belief that, for many ages still to come, -the sun will continue steadily to discharge his duties as fire, light, -and life of the solar system." The passage of our system through -gradually changing regions of space, as contrasted with streams -or vortices, could not affect our sun's light even temporarily, as -the contraction and expansion of its volume would fully compensate -for any such gradual or partial variation, and, by position, he is -far from likely to pass into any of those whirlpools or torrents of -space which seem to mark at irregular intervals the region of the -irregularly variable stars. - -Allied in appearance to such stars which suddenly flame out in space, -but totally different in reality, are comets. These strangers to our -own system have excited the wonder and astonishment of mankind from -the earliest ages. They seem to defy all rules and all explanation; -but, when properly examined, they will fall inevitably into the -general scheme of the source and mode of solar energy which we -have endeavored to present. These bodies enter our solar system -from without. Appleton's Cyclopædia says, "Schiaparelli, to whom -the discovery is in part due, considers the meteors to be dispersed -portions of the comet's original substance,--that is, of the substance -with which the comet entered the solar domain." Professor Proctor, -"Meteoric Astronomy," says, "A word or two may be permitted on the -question of the condition of comets freshly arriving on the scene of -the solar system. It is assumed sometimes that the train of meteors -already exists when the comet first comes within the solar domain." In -the "Romance of Astronomy" (R. Kalley Miller, M.A.) it is said, -"In a sort of debatable territory between our own solar system and -the infinite stellar universe around we come upon these erratic -and anomalous bodies--the comets; some of which have accidentally -become permanent attendants upon our sun; others have only paid it a -single casual visit in the course of their wanderings through space, -and are not likely again to come within the range of its attracting -influence; while countless millions are doubtless scattered throughout -the realms of the infinite, whose existence will never be revealed -to human ken at all." Professor Helmholtz, in fact (see addendum -to his lecture on the origin of the planetary system), advanced the -idea in a speculative way, that our terrestrial life might have had -its origin in one of these meteoric bodies by the "transmission of -organisms through space." In Professor Proctor's article on comets -("Mysteries of Time and Space") he says, "The paths followed by -comets show no resemblance either to the planetary orbits or to each -other. Here we see a comet travelling in a path of moderate extent -and not very eccentric; then another which rushes from a distance -of two or three thousand millions of miles, approaches the sun with -ever-increasing velocity until nearer to him than parts of his own -corona (as seen in eclipses), sweeps around him with inconceivable -rapidity, and makes off again to where the aphelion of its orbit lies -far out in space beyond the most distant known planet,--Neptune. Some -comets travel in a direct, some in a retrograde path; a few near the -plane of the earth's orbit, many in planes showing every variety of -inclination. Some comets regularly return after intervals of a few -years; some after hundreds of years; others are only seen once or -twice, and then unaccountably vanish; and not a few show by the paths -they follow that they have come from interstellar space to pay our -system but a single visit, passing out again to traverse we know not -what other systems or regions.... When we have said that these objects -obey the law of gravity, we have mentioned the only circumstance--as -it would appear--in which they conform to the relations observed in -terrestrial and planetary arrangements. And even this law--the widest -yet revealed to man--they seem to obey half unwillingly. We see the -head of a comet tracing out systematically enough its proper orbit, -while the comet's tail is all unruly and disobedient.... The fact, -then, is demonstrated that two of the meteor streams encountered by the -earth are so far associated with two comets as to travel on the same -orbits. We may not unsafely infer that all the meteor systems are in -like manner associated with other comets. Nor is it very rash to assume -that all comets are in like manner associated with meteor systems." - -Concerning the influence of gravitation of the planets, the same -author says ("Meteoric Astronomy"), "Now, the circumstances under -which a comet approaching the sun on a parabolic or hyperbolic orbit -can be thus affected must be regarded as exceptional. The planet's -influence must, in the first place, be very energetically exercised; -in other words, the arriving comet must pass very close to the planet, -for under any other circumstances the sun's influence so enormously -outvies the planet's that the figure of the cometic orbit would be -very little affected. Moreover, the planet's attraction must produce an -important balance of retardation. The planet will inevitably accelerate -the comet up to a certain point, and afterwards will retard it; the -latter influence must greatly exceed the former. To show how greatly -the comet must be retarded, it is only necessary to mention that the -actual velocity of the November meteors when they cross the orbit -of Uranus is less than one-third of the velocity with which Uranus -himself travels, but their velocity at the same distance from the -sun, when they were approaching him from some distant stellar domain, -exceeded the velocity of Uranus in his orbit in the proportion of about -seven to five.... It follows, not merely as a probable inference, but, -I think, as a demonstrated conclusion, that if the November meteors -came originally into our system as a comet travelling sunward from -infinity, then either that comet was very compact or else Uranus -captured only a small portion of the comet, the remaining portions -moving thenceforth on orbits wholly different from the path of the -November meteors.... No other planet than Uranus can have brought -about the subjection of this comet to solar rule." In his article on -comets he says, "It may be well here to consider a case in which some -active force (other than gravity) exerted by the sun seems to have -brought the destruction of a comet, or at least to have broken up -the comet into unrecognizable fragments." He refers to Biela's comet, -with an orbital period of six and two-thirds years, and a path which -was found to approach very near to the path of the earth. In 1832 the -comet crossed the earth's track several weeks before the arrival of -the earth at the same point without appreciable interference. On its -second return, in 1845-46, it was found to be divided into two comets -travelling side by side; in 1852 they reappeared, still divided, -and gradually diverging from each other. Since then they have never -reappeared, though diligently sought for at every period. Professor -Proctor adds, "It has been seen again, though not as a comet; nay, the -occasion on which it was seen in the way referred to was predicted, -and the prediction fulfilled, even in details. For a full account of -its reappearance--as a meteor stream--I refer the reader to my essay -on Biela's comet in 'Familiar Science Studies.'" - -In Miller's "Romance of Astronomy" we read, "Encke's comet, which -possesses the smallest orbit of any connected with our system, is -sensibly drawing nearer and nearer to the sun at every revolution." In -Professor Proctor's "Cometic Mysteries," the author says, "We hear -it stated that the nucleus of a comet is made up of meteoric stones -(Professor P. G. Tait says--for unknown reasons--that they resemble -'paving stones or even bricks') as confidently as though the earth had -at some time passed through the nucleus of a comet, and some of our -streets were now paved with stones which had fallen to the earth on -such an occasion. As a matter of fact, all that has yet been proved -is that meteoric bodies follow in the track (which is very different -from the tail) of some known comets, and that probably all comets -are followed by trains of meteors. These may have come out of the -head or nucleus in some way as yet unexplained; but it is by no means -certain that they have done so, and it is by many astronomers regarded -as more than doubtful. The most important point to be noticed in the -behavior of large comets as they approach the sun is, that usually the -side of the coma which lies towards the sun is the scene of intense -disturbance. Streams of luminous matter seem to rise continually -towards the sun, attaining a certain distance from the head, when, -assuming a cloud-like appearance, they seem to form an envelope -around the nucleus. This envelope gradually increases its distance -from the sun, growing fainter and larger, while within it the process -is repeated and a new envelope is formed. This, in turn, ascends -from the nucleus, expanding as it does so, while within it a new -envelope is formed. Meanwhile the first one formed has grown fainter, -perhaps has disappeared. But sometimes the process goes on so rapidly -(a day or two sufficing for the formation of a complete new envelope) -that several envelopes will be seen at the same time,--the outermost -faintest, the innermost most irregular in shape and most varied in -brightness, while the envelope or envelopes between are the best -developed and most regular. The matter raised up in these envelopes -seems to have undergone a certain change of character, causing it no -longer to obey the sun's attractive influence, but to experience a -strong repulsive action from him, whereby it is apparently swept away -with great rapidity to form the tail. 'It flows past the nucleus,' -says Dr. Huggins, 'on all sides, still ever expanding and shooting -backward until a tail is formed in the direction opposite to the -sun. This tail is usually curved, though sometimes rays or extra -tails sensibly straight are also seen.'" - -In "The Sun as a Perpetual Machine," Professor Proctor says, -"Take, again, the phenomena of comets, which still remain among the -greatest of nature's mysteries. We have reason to believe ... that -the nucleus of a comet consists of an aggregation of stones similar -to meteorites. Adopting this view, and assuming that these stones -have absorbed somewhere gases to the amount of six times their volume -(taken at atmospheric pressure), we may ask, What will be the effect -of such a mass of stones advancing towards the sun at a velocity -reaching in perihelion the prodigious rate of three hundred and -sixty-six miles per second (as observed in the comet of 1843), being -twenty-three times our orbital rate of motion?" Professor Ball says, -"One of the most important results of the great shower of 1866 was the -demonstration that the swarm of little bodies to which that shower -owed its origin was connected with a comet. The swarm was found, in -fact, to follow the exact track which the comet pursued around the -sun.... Of this connection between the cometary orbits and revolving -swarms of meteors many other instances could be cited. I may refer to -the remarkable lists published by the British Association, in which, -beside the name of the comet or the designation which astronomers had -affixed to it, the meteoric swarm with which the comet is associated -is also given.... On these grounds it appears to be perfectly certain -that the origin of the shooting stars which appear in swarms cannot -be disassociated from the origin of the comets by which those swarms -are accompanied." The author makes a distinction between such ordinary -shooting stars and meteorites, and attributes the appearance of the -latter on earth to masses thrown forth from some volcano somewhere, but -this has nothing to do with the special phenomena to be interpreted. It -may be said, however, that the presence of olefiant gas as one of -the occluded gases in a meteorite (four and fifty-five-hundredths per -cent., as stated by Professor Proctor, in his article "The Sun as a -Perpetual Machine"), and the remarkable fact, stated in the article -"Spectrum Analysis" in Appleton's Cyclopædia, that, in Winnecke's -comet of 1868, "the bands agree in position with those obtained as -the spectrum of carbon, by passing the electric spark through olefiant -gas, "would lead one to consider a cometic origin, for this particular -meteorite at least, to be highly probable. Professor Ball further says, -"There have been several instances in which a comet has approached -so close to a planet that the attraction between the two bodies must -have had significant influence on the planet, if the cometary mass -had been at all comparable with that of the more robust body. The -most celebrated instance is presented in the case of Lexell's comet, -which happened to cross the track of Jupiter. The effect upon this -body was so overwhelming that it was wrenched from its original path -and started afresh along a wholly different track." The same writer, -speaking of the tails of comets, says, "I have no intention to discuss -here the vexed question of the tails of comets. I do not now inquire -whether the repulsion by which the tail is produced be due to the -intense radiation from the sun, or to electricity, or to some other -agent. It is sufficient for our present purpose to note that, even if -the tails of comets do gravitate towards the sun, the attraction is -obscured by a more powerful repulsive force.... Nor do the directions -in which the comets move exhibit any conformity; some move round the -sun in one direction, some move in the opposite direction. Even the -planes which contain the orbits of the comets are totally different -from each other. Instead of being inclined at only a very few degrees -to their mean position, the planes of the comets hardly follow any -common law; they are inclined at all sorts of directions. In no respect -do the comets obey those principles which are necessary to prevent -constitutional disorder in the planetary system.... Now, all we have -hitherto seen with regard to comets tends to show that the masses of -comets are extremely small. Attempts have been made to measure them, -but have always failed, because the scales in which we have attempted -to weigh them have been too coarse to weigh anything of the almost -spiritual texture of a comet. It is unnecessary to go as far as some -have done, and to say that the weight of a large comet may be only -a few pounds or a few ounces. It might be more reasonable to suppose -that the weight of a large comet was thousands of tons, though even -thousands of tons would be far too small a weight to admit of being -measured by the very coarse balance which is at our disposal." In -the chapter "Visitors from the Sky," the same author says, "As such -a comet in its progress across the heavens passes between us and -the stars, those stars are often seen twinkling brilliantly right -through the many thousand miles of cometary matter which their rays -have to traverse. The lightest haze in our atmosphere would suffice -to extinguish the faint gleam of these small stars; indeed, a few -feet of mist would have more power of obstructing the stellar light -than cometary material scores of thousands of miles thick. It is -true that the central portions of many of these comets often exhibit -much greater density than is found in the exterior regions; still, -in the great majority of such objects there is no opacity, even in -the densest part, sufficient to put out a star. In the case of the -more splendid bodies of this description, it may be supposed that the -matter is somewhat more densely aggregated as well as more voluminous; -still, however, it will be remembered that the great comet of 1858 -passed over Arcturus, and that the star was seen shining brilliantly, -notwithstanding the interposition of a cometary curtain millions of -miles in thickness. So far as I know, no case is known in which the -nucleus of a really bright and great comet has been witnessed in the -act of passage over a considerable star. It would indeed be extremely -interesting to ascertain whether in such case the star experienced -any considerable diminution in its lustre." - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE PHENOMENA OF COMETS. - - -From the extracts thus cited we may form a fairly clear idea of the -phenomena which comets present, and these facts represent about all -that we know of these mysterious objects. They approach the sun -in a nearly radial direction, thus cutting the planetary orbits -transversely. They approach the sun from all directions and at -all angles, without reference to the common plane in which all the -planetary orbits lie. They have no rotation on their own axes, as the -planets have, but, like an aggregated mass of meteorites or cosmical -dust, rush inward from the exterior realms of space, so that their -course is diametrically opposite that of the planets and the other -cosmical bodies which constitute our solar system. Such a body as a -comet, in fact, would present in its approach to our solar system very -much the phenomena of an approaching exterior sun, corresponding far -more closely in appearance and behavior to our own sun than to any -of the planets. Such a body could not generate positive electricity, -as the planets do, but, on the contrary, must have an electrosphere -of negative, or at least neutral, polarity. On its approach to our -planetary system the batteries of all the planets would be at once -turned upon the intruder, and it would be rapidly thrown into the -same state of active electrical polarity as the sun. The aqueous -vapor condensed around its nucleus by gravity in its approach through -space, or buried among the meteoric particles constituting the -comet, would be necessarily decomposed into its constituent gases, -just as in the case of the sun, by the positive electrical currents -from the planetary electrospheres, and the disassociated hydrogen -would form the negative electrosphere of the comet, glowing with its -own luminosity, by gaseous incandescence. "We should then observe, -during its continued approach to the sun, phenomena similar to those -which we might expect to manifest themselves during the approach -of a minute solar body towards the sun, characterized by a rapid -increase of velocity, due to attraction of gravity, and tremendous -mutual repulsion between the solar and cometic electrospheres. We -should see the luminous hydrogen and associated gases boiling upward, -and thence drawn forward from the nucleus by the combined gravity -of the sun's mass, that of the planetary masses, and the opposite -polarity of the planetary electrospheres, while they would be, at -the same time, repelled backward by the enormous repulsive force of -the negative electrosphere of the sun. As a result, we should find -these gases in a state of ebullition, forced forward under great -excitement and disturbance, boiling, eddying about, driven to and fro -in all directions until the sun's repulsive force had overcome the -different attractions, when these luminous clouds or envelopes would -be swept swiftly off to the rear, as by a powerful current of wind, -around the margins of the nucleus, and they would be seen to stream -backward from the sun as an elongated envelope or tail. New volumes of -gas would pour to the front, attracted from deeper depths, and these, -on reaching the cometary electrosphere, would be again repelled by -the solar activity and driven to the rear, while the gases thus driven -backward, themselves similarly electrified, would mutually repel each -other as they streamed backward around the margins of the nucleus. - -Let us now see what these gases are: if they are such as appear -in the sun's electrosphere, we will know that such must be their -action; if, on the contrary, they are such as appear in planetary -electrospheres, we will find any such attempted explanation to be -a failure. Quoting largely from Dr. Huggins, Professor Proctor, in -his "Cometic Mysteries," says, "The spectrum of the brightest comet -of that year was partly continuous, and on this continuous spectrum -many of the well-known Fraunhofer lines could be traced. This made it -certain that part of the comet's light was reflected sunlight, though -Dr. Huggins considers also that a part of the continuous spectrum of -every comet is due to inherent light. On this point some doubt may -be permitted. It is one thing for special bands to show themselves, -for some substances may become self-luminous under special conditions -at very moderate temperatures; it is quite another thing that the -solid parts of a comet's substance should become incandescent. I -venture to express my opinion that this can scarcely happen, except -in the case of comets which approach very near to the sun. Besides -the continuous spectrum with dark lines, the photograph showed -also a spectrum of bright lines. 'These lines,' says Dr. Huggins, -'possessed extreme interest, for there was certainly contained within -this hieroglyphic writing some new information. A discussion of -the position of these new lines showed them to be undoubtedly the -same lines which appear in certain compounds of carbon. Not long -before Professors Liveing and Dewar had found from their laboratory -experiments that these lines are only present when nitrogen is also -present, and that they indicate a nitrogen compound of carbon,--namely, -cyanogen. Two other bright groups were also seen in the photograph, -confirming the presence of hydrogen,--carbon and nitrogen.' It is -worthy of notice that only a few days later Dr. H. Draper succeeded -in obtaining a photograph of the same comet's spectrum. It appeared -to him to confirm Dr. Huggins's statements, except only that the dark -Fraunhofer lines were not visible, the photograph having probably -been taken under less favorable conditions.... But the latest comet -has brought with it fresh news. Its spectrum is not like that given -by the comets we are considering. The bright lines of sodium are -seen in it, and also other bright lines and groups of lines which -have not yet been shown to be identical with any belonging to the -hydrocarbon groups, but probably are so.... The cyanogen groups are -not seen.... But it is manifest that this comet underwent important -changes.... In April was found simply a faint continuous spectrum; in -May the three bands associated with carbon were present, though faint, -while there was no trace whatever of the sodium band. On the contrary, -in June the nucleus of the comet gave a very strong and extended -continuous spectrum with an excessively strong bright line in the -orange-yellow identical with the well-known double sodium line of the -solar spectrum. On this ... it is necessary to conclude that during -the last fortnight of May the spectrum of Wells's comet had changed -in a manner of which the history of science furnishes no precedent." - -It should be observed that the elements carbon and hydrogen closely -resemble each other, not only in their multifarious chemical -affinities and reactions, but in their electric polarities, and the -hydrocarbon compounds, like their constituents, carbon and hydrogen, -are electrically similar to each other, an example of this similarity -of the elements being found in the identical action of the carbon -arc and hydrogen envelope in the heating and lighting experiments -with electrical currents hereinbefore described. - -We have already seen that carbon follows quite a different law from the -other concrete elements, in the fact that its electrical resistance -diminishes as the temperature rises; it also differs widely from -the other solid elements in its atomic heat, which has a value much -less than one-half the mean constant, which is 6.4. Of this matter of -specific heat, Professor Fownes, in his work on chemistry (Bridges' -edition), says, "Dulong and Petit observed in the course of their -investigation a most remarkable circumstance. If the specific heats -of bodies be computed upon equal weights, numbers are obtained all -different and exhibiting no simple relations among themselves; but if, -instead of equal weights, quantities be taken in the proportion of the -atomic weights, an almost perfect coincidence in the numbers will be -observed, showing that some exceedingly intimate connection must exist -between the relations of bodies to heat and their chemical nature; and -when the circumstance is taken into view that relations of even a still -closer kind link together chemical and electrical phenomena, it is not -too much to expect that ere long some law may be discovered far more -general than any with which we are yet acquainted.... Nevertheless, -this law must not be understood as perfectly general, for there are -three elements--namely, carbon, boron, and silicon" [these form a -single group of elements in chemical classification]--"which exhibit -decided exceptions to it." - -Organic chemistry is substantially based upon the almost infinitely -interchanging relations among carbon-hydrogen radicals, supplemented -by a few other elements. According to Professor Fownes, "Organic -chemistry is in fact the chemistry of carbon compounds." The position -of carbon among the elements is something like that of camphor among -the oils, the latter being a volatile oil, but concrete in form. With -a concrete element having the peculiar character of carbon we can -well understand its universal chemical and electrical relationship -with gaseous hydrogen in the grandest operations of nature. - -Cyanogen is an electrically similar compound of carbon with the -addition of nitrogen. Of these elements it will be seen that nitrogen -and hydrogen are found to exist also in the gaseous nebulæ, and with -the probable addition there of oxygen; but in comets the quota of -active oxygen must be sought for in the correlated planetary, and -not in the cometic, atmospheres, as is the case with the sun. Of -the presence of the vapor of carbon in comets Professor Ball says, -"This is a very singular fact, when it is remembered that carbon is -one of the substances essentially associated with life in the forms in -which we know it." Professor Huggins says, "Since that time the light -from some twenty comets has been examined by different observers. The -general close agreement in all cases, notwithstanding some small -divergencies, of the bright bands in the cometary light with those -seen in the spectrum of hydrocarbons justifies us fully in ascribing -the original light of these comets to matter which contains carbon -in combination with hydrogen." - -We may learn something further of the constitution of comets, -perhaps, by considering the chemical reactions which their spectra -seem to indicate. The following extract is from a recent article on -the manufacture of illuminating gas: "Ammonia contains 82.35 parts -of nitrogen and 17.65 of hydrogen. It is not produced by a direct -combination, for nitrogen can be caught and wedded only by a hot and -skilful wooing. In the gas retort, at a temperature of 2200 degrees -and in the presence of lime, soda, or potash, it will combine with -carbon and form cyanogen, and then further combine with the alkali -to form a cyanide. There is steam in the retort, and, as nearly -as the gas chemists can make out, the nitrogen promptly divorces -itself, gives up the carbon to the oxygen of the steam, and, taking -the hydrogen to itself, becomes, for the time at least, a fixed, if -volatile, substance, but ever ready to enter into new alliances." It -will be remembered that in the comets examined by Professors Huggins -and Draper the spectroscope revealed both cyanogen and the double -line of sodium. The function of the sodium is readily understood, -as by its presence it enables the nitrogen in the cometic atmosphere -to combine with a part of the carbon of the gaseous hydrocarbons -which constitute this atmosphere, and thus produce the cyanogen. But -to effect this combination requires in the retort a temperature of -2200 degrees. If the combining temperature around the nucleus of a -comet is the same, it will show that the temperature of this comet's -nucleus must be very high, and, while many times less than that of -the sun's photosphere, it still clearly illustrates the powerful -character of the impact of the planetary electrical currents upon -the comet, and its tremendous repulsion by the similarly electrified -solar electrosphere. The second one of the above reactions, that -from cyanogen to ammonia, is due to the steam or aqueous vapor in -the retort. But in the case of the comet all the aqueous vapor and -its constituent oxygen have disappeared by electrolytic decomposition -long before the combining temperature of cyanogen has been reached; -so that the sodium, the hydrocarbons, and the cyanogen alone appear, -and the oxygen compounds are missing. But on the reversal of polarity -of this comet by contact with a planetary electrosphere, should such -ever occur, and its consequent assumption of positive electricity, -the oxygen would again appear, and, if the temperature had not yet -receded below that of the reaction which produces ammoniacal vapors, -we might expect, should a fragment of this comet enter our atmosphere -as a meteorite, to find ammonia as well as sodium as a constituent -thereof; otherwise the ammonia would be replaced by carbonic oxide -and carbonic acid, by the action of oxygen upon the hydrocarbons, -and water by the action of oxygen upon the hydrogen of the same, -at much lower temperatures than would suffice for the generation of -ammonia. The cyanogen would then perhaps remain as cyanide of sodium, -unless decomposed by contact with the meteoric metallic iron at a -high temperature, as occurs in the operation known in the arts as -"case-hardening." The presence of microscopic diamonds in meteorites -may be accounted for by a somewhat similar reducing reaction under -heat and the active force of the planetary and solar voltaic arc. - -In the popular view comets are always associated with tails, but, -in fact, comets without tails are far more numerous than those to -which these appendages pertain; the tails, when such exist, are the -direct result of the repulsive energy of the solar electrosphere, -and are only manifested when their proximity to the sun has aroused -sufficient activity to swiftly sweep backward from the sun with -inconceivable velocity the gaseous matter concentrated in and around -the nucleus. As these tails owe their formation to the sun's repulsive -energy, they must always extend radially outward from the sun, and by -the self-repulsive energy of the diverse constituents of the tails -themselves these will be broken occasionally into two, four, or six -lateral strands, and (possibly by the attraction of the different -planetary electrospheres) curvatures may be apparent along the sweep -of the comets' tails corresponding, in effect, with perturbations -produced by gravity in the orbit of the nucleus. Of these various -phenomena, Professor Proctor, in his article on comets, says, "A very -large number of comets have no visible tails. When first seen in the -telescope a comet usually presents a small, round disk of hazy light, -somewhat brighter near the center. As the comet approaches the sun the -disk lengthens, and, if the comet is to be a tailed one, traces begin -to be observed of a streakiness in the comet's light. Gradually a tail -is formed, which is turned always from the sun. The tail grows brighter -and larger, and the head becomes developed into a coma surrounding -a distinctly marked nucleus. Presently the comet is lost to view -through its near approach to the sun; but after a while it is again -seen, sometimes wonderfully changed in aspect through the effects of -solar heat. Some comets are brighter and more striking after passing -their point of nearest approach to the sun than before; others are -quite shorn of their splendor when they reappear." This change of -aspect is not due to solar heat, but to the energetic repulsion of -the solar electrosphere. The force of gravity irresistibly impels -the comet forward to the sun's electrical vortex, and the change of -aspect is due to the repulsion of its entire stock of free gaseous -matter into space in case its supply is small, or to its increased -development and pouring forth in case the supply is large. It is -like the volatilization by a heated atmosphere of ammoniacal gas, -for instance, absorbed in water. The ebullition is vastly increased -by the heat, but if the entire stock of ammonia has been driven off -in its passage through the heated medium, it will emerge with the -residual water quiescent; otherwise, in a state of increased agitation. - -The same author, in "Cometic Mysteries," says, "Repulsion of the -cometary matter could only take place if this matter, after it has -been driven off from the nucleus, and the sun have both high electric -potentials of the same kind." His further guess, however, that it is -analogous to the aurora, is wide of the mark; it is due, in fact, -to the mutual repulsion of their similar negative electrospheres, -the cometic electrosphere, however, being so much smaller than that -of the sun that the latter shows no appreciable disturbance, as -is the case, under similar circumstances, with the electrospheres -of the earth and moon. In the article last quoted it is said, -"There is a dark space immediately behind the nucleus,--that is, -where the nucleus, if solid, would throw its shadow if there were -matter to receive the light all round so that the shadow could be -seen." This presents, it is stated, a great difficulty. The author, -by a happy guess,--almost an inspiration, in fact, of which this -splendid writer and observer was so full,--suggests in a foot-note a -possible explanation, which, while not in itself correct, suggests an -analogous process very like what we actually see. "If the particles -forming the envelopes are minute flat bodies, and if anything in the -circumstances under which these particles are driven off into the -tail causes them to always so arrange themselves that the planes in -which they severally lie pass through the axis of the tail (which, -if the tail is an electrical phenomenon, might very well happen), -then we should find the region behind the nucleus very dark or almost -black, for the particles in the direction of the line of sight there -would be turned edgewise towards us, whereas those on either side or -in the prolongation of the envelopes would turn their faces towards -the observer." As a matter of fact, the envelope streaming backward -from the nucleus forms a hollow tube, the opposite sides of which -exhibit the same mutual repulsion as both exhibit towards the sun; -hence the phenomenon would be similar to that exhibited by blowing -into a closed bag of porous material covered with wisps of cotton, for -example, and the gases, in addition to their rush backward from the -sun, would also exhibit a radial rush outward from the longitudinal -axis of the tail. This is what we actually observe, and sufficiently -accounts for the phenomenon, be it altogether or only partially real, -and not merely, as that author thinks it may be, apparent. It is said, -in the same article, that "Bredichen has shown that where there are -three tails to a comet their forms correspond with the theory that -the envelopes raised from the head are principally formed of hydrogen, -carbon, and iron; but this ... seems open at present to considerable -doubt." At all events, these separate tails are self-repulsive, or -they would be merged into each other by the sun's repulsive energy; -in fact, they occupy the resultant of the direction produced by the -line of the sun's repulsion and those of their own mutually repellent -force,--that is to say, radial or divergent. - -It must not be supposed that these tails are of insignificant -proportions. "When we see the tail of a comet occupying a volume -thousands of times greater than that of the sun itself, the question -naturally suggests itself, 'How does it happen that so vast a body -can sweep through the solar system without deranging the motion of -every planet?' Conceding even an extreme tenuity to the substance -composing so vast a volume, one would still expect its mass to be -tremendous. For instance, if we supposed the whole mass of the tail of -the comet of 1843 to consist of hydrogen gas (the lightest substance -known to us), yet even then the mass of the tail would have largely -exceeded that of the sun. Every planet would have been dragged from -its orbit by so vast a mass passing so near. We know, on the contrary, -that no such effects were produced. The length of our year did not -change by a single second.... Thus we are forced to admit that the -actual substance of the comet was inconceivably rare.... From what we -have already seen, it will be manifest that the formation of comets' -tails is a process of a very marvellous nature, apparently involving -forces other than those with which we are acquainted. The tail, ninety -million miles in length, which was seen stretching from the head of -Newton's comet nearly along the path which the retreating comet had -to traverse, must, it would seem, have been formed by some force -far more active than the force of gravity. The distance traversed -by the comet in the last four weeks of its approach to the sun under -gravity was no greater than that over which the matter of the tail, -seen after the comet had circled around the sun, had been carried in a -few hours. Yet we have no other evidence of any repulsive force at all -being exerted by the sun,--at least no evidence which can be regarded -as demonstrative,--and still less have we any evidence of a repulsive -force exceeding in energy the sun's attracting power." (Proctor.) - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -INTERPRETATION OF COMETIC PHENOMENA. - - -Now, curiously enough, we have in constant use in our laboratories a -little instrument called the electroscope, in which we have manifested -very clearly a repulsive force exceeding in energy the earth's -attracting power, and very greatly exceeding it. It is described in -"Electricity in the Service of Man" as follows: "If we rub a large -glass rod with a silk pad, we observe that it will attract light -bodies, then, after contact, repel them. During the process we may -notice a peculiar noise, and if the experiment be carried out in -the dark we may further notice sparks passing between the rod and -the rubber, and also that the rod becomes luminous. If we suspend -a pith-ball by means of a silk thread, on bringing the rubbed rod -near the pith-ball it will move towards the rod, touch it, and then -be repelled. If the glass rod be again brought near the pith-ball, it -will move away from the glass rod, and continue to be repelled until it -has been touched by some other body.... In order to ascertain whether -electricity is communicated by electrified bodies to non-electrified -bodies when brought into contact, let us suspend two pith-balls from -the same point of support by threads of uniform silk, and touch the -pith-balls with the rubbed glass rod. The balls fly from the rod and -also from one another. On bringing near them a third pith-ball or -any other light body, we find that, though they repel one another, -they are attracted by the light body, showing that they have become -electrified by contact with the rubbed glass rod. From this we -conclude that an unelectrified body may be electrified by contact -with an electrified body, and also that there is repulsion after -contact. There is mutual repulsion between two electrified bodies, -but there is attraction between a single electrified body and one -that is unelectrified." The mutual repulsion of these pith-balls -is the exact measure of the strength of electrification. Hung -side by side to the knob of a prime conductor of an electrical -machine, the mutual repulsion of the similar electrospheres of -these pith-balls drives them apart against the earth's gravity -and holds them extended, if the electrical tension be sufficient, -to their widest limit of divergence. It is, in effect, precisely -similar to the action of the solar and cometic electrospheres (see -illustration in a previous chapter, page 124), each being similarly -electrified and communicating with the other across a space which, -as before stated, is freely traversable by electric currents without -appreciable resistance. That such electrospheres are flaming with -heat does not interfere with such self-repellent action; in fact, -it intensifies it. In Professor Tyndall's "Lessons in Electricity" -we read, "Flames and glowing embers act like points; they also rapidly -discharge electricity. The electricity escaping from a point or flame -renders the air self-repulsive. The consequence is that when the hand -is placed over a point mounted on the prime conductor of a machine in -good action a cold blast is distinctly felt.... Wilson moved bodies -by its action, Faraday caused it to depress the surface of a liquid, -Hamilton employed the reaction of the electric wind to make pointed -wires rotate. The 'wind' was also found to promote evaporation." - -Let us now apply these principles to the tails of comets. If -we conceive the sun and comet to be analogous to our pith-balls, -one enormously larger than the other, however, and hung by vaporous -conducting cords from the combined generating planetary electrospheres, -both sun and cometic nucleus surrounded each by a vaporous envelope, -and suspended so that they will hang from parallel cords, say a -dozen million miles apart, and with no currents of electricity as -yet in operation, we will find that the sun and comet will be simply -attracted towards each other by the force of gravity, so that their -suspending cords will converge. If the planetary electrical machines -now commence their rotations, and currents of electricity begin to pass -in quantity and intensity like those which pass between the earth and -the sun, both the solar and cometic pith-balls will become similarly -electrified, and their gaseous atmospheres, instead of drawing -towards each other, will become luminous and self-repulsive. The -atmosphere which surrounds the cometic pith-ball, by reason of -its great tenuity, will be driven backward with extreme velocity, -while the solar pith-ball electrosphere will be so little affected -that its repulsion will be imperceptible. All the gaseous matter, -however, of the smaller pith-ball will be forced off in a direction -opposite that of the larger one, and this repulsive energy will even -carry the pith-balls apart, causing the suspending cords to widely -diverge from each other, while the force of gravity of the earth -tends to bring them nearer together. If the gravity of the larger -pith-ball, however, was equal, relatively, to that of the sun, the -result would be that the solid pith-balls would be mutually attracted -by gravitation and only the electrified atmospheres, would be mutually -repelled. This experiment would present phenomena similar to those -we are now considering. (See illustration, page 211.) - -In describing Newton's comet, with a tail ninety million miles long -projected backward both from the sun and the comet, when it disappeared -in the light of the sun, and exhibiting a similar tail, also ninety -million miles long, when, less than four days afterwards, it reappeared -from behind the sun, but with the tail now directed forward from the -comet, but in both cases extended radially outward from the sun, it -is obvious that this whole tail must have made a sweeping change of -direction of nearly one hundred and eighty degrees upon the nucleus -as its center. Professor Proctor says, "As Sir John Herschel remarks, -we cannot look on the tail of a comet as something whirled round -like a stick as the comet circles around its perihelion sweep. The -tail with which the comet reappeared must have been an entirely new -formation." It is true that a comet's tail cannot be conceived of as -being whirled round like a stick, but we can very readily conceive -of it as something like a flame composed of incandescent gases, -and it may very easily be blown round a stick; and this is precisely -what must happen in the case of a comet. Construct, for experiment, -a little apparatus consisting of a blow-pipe adapted to deliver a -current of air between two horizontal metal disks, say an eighth of -an inch apart, one perforated at the center to admit the nozzle of -the blow-pipe. By directing a constant current of air through the -latter, it will be deflected so as to blow radially outward in all -directions and in the same plane. Now take a stick with a flame on -the end of it, or a lighted candle, and with it approach this center -of repellent energy in the plane of the space between the disks and -along an ellipse representing the orbit of a comet. As the flame -approaches the improvised solar center it will be driven backward -from the wick of the candle almost along the line of its approach, -and as it passes around the center it will be constantly blown outward -in a radial direction until, when it recedes after perihelion, the -flame will be seen pointed almost directly ahead. At all times the -direction of the flame will lie along the radial lines prolonged -outward from the center through the wick of the candle, and it will -not be a new flame generated at every change of its direction, but -the same flame constantly forced outward by the repulsive force of -the central atmosphere in this case or the solar electrosphere in -the case of the sun. This experiment is an accurate and conclusive -exhibit of the phenomena of solar repulsion in its action upon the -tail of a comet. It is analogous in principle to the repulsion of -the pith-balls and the electric wind and (in application) to the -phenomena presented by comets in their movements to, around, and -from the sun. This repulsion is not operative in effect against the -wick of the candle,--that is to say, it is not the repulsion of the -nucleus which determines the direction of the tail, but the repulsion -by direct outblow of the sun, so to speak, upon the incandescent -gases of the tail itself. This fact clearly demonstrates that the -repulsion of like electrospheres is the cause of the phenomenon, and, -when once understood, the process is quite as simple as that of the -original formation of the tail itself, which no one disputes. - -There is to be further considered the theoretical resistance of -space to the projection and deflection of such enormous volumes -of attenuated matter as appear in comets' tails. While it may not -be absolutely necessary to offer an explanation of this apparent -difficulty, in view of the fact that such projection and deflection -do actually occur, still, the well-known laws of the diffusion of -gases, in accordance with which any gaseous matter will traverse -any other gaseous matter with the same velocity as, and with no more -resistance than, in a vacuum, will show that this difficulty has been -much overrated, while for the twin difficulty, how to account for the -persistence of luminosity at such vast distances from its source, we -may quote from Professor Proctor, "Cometic Mysteries," who, in turn, -quotes as follows: "Comets travel in what must be regarded as to -all intents and purposes a vacuum. From Dr. Crookes' experiments on -very high vacua we may infer that there is very little loss of heat, -except by radiation." By "intents and purposes" we understand, of -course, as a cause of resistance, and certainly there is no reason to -believe that the attenuated vapors of space are sufficient in density -to cause any rapid diffusion of heat by convection, as contrasted -with that of radiation. - -We have seen that comets of short period sometimes disappear, and -that their disappearance is frequently followed by the appearance -of trains of meteors. In other words, they have apparently lost -their cometic properties and become permanent adjuncts to our solar -system. A curious confirmation of this fact is to be found in the -character of the occluded gases which are contained in such meteorites -as sometimes fall upon the earth's surface. Of this Professor Proctor -says, "We have reason to believe that the nucleus of a comet consists -of an aggregation of stones similar to meteorites." Speaking of -the condition in which meteorites reach the earth, he says, "They -are known to contain as much as six times their own volume of gases -(taken at atmospheric pressure). In one of these meteorites recently -examined by Dr. Flight, the following percentages of various gases -were noted: Of carbonic oxide, 31.88; of carbonic acid gas, 0.12; of -hydrogen, 45.79; of olefiant gas, 4.55; and of nitrogen, 17.66." The -presence of olefiant gas at once suggests the hydrocarbons of the -cometic nucleus. The presence of this gas cannot be accounted for by -the passage of the meteorite through our atmosphere, nor can that of -hydrogen, and these are two characteristic gases, together with the -vapor of carbon, constantly found to exist in comets. - -As before explained, the advent of a comet into our solar system -is that of a stranger, with electric polarity the opposite of -that of the planetary electrospheres and identical with that of -the sun. Under the combined influence of the solar gravity and -perturbation by the gravity of the planets these foreign bodies -tend to shorten their periods, and finally fall into the ordinary -array of the bodies which compose our own solar system. But when -this occurs they will, in turn, become contributors to, instead of -antagonists of, the energy of the sun; in other words, they must then -conform electrically to the condition of the family into which they -have married,--that is to say, the planets,--and a reversal of their -electrical polarity will take place. This reversal of polarity is no -novelty in the operation of electrical apparatus. In "Electricity in -the Service of Man" we read as follows of the Voss induction machine: -"This machine is exceedingly powerful in favorable weather, but has -an important defect in a tendency to self-reversal, which is apt to -occur at a stoppage. This defect can be produced in a Voss machine, -when desired, by holding a metal point to the positive brush K. The -two derived inductive circuits are beautifully manifested when this -machine is worked in the dark. A luminous stream is seen pouring -towards the collecting comb L on whichever side of the machine the comb -is positive." It will thus be seen that simple contact of a neutral -(or negatively opposite) body will reverse the electrical polarity -of this machine, or even the interruption of its motion will do so -at times. Possibly a similar reversal may be produced in a comet -by the contact in whole or in part of its nucleus with a planetary -electrosphere, since the action of gravity is entirely independent -of that of the attraction or repulsion of the electrospheres of both -planetary and cometic bodies. Such reversal of polarity in a comet -would at once extinguish its luminosity, and the generation of oxygen -would at once replace the prior generation of hydrogen, and herein -we may find explained the presence of carbonic oxide in large volume -and carbonic acid in small volume in the meteorite above referred to, -and of which gases Professor Proctor says, "It is quite certain these -gases were not taken up by the meteorolite during its flight through -the air." These aggregations of discrete meteoric bodies, loosely -adherent by mutual gravity alone, would be gradually torn apart by -planetary interference and dragged into streams of small bodies, -thenceforth traversing space in elliptical orbits around the sun, -just as do the planets and planetoids. Cyanogen, also, the deadly gas -so frequently found to exist in enormous quantities in the nuclei of -comets, would at once disappear, by double conversion into carbonic -acid, or oxide, and ammonia, or nitrogen, so that this danger, as -the result of a comet's possible approach to the earth's atmosphere, -may be dismissed from apprehension. - -It will be seen that all the enormous difficulties in the phenomena -of comets find an explanation in the operation of the same universal -laws which we have endeavored to apply to the other sidereal bodies. In -conclusion, we may cite the following from Dr. Huggins: "Broadly, the -different applications of principles of electricity which have been -suggested group themselves about the common idea that great electrical -disturbances are set up by the sun's action in connection with the -vaporization of some of the matter of the nucleus, and that the tail -is probably matter carried away, possibly in connection with electric -discharges, under an electrical influence of repulsion exerted by the -sun. This view necessitates the supposition that the sun is strongly -electrified, either negatively or positively, and, further, that in -the processes taking place in the comet, either of vaporization or -of some other kind, the matter thrown out by the nucleus has become -strongly electrified in the same way as the sun,--that is, negatively -if the sun's electricity is negative, or positively if the sun's is -positive. The enormous disturbances which the spectroscope shows -to be always at work in the sun must be accompanied by electrical -changes of equal magnitude, but we know nothing as to how far these -are all, or the great majority of them, in one direction, so as -to cause the sun to maintain permanently a high electrical state, -whether positive or negative." The above speculations will have thus -become demonstrated facts (though not in the mode suggested by the -above writer) as soon as we clearly understand that, instead of the -sun's "enormous disturbances" producing "electrical changes of equal -magnitude," it is the electrical changes of equal magnitude which -themselves cause the sun's disturbances, and that the sun's negative -electrical polarity is permanently fixed by the opposite and positive -polarity of the planetary electrospheres, and that all these various -phenomena are but the normal expression of a single universal law, -and are all due to the constant interaction of planetary, solar, -and cometic electrospheres, in accordance with the well-established -principles of electrical science. If, however, we consider, as is -generally believed to be the case, the sun itself to be the sole -prime source of its visible energy, nothing but difficulty and vague -speculation can be looked for on every hand; but by relegating the -solar orb to its proper place, and taking as the starting-point the -true source of all energy,--to wit, the hidden forces embodied in the -vapors or gases of interstellar space,--the whole process and mode of -action will logically follow, and obscurity and difficulty together -disappear. This principle, properly understood, is a master-key which -will unlock every problem and interpret every enigma which the realms -of interstellar space can present. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE RESOLVABLE NEBULÆ, STAR-CLUSTERS AND GALAXIES. - - -When we come to consider the nebulæ, and endeavor to learn what part -electricity has to play in the phenomena presented by these singular -objects, we must recollect, in order to give them their due importance, -that they are neither few in number nor uniform in constitution. Of -the nebulæ, Professor Proctor ("Star-Clouds and Star-Mist") says, -"When the depths of the heavens are explored with a powerful -telescope a number of strange cloud-like objects are brought into -view. It is startling to consider that if the eye of man suddenly -acquired the light-gathering power of a large telescope, and if at -the same time all the single stars disappeared, we should see on the -celestial vault a display of the mysterious objects called nebulæ or -star-clouds exceeding in number all the stars which can now be seen -on the darkest night in winter. The whole sky would seem mottled -with these singular objects." As telescopes, with the advances of -constructive art, increased in power, these luminous clouds became -more and more clearly defined, and many of them became resolved into -clusters of stars, galaxies of suns like the Milky Way, of which latter -our solar system is a constituent part, but more distant from us than -the separately visible stars of that galaxy, and each separated from -the relatively adjacent clusters by intervals of space comparable only -with those which separate them from our own system. Of these glorious -star-clusters, says Flammarion, in "The Wonders of the Heavens," -"In the bosom of infinite space, the unfathomable depth of which we -have tried to comprehend, float rich clusters of stars, each separated -by immense intervals. We shall soon show that all the stars are suns -like ours, shining with their own light, and foci of as many systems -of worlds. Now, the stars are not scattered in all parts of space -at hazard; they are grouped as the members of many families. If -we compared the ocean of the heavens with the ocean of the earth, -we should say that the isles which sprinkle this ocean do not rise -separately in all parts of the sea, but that they are united here and -there in archipelagoes more or less rich.... They are all collected in -tribes, most of which count their members by millions." Says Professor -Nichol, "System on system of majesty unspeakable float through the -fathomless ocean of space. Our galaxy, with splendors that seem -illimitable, is only a unit among unnumbered throngs; we can think -of it, in comparison with creation, but as we were wont to think of -one of its own stars. "Of these glorious star-clusters the same writer -says, "That no one has ever seen them in a telescope of adequate power -without uttering a shout of wonder." These mist-like star-clouds were -successively resolved, nebula by nebula, until science settled into -the belief that with telescopes of adequate power all nebulæ might be -so resolved, and the capacity of telescopes to thus resolve nebulæ -became a test of their power. But spectrum analysis finally entered -the lists with new methods of investigation, and the comparatively -tiny spectroscope at a single leap passed far beyond the utmost -limits of the highest telescopic vision, and at one blow struck the -whole category of nebulæ into two widely different classes,--those -composed of discrete stars grouped like the suns of our own Milky -Way, and exhibiting the characteristic spectra of such bodies, and -those composed of diffused gaseous matter not yet condensed into -suns, and showing the disconnected spectral lines of simple elemental -gases. The line of division was clear, direct, positive, and beyond all -dispute. Yet beyond these two classes further research has disclosed -certain vast nebulæ in which some portions exhibit true solar spectra -more or less modified and others true gaseous spectra, each apparently -merging into the other by gradations so faint and delicate that the -inference is irresistible that in these nebulæ we see the processes -of galactic and solar creation at various stages of their development. - -Of these nebulæ, Professor Ball says, "In one of his most remarkable -papers, Sir W. Herschel presents us with a summary of his observations -on the nebulæ, arranged in such a manner as to suggest his theory -of the gradual transmutation of nebulæ into stars. He first shows -us that there are regions in the heavens where a faint diffused -nebulosity is all that can be detected by the telescope. There are -other nebulæ in which a nucleus can be just discerned, others again -in which the nucleus is easily seen, and still others where the -nucleus is a bright star-like point. The transition from an object -of this kind to a nebulous star is very natural, while the nebulous -stars pass into the ordinary stars by a few graduated stages. It -is thus possible to enumerate a series of objects, beginning at one -end with the most diffused nebulosity and ending at the other with -an ordinary fixed star or group of stars. Each object in the series -differs but slightly from the object just before it and just after -it." And of these composite nebulæ, he adds, "The great nebula in -Orion is known to be the most glorious body of its class that the -heavens display. Seen through a powerful telescope, ... the appearance -of this grand 'light stain' is of indescribable glory. It is a vast -volume of bluish gaseous material with hues of infinite softness -and delicacy. Here it presents luminous tracts which glow with an -exquisite blue light; there it graduates off until it is impossible -to say where the nebula ceases and the black sky begins." - -With reference to these distant galaxies of apparently complete solar -systems like our own, the same principles must regulate the conversion -of this energy of planetary electricity into the energy of solar -light and heat as we see manifested in our own sun. The light of the -individual stars is sufficient evidence of this; but the question may -be asked, Is the electrical interaction between separate galaxies and -between different solar systems in the same galaxy universal, or are -these operations merely local? In other words, Is the source and the -mode of solar energy in accordance with a single universal law of and -between all created universes, or is it limited in effective energy -to the members of each individual solar system alone? The answer -is, that it is not less universal than the law of gravitation and -no more so. There is a prevalent popular fallacy that the force of -gravity is such that the movements, not only of solar systems, but -of whole galaxies, and of all the illimitable systems of galaxies, -are under its effective control, and that the whole universe of -boundless space acknowledges its overwhelming sway. But nothing can be -further from the truth. We know, of course, that the law is universal, -as expressed in the statement of its terms by Newton, but the mere -statement of the law itself, as applied to interstellar distances, -refutes the idea that solar systems and galaxies can rotate around -any common center by virtue of the attraction of gravitation as a -controlling force. The universality of the law itself has even been -doubted. Professor Ball says, "In the first book about astronomy which -I read in my boyhood there was a glowing description.... I allude to -the discovery, or the alleged discovery, of a certain 'central sun' -about which it was believed or stated that all the bodies in the -universe revolved.... It was too good to be true. No one ever hears -anything about the central sun hypothesis nowadays.... It must be, -then, admitted that when the law of gravitation is spoken of as being -universal, we are using language infinitely more general than the -facts absolutely warrant. At the present moment we only know that -gravitation exists to a very small extent in a certain indefinite -small portion of space. Our knowledge would have to be enormously -increased before we could assert that gravitation was in operation -throughout this very limited region; and even when we have proved -this, we should only have made an infinitesimal advance to a proof -that gravitation is absolutely universal." - -Anyone who chooses may prove for himself that the force exercised by -gravitation between the multitudinous suns of our own galaxy, the Milky -Way, and our earth must be quite infinitesimal, and totally unable to -control the motions of our own solar system in a definite orbit through -universal space. We know that the law which regulates the intensity of -light at various distances is the same as the law of gravity,--that -is to say, the proportion is directly as the mass and inversely as -the square of the distance. We know also that the stars which compose -the Milky Way are similarly constituted, generally considered, to our -own sun, and that under similar circumstances the emission of light, -roughly speaking, will vary according to the magnitude of these distant -suns. Now, if any one will stand, at the darkest hour of the night, -when the moon is absent and the sky perfectly cloudless, when the - - - "Stars that oversprinkle all the heavens seem to twinkle - With a crystalline delight," - - -and sweep with his gaze all the concave hemisphere of the sky, and -then compare the light which is radiated around him with the gorgeous -effulgence of the noonday summer sun, he can pretty closely compare -the relative attraction of gravity which all those distant suns -together can exercise upon our earth with that of our own sun. Under -control of the latter, the earth sweeps around in her orbit at the -rate of about twenty miles per second; all these suns could not give -our solar system even a minute fraction of that. Of this starlight -Professor Ball says, "The sun certainly must receive some heat by -the radiation from the stars; but this is quite infinitesimal in -comparison with his own stupendous radiation." Any such attraction, -of course, could not control the motions of our solar system, and -much less that of many of the others. - - - "The night has a thousand eyes, and the day but one, - But the light of the whole world dies when the day is done." - - -We can also demonstrate the fact mathematically by an exceedingly -rough calculation, which, however, will be sufficient for our -purpose. Of the Milky Way, which comprises only the stars of our own -sidereal system, Professor Ball says, "One hundred million stars are -presumed to be disposed in a flat circular layer of such dimensions -that a ray of light would require thirty thousand years to traverse -one diameter." (The most recent estimates make the number of the -stars which compose the Milky Way several times one hundred million, -occupying a correspondingly greater amplitude of space. The number in -any case is sufficiently stupendous.) Our solar system is located in -space at the apex of a vast transverse cleft, and nearly at the center -of this disk. Let us leave out of consideration the lower half of the -Milky Way, as we look upward on a starlit night, and conceive this -galaxy to extend only across the midnight sky above us like an archway, -with fifty million suns, visible and invisible, exposed in the field -of our vision. The nearest of all the fixed stars to us is that known -as Alpha Centauri,--not visible, however, in our northern skies. This -star is about two hundred and thirty thousand times as far from our -sun as is the earth. If of the same mass as our sun, it must exert -upon us an attractive force of gravity one fifty-three-billionth -that of our own sun. Next in distance is the star No. 61 of the -constellation Cygnus. This may be three times as distant, and is -certainly not less than twice. The light of the former will reach -the earth in three and one-quarter years; that of the latter in not -less than six and one-half years, perhaps much more. These are our -nearest stellar neighbors. While the former will attract us with only -one fifty-three-thousand-millionth that of the sun, the latter will -attract us with less than one two-hundred-thousand-millionth that of -our sun. Conceive, then, a square pyramid extending radially upward -for three thousand times the mean of these distances to the upper -probable limits of the Milky Way, a light-distance of fifteen thousand -years, and that this pyramid expands according to the squares of its -distances, so that it will contain within it, equally distributed, -all the stars (fifty million) of the upper half of the disk of the -Milky Way; the sum total of all these attractions could not reach one -twenty-millionth part of that of our sun upon the earth. If we continue -to pile galaxies, in the same perpetual recession, behind each other -to all infinity, we still could not engender sufficient attractive -force to control the observed movements of the multitudinous stars of -space. The very statement of the law of gravitation itself disproves -it; for if we multiply orbs and systems according to any principle -of aggregation that we know of in the way of distribution of such -systems, or anything possible, with due regard to their own mutually -interacting movements in space, we could never reach the inside limits -of such a sphere of control, because the piling up of orb behind orb -adds but an infinitesimal fraction to the force of gravity, for as -the orbs themselves multiply in distance progressively by hundreds, -their relative attractions inversely diminish by ten thousands. No -possible increase of suns directly in mass could compensate for such -an inverse ratio of squares, even if all intergalactic space were -peopled with suns, instead of being, in fact, like a vast ocean, with -a few small clusters of islands scattered here and there throughout -its illimitable extent. - -Of these vast realms of space, Professor Ball asks, "Is our sidereal -system to be regarded as an oceanic island in space, or is it in -such connection with the systems in other parts of space as might -lead us to infer that the various systems had a common character? The -evidence seems to show that the stars in our system are probably not -permanently associated together, but that in the course of time some -stars enter our system and other stars leave it, in such manner -as to suggest that the bodies visible to us are fairly typical -of the general contents of the universe. The strongest evidence -that can be presented on this subject is met with in the peculiar -circumstances of one particular star. The star in question is known -as No. 1830 of Groombridge's catalogue. It is a small star, not to be -seen without the aid of a telescope.... We shall probably be quite -correct in assuming that the distance is not less than two hundred -billions of miles.... The velocity is no less than two hundred miles -per second.... The star sweeps along through our system with this -stupendous velocity.... The velocity being over twenty-five miles a -second, the attraction can never overcome the velocity, so that the -star seems destined to escape." Of the star Alcyone he says, "Doubtless -that star is thousands of billions of miles from the earth; doubtless -the light from it requires thousands of years--and some astronomers -have said millions of years--to span the abyss which intervenes -between our globe and those distant regions." And yet these stars, -these galaxies, and even all the nebulæ we see or ever shall see, are -merely in the vestibule of space; we have scarcely even yet lifted the -outer curtain at the entrance of those vast realms. That the popular, -but pseudo-scientific, idea of a series of ever-widening concentric -orbits, increasing at every new expansion by an inconceivable ratio, -is incredible we can well understand, and it is a satisfaction to -know that such a wild hypothesis finds no warrant in the dicta or the -demonstrations of science. And it is in the failure of gravity to -control over the intervening space which lies between those vastly -distant centers that we may hope to find the inklings of a more -far-reaching law, by which nebulæ like that of Orion crystallize out -into separate star systems, just as in the rocks, whether igneous, -metamorphic, or sedimentary, we find the attraction of cohesion yield -to that of crystallization, until the whole cleft rock blazes with -countless garnets in the schist and quartz crystals in the gneiss, -or reveals the yellow specks of olivine in volcanic ejections. - -We shall find in the processes concerned with the development of living -things the workings of a similar great law, perhaps the same. Wherever -there is the possibility of life, there we find life. There seems to -be an all-pervading vital tension, so to speak, an energizing force, -which drives the evolution and ascent of life forward and upward by -successive leaps, as it were, from type to type, from race to race, -and even from nation to nation. In this universal forward movement -we may dimly discern the primordial creative and developing impulse, -constantly acting, but manifesting visible change only at intervals -as gathering forces accumulate and equilibrium is disturbed. It -manifests itself in all the fields of nature,--vital, chemical, -molecular, molar, systemic. It is the ever-acting, eternal past, -present, and future, the macrocosm and the microcosm, the panurgus, -the Brahma, the Ancient of Days, and cannot be silenced or evaded: - - - "They reckon ill who leave me out, - When me they fly I am the wings." - - -R. Kalley Miller, in his "Romance of Astronomy," says, "It would be -hopeless to attempt expressing in ordinary language the vast distance -at which these clusters of stars are situated from us. If we were to -reckon it in miles, or even in millions of miles, figures would pile -upon figures till in their number all definite idea of their value -was lost. We must choose another unit to measure these infinitudes of -space,--a unit compared with which the dimensions of our own solar -system shrink into absolute nothingness. The velocity of light is -such that it would flash fifteen times from pole to pole of our earth -between two beats of the pendulum. It bridges the huge chasm that -separates us from the sun in little more than eight minutes. But the -light that shows us these faint star-clusters has been travelling -with this frightful velocity for more than two million years since -it left its distant source. We see them to-day in the fields of our -telescopes, not as they are now, but as they were countless ages before -the creation of man upon the earth. What they are now who can tell?" - -The movements of solar systems through space are unquestionably -controlled by some wider law than that of gravitation, and it still -remains for science to seek its hidden principles and discover its -mode of operation. We know that some stars travel alone, like the -star already noted, No. 1830 of Groombridge's catalogue; that others -travel in pairs, like the double star Mizar and its companion Alcor; -and others in groups, like the stars Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and -Zeta, of the constellation Ursa Major; that we are driving towards -the constellation Lyra and leaving behind us Sirius and its fellows, -and that many, if not all, of the stars whose motions we can measure -have a rapid movement through space, but under what control, in accord -with what hidden harmony, and under what general plan they move, -we do not know; but the laws of electrical action of the circling -planets upon their central suns, and of these upon space, we can -readily account for by the similar operation of the same laws within -our own solar domain; and we know by the similar terms of the ratio -of distribution of light that this is commensurate in extent with the -law of gravity, and operates in a like proportion of energy over all -intervening distances; so that wherever our sun presents a visible -point of light, there it is pouring its energy into space, and every -sun we can see, every galaxy, every star-cluster, nay, every nebula, -is likewise pouring into the interplanetary space of our own solar -system its proportionate quota of energy. The very fact that we can -see the star shine is itself the fullest evidence that this is so, -and evidence also that the law of gravitation there, too, is still -in force, operating over these same distances, and with the same -proportionate energy. - -Knowing all this, we can read with a new light the grand vistas -of the skies, with their starry denizens, and claim them all as -parts of our own family; and the mutual interchange of attractive -energy and of light and heat will not fail between us until those -inconceivable distances shall have been reached which human knowledge -can never span and where speculation fails; and even there, from out -those dark abysses,--dark to our human eyes,--the call will still -faintly reach us, and our response will reach them also, though we -shall never have tangible evidence that such mutual ties continue to -exist. Industriously our planets gather their mighty energies from -the surrounding springs of space, as one dips water from a crystal -stream; we hand it over to our sun, and he, the royal high-priest, -sprinkles it in glittering diamond-sprays over all those countless -suns and their subject worlds, and they are baptized with an eternal -baptism into our common brotherhood and we into theirs. Our familiar -planets, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, the earth, and even our little moon, -seem to raise their voices and take actual part in the councils of -almighty power, to move about as perpetual benefactors, gathering and -spreading beneficence abroad, instead of cowering, a hapless few, -like storm-stayed travellers, around the dying embers of our poor -old sun, passive recipients of the light and heat and life which we -have been taught to believe are slowly sinking into ashes and fading -away in eternal darkness and death. One swift glance into these -boundless truths is better for the human soul than the slow passage -of whole hopeless centuries, which leave as their inevitable legacy -on earth a vast and final catastrophe, in which everything that gave -us light and heat and being must perish forever. Has it, indeed, -come to this, that the last word which science has to offer is, -"After us the deluge"? By no means. We have merely been endeavoring -to measure the right hand of God by weighing and measuring a single -isolated one of his countless multitude of suns. - -It is as though one standing beside a great water-wheel should estimate -its power and rotation by measuring the width and depth of the buckets -and calculating the weight of water which its thirty-two receptacles -contain, saying, "at its present rate in so many seconds it will cease -to move." But we take him to the water-gate, and show it wide open; -to the great dam above it which contains cubic miles of water; and -still beyond that to the mighty fountains bursting forth with their -rush and roar from the rock-ribbed fastnesses of the eternal hills, -and pouring their unfailing flood-tide down forever and ever. And we -do not pause even here: we show him the vapors rising from the spent -water again, condensing into clouds, pouring down in torrents of rain -among the hills, and that these continuously feed the sources of the -fountains, which in turn supply the wheel almost to bursting. And so -it is with the glorious mechanism of the heavens. - -The source of solar energy is not to be found in the sun itself, -but in his environment; and he himself, in all his glory, is but the -king, crowned with gold, blazing with rich apparel, and scattering -benefits among his satellites, not from his own private treasury, -but who himself is enriched by the mighty tribute with which his -willing subjects continually endow him, and to whom alone he owes -all his pride and power and wealth and magnificence, and which he, in -turn, so freely expends, transmuted in form alone, in the perpetual -improvement and welfare of his domain. He is the faithful ruler, -but not the creator; the beneficent monarch, but not the god. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE GASEOUS NEBULÆ. - - -When we reach the irresolvable nebulæ, we unquestionably have -approached the creative period of solar systems and in many cases -of whole galaxies. These are multifarious in form, but all can be -reduced to a few comprehensive types. In determining the question -as to whether these irresolvable nebulæ were composed of distinct -stars like the Milky Way, but too distant to be resolved from their -mist-like light into discrete stars by the most powerful telescopes, -or whether they were gaseous in constitution,--that is, composed -of diffused gaseous elements not condensed into solar bodies,--the -spectroscope became the final and infallible test. Of this instrument, -thus used, Professor Proctor, in his "Star-Clouds and Star-Mist," says, -"A very few words will explain the whole matter to readers who remember -the three fundamental laws of this new mode of investigation,--viz., -that, first, light from a burning solid or liquid source gives the -rainbow-colored streak of light commonly known as the prismatic -spectrum; secondly, when vapors surround such a source of light, the -rainbow-colored streak is crossed by dark lines; and, thirdly, when the -source of light is gas, there is no longer a rainbow-colored streak, -but merely a finite number of bright lines." Dr. Huggins selected for -investigation the small planetary nebula in the Dragon. He says, "When -I had directed the telescope armed with the spectrum apparatus to this -nebula, I at first suspected that some derangement of the instrument -had taken place, for no spectrum was seen, but only a short line of -light. I then found that the light of this nebula, unlike any other -extra-terrestrial light which had yet been subjected by me to prismatic -analysis, was of definite colors, and therefore could not form a -spectrum. A great part of the light is monochromatic, and so remains -concentrated in a bright line occupying a position in the spectrum -corresponding to its color. Careful examination showed a narrower and -much fainter line near the one first discovered. Beyond this point, -about three times as far from the first line, was a third exceedingly -faint line. From the position of one of the bright lines it is inferred -the gas nitrogen is one of the constituents of the nebula; another line -indicates the existence of the gas hydrogen in that far-off system; -the third line has not yet been associated with any known terrestrial -element, though it is near one belonging to the metal barium, and -still nearer one belonging to oxygen; a fourth line occasionally seen -belongs to hydrogen." Professor Proctor says, "Dr. Huggins examined -a large number of the planetary nebulæ (so called), obtaining in -each case a spectrum which indicates gaseity. In some cases only one -line could be seen, in others two, more commonly three, and in a few -instances four. When these lines were seen they invariably corresponded -in position with those already described. The single line sometimes -seen corresponded with the brightest line of the three; and when a -second line was visible, this also was no new line, but agreed with -the second brightest line in the three-line spectrum. The fourth line -was seen only in the spectrum of a very bright, small, blue planetary -nebula, but was later observed in other cases, and especially in the -great Orion nebula." At this time the latter was not visible, but when -Dr. Huggins had opportunity to examine it, he says, "The telescopic -observations of this nebula seem to show that it is suitable to a -crucial test of the usually received opinion that the resolution of -a nebula into bright stellar points is a certain indication that the -nebula consists of discrete stars." Professor Proctor says, "A simple -glance resolved the difficulty. The light from the brightest part of -the nebula--the very part which under Lord Rosse's great reflector -blazed with innumerable points of light--gave a spectrum identical in -all respects with that which Huggins had obtained from the planetary -nebulæ. Thus, what had been deemed boldness in Herschel--namely, -that he should have associated the wildest and most fantastic nebula -in the heavens with the circular and (in ordinary telescopes) almost -uniformly luminous planetary nebulæ--was unexpectedly confirmed." The -spectrum of this nebula has more recently been photographed by a long -exposure in the camera of the prepared plate. Of the result, Professor -Proctor thus speaks, "The nebula is seen to be in great part gaseous, -and, where gaseous, to shine in the main with the tints described -above; but parts of the nebula are not gaseous, and those portions -which are so are not all constituted in the same manner.... That -portion which is called the fish's mouth gives a continuous spectrum; -in other words, the same spectrum which we obtain from a star or a -star-cluster. This is the spectrum arising from a glowing solid or -liquid mass, or if from a gaseous body, then the gaseous body must be -in a state of great compression.... But the stars thus forming must -be immersed in the glowing gas forming the general substance of the -nebula.... It would be absurd to suppose that the nebula is a flat -surface; ... nebulous matter lies also, in all probability (certainly -one might fairly say), between us and the stellar aggregration as -well as on the farther side." Further, the same author says, "If, -as is probable, the luminosity of the gaseous portion of the Orion -nebula is accompanied by but a relatively small proportion of heat, -then the rays from the violet and ultra-violet part of the spectrum -are likely to give us much more complete information respecting the -constitution of these nebulous masses than can be derived from the -visible part of the spectrum." - -In the recent work of Professor Ball, "In the High Heavens," that -author says, "There are, however, good grounds for believing that -nebulæ really do undergo some changes, at least as regards brightness; -but whether these changes are such as Herschel's theory would seem -to require is quite another question. Perhaps the best-authenticated -instance is that of the variable nebula in the constellation of -Taurus, discovered by Mr. Hind in 1852. At the time of its discovery -this object was a small nebula about one minute in diameter, with a -central condensation of light. D'Arrest, the distinguished astronomer -of Copenhagen, found in 1861 that this nebula had vanished. On the 29th -of December, 1861, the nebula was again seen in the powerful refractor -at Pulkova, but on December 12, 1863, Mr. Hind failed to detect it -with the telescope by which it had been originally discovered.... In -1868, O. Struve, observing at Pulkova, detected another nebulous spot -in the vicinity of the place of the missing object, but this also -has now vanished. Struve, however, does not consider that the nebula -of 1868 is distinct from Hind's nebula, but he says, 'What I see is -certainly the variable nebula itself, only in altered brightness and -spread over a larger space. Some traces of nebulosity are still to be -seen exactly on the spot where Hind and D'Arrest placed the variable -nebula. It is a remarkable circumstance that this nebula is in the -vicinity of a variable star which changes somewhat irregularly from -the ninth to the twelfth magnitude. At the time of the discovery in -1861 both the star and the nebula were brighter than they have since -become.'... It must be admitted that the changes are such as would -not be expected if Herschel's theory were universally true. Another -remarkable occurrence in modern astronomy may be cited as having -some bearing on the question as to the actual evidence for or against -Herschel's theory. On November 24, 1876, Dr. Schmidt noticed a new star -of the third magnitude in the constellation Cygnus.... The brilliancy -gradually declined until, on the 13th of December, Mr. Hind found it to -be of the sixth magnitude. The spectrum ... exhibited several bright -lines which indicated that the star differed from other stars by the -possession of vast masses of glowing gaseous material.... September 2, -1877, it was then below the tenth magnitude and of a decidedly bluish -tint. Viewed through the spectroscope, its light was almost completely -monochromatic, and appeared to be indistinguishable from that which -is often found to come from nebulæ.... It would seem certain that -we have an instance before us in which a star has changed into a -planetary nebula of small angular diameter.... Professor Pickering, -however, has since found slight traces of a continuous spectrum, but -the object has now become so extremely faint that such observations -are very difficult.... For the nebular theory we require evidence -of the conversion of nebulæ into stars." And not, it may be added, -of stars into nebulæ. - -Of the irregular nebulæ, Professor Proctor says, "It may well -chance, as long since suggested by Professor Clark, of Cincinnati, -and as more cautiously hinted by Dr. Huggins, that in the varieties -of constitution observed in the irregular nebulæ, and the evidence -such varieties afford of progressive changes, we may find not merely -direct evidence of the development of suns and sun-systems from the -great masses of nebulous matter, but even what would be a far more -important and impressive result,--actual evidence of the development -of so-called elements from substances really elementary, or, at any -rate, one stage nearer the elementary condition than are our hydrogen, -nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and so forth. The peculiarity of the spectral -indications of the presence of nitrogen and hydrogen in the nebula, -that only one line of nitrogen and two or three lines of hydrogen are -discernible, instead of a complete spectrum of either element as seen -under any known conditions, seems suggestive of what may be called -a more elemental condition of hydrogen and nitrogen." Whether this -be so, or whether these peculiarities are due to self-obscuration, or -mutual reversal of the familiar lines due to the enormous disturbances -of the nebular mass which must exist, it is certain that there is one -terrestrial substance, at least, which acts invariably, in combination -and chemical affinity, as a simple element in inorganic chemistry, -but which is, in fact, compound,--to wit, the hypothetical radical -ammonium, which is closely allied with the simple alkaline metals -potassium and sodium, forming with them a single group; and yet, -while the others have always remained as fixed, primitive elements, -the hypothetical element ammonium alone is a composite substance -consisting of hydrogen and nitrogen, two of the invariable gaseous -constituents of all these nebulæ. In comets we find, vaguely expressed, -an occasional strongly marked sodium line, and also the spectrum of -carbon; in these gaseous nebulæ we find, as yet, no trace of carbon, -and this element is so closely allied to hydrogen in its chemical -affinities and reactions as to suggest that it may be the same element -or some alloy of it, or in some allotropic form, as we find to be the -case with other simple elements under special conditions. In organic -chemistry--the chemistry of organic life--we find almost innumerable -compound radicals which act as simple elements in combination, but -which we can combine and separate into their constituents at will; -to all intents and purposes, in their various reactions, they behave -as elemental substances, and were it not that our analyses are able to -resolve them, as the spectroscope resolves the nebulæ, we might well -believe that here also we were dealing with simple primary elements. It -is almost certain that great discoveries in this field of chemistry -are not far distant, which will recall with wondering surprise the now -universally exploded fallacies of the "Philosopher's Stone" and the -"Universal Solvent." Indeed, we may find in the electrical energies -of the planets and the self-repulsive force of the electrospheres -of the earth and moon possible grounds for investigating anew some -of the abandoned tenets of astrology, in the hope that the light of -science may disclose some basis, at least, for what, at one time,--and -for nearly all time, in fact,--was the universally accepted belief, -not only of the ignorant, but of those the wisest and most learned of -their day and generation. If the planets by their position can cloud -the sun, nearly a million miles in diameter, with spots, or shed the -brilliance of the aurora borealis over all our skies, may they not -also cloud the embryonic intellect, or charge it with energies for -a career of prosperity or of disaster? May not the unseen currents, -or the electric storms around us, or the vast electrical phenomena -of the sun as well affect the sprouting germs of the husbandman or -some abnormally rapid development of an insect pest as the light, -the warmth, the moisture, or the cold, which, to our coarser vision, -are alone apparent? Fancy and fallacy revel luxuriantly where science -fails, but truth existed long before science was systematized, and the -supercilious condemnation of once generally accepted views without -examination is merely pseudo-science, and scarcely a single grade -higher in the scale than ignorant superstition itself. And every -new advance in knowledge requires a new overhauling of abandoned -material, just as a new advance in metallurgical knowledge enables -us sometimes to work over again our once-rejected mining dumps -with decided profit. Indeed, science itself is but a collection of -observed facts reduced to system, and among the shrewd and practical -miners there is a well-known saying, "The ore is where you find it," -which has frequently put scientific assertion to the blush. - -A study of the beautiful mezzotint plates, from the drawings of -the Earl of Rosse, contained in Professor Nichol's splendid work, -"The Architecture of the Heavens," will clearly disclose the forms, as -revealed by a powerful telescope, of many of these gaseous nebulæ. Of -such nebulæ, Appleton's Cyclopædia says, "nebulæ proper, or those -which have not been definitely resolved, are found in nearly every -quarter of the firmament, though abounding especially near those -regions which have fewest stars. Scarcely any are found near the -Milky Way, and the great mass of them lie in the two opposite spaces -farthest removed from this circle. Their forms are very various, -and often undergo strange and unexpected changes as the power of the -telescope with which they are viewed is increased, so as not to be -recognizable in some cases as the same objects." An example of this -is shown in Plate X. (Figs. 1 and 2) of Professor Nichol's work, -which gives a greatly enlarged view of those shown in Figs. 1 and 2 -of Plate IX. (For Fig. 2 of Nichol's Plate X., see illustration of -nebula with double sun, in previous chapter.) Professor Nichol says, -"In every instance examined, save one, the planetary nebulæ are nebulæ -with hollow centers." The inference which this writer makes, that such -a planetary nebula consists of "a grand annular cluster of stars," -has been since disproved by the discoveries of the spectroscope, -but the telescopic form remains true, and still awaits further -interpretation. While the irresolvable nebulæ seem to seek some -retired spot in space for their processes, like certain animals -when incubating, this rule is not universal. Of this, Appleton's -Cyclopædia says, "The density of nebular distribution increased with -the distance from the galactic zone for the irresolvable nebulæ, -but diminished with that distance for the clusters.... There is not a -gradual condensation of nebulæ towards two opposite regions, near the -poles of the galactic zone, but the nebulæ are gathered into streams, -nodules, and irregular aggregations such as we find in the grouping -of stars.... Between stars and nebulæ their arrangement follows the -law of contrast. There are two remarkable exceptions to this law,--the -Magellanic Clouds. In these, where stars of all orders, from the ninth -magnitude to irresolvable stellar aggregations, are as richly gathered -as in the galactic zone, nebulæ of all orders are also gathered richly, -even more so than anywhere else over the whole heavens." In the same -work, article "Nebula," it is stated of the planetary nebulæ, "There -are several which have perfectly the appearance of a ring, and are -called annular nebulæ.... Some appear to be physically connected in -pairs like double stars. Most of the small nebulæ have the general -appearance of a bright central nucleus enveloped in a nebulous -veil. This nucleus is sometimes concentrated as a star and sometimes -diffused. The enveloping veil is sometimes circular and sometimes -elliptical, with every degree of eccentricity between a circle and a -straight line. There are some which, with a general disposition to -symmetry of form, have great branching arms or filaments with more -or less precision of outline. An example of this is Lord Rosse's Crab -nebula. Another remarkable object is the nebula in Andromeda, which is -visible with the naked eye, and is the only one which was discovered -before the invention of the telescope. Simon Marius (1612) describes -its appearance as that of a candle shining through horn. Besides the -above, which have comparatively regular forms, there are others more -diffused and devoid of symmetry of shape. A remarkable example is the -great nebula in Orion, discovered by Huygens in 1656.... The great -nebula in Argo is another example of this class." - -The number of nebulæ recognized in all the heavens is upward of five -thousand, and new ones are being constantly discovered. Of these -objects, Professor Nichol says, "The spiral figure is characteristic -of an extensive class of galaxies. Majestic associations of orbs, -arranged in this winding form, with branches issuing like a divergent -geometric curve from a globular cluster." These nebulæ, however, are -not associations of orbs; they are gaseous nebulæ apparently in process -of evolution. This author (Professor Nichol) presents views of such -spiral nebulæ either foreshortened to the view, so as to form a long -ellipse, or with the convolutions of the spiral apparently raised from -the horizontal plane into a conical form, and showing the black streaks -of space which lie between the convolutions, others seen in side view, -others in front, and, in fact, presented to the eye in every position -for observation. The author wrote before the days of the spectroscope, -and that he should conceive these vast objects to be spirals made -up of blazing suns like our Milky Way--vast galaxies, in fact--was -an inevitable conclusion at that time; but we now know that these -spiral nebulæ are gaseous, are apparently in process of manufacture, -and we can see them in their different stages of evolution, and -may perhaps learn something about the processes by which solar -systems and galaxies of suns are formed. Of one of these strange but -exceedingly instructive objects, Professor Ball, in his work "In the -High Heavens," says, "Fig. 3 represents one of the famous spiral nebulæ -(that of Canes Venatici) discovered many years ago by the late Earl of -Rosse. The object is invisible to the naked eye. It seems like a haze -surrounding the stars, which the telescope discloses in considerable -numbers, as shown in the picture. When viewed through an instrument -of sufficient power, a marvellous spectacle is revealed. There are -wisps and patches of glowing cloud-like material which shine not -as our clouds do, by reflecting to us the sunlight. This celestial -cloud is no doubt self-luminous; it is, in fact, composed of vapors so -intensely heated that they glow with fervor. As I write, I have Lord -Rosse's elaborate drawing of this nebula before me, and on the margin -of this stupendous object the nebula fades away so tenderly that it -is almost impossible to say where the luminosity terminates. Probably -this nebula will in some remote age condense down into more solid -substances. It contains, no doubt, enough material to make many -globes as big as our earth. Before, however, it settles down into dark -bodies like the earth, it will have to pass through stages in which -its condensing materials will form bright sun-like bodies. It seems -as if this process of condensation might almost be witnessed at the -present time in some parts of the great object. There are also some -very striking nebulæ which are often spoken of as planetary. They -are literally balls of bluish-colored gas or vapor, apparently more -dense than that which forms the nebula now under consideration. Such -globes are doubtless undergoing condensation, and may be regarded as -incipient worlds." Of these spiral nebulæ it is said, in Appleton's -Cyclopædia, "Many of them had been long known as nebulæ, but their -characteristic spiral form had never been suspected. They have the -appearance of a maelstrom of stellar matter, and are among the most -interesting objects in the heavens." Of their spectra it is said, -"The bright-line spectrum is given by all the irregular nebulæ hitherto -examined and by the planetary nebulæ." That is to say, these nebulæ -are gaseous in constitution, and have not yet reached the stage of -solar condensation which marks the existence of individual suns. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS: ITS BASIS AND ITS DIFFICULTIES. - - "There sinks the nebulous star we call the Sun, - If that hypothesis of theirs be sound."--Tennyson. - - -While the nebular theory of Laplace is now the generally accepted -scientific hypothesis of the formation of our solar system and of -all solar systems, it finds its strongest support in the mode in -which it seeks to account for the heat and light of the sun,--that -is, that the central orb, gradually condensing down from an original -volume as large as the orbit of Neptune, at least, after disengaging -the planetary rings, continued to condense to its present volume, -and still so continues, the molecular motions arrested by condensation -under gravity reappearing in the form of the energy of light and heat, -and that this process of degradation will continue until, finally, -the sun becomes a solid inert mass, incapable by further condensation -of exciting the ethereal undulations in space which constitute heat and -light, when the whole process will finally cease, the sun will die out, -the planets continue to rotate in darkness, and the whole machinery be -left running through an eternal night, like a vast mill in the hands -of a negligent watchman (or rather no watchman at all), left to run -itself alone, dark, empty, lifeless, and deserted, through the long and -silent watches of the night. While the source and mode of solar energy -set forth in this work are to be as readily accounted for if we accept -as valid Laplace's nebular hypothesis as by any other theory, yet -such basis is not essential for its support; for while the planetary -rotations and the central sun are the necessary consequence, according -to Laplace's hypothesis, of their mode of formation,--are, in fact, -just what we actually find them to be under any hypothesis,--electrical -generation and transformation will proceed just the same whether the -planets and sun were formed originally in one mode or in another. But, -since this generally accepted hypothesis accounts for the light and -heat of the sun, to a certain extent at least, and for a certain -relatively brief period, while no other hypothesis has been able to -sufficiently account for it at all, and while this hypothesis also -finds both support and contradiction in many observed phenomena of -our solar system, it may well occur that this hypothesis itself, -based upon the necessity of accounting for the sun's light and heat, -and which latter afford it its strongest basis of support, may, -if the basis upon which the theory rests be found to be otherwise -explicable, still remain as an end, while originally presented only -as a means, and thus be held as an obstacle to the acceptance of the -widely different interpretation of known facts herein presented, in -the absence of any other hypothesis capable of explaining the same -facts in accordance with this presentation of planetary electrical -generation and the solar transformation of this energy into light -and heat. Herbert Spencer mentions an instance of such perversion of -means into an end as occurring during the agitation for the repeal -of the corn laws in England, which extended over many years, during -which organized efforts were made to influence Parliament. A permanent -commission was established, with official head-quarters permanently -located in London, with clerks, secretaries, higher officers, and -all the paraphernalia of a first-class establishment. The purpose of -this institution was to act in behalf of the popular interests upon -Parliament by every available means to secure this great reform. After -years of effort, he says, a clerk one day rushed, breathless, into the -office from the House of Commons and shouted, in accents of despair, -"We are ruined; the bill has passed!" - -The nebular hypothesis, while generally accepted in lieu of a better -one, has no actual primary basis beyond that of mere assumption. Of -it Professor Ball says, "The nebular theory ... seems, from the -nature of the case, to be almost incapable of receiving any direct -testimony." We have already quoted from Professor Newcomb that it -must be accepted, with all its difficulties, until a different and -sufficient explanation of solar energy shall be presented. As set -forth in Appleton's Cyclopædia, the theory is as follows: "Assuming, -for the sake of the argument, a rare, homogeneous, nebulous matter, -widely diffused through space, the following successive changes will, -on physical principles, take place in it: 1, mutual gravitation of -its atoms; 2, atomic repulsion; 3, evolution of heat by overcoming -this repulsion; 4, molecular combination at a certain stage of -condensation; followed by, 5, sudden and great disengagement of heat; -6, lowering of temperature by radiation and consequent precipitation -of binary atoms, aggregating into irregular flocculi and floating in -the rarer medium, just as water when precipitated from air collects -into clouds; 7, each flocculus will move towards the common center of -gravity of all; but, being an irregular mass in a resisting medium, -this motion will be out of the rectilinear,--that is to say, not -directly towards the common center of gravity, but towards one or -the other side of it,--and thus, 8, a spiral movement will ensue, -which will be communicated to the rarer medium through which the -flocculus is moving; and, 9, a preponderating momentum and rotation of -the whole mass in some one direction, converging in spirals towards -the common center of gravity. Certain subordinate actions are to -be noticed also. Mutual attraction will tend to produce groups of -flocculi concentrating around local centers of gravity and acquiring -a subordinate vortical movement. These conclusions are shown to be in -entire harmony with the observed phenomena. In this genetic process, -when the precipitated matter is aggregating into flocculi, there will -be found here and there detached portions, like shreds of cloud in a -summer sky, which will not coalesce with the larger internal masses, -but will slowly follow without overtaking them. These fragments will -assume characteristics of motion strikingly correspondent to those of -the comets, whose physical constitution and distribution are seen to -be completely accordant with the hypothesis." During this process, -it is further stated, successive rings of nebulous matter will be -thrown off and left behind, which are supposed to have coalesced -into planets and their satellites, and the motion of rotation will -become more and more rapid as condensation proceeds, until, finally, -the last planet, Mercury, will be left behind in annular form, -and the sun will then become the central orb of all the planets, -and condensation afterwards will proceed without further delivery of -planetary rings. Professor Ball says, "If we go sufficiently far back, -we seem to come to a time when the sun, in a more or less completely -gaseous state, filled up the surrounding space out to the orbit of -Mercury, or, earlier still, out to the orbit of the remotest planet." - -There is nothing in the actively developing nebula illustrated on -the following page which shows the slightest analogy, either in -structure or the forces at work, to what is demanded by the nebular -hypothesis. On the contrary, these radiating, spiral convolutions, -springing from a center and extended, with interstratified dark spaces, -out to the periphery, are entirely incompatible with that theory. There -have not, so far, been observed in all the heavens any gaseous -nebulæ which lend the slightest support to the nebular hypothesis. We -should expect to find, if it were true, that many of the nucleated -planetary nebulæ show exterior concentric rings of luminous matter, -clearly defined, two, three, or a dozen in number, left behind by the -contracting volume of the nebula, and coalescing into planets, and, -within, the glowing disk from which new external rings are about to be -left as a residuum. On the contrary, these nebulæ gradually fade away -towards their margins, and imperceptibly disappear in the blackness -of space. If they terminated abruptly, we might suppose that here, -at least, was the orbit of a newly forming planet, but the regular -and delicate gradation of luminosity from maximum to zero shows that -no such sudden breaking off has occurred. In all these nebulæ we find -every definitely marked structure to exhibit the operation of combined -forces of gravity and internal repulsion nearly equally balanced, -but each acting independently of the other. These phenomena are as -universal as the forces of cohesion and repellent polarity in the -"attraction particles" of cell-life which determine the segmentation, -growth, and development of the living organism. We find here the -primal modification and differentiation of material structure under -the stress of directly opposite and interacting primitive forces, -and it is doubtless the same whether in a cell or a system. It is -not a residuum, but the vis a tergo. - -It is well known that there are many and great difficulties involved -in the nebular hypothesis. As for the genesis of comets, it will be -at once seen that the theory will only account for such comets as -never venture much beyond the orbit of Neptune, as well as those which -have an orbital plane nearly coincident with that of the planets. But -most comets come from illimitable space, far, far beyond Neptune's -circle and at all angles to the plane of the planetary orbits; and we -have already seen that a disk of space of the diameter of Neptune's -orbit and half as thick (see Proctor's "Familiar Essays") would, -to contain all the matter of our solar system equally distributed, -have a density of only one four-hundred-thousandth that of hydrogen -gas at atmospheric pressure,--that is to say, such a volume of the -lightest substance we know of would make four hundred thousand solar -systems like our own. This author inquires if such a mass could, -under any circumstances, rotate as a whole, and adds, "Has it ever -occurred, I often wonder, to those who glibly quote the nebular theory -as originally propounded, to inquire how far some of the processes -suggested by Laplace are in accordance with the now well-known laws of -physics?" But the great primal difficulty is in the first assumption -of the theory, which is not only entirely gratuitous, but physically -impossible. It is that this great plasma of nebulous material--in -the case of our own solar system not less than six thousand million -miles in diameter--should have in someway become aggregated into -a homogeneous mass of the requisite tenuity, complete and perfect, -and ready for the succeeding stages of the process, in which, however, -the law of gravity has hitherto had no active operation whatever; for, -if gravitation existed and operated therein, such homogeneous mass -could never have been formed, nor ever existed even if formed. The -very forces which alone could have brought this vast mass together -must have been the identical forces which afterwards broke it up into -the sun and planets, and the operation of the same force must have -prevented its original formation at all. According to the theory, it -was like a horse-race, in which all the participants stood silent and -motionless until the judge cried, "Go!" But the judge was the great -creative force itself, and if the fiat reached to this extent, the -same power could just as readily--nay, far more readily--have shot the -sun and planets forth into rotation, as children scatter dough-balls, -instead of holding in abeyance the control of universal law so as to -(as a humorous writer speaks of the operations of a child in his -investigation of a watch) "see the wheels go round." This is not -nature's plan, so far as human knowledge goes. Of course these masses -gathering to this great nebulous center, if acted upon by gravitation, -would have at once condensed around the center as a nucleus, and -if rotation ever commenced, it must have commenced then, millions -of years, doubtless, before the outlying masses had even got within -hailing distance. When masses of people assemble at a camp-meeting, -the first comers take the best places, and the late arrivals have to -circulate around in the woods; they do not all gather in a circle -and then make a grand rush. That would be fair, perhaps, but it is -not nature. And this, unquestionably, is how, if ever formed at all, -these nebulæ must have formed into systems. - -The fact that the orbital planes of very many of these asteroids are -greatly inclined to the common planetary plane, and still more greatly -inclined to one another, points almost unerringly to the existence -during their stage of formation of some powerful force either of -internal repulsion or external attraction. That no sufficiently large -body could have been present to exercise such attraction so far outside -the general planetary plane is self-evident, and if there had been -such source of attraction, while the orbital planes of the asteroids -might have been deflected from the common plane, they could not have -been forced apart so as to differ largely among themselves. Certainly -nothing pertaining to the nebular hypothesis could have produced any -such effects under any conceivable circumstances, and especially at -so late a period of its progress, after all the principal planets had -been completed. The only alternative is self-repulsion, and this could -only have been due to the causes and their mode of operation already -described in this work. In a modified degree these planes exhibit the -same irregular orbital deflections as are so conspicuously visible in -the orbits of comets, and they must have been unquestionably produced -in the same manner. The barren bands or stripes in the area occupied by -these asteroids, like the dark or vacant rings of the planet Saturn, -may have been largely affected by the perturbing attraction of the -neighboring planet Jupiter; but certainly no influence of that great -planet (himself in the common planetary plane) could have operated -to cast these forming planetoids into planes of diverse inclinations -among themselves or to that of his own. On the contrary, his whole -force must have been exerted to bring them into the closest harmony -with his own orbital movements. - -Omitting discussion of the technical difficulties in the application -of the nebular theory to demonstrated facts, which may be found in -the books, we may again repeat that this theory is not essential to -account for the heat of the sun, which finds its real source elsewhere, -while, nevertheless, the theory in itself is not incompatible with -the views which we have endeavored to present and demonstrate. Certain -phenomena, however, have been considered in prior quotations in this -work which may aid us to roughly indicate the successive processes by -which the evolution of solar systems and galaxies may be explained on -another basis which requires no violent assumptions to be made and no -suspension of any of nature's universal laws. The same operations which -we see around us at the present time in our own system, if extended to -the dimensions of a nebular aggregation, would probably present the -same phenomena as those we find partially disclosed in the gaseous -nebulæ, particularly the spiral, and these would naturally determine -the final production of solar systems such as our own. The gaseous -nebulæ, not spiral, and the mixed nebulæ also, would fall into their -appropriate categories in the same general plan, and a consistent -mode of formation would be presented from the beginning to the end -of the different processes. - -It should be observed that the spiral required by Laplace's nebular -theory is essentially a centripetal spiral. The spiral nebulæ we see in -the heavens, however, are centrifugal spirals. This is clearly shown -in Plates XV., XII., and the frontispiece of Nichol's "Architecture -of the Heavens," as well as in Plates XIII. and XIV. Plate XV.--the -open spiral--is directly contradictory of any phenomena which -could occur in accordance with the nebular theory of Laplace. The -frontispiece shows the only form which such a nebula could assume -at any stage of its career,--that is, a close spiral with nearly -circular convolutions. But while this particular form is not only in -entire accordance with the hypothesis which we are about to suggest, -being in fact one of the later and necessary stages in its progress, -any such spiral as that shown in Plate XV. is utterly out of the -question in the application of the nebular theory of Laplace or in -any of the more recent modifications thereof. - -The only hypothesis by which the various phenomena can be adequately -explained must almost certainly be based upon the combined action of -gravitation and electrospheric repulsion. We find in the corona of -our own sun such phenomena manifested in the most striking degree, -even in a completed system, and we can well understand that during -the early stages of systemic development such phenomena would vastly -transcend anything which we could now hope to observe around our -own sun. We see this repulsion still more highly developed in the -formation of the tails of comets. While these coronal rays are not -visible to a distance of more, perhaps, than five million miles -from the sun's disk, we have seen that the tail of Newton's comet -was shot forth to a distance of ninety million miles in a few days, -as it were in a moment, by the tremendous electrical repulsion of the -solar electrosphere, and that this enormous tail, which, if composed -of hydrogen gas alone (it was, of course, enormously more attenuated), -would have contained a mass much more than equal to the weight of the -sun, was swung around over an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees, -giving a radial sweep of the tail over a distance of two hundred -and eighty millions of miles in less than four days. And the tails -of many other comets have largely transcended in dimensions that of -Newton, above cited. We have learned much of the laws which regulate -the development of storms, cyclones, whirlwinds, water-spouts, -and other vortical phenomena in the atmosphere of our own earth, -and can readily apply these principles to phenomena of vastly greater -magnitude. We know that the matter of comets' tails is self-repulsive, -as shown in multiple tails, as well as that it is repelled by an -adjacent similarly electrified electrosphere,--that of the sun, for -example,--as with pith-balls in the familiar class-room experiments; -so that we can gather a very fair and complete idea of the processes -of nature when dealing with such phenomena on a vastly more extended -scale, in which our moments are measured by millions of years and our -miles by the almost infinite distances of sidereal and nebular space. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE GENESIS OF SOLAR SYSTEMS AND GALAXIES. - - -The processes of development of a solar system from the diffused -elemental matter of space may then be roughly sketched as follows, -premising that each stage may have possibly extended over vast periods -of time, and the whole, perhaps, not been completed for millions of -years. With the processes of creation time is as nothing. - -The area of space in which a solar system is about to be developed has -hitherto maintained its molecular constituents in a state of gradually -increased unstable equilibrium, whether such augmented instability -may have been induced by a gradual rise of temperature from emission -of the solar energy of other galaxies, by gradual diffusion from -constantly operative centers, from currents or vortices of space, -or by some primal inherent constitution of space itself, with -constantly increasing tensions relieved by successive discharges, -of which analogous instances are found in various other processes -of nature, as, for example, ovulation, fission, and gemmation in the -reproduction of life, regularly recurring epileptiform convulsions, -regularly repeated spark discharges from electrical machines, or the -ebullition of viscous fluids with their slowly recurring bursting -bubbles. At some focal point of this area a rupture of tension will -finally occur, induced by some sudden current or vortical movement, -as we see sometimes in a pool of water gradually reduced in temperature -below the freezing-point, when its whole surface, by the passage of a -breath of wind even, will be suddenly flashed into crystals of ice. At -this point of space there will be instituted a rapid expansion among -the molecules and a consequent fall of temperature, followed by an -inrush of the vaporous material surrounding this center of agitation, -and a vortical movement will be established, with currents of spatial -matter attracted to this vortex in constantly increasing streams. The -molecular tensions will be successively unlocked as the circles of -agitation continue to widen, and a condensed nucleus will form, -rotating upon its axis and exhibiting the combined phenomena of -gravity and centrifugal force. As the nucleus continues to increase -in mass and density its temperature will constantly rise, while its -speed of rotation will gradually diminish as its volume increases, -and the aqueous vapors of space, as they gather around this rotating -center of attraction, will be forced outward by centrifugal action -and the heat of the nucleus, and form vast attenuated clouds,--not -necessarily visible, however, to human sight,--and these clouds, in -their various stratifications and disturbances, will gradually come -to partake of the rotatory movement of the center, such movements, -however, gradually fading away as they recede in space and in -density. The cyclonic movements of these clouds of aqueous vapor -upon themselves, but principally against the surrounding gases of -space still under tension, will generate enormous quantities of -electricity, which flash like thunder-clouds as they approach each -other, with incessant streams of lightning and rolls of thunder. The -growing and heating central nucleus is thus thrown into a state of -high electrical opposite polarity, and its own constituent elements -become self-repellent, just as we see in the sun's corona and in the -phenomena of comets. The electrical tension of the central mass will -gradually grow higher and higher, until a vast stream or streams -of incandescent nebulous matter (for with double suns they may be -multiple, or the internal repulsion may even cause division of the -nucleus itself) will be suddenly driven outward in a radial direction -along the lines of least resistance,--that is to say, in the plane of -equatorial rotation, where centrifugal force is most effective. We -can readily understand the self-repellent force of such an enormous -mass of cosmical matter by considering that, in our own completed -system, the repulsion of the solar electrosphere drove forth the tail -of Newton's comet, as before stated, to a distance of ninety million -miles, and whirled it around a semicircle of this radius in less than -four days. Our most distant planet, Neptune, is only thirty times -this distance from the sun, and we see during every solar eclipse -the coronal structure glowing to a distance of more than a million -miles from the sun's disk, and the radial streamers driven forth -five million miles, and even farther. (See illustrations of solar -corona in Guillemin's "The Heavens.") The vast stream of radiating -nebulous matter thus forced out by solar repulsion will likewise -be acted upon with equal energy by its own internal self-repellent -force. If we conceive a stream of water thrown vertically upward by -a powerful force-pump, in which every drop of the fluid is endowed -with tremendous self-repulsive energy, we should find an analogy -to the phenomenon in question. We can see an example of this in the -"Crab Nebula," illustrated in a previous chapter. The stream, acted -upon by gravity downward, by the force of ejection upward, and by the -internal force of repulsion both transversely and upward, would assume -a pyriform shape, narrower beneath, largely swollen about its middle, -and thence gradually decreasing in diameter to its termination in -a rounded tuft, in advance of which would be driven forth detached -sprays and wisps, while filaments and outlying parallel strands would -mark its entire ascent, except towards its point of ejection, where -the primal force which drove it out is greatly in excess of those -of gravity and self-repulsion. It will be seen at a glance that -these phenomena are precisely those which we observe in a comet's -tail. (See illustrations of many comets having these characteristics -in Guillemin's "The Heavens," Lockyer's edition.) - -Suppose, now, that this stream of water or the tail of a large comet -were gradually wrapped around its point of emission by the rotation of -this nucleus upon its axis. A spiral would form, very open or flaring -at first, but gradually growing closer and more circular as the force -of gravity drew its convolutions downward upon the interstratified -clouds of aqueous vapor occupying, in compressed layers, the spaces -between the adjacent coils of the spiral. There would be a composite -action of forces observed: gravity would attract the convolutions -and their interstratified layers of cloud equally, according to -their densities, while the central repulsive force would repel the -convolutions of the spiral along the same lines of force, but would -not act at all upon the strata of clouds, and the force of internal -self-repulsion would also tend to disrupt the convolutions of the -spiral by expanding them outwardly. The outer convolution, however, -would have no backward thrust from any internal repulsion beyond, -while, within, gravity and solar repulsion would be more equally -balanced, so that the outer coil would be relatively compressed in -its rotation against the next inner convolution, and its ratio of -distance would not be maintained. We find this exemplified in the -case of Neptune's, orbit in our own system. The inner convolution -would also be abnormal, since the primal force of ejection must have -been sufficient to carry the outward thrust of the whole spiral, -and in consequence its flare would offer much greater resistance -to the deflection of rotation, and it would have a more radial -direction than those beyond. We shall find that the planet Mercury, -and the inner convolution which was eventually reabsorbed into the -solar mass, exhibit these phenomena. Between the outer and these inner -convolutions the curve of the spiral would be approximately regular, -with a fixed ratio of increase. In the planets of our solar system -this ratio is that produced by constantly doubling the preceding -number, the series being 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, etc. In other solar systems, -however, the ratio may be quite different. In this abnormal flare of -the inner convolution is doubtless to be found the rational basis of -Bode's empirical law of planetary distances, in which the arbitrary -number 4 must be added to each term of the above progression, making -the series 4, 7, 10, 16, 28, etc. The inner coil between Mercury and -the sun was drawn into the solar mass on the disruption of the spiral, -leaving, from the abnormally radial curvature of the inner portions -of the spiral and its absence from the series, a vacant place which -must be represented by the relatively fixed increment to be added to -each term of the series. - -As the convolutions of the spiral become more and more compressed -towards each other and more and more flattened against the -interstratified cloud-layers, the force of internal repulsion becomes -more and more active in its tendency to disrupt the spiral, since its -forces are more direct and concentrated along lines nearly at right -angles to the force of gravity. During the formation of the spiral -we can easily conceive that--like a stream of water shooting over a -cascade, or the multiple tails of some comets, or even a whole comet, -as, for example, Biela's, which was split up into two separate bodies -by this force--some convolution, perhaps a single one of the series, -will be laterally divided into a large number of nearly parallel -strands, mutually held apart by their internal self-repulsion, and -with cloud-layers interposed between these lateral strands. Such a -series of small planets as these would finally produce we find in the -belt of our asteroids, the bulk of the convolution, probably, for the -most part, however, scattered in space, since their aggregate mass is -so small, and possibly, in part, coalesced into the mass of Jupiter, -to which Mars, by his position, may also have contributed. - -Not only may a whole convolution be thus split up, but along the -spiral at many points the outer margins may be thrust outward, -forming partially detached parallel strands, which may thus coalesce -to form the satellites of the completed planets; while at the outer -extremity of all, where the backward thrust of self-repulsion is -wanting, enormous wisps, sprays, and tufts of nebulous matter would -be driven entirely forth into the illimitable realms of outer space, -but not necessarily, or even probably, into the space of other systems, -which are so enormously distant; and there, in those unoccupied realms, -they will remain to gyrate "in the solitude of their own originality," -in the form of comets, until, at long intervals, they may chance -to revisit the scenes of their earliest youth, to warm their frozen -limbs for a brief period at the old and well-remembered parental fire, -or finally, worn out with toil and travel, "come home at last to die." - -Driven forth from the society of their fellows by their own unbalanced -energies, these anarchists of the sky may form loose aggregations, -granulated about multitudes of self-constituted minor centers; but, -cut loose from all effective solar control during their period of -coalescence, they must forever lack the consolidated form and complex -organization of their prosperous and rotund brethren, the planets and -their satellites, or even the tiny asteroids, who stayed home and, -like the little pig, had bread and butter for breakfast. - -The disruptive energy of internal repulsion, as above stated, -increases in force as the convolutions of the spiral become more -and more compressed and the spiral becomes more and more circular in -form. Suddenly the coils of the spiral will be burst asunder, and this -will occur along that particular radial line of gravitation where the -central nucleus acts with its most effective force. The disruption will -be simultaneous, as a general rule, in accordance with the principles -which control ruptures of tension of bodies in a state of unstable -equilibrium, and which we see exemplified in multiplied centers of -crystallization, the simultaneous formation of mud-cracks, the Giant's -Causeway, and other like phenomena. Each convolution will now become -a detached open ring, one of its broken extremities, however, being -millions of miles farther from the central nucleus than the other. What -occurs when a cometic body, negatively electrified, impinges upon the -positive electrosphere of a planet, or when an electrical induction -machine like Voss's is touched by an oppositely electrified body, -will now necessarily occur with these disrupted convolutions. Their -connection with the negatively electrified nucleus being broken, -a reversal of electrical polarity will ensue from contact with the -adjacent positively electrified clouds of aqueous vapor, and, instead -of self-repulsion, mutual attraction will now prevail along the length -of each of the open rings. Held apart from the central nucleus by -the interstratified cloud-layers, and acted upon by the double force -of gravity and internal attraction, the component elements of these -open rings will rapidly lose their luminosity and heat, and coalesce -by a retrograde movement down the lines of their direction, thus -approaching the sun along the segment of an ellipse, the nucleus, or -sun, occupying one of the foci, the eccentricity of the ellipse being -measured by the differential between the nearest point of the open -ring and the part of the convolution which lies directly opposite and -beyond the sun. In other words, the form of the spiral will determine -the eccentricity of the ellipse, subject to perturbations, however, -of various sorts. During this stage of coalescence from an open ring -into a sphere, these bodies will take on, by cooling and condensation, -their planetary forms; and as the forming spheres, by the retreat -of their masses down the lines of approach to the sun, advance, -their forward and nearer extremities will be more powerfully acted -upon by gravity than those parts in the rear, and a forward plunge -or axial movement of rotation will be set up. Viscous matter,--pitch, -for example,--molten by the sun's heat and flowing down a steep roof, -exhibits a similar forward movement, the outer layers tending to roll -over the inner ones in convoluted folds, the adhesion to the roof of -the under surface corresponding to the retarding pull of the sun's -attraction. In like manner are produced rotating eddies in streams -of water having crooked channels, eddies of air under water-falls, -and other analogous atmospheric disturbances. During the stage of -coalescence of the planetary spheres the adjacent clouds of aqueous -vapor will condense around them, and their hitherto diffused electrical -energies will be concentrated by rotation in currents of enormous -quantity and potential directly upon the sun, and a disassociation -of the elements which compose these watery vapors will ensue, the -result of which will be the deposit of hydrogen gas as an atmospheric -envelope around the sun's body, and of oxygen around and through the -bodies which constitute the planets. These gases will be disassociated -in their combining proportions, two volumes of hydrogen at the sun -for one volume of oxygen, distributed according to their relative -electrical energies among the planets. This nascent oxygen will -rapidly combine with the consolidating elements of the planets and, -interpenetrating their solidifying bodies, form the vast mass of -oxides which we find to constitute the bulk of our terrestrial mass, -the residue, mechanically commingled with the condensed ever-present -nitrogen, forming the planetary atmospheres. The condensation of volume -of the planets will give rise to great elevation of temperature, -while their currents of electricity, poured into the sun, will, by -their passage through its enormously compressed hydrogen atmosphere, -produce intense heat, and this, rapidly communicated to the solar -core within, will raise its temperature to that of the sun as we now -see it, and permanently maintain it in that state of incandescence. - -During the stage of coalescence of the planetary bodies, outlying -strands of the spiral will follow the course of their adjacent masses -in a nearly parallel movement, and will gradually coalesce into smaller -bodies more directly under the influence of the gravity of their own -adjacent planets, by their proximity, than of that of the sun. These -bodies will thus rotate as satellites around their planets, and the -forward shift of their centers of gravity, by their advance along -their lines of coalescence, may result in a permanent displacement, -of which we see an example in the moon, which constantly presents the -same face to the earth, while having an axial rotation of its own with -reference to the sun. (In this case the action of gravity may have been -assisted, however, by the mutual repulsion of the lunar and terrestrial -electrospheres forcing the atmosphere and moisture of the lunar mass to -its opposite side and maintaining it there, where it would remain as a -buffer against rotation.) In some cases we might find certain outlying -strands of a convolution which, perturbed by external influences, -may have been delayed in its conversion into spherical form, and this -subordinate strand, pyriform itself, as it must have been, in shape, -would thus form a spiral of minute discrete bodies, probably like the -nucleus of a comet, finally assuming the shape of a series of rings, -and rotating like a satellite around the neighboring planet, the inner -and outer strands more attenuated and the middle ones more condensed, -as we find to be the case with the rings of Saturn. - -In the original spiral we have seen that, as a whole, it was of -necessity pyriform in shape. The planets formed therefrom would thus be -found to increase in size from within outward to a maximum, after which -they would again decrease, but not to the original minimum, while the -extreme outer planet would also be unduly enlarged by increment from -partially dissipated terminal filaments, gradually attracted thereto -from surrounding space. There is such an undue enlargement of the -planet Neptune, and this, with its relatively compressed orbit, before -alluded to, renders it almost certain that Neptune is in reality the -outermost member of our planetary system. We find this gradation of -size to be the case in our solar system, except where the series has -been broken by the multitudinous separation, from violent internal -repulsion, of one of the convolutions into parallel strands showing -all sorts of perturbations, this being the convolution which occupied -the region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and which, by the -coalescence of these numerous parallel strands into small planetary -bodies, has filled the space with a belt of asteroids hundreds and -perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands in number. It is probable -that a law regulating the ellipticity of planetary orbits can be -deduced from a consideration of the principles which have governed -their inception, and with these are doubtless closely related those -laws of Laplace which have demonstrated that "in any system of bodies -travelling in one direction around a central attracting orb, the -eccentricities and inclinations, if small at any one time, would always -continue inconsiderable." (Appleton's Cyclopædia, article "Planet.") - -We have thus traced the genesis of a solar system from its earliest -stages forward through its various changes until, complete and in -working order, it is ready to be sent on its eternal course, either -alone or as one of a vast congeries of similar systems, like the -Milky Way. (See frontispiece for illustration of a series of types of -development from a straight-tailed comet, through different curvatures, -and spiral nebulæ of less and less divergence, until nearly circular, -and finally terminating in a complete solar system.) These processes -of creation may be isolated, or they may flash a hundred million solar -systems into being together, as crystals flash forth in the rock; -but, when once formed, they go forth each as eternal as space itself. - -But can we not go back one step farther still in the progressive -stages of creative energy? Whence came these powerful agencies by -means of which all those distant regions became peopled with suns and -worlds? The great source of all is to be found alone in space,--the -so-called "empty space." But it is far from empty; all through it -are diffused the attenuated vapors which, condensed, constitute our -suns and planets, and all that is, or ever shall be, gaseous vapors, -which are held poised, with their opposite tensions of cohesion and -expansion, like the Prince Rupert drops which glass-blowers make -for toys,--a little bulb of glass, chilled as it falls, molten, -in a vessel of water. From one extremity projects a long, crooked -stem, scarcely thicker at the end than a horse-hair, spun out from -the molten glass as it hung from the glass-blower's rod. The bulbous -body is as large, perhaps, as a nut; you can beat it with a hammer and -it will not break; it is the hardest in structure of all glass. Now, -wrap this bulb up in a thick handkerchief, or you may be injured; hold -it firmly, and break off the very tiniest tip of the long stem three, -four, or even six inches from the bulb. There is a sudden shock; open -your handkerchief, and lo! instead of the solid bulb, there is only a -loose mass of white powder. If you put the bulb in a heavy glass vessel -full of water and break off the tip of the tail, it will shatter the -vessel into fragments. What is the explanation?--it is, of course, -well known--simply that the molecules of glass were instantly arrested -in their motion of adjustment as the glass was suddenly chilled by the -water, and the molecular motion of shrinkage was arrested, leaving -the individual molecules under a tremendous strain of position in -their endeavor to reach their true places. They are rigidly fixed -in this position of unstable equilibrium, one balancing the other; -but let a single molecule be displaced,--a fragment so tiny that -the eye can scarcely see it,--and the molecules, thus thrown out of -mutual support against each other, must now rearrange themselves from -the ruptured rigid mass, and, like a row of stood-up bricks, each of -which thrusts the other forward, with a sudden explosive force the -molecules assume their true position of stable equilibrium, but it -is at the cost of the whole structure. To this same cause we owe the -explosive force of our gunpowder, nitroglycerin, and all explosives; -the molecules are held in unstable equilibrium, and the tension once -relieved at a single point, be it ever so infinitesimal, the molecules -of the whole mass rearrange themselves with explosive energy. Strange -that so harmless a substance as glycerin, by the mere replacement of -an atom of nitrogen gas, should develop the energy of dynamite under -a trifling molecular shock. - -So, also, the aqueous and perhaps other vapors of all space, attenuated -though they be, and perhaps by reason of this very tenuity itself, -as shown by the experiments of Professor Crookes with attenuated -gases when acted upon by electricity, are held in the same state -of unstable equilibrium. We know the potency of this instability -from the terrific explosive combination of the gases which combine -to form aqueous vapor. We may again refer to one of the well-known -experiments of Professor Crookes with simple atmospheric air. Enclosed -in a cylindrical glass vessel, the electric spark passed freely; as -it became more rarefied under an air-pump, new phenomena appeared, -until, at a stage of high rarefaction, the molecules of these gases -were driven forward by the electric current with such energy as -first to raise the temperature of the opposite side of the cylinder -to a red heat, then to melt, and finally to perforate the glass. The -explanation is that the movements of closely aggregated molecules -mutually interfere with each other; as they gain elbow-room by being -reduced in number, they act with more directness, and consequently -with more force: it is the difference between men fighting in a -crowded room and out in an open field. It is possible that these -molecular tensions of space, by the ready unlocking of the forces with -which they are charged, may even aid in the rotation of the planets -by acting upon their electrospheres in their drift through space, -as charged thunder-clouds react upon each other, or the molecules of -atmospheric air, in moderately high vacua, under electrical excitement, -act upon the walls of the containing vessel, as in the experiments -of Professor Crookes and others. The riddles of nature are like those -of the sphinx,--they have more than one meaning. - -The tensions of the aggregated molecules of space are thus -counterbalanced only so long as all space is equally occupied and -a state of perfect quiescence exists in its every part. A molecular -disturbance in one part is immediately communicated to adjacent parts, -and finally to all. With the first movement, gravity asserts itself, -for gravity exists and must exist in all parts, and must actively -manifest itself whenever the perfect mutual balance of space is -disturbed and a center of energy developed, and co-ordinately with -the action of gravity begins that of electricity. Movements among -the molecules are converted into movement of mass; centripetal motion -begets condensation, this begets sensible heat and vortical movement; -then come the phenomena of electrical generation by moving contact with -the gases of space, then repulsion and disassociation of the elements -of the aqueous vapors, combination of simple into compound elements; -and, the balance once disturbed, the state of unstable equilibrium -is forever destroyed, and all space henceforth must exhibit constant -change. There are whole segments of space absolutely blank, so far as -visible systems are concerned, which seem to have been exhausted, for -the present æons at least, to supply material for the vast adjacent -galaxies which extend along their borders; see illustrations in -Proctor's "Essays on Astronomy," article "Distribution of the Nebulæ." - -It need not be supposed that such stage of perfect and universal -quiescence ever existed in fact; it is like the Nirvana of the Buddhist -philosophers,--a subjective and not an objective condition. We can -have no knowledge of the existence, even, of material things, save -from their phenomena, the manifestation of interchanging forces, -upon which rests our threefold basis of knowledge, perception, -cognition, and comparison. We know nothing of matter, except as -affected by internal or external force, nor of force itself, except -as it acts in one mode or another upon matter. All beyond this is, -for us, without form and void. - -Progressive change has always, doubtless, been the universal law of -creation, and the great ocean of space is, and ever has been, and -ever will be the highway through which perpetually plough the great -caravels which bear the fortunes of creative energy, laden with life -and light and heat, in their eternal progression. The creative impulse -once given, if it, too, was not primeval in the eternal past, must -have gone on from development to development, like the transmission -of life, from age to age and from realm to realm. "The mills of the -gods grind slowly;" in these vast areas time is absolutely nothing; -the processes we see are but as the dip of a swallow's wing compared -with an inconceivable futurity; but all our energies, and all the -energies of planets and suns and systems and galaxies, and of whatever -other and wider created forms may stretch onward to infinity, came -forth from the ocean of space, and to this ocean all these energies -continue to return again in ceaseless circuit. - -Can we indicate any relationship of periodicity for the genesis of -solar systems from space? There is a remarkable example of a somewhat -similar periodicity in organic life for the rupture of tensions, -so common that its analogous character and perfect regularity are -scarcely even thought of. Among the highest species of mammalia we -find that, in a state of health, whether resident of the heights -of the Andes, the deserts of Africa, the jungles of India, or the -most densely populated centers of London; among rich or poor, high -or low, idle or industrious, virtuous or vicious, ancient or modern, -civilized or barbarous, black, white, red, or yellow, the ovum of the -mature female rises to the surface of the ovary, and at intervals, -almost uniform, of twenty-eight days, organic excitement ensues, the -enclosing vesicle is ruptured, and the ovum escapes. The remarkable -feature is not that these processes continuously succeed each other; -but that under such diverse conditions and opposite circumstances, and -with two separate ovaries operating at the same time, simultaneously or -successively, this almost miraculous interval of no more and no less -than twenty-eight days between the successive ruptures of tension and -their attendant phenomena, should constantly persist. For its ultimate -cause we must look back to the vis a tergo to which we have already -alluded; and there may be, and doubtless is, a similarly acting remote -cause which regulates the periodical development of solar systems or -of galaxies, periods of intense activity, followed by intervals of -exhaustion and recuperation, and again succeeded by another period -of activity, and so on perpetually, for space is perpetual, infinite, -and inexhaustible. - -It will be observed that the processes above roughly sketched are -somewhat similar to those observed in the formation of so-called -water-spouts, which usually terminate in dissipation in the atmosphere, -or else in terrific thunder-storms, but which occasionally reach -a sufficient energy of rotation to spin their central nuclei down -towards, or even to, the surface of the sea, or, in desert regions, -to that of the ground. There is no analogy with the theoretical and -"assumed" primal mass of attenuated plasma of the nebular theory, -or with its slow initial rotation, with the successive casting off -of rings of nebulous matter. It may sometimes happen, however, that -the repulsive electrical energy of the central nucleus may throw off -its external envelopes with sufficient force to drive them entirely -beyond the effective limit of its attractive forces, as occurs -in the formation of embryonic comets as above described; in such -case the nebula will be a variable one, with successively repeated -aggregations and successive outbursts, periodical like the active -stages of volcanoes; and, even when the nucleus has already presented a -continuous solar spectrum, its energies may be thus expended, or more -gradually, and finally dissipated like the electricity of a highly -charged Leyden jar exposed to a moist atmosphere. - -As a bottle of strongly effervescing liquid may blow itself empty, -when suddenly opened, by the mutually repellent energy of its -contained molecules, so if such a phenomenon were manifested in -a radial direction from a central point, the repelled spray would -show itself as a nebulous ring with a hollow center. An example of -this sort is shown in the multiple-tailed "Catherine-wheel" nebula -(Fig. 4 of a previous illustration). If such an annular nebula -should become ruptured into two portions by internal repulsion, -the electrical polarity of the smaller fragment would be reversed, -and the two arcs would separately coalesce and consolidate into a -sun and a single planet, forming a solar system like that of Algol, -which has been already described. Otherwise, the nebula would probably -retrograde and disappear, by diffusion, into space again. We may -expect to find abortive efforts of nature here, as we so constantly -find them elsewhere, not merely in inorganic matter, but even among -the processes of life. - -In Professor Proctor's article ("Essays on Astronomy") on -the square-shouldered aspect of Saturn, he mentions a hitherto -unexplained circumstance of the earth's atmosphere--the curious fact -that the barometrical pressure of the earth's atmosphere is somewhat -higher between the poles and the equator than immediately over the -latter, as might be supposed to be the case. This is a phenomenon of -mutual repulsion similar to those manifested in the operations above -described. The rotation of the earth on its axis forces the terrestrial -atmosphere, by its centrifugal motion, in undue proportion, around -the equatorial belt, causing the same sort of atmospheric thinning at -the poles which we see in the solar photosphere at its corresponding -parts. At the same time the highly electrified atmosphere, by its -mutually repellent action, tends to force this swollen equatorial ring -backward toward the poles. The resultant of these two repulsions is an -area of maximum density part way between the poles and the equator. It -is probable that this self-repellent equatorial swell may play some -part in the sun's atmosphere, in extending, and also in limiting, -the areas of eruptive sun-spots outward from his equator. - -While the nebulæ are more distant than many of the discrete stars -revealed to us by the telescope, there is no reason to suppose that -they are more distant than the star-clouds into which are merged -the separate stars of the Milky Way, or the star-clusters seen in -other portions of the sky. We know, in fact, that this is not so, -for our telescopes show brilliant stars in very many cases which are -components of the nebulæ themselves; and the fact that the nebulæ -can be seen as having visible form, and not as mere points of light, -is itself conclusive as to their relative distances. Hence we need -not be surprised to learn that these forming spirals will result each -in the production of a single solar system, and not a galaxy of suns, -as was once supposed. Were such the case it would be impossible for -us to observe the structure of the nebulæ at all, as their distances -would be far too vast. Of the forms of the gaseous nebulæ Guillemin -asks, "Is the spiral the original form of those gaseous matters, -the condensation of which may give, or has given, birth to each -individual of this gigantic association?" The same author says of -these apparently regularly formed nebulæ, "It is impossible not to -recognize in them so many systems." Many of the spiral nebulæ were -formerly supposed to be globular aggregations of nebulous matter only, -and their spiral character came as a great surprise with the use of -more powerful telescopes; and many--nay, most--of these apparently -globular nebulæ have totally changed their appearance when viewed -with instruments of higher power, while the spirals have become more -and more pronounced in character with every increase of telescopic -vision. Of one of such apparently globular nebulæ Guillemin says, "The -center is like a large globular nebula with a very marked condensation, -whence radiate branches arranged in the form of spirals. In several -points of these branches other centers of condensation are noticed. Sir -John Herschel had classed this among the nebulæ of rounded, globular -form, doubtless because the central nebulosity was the only one -revealed by his telescope." The formation of the sub-centers in -this nebula (which is between the Great Bear and Boötes) should be -particularly noted in connection with the coalescence of planets as -above described. In a note to Guillemin's work, Professor Lockyer -says, "The proper motion of nebulæ has not yet been inquired into, -because everybody, looking upon them as irresolvable star-clusters, -thought them infinitely remote. Now, however, that we know they are -not clusters of stars, properly so called, it is possible that they -may be much nearer to us than we imagine." - -In connection with the double-sun spiral nebula shown in the preceding -illustration, Guillemin says, "We have noticed nebulæ accompanied -by systems of double or multiple stars, placed in a manner so -symmetrical in the midst of the nebulosity that it is impossible to -doubt the existence of a real connection between the stars and the -nebulæ." And Flammarion says of these apparently globular nebulæ, -when under the observation of more powerful telescopes, "In the place -where pale and whitish clouds gave out a calm and uniform light, the -giant eye of the telescope has discerned alternately dark and luminous -regions,"--that is to say, they reveal the operation of the opposite -forces of attraction and repulsion, and are spiral. While gaseous -nebulæ may be of any conceivable form, the direction and operation -of the forces which will determine their character as solar systems -must be similar, just as with the forms of organic life, and the only -nebulæ which reveal a distinct systematic development in harmony with -a working solar system are the spiral. There is no difficulty whatever -in tracing such a nebula through all its formative stages, as we have -done, and we can, in fact, see painted on the background of the sky -every step of the shifting tableau through which such forms must pass. - -By the nebular hypothesis the whole course of development, of -necessity, is rigidly forward to its culmination; but by employing -the analogies presented to us in other operations of nature, we -can readily account for variations, haltings, ineffectual efforts, -uncompleted processes, and even reversals and redistributions into -other secondary sources of energy. They equally comprise the agencies -for the production of a single solar system or of a myriad, just as we -see the vortical water-spouts or sand-storms either single, double, -or multiple; they are flexible, as are all the processes of nature, -and require no violent assumption of a prior physical basis known to -us "ne'er before on sea or shore." They also account for the deviation -from the normal of the orbits of Neptune and Mercury, for the formation -of the asteroids and Saturn's rings, for the different eccentricities -and inclinations of the orbits, for the forward axial rotation of -the planets and their satellites, and even for their perturbations -and abnormalities; they furnish a basis for Bode's empirical law, -for the distribution of the planets in size, for the origin of comets -and meteor streams, for Kepler's laws, for the equal and permanent -relation of eccentricities and inclinations, and for the fixed axial -position of the moon with reference to the earth; they account for the -free oxygen in the planetary and free hydrogen in the solar atmosphere, -they employ the variation of volume of the sun as a regulator instead -of an independent generator of light and heat, and they are in entire -conformity with the established principles which govern the electrical -generation of active forces, their transmission to the sun, their -transformation into light and heat, and their return to the regions -of space, where they continue to act with potential energy to all -eternity, as they must do if space itself is eternal; and we surely -know that, if anything whatever is eternal, space must be so. This -great ocean--the home, the domain, the workshop of creative energy--is -the last retreat of the human intellect; here it may find rest, and -here alone. While solar systems may afford in their circling planets -a possible dominion for finite life, and in their suns their daily -bread; in the infinite and all-embracing realms of space, filled with -the potentialities of all created forms, thrilled with the impulses -of all creative force, is to be found the unfailing source of all, -the dominion of the eternal architect, before whom nature bends the -obedient knee, waits to hear his mighty voice, or swiftly runs to do -his royal bidding. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE MOSAIC COSMOGONY. - - "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: - but the earth abideth for ever."--Bible. - - -Thus, as we have seen, through countless future ages will the sun, -with his incandescent envelope of hydrogen, and the planets, with their -life-sustaining atmospheres of oxygen, fulfil their appointed times -and courses. But if we could conceive that all atmospheres, solar -and planetary, were suddenly blotted out and forever annihilated, -so that these great orbs thenceforth rolled along as they do now, -but only as black globes in an ocean of space of Stygian darkness, -new atmospheres would at once begin to be formed, and these would -soon again surround the sun and planets, precisely like those which -now exist. - -Sweeping along in darkness, the force of gravity would gather around -each of these bodies vast accumulations of aqueous vapor and other -gases condensed from the attenuated matter of surrounding space. The -planets, by their axial rotations, would again generate from these -regions, newly occupied as the system drifted along through space, -electrical energy of enormous quantity and potential. Earth would again -hear the mighty mandate, "Let there be light," and from her poles to -her equator the skies would blaze with brush-light auroras. Suddenly, -with a mighty leap, the pent-up currents would flash across to their -opposite electric pole, the auroras would gradually die away, and -instantly the molecules of hydrogen would begin to sift out at the -solar and those of oxygen at the planetary terminals. The electrical -currents driving their furious pathway through the rapidly gathering -hydrogen envelope, the sun would first begin to faintly flicker with -hazy, nebulous light; the light would gather intensity, and soon -flash and glow with energy; the solar nucleus within would become -intensely heated and liquefied or partially volatilized, and again -the solar streams of incandescent heat and light would radiate forth -on every side; the commingled gases, oxygen and nitrogen, would once -more surround each planetary globe, and we should have a new solar -envelope just as we now see it, and new planetary atmospheres like our -own; and then, and not till then, would the opposing generative forces -permanently counterbalance each other and electrolytic decomposition -become practically stationary, except to compensate for the slight -variations constantly liable to occur in the complicated running of -the mechanism. So the mutilated crustacean re-grows his lost claws, -and so our own gaping wounds are healed by the great vis medicatrix -naturæ. The most stable of all things is mutually balanced instability; -perhaps there is no other form of stability. - -The "Nebular Hypothesis" of Laplace concerns itself only with the -aggregate matter of which our solar system is composed, and the force -of gravity, including cohesion, ignoring the action of the equally -powerful force of repulsion. But there is another nebular hypothesis -much older than that of Laplace and far more scientific, for it -utilizes both the force of gravity and cohesion and the radiant force -of repulsion in the generation of our solar system. We refer to what is -known as the Mosaic cosmogony. Whatever the origin of this magnificent -narrative may have been, whether written down by Moses originally, -or by him derived from the sacred learning of Egypt, with which he -was fully acquainted, or by the Egyptian scribes drawn from Ethiopia, -and still further back from the sacred traditions of India, it bears -internal evidence, when properly rendered from the Hebrew record, of a -knowledge of these stupendous phenomena (which no human eye could ever -have beheld) which is most remarkable. The commonly accepted versions -do not clearly bring out the full meaning of the original,--indeed, -it would have been impossible for the earlier translators to have -done so,--but when critically and etymologically rendered, very -surprising coincidences with the succession of events as they must -actually have occurred, and the principles involved in the successive -stages of creation, will be found in nearly every part of the record. - -This record is embodied in the first chapter and first three verses -of the second chapter of Genesis. The Hebrew was long believed to be -an original, if not an inspired, language, but it is now well known to -have been a derivative or root language, made up much like the English, -and, like it, having the meanings of its words primarily determined -by those of the root-stems from which they have been formed. The -roots of these Hebrew words are to be found among the languages of -many older peoples, and nearly all of them have now been traced to -their immediate origin. Another source of error is in the so-called -Masoretic pointing, which was not introduced for a thousand years -after the time of Moses, and which has often changed the signification -of the older words, and even the form of the words themselves; but -by critical researches the roots and their combinations have been -isolated, so that we are now able to possess a much mere accurate -knowledge of the Mosaic record than was possible in former times, -for, of course, no original copies have come down to us. It is not -a reconstruction of the record which has been made, but a careful -editing by means of the derivation and true signification of the -words used, and by careful comparison among the most ancient versions -accessible to modern research. The English version, while imperfect -in its rendering of this ancient narrative, is not to be considered -by any means a false translation, but it largely errs in failing to -give the full radical meaning of the words employed in the original. - -As an illustration of this indefiniteness of rendering in the ordinary -English version let us consider the opening sentences of the narrative: -"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the -earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of -the deep." - -In the "beginning" of what? Does it mean the beginning of our own solar -system? or of all systems? or of all space? or of Jehovah (for He has -not yet been mentioned or described)? or of the Aleim themselves,--that -is, did the work begin as soon as the forces began? and did the latter -originate spontaneously, or otherwise? What "God" is meant? Is it -Jehovah, or Aleim, or some other God not yet mentioned or described? If -we will take every name in the Bible which is translated God (and it -may be any of these according to the English rendering), we will have -legion. We shall even find that the same word which is translated "God" -was applied by Jehovah on one occasion to Moses. "Created"? What is -meant by this word? Was the creating a creation out of nothing? out -of something pre-existing? or something coexisting elsewhere? Was -the creation a direct or an indirect one? by the use of the forces -of nature, or by overriding the forces of nature? Was it a physical -creation by an inconceivable action of mere thought, or will? and if -so, was this thought, or will, God himself, or one of his attributes -or powers only? "The heaven"? What heaven? Was it that to which the -virtuous are supposed to go after death? or was it some more physical -heaven? Was the heaven the atmospheric heaven, the interplanetary -heaven, the heaven of interstellar space, or that more extended -heaven which lies beyond our knowledge? Was the heaven one of these -which He created, or did He create all the different heavens of all -the solar systems and nebulæ at the same time? "Without form"? Was -the earth without any form at all? or merely without its present -form? or without some particular form not mentioned? If the earth was -a physical structure it must have had some form; what was it? "And -void"? Was the earth void like a soap-bubble? or void like a ray of -light? or a vacuum? If it was empty, what was it that was empty? How -could the heaven and earth be void after they had been brought into -existence? "Darkness was upon the face of the deep"? What deep? Was -it the sea not yet created? or the earth, which is anything but a -"deep"? was it the atmosphere? or all space? If the latter, did -all other systems of space wait for their light on ours? or did we -wait on theirs? are there no new systems now forming, and none to be -formed hereafter? If all space is meant, where was its outside, or -its face? and what occupied the intervening regions? was it a physical -face or the face of a vacuum? Were these statements to be accepted by -faith or reason? If the former, was it a faith which could only have -come from the experience of after-ages? or was it based on the ipse -dixit of Moses? What was the basis of faith when the record was first -written? was it from generally accepted tradition or by revelation? Is -the record anonymous or does it reveal the name of its author? If to -be endorsed by knowledge and reason, why should not the narrative be -strictly and accurately translated, even at the expense of conciseness -and elegance of diction, in order that the exact force of every word -shall be fully felt and recognized? If the record is from divine -revelation, it is still more essential to know precisely what was -revealed; otherwise we are no better than idolaters; we are worse, -in fact, for we have changed and falsified the landmarks of religion, -and bear false witness against God Himself. We must not interpret -Genesis by records made long subsequently; it must speak for itself -or not at all. - -When construed in accordance with the exact definition of the words -themselves quite a new and strange light is thrown upon the history of -the events thus recorded. The great importance of a strict construction -of the translation and fidelity to the original is emphasized by -the fact that the same word was never used in this record to express -a different sense in different parts, nor were two different words -ever used in different places to express the same meaning. It is, -therefore, necessary to give every word of the original its exact -fulness and force. The basis of the following critical translation is -to be found in "Mankind: their Origin and Destiny" (Longmans & Co., -London, 1872), but a careful comparison has been made with other -accepted authorities, and the root-meanings of the separate words -have been carefully traced out, so that many necessary changes will -be found to have been made in order to bring out the precise sense -of the original. There is no actual literal, critical, etymological, -and scientific rendering embraced in a single translation known to us, -and which is complete in itself; but that which follows will be found, -it is believed, to give every word its particular etymological shade -of meaning, and to employ the same word in the same place, for the same -purpose, and with the same signification as it was understood to have, -in its original form, when first recorded. The specific root-meanings -of the most important words used are further explained in detail in -a separate section below. - -The use of Aleim, "the powerful Forces," in the plural, followed by -the verb in the singular, is a Hebraism, and indicates the collective -character of the forces as specially energized, sent forth, and -directed by Jeove (Jeova or Jehovah is the Chaldaic form of the word, -the original Hebrew being Jeove), who does not appear by name in this -narrative, though, as we shall see, specially delegated power from -some higher source is that characteristic which is most emphasized -throughout the record. These forces are personified, as is usual in -ancient records (and, indeed, in modern thought), but they are in -reality the "powers of God." The author of the work above referred -to says, "The idea of Moses was that there was a Supreme God ... and -that He only acts by means of his agents called Aleim, the Gods, -in the plural and indefinite number, or embassadors, or voices." The -ancient belief in the unity of all forces in one creative individuality -is also most clearly shown in some of the oldest Vedaic hymns of India -(see Max Müller, "The Veda"). "Self (Atman) is the Lord of all things, -Self is the King of all things. As all the spokes of a wheel are -contained in the nave and the circumference, all things are contained -in this Self; all selves are contained in this Self. Brahman (Force) -itself is but Self." - -Of the religion of the ancient Egyptians (see "Evolution and -Christianity," by J. F. York) it is said, "The chief theological -characteristic of this first of all known civilized religions is -the doctrine of the Divine Unity. As M. de Rougé says, 'One idea -predominates, that of a single and primeval God; everywhere and -always it is one substance, self-existent, and an unapproachable -God.'" The Egyptian cosmogony, as the fragments have come down to us -(see Professor Arnold Guyot, "Creation"), is as follows: - -1. The original gaseous form, and the darkness of matter. - -2. The successive transformations. - -3. Light, as the first step in this development. - -4. The separation of the waters below from the waters above the - expanse. - -5. Periods of development of indefinite length. - -6. The sun, moon, and earth organized last. - -The word Mlactou, which occurs several times repeated in the summing -up of this narrative, explains the character of Aleim most fully, as -specially energized and directed agencies or forces. This word never -has any other meaning. Even when applied to a king it was not a king -as a monarch, but as the specially directed agent of God. I. Samuel -xxviii. 17, "The Lord hath sent the kingdom out of thine hand; -... because thou obeydst not the voice of the Lord." When, in Exodus -xiii. 21 it is said that "Jeove went before them by day in a pillar -of a cloud," this is explained, in chapter xiv. verse 19, to mean that -this pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night was Mlac, a messenger, -or agent. It is translated "angel" in the English version, but it -was not a personal angel; it was a specially energized and directed -force. In the earliest times it was not the God of fire, or of force, -or of justice which men feared, but fire, or force, or justice; -the anthropomorphic conception came later with the generalization -of all fire, all force, or all justice. We say now that a malefactor -fears the law; what he really fears, however, is punishment. In this -record we are dealing with the primordial forces of God,--gravity, -electricity, attraction, repulsion, cohesion, vital force, etc., etc., -but acting with special energy for a predetermined result. Of these -forces Dr. McCosh says, in his work on Christianity and Positivism, -"One God, with his infinitely varied perfections,--his power, his -knowledge, his wisdom, his love, his mercy; we should see that one -Power blowing in the breeze, smiling in the sunshine, sparkling in -the stars, quickening us as we bound along in the felt enjoyment of -health, efflorescing in every form and hue of beauty, and showering -down daily gifts upon us. The profoundest minds in our day, and in -every day, have been fond of regarding this force, not as something -independent of God, but as the very power of God acting in all action; -so that in him we live, and move, and have our being." In more rugged -and virile form this was precisely the old Mosaic philosophy, the -philosophy of the arcana of the Egyptian temples, and of the Vedaic -age of the Aryans of India. Where was the radiant center of this -unfailing search-light which has poured its broad belt of dazzling -brightness down to our day from those old, prehistoric ages? - -So De Jouvencel, in his "Genesis according to Science," says, "We -should not place the works of nature on one side and nature on the -other. Nature is a work and not a person." - -The word which in the English version is translated "rested," in the -concluding verses of the narrative, does not mean rested from fatigue, -but rested as a pendulum rests when it ceases to vibrate. Had the -word been rendered "came to a state of rest," it would have been far -more accurate and true to the sense of the original. What is meant is -that these pent-up forces had operated, under the guidance of Jeove, -to rupture a state of unstable equilibrium in the attenuated matter of -space, just as similar forces are now said to gather energy to produce -a volcanic eruption of the earth's crust, preceded by earthquakes and -other vast disturbances radiating from the center of rupture of these -tensions between the molecules of matter, accompanied by explosive -expansion and all the phenomena of disorganization and repulsion, and -succeeded by condensation, development, harmony, and final quiescence -of these specially energized and self-opposing forces in a newly -formed state of molecular equilibrium. To quote from Professor Guyot, -"God rests as the creator of the visible universe. The forces of -nature are now in that admirable equilibrium which we now behold, -and which is necessary to our existence." In "The Unity of Nature" -the Duke of Argyle says, "We strain our imaginations to conceive the -processes of Creation, whilst in reality they are around us daily." - -The words which conclude the third verse of chapter ii. are also -imperfectly rendered in our English version, and this defect has led to -a popular misconception almost universal. They are construed to mean -"created--and made," as though marking a broad class distinction -between the different processes before described. From this the -inference has been drawn that while, for the more subordinate features, -the word rendered "made" indicated that these were stages in the -process of creation merely involving the use of coexisting materials, -in the grander features of the work it was supposed that there had been -a creation ab initio,--that is, out of nothing. Whole libraries have -been written on this theme; but the words used bear no such meaning; -on the contrary, they signify the exact opposite. There is, however, -a broad distinction between the interpretation of the two words; -but it is that the word which is to be rendered "fashioned like the -work of a sculptor" is narrower and not broader in significance than -the simple word "made;" so that the former is included in, but is -not generically distinct from, the latter. The word Bra means that -these portions of creation were fashioned with the care and artistic -skill of a sculptor, as contradistinguished from turning out the -productions in mass; this distinction does not relate to the origin, -but to the workmanship. However interstellar or primordial space -was formed, or when, if it ever was formed, there is nothing in this -record which excludes a pre-existent space substantially like that -which now is. What we see in the sky, among the nebulæ, are later -developments of like solar systems, in like manner, from the midst -of the substance of the same illimitable and eternal space. - -But biology has an interest in this account of creation equally as -great as has cosmology. The word Bra is first applied to the formation -of the individualized substance of the heavens and the earth. They were -fashioned or carved out like a sculpture from something on which the -forces could operate. There was, of course, creation involved, but it -was a mental, not a physical process. When a sculptor has completed -his clay figure he has brought forth a great creation, perhaps, and -the "creation" is still his own, though the figure be cast in bronze -by hired workmen in the foundry, who execute the sculptor's will at -two dollars a day, it may be, each. Beyond this mental element there -is no more creation, in its widest sense, than when a boy "creates" -a new point on his pencil by guiding his hand and knife to sharpen it. - -When the "diffused light" came, it is not said that it was "fashioned -like the work of a sculptor," or that it was even "made;" but that it -"came into existence." "Let there be light, and there was light," -as the English version has it. But when the radiant energy of the -sun came to be formed, on the fourth day, it did not "come into -existence," nor was it "fashioned like the work of a sculptor;" it was -"made." The reason is that it was not a development from the preceding -"diffused light," but a new kind of light, made mechanically by the -electrolysis of aqueous vapor around the sun's body, forming a hydrogen -envelope, and by driving the furious torrents of electricity from the -planets through this atmosphere, while the auroral, "diffused light" -of the earth was gradually dying away during the process. Hence -there was no room for the word Bra, or for the word Iei (came into -existence) here; the word to be used was Osh. And when life was first -introduced,--vegetable life, the primal life,--the word used is not -Bra; this life was not "fashioned" or developed from other life. But -when animal life was afterwards introduced, the word used is Bra; -it was a refashioning. What was this life fashioned out of? It was -not "made;" it did not "begin to exist;" it was developed. In this -manner the earth was finally filled with animal life. Then came -the introduction of the human race. Here we again have the word -Bra, thrice repeated; but when this introduction of mankind was -first projected, and before it was executed, it was in these words, -"We will make [the root Osh] mankind;" or, in the English version, -"Let us make man." There seems here to have been a gradual ascent of -living organisms by development, almost precisely in accordance with -the most recent teachings of science. Two essentially different kinds -of light were successively produced, independently of each other; -the earlier kind "came into being," and the later "was made." The -substance or entity of the heavens and of the earth, generically, -"was fashioned." Three successive introductions of organic life not -essentially different from each other occurred; the first is described -thus: "Let the earth bring forth; ... and the earth brought forth," -in the English version; or "There shall be made to grow; ... and there -was caused to arise suddenly out of the ground ... vegetation," as -more accurately rendered. The second form of organic life, in order of -time, the animal, was "fashioned." The third form, mankind, was also -"fashioned," and this was done long subsequently to the introduction -of the second. - -If the word Bra had any signification of original creation it would -have been applied to the first creation of life, for it was far more -wonderful and original that there should be vegetable life which -grew and developed, which brought forth flowers and then fruit, which -formed germinative seeds, and from these successively and continuously -reproduced its multifarious species, than that animal life should -have been introduced long afterwards to repeat these same things -which vegetation had been, in all its forms, from the lowest to the -highest, already doing for untold ages,--from the third period of the -earth's long history to the fifth; and more especially still when we -consider that vegetable life and animal life, in their lowest forms, -have no positive line of division between them. - -And if Osh, which is applied to the genesis of solar light, be capable -of the signification of original creation, then this word should have -been applied to the generation of the "diffused light" of the second -day, for the genesis of light is far more wonderful and original -than the subsequent production of sunlight, after the forming earth -had existed for two whole formative periods, from the second to the -fourth, under the constant illumination of this universally diffused -auroral light. If, on the other hand, the words applied to the first -generation of light and the first generation of life be held to mark -an original creation, then these words are never applied in this whole -narrative to the genesis of the entity of the heavens, or the earth, -or the sun and moon, or to animal life, or the life of man. - -The radiant light and heat of the sun were not made until the fourth -day, while the introduction of vegetable life dates from the long -antecedent third day of creation. Prior to the development of the -sun's thermal light there could have been, as we have already shown, -no free oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere; and it is a remarkable -circumstance that vegetation, which is the only form of organic life -which could have existed and propagated its species in an atmosphere -composed of carbonic, nitrogenous, and aqueous vapors, devoid of -oxygen, is that particular form of life which has been selected for -this purpose, and its advent placed prior to the making of the sun. It -would have been far more reasonable (previous to our present knowledge -of these things) to have placed the formation of the sun in advance -of the introduction of life; it is surprising that this was not done, -unless we give to these "ancients" a knowledge of the principles of -natural science far beyond anything hitherto attributed to them. - -In the same connection there is described a stage preparatory to and -leading up to the simultaneous development of the sun's light and -heat, and the sifting out of hydrogen around the solar core, and of -oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere, which is equally remarkable. The -"separation of the waters" described in verses 6 and 7 has never been -fully rendered into English, or even understood in the original, as -the words seemed meaningless in their literal sense until correctly -interpreted by the facts set forth in the present work. - -We must first note that the separation of the waters of space to -two opposite foci, with an intervening space of attenuated matter, -and their condensation there into two entirely different bodies, was -the work of the second day, while the formation of the terrestrial -rain-clouds and seas, as connected together, was a work of the -third day, and was not accomplished until then, which was long -afterwards. These entirely different operations--different in time, -place, character, and circumstance--have always been confounded with -each other; but one is in reality systemic and the other merely local. - -In verse 6 there was decreed an expanse or thinning (an attenuated -region) in the center of the waters, and a separation was made by -the formation of two "spots" (verse 7), one under the expanse and -the other above the expanse; the expanse was space, interplanetary -space. Professor Arnold Guyot, in his book on Creation, says, "It is -to be regretted that the English version has translated the Hebrew -word expanse by the word firmament.... The difficulties they [the -commentators] have created for themselves arose ... from depriving it -of its cosmogonic character and belittling it by reducing the great -phenomena there described to a simple modification of the terrestrial -atmosphere.... They forget that this thin covering of clouds is but -a temporary and ever-changing one, and that the clouds are in that -heaven rather than above it.... They forget that this is not the true -heavens in which are spread the sun and moon and stars.... This grand -day, so dwarfed and misunderstood, is the one in which are described -the generations of the heavens, announced by Moses, which otherwise -find no place in the narrative of the creative week." - -The two foci of waters were the solar and terrestrial; around these -bodies were gathered by the attraction of gravity, and there condensed, -the aqueous vapors from the attenuated intervening matter of space; the -earth by its rotation generated the enormous electrical currents which -still continue; when these made their mighty leap across to the sun, -the diffused auroral light around the earth gradually disappeared, -hydrogen and oxygen began to be evolved at the opposite poles--the -sun and the earth--from the condensed envelopes of aqueous vapor -which surrounded them, the sun's hydrogen atmosphere was pierced, -as in the pail-of-water experiment described in an earlier chapter -of the present work, by the planetary electric currents, the sun -became incandescent, and pari passu the earth became fitted, by the -development of oxygen, for the abode of animal life. As taking part -in this great mechanical transformation, the sun was said to have been -"made;" it did not "come into being." - -Just prior to the introduction of vegetable life--during the same -creative epoch, in fact, and for the support of which life it was -necessary--the waters under the expanse were condensed into rain-clouds -and seas, and there is a curious reference (verse 9) to the appearance -of the earth's dryness "as produced by the action of an internal fire;" -the gradual cooling of the earth by the radiation of its internal heat -of condensation into space would account for this appearance, and, in -connection with the diffused auroral light throughout the whole sky, -would doubtless have sufficed for the support of vegetable life. - -In verse 16 the fixed stars (the suns of other systems) are referred -to, but in a parenthetical statement--almost deprecatory, in fact--that -"the dim and almost extinct lights" the same forces created also, -but when they were created is not stated in the record. The occasion -for this incidental remark is to be found in the preceding statement -that the two new luminaries, the sun and moon, were the two "superior -bodies in size of the starry lights." Having mentioned the stars in -this comparison, the author feels called upon to add that the latter -also had been similarly created,--that is, that they were not original -existences, and of course they are not, but they were not created at -that epoch, and are not said to have been. - -In chapter ii. verse 4, which opens the second narrative (quite a -different history, by the way), Jeove appears Himself, joined with -the Aleim, and henceforth this personal connection is maintained; -the English version translates this composite word "The Lord God," -which means the Master God; the correct reading is, however, the -"God of gods," or what we call the "God of the forces of nature," -or the "God omnipotent." - -In the whole Mosaic cosmogony there is nothing which can even -suggest a gradually closing nebulous mass; the element of rotation is -absent (and it would not have been understood by the people even if -presented); but, with this exception, the processes of development -are substantially in accord with what must really have taken place, -and in the order described. But it is, as before stated, absolutely -essential to understand the root-meanings of all the more important -words used in the original. A superficial translation is not only -meaningless, but misleading; whereas, when accurately understood, -the record is one of the most remarkable ever presented to human -intelligence. The words used were selected deliberately for their -specific shades of meaning, and, unless these are properly rendered, -to the uninformed the narrative will present a simple succession -of startling phenomena, while to the educated student each of these -changes carries within its verbal index its origin, its mode, and the -knowledge of the forces at work. To the one it is a dramatic spectacle -performed on the stage in front; to the other it is the same work -as seen behind the curtain, with all the intermoving mechanism (the -author's manuscript the sole guide), the interplay of complicated -forces, the triumphant successes, the rapt attention, and even the -sudden applause extorted at each wondrous climax from the skilled -actors themselves, who are at the same time unceasingly engaged in -working out the mighty drama of creation. One might readily believe -that the original author of this record was thoroughly acquainted -with the processes involved in the development of a solar system like -our own from the diffused primordial matter of space, substantially -as we have endeavored, in the present work, to deduce them from the -most recent investigations and discoveries of science. - -Of the watery vapors condensed above the expanse of space many of -the ancient writers had a far more correct knowledge than had those -who translated these chapters from the original into the various -modern languages. In the Psalms we read, "Praise him, ... ye waters -that be above the heavens;" in the Song of the Three Holy Children, -"O all ye waters that be above the heavens." Theophilus speaks of the -"visible sky as having drawn to itself a portion of the waters of -chaos at the time of the creation." Saint Augustine says that the -firmament has been formed "between the upper and the lower waters," -and quotes Genesis i. 6 and 7, as his authority. - -Thousands of years ago, as far back as the days of the Pythagoreans, -and even long before, mankind was acquainted with the mariner's -compass, telescopic tubes, and glass lenses; they knew that the moon -receives her light by reflection from the sun, of the presence of -mountains and valleys on the lunar surface, that her day and night are -each a fortnight in length, that there were other planets known to the -Egyptians besides the seven known to the Greeks (the Brahmans reckoned -fifteen of them), that the sun is the center of our planetary system, -that the earth and the other planets revolve around it, that the earth -is round and rotates on its own axis daily, that weight is a principal -element in the maintenance of these rotations, that the fixed stars -are suns, and that the Milky Way appears white from the number of -stars which it contains. Kircher quotes from an ancient Syrian author -the philosophy of the sidereal system, dividing it into many layers -or spheres attached to orbits, each presided over by a spirit. In -the eighth sphere are placed the fixed stars, "still higher two other -layers of stars not less luminous, and of different sizes, the nebulæ -and the small stars of the Milky Way, and the whole is surrounded by -the celestial waters, which spread over the whole firmament, and which -compose the great sea of light and the boundless ocean." The sources -of all this wondrous knowledge can be traced back through Chaldea, -Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and, through the colony of Meroë, to India. - - - -ROOT-MEANINGS OF THE PRINCIPAL WORDS USED IN THE MOSAIC NARRATIVE -OF CREATION. - -Aleim ("corruptly called Elohim by the modern Jews, but always Aleim -in the synagogue copies") means the Strong Forces (or, by subsequent -impersonation, subaltern gods), operating to carry out the purposes and -execute the plans of Jeove. Al, the root, signifies Strong, strength, -a ram; Al-e means Strong in a personal sense; Aleim (plural) means -the Forces, the Strong-ones, the Powers, and in Egyptian mythology, -the subordinate, or executive, gods, the demi-urgi. Exodus vii. 1, -"And the Lord [Jeove] said unto Moses, See I have made thee a god -[Aleim] to Pharaoh; thou shalt speak all that I command thee." - -Bra, carved, cut, fashioned like the work of a sculptor, gave a new -shape to, formed from unformed material. From Br, a knife; br-i, -to carve, to cut. - -Brashit, in the commencement or beginning of individualized existence -(with the initial preposition b-). B signifies in; it (which is -related to at) signifies individualized existence; rash, a principle -or beginning, or a commencement. - -At, connected with the Chaldaic, signifies substance, essence, -or individuality, "the thing itself" (Latin, ens); it is correctly -translated "individualized substance." - -Eshmim, the combination of the preposition e with the substantive -shmim, the word signifying of the visible heavens, or the planisphere. - -Artz, the earth in a state of aridity, or as a generalized expression -for the earth; ar signifies the earth, and the termination tz -intensifies the signification of drought, whiteness, aridity; in -contrast with this is adme, red earth, or productive earth or soil. - -U- is a conjunction, signifying and or then, in the sense of succession -of time, something like our phrase "and then." - -Teou does not mean "without form," nor does ubeou mean "and void," as -rendered in our English version, at least not in the ordinary sense -of these words. "Teou refers to extinct life, or to existence shut -up as in a tomb and in darkness, while u-beou refers to life which -is about reappearing, but still hidden in the egg or the ovary, and -waiting for the word which shall cause the dawn of creation to shine -upon it." These words are more properly rendered "tomb-like darkness -and undeveloped." - -Eshc means darkness; not merely an intense darkness, but what may be -denominated a "thick darkness;" it is an enshrouding darkness which -compresses and hinders. It is precisely such a darkness as would be -produced by the interstratified cloud-layers between the convolutions -of a forming spiral nebula, or the cloud-strata surrounding the -earth before electrolytic decomposition of the aqueous vapors had -ensued. With the advent of the sun, in the narrative, this darkness -and the term which expresses it disappear. - -Teou-m is the word above explained, with the termination -m, -expressing the idea of arrested, doubtful, indefinite, as applied to -all existence; the word "undifferentiated nature" properly interprets -its vagueness and general character of an abyss of being, in the -etymological sense of "nature" as the totality of things at that time -born or produced. - -Rove means breath, in the sense of an expanding, liberating, or -developing spirit; its literal meaning is "the breath, the spirit -which dilates and frees." - -Mrepht, brooded with incubating love; reph is composed of re, "to be -full of good-will, to be agreeable," and eph, "to cover, to protect, -to incubate, to brood." - -Mim, the seeds of all beings, the waters. It is said, "the choice of -this letter m, to signify water [the alphabetical Egyptian letter m -is represented by the two undulatory lines which in the hieroglyphics -represent water], is connected with the Egyptian ideas of the cause -of the generation of living beings." Numbers xxiv. 7, "He shall -pour the waters out of his buckets, and the seed [zro] in the waters -[b-mim]." The latter word is plural in form, but both singular and -plural in sense. - -Aour, diffused light; a light resembling the dawn, but quite distinct -from the light of the sun. The latter was not established until the -fourth day, and its advent is characterized by a new word, leair, -"to cause light to move above the earth." - -Joum is day, generically, and lile night. - -Rqiô, the expanse; atrqiô, the individualized substance of the -expanse. Space, in the opinion of the Egyptians, "not being a vacuum, -but a material substance, Moses could say, and was even compelled to -say, 'the substance of space, that which constitutes it.'" - -Osh, made. This word first occurs in verse 7, and is there applied to -the making a separation between the waters or aqueous vapors condensed -around the earth and those condensed around some similar spot "above, -as regards the individuality of the expanse,"--to wit, the solar core -or nucleus,--to which, attracted by gravity from the attenuated vapors -of the space between, is due the subsequent establishment of the solar -light and heat, as in an electrical arc light, and the presence of -oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere. These processes, involving -the constitution of our atmosphere and of the sun's photosphere -and chromosphere, were not completed until two subsequent cosmical -periods had elapsed, from the third to the fifth. The word osh, in its -different combinations and inflections, is also used in verse 11, where -it signifies "making," as applied to fruit; "yielding" fruit, in verse -12; "they made," as applied to the sun and moon, in verse 16; "made," -as applied to the entity of quadrupeds and higher animals generally, -in verse 25; "we will make," as applied to man, verse 26; "had made," -as applied to "every entity of creation," verse 31; "had made," as -applied to the specially directed work as mlactou, chapter ii. verse -2; and finally, in the general summing up in verse 3 of the second -chapter, as an element in a compound substantive phrase "according -to the making-act," or "in accordance with the making of creation." - -"Oshout," it is said, "signifies a manual operation, carried on -according to a previously conceived idea, or model." - -We find a similar use of the substantive infinitive with a preceding -preposition in verse 21, chapter iii. "Ctnout is derived from tne, -a consoling word. Tnout, the infinitive of the conjugation Piel, adds -to the word the act of causing to be done, and of doing with care." - -A similar construction, lraout, is employed in chapter ii. verse -19, translated in the English version, "and brought them unto Adam -to see what ..."; more literally, "as regards the act of seeing," -or according to a vision, or show. That is, they were brought and -presented to his sight. - -The object in writing these two words, bra and l-osh-out, together at -the very end of the narrative was to conclusively establish the fact, -beyond all possible doubt, that the whole work of creation was an -orderly and harmonious progression. - -Mlactou, which word is used twice in verse 2 and once in verse 3 of the -second chapter, and not previously, is also introduced for specific -emphasis. It means that the whole preceding work of creation was, in -its nature, "the work of Mlac," a messenger, or a specially energized -and directed agency, sent to fulfil the appointed work of Jeove. Its -purpose was to forever prevent the belief that the work of creation -was due to mere natural forces, on the one hand, operating by chance; -and, on the other, that these forces were independent gods carrying -out their own purposes, and of their own will. It was set up as a -double barrier against rationalism on the one side and polytheism on -the other. - -It may be incidentally added that the popular belief that "Adam was -created out of the dust of the earth" is not in accordance with the -original record. In the second narrative, chapter ii. verse 7, the -word ophr is rendered "dust" in our English version, but it does not -signify ordinary terrestrial dust at all; "its radical meaning is to -volatilize a substance, to sublimate it." The true signification of -the word used is analogous to a "material essence." The same word is -used in Numbers xxiii. 10 as a synonym for "seed;" it is said that -"the Septuagint version translates ophr by sperma." - -The formation, described in the third chapter, of the female human -being out of one of the ribs of Adam, excised for that purpose (which -is a matter of almost universal popular belief), is not, in reality, -what is stated in the original. In verse 21 of chapter ii. the words -are rendered in our version, "And he took one of his ribs." What is -really said, however, is "And he brought out another one from his -sides." So the similar expression in verse 22 in reality signifies, -"caused to be made according to womankind the individualized substance -of his side." - -The word translated "of his ribs" is precisely the same as is -subsequently used by the same writer (Exodus xxxvii. 27) to designate -the location of the supporting rings upon an altar of incense, and -is there rendered, "by the two corners of it, upon the two sides." - -The defective translation is due to imperfect knowledge, at that -time, of the processes of organic development. The true signification -is that given in the "Institutes of Manu": "Having divided his own -sub-sistence, the Mighty Power became half male and half female." - -The words rendered "help meet" in verses 18 and 20 have a far -higher meaning; "I will make him a help meet" should be translated, -"I will cause to be made for him an overseeing help as a guide, -an instructor, a revealer." And in verse 20 of chapter iii., "And -Adam called his wife's name Eve," the latter word is not translated; -the correct rendering is, "And Adam called the symbolic name of his -wife the female serpent-wise revealer, she who explains, points out -things, who instructs," for that is what the true root-meaning of Eve -signifies. The concluding words of this verse, "because she was the -mother of all living," are obviously mistranslated, for not only was -she not a mother at all, but she did not even conceive, as stated in -the next chapter, until she had left the garden finally. The true -signification is, "because she was the mother of all [spiritual, -see verse 22, as contradistinguished from animal and vegetable] life." - -The female human being, the word translated woman, has the generic -root-signification of "flame," while, prior to Eve, that of the -Adamic man is the "red earth." As the male was formed from a material -earthly essence, the female was created one remove further from the -gross and material in the direction of the spiritual; and her powers -were distinctively subjective, those of intuition, while those of -the male were objective, those derived from instruction. Even in the -final curse (so called) the man turns back to the earth to earn his -subsistence, while the woman turns forward to the instruction of -the future men and women, the children; for the words, "In sorrow -shalt thou bring forth children," have left one word of the original -untranslated, and by supplying this the sense is entirely changed, -"and conceiving, and bringing forth, in sorrow shalt thou bring up, -care for, and train children." In those countries childbirth was -never attended with much pain or sorrow. - -The obvious effect of the whole inspired or traditionary second -narrative is to clearly differentiate the contrasted faculties of -the two sexes, and the root-meanings of the words employed, whether -Moses himself perceived it or not, are a testimonial of the highest -possible character for woman, instead of being, as rendered in the -ordinary versions, a mark of inferiority, or even of degradation. In -the garden scene, when she partook of the fruit of the tree of -knowledge, she did not do it hastily or from mere temptation; it is -said that "she considered it attentively;" the same word being used -as was employed in the first narrative to mark the intense interest -and almost superhuman character of the consideration by the Aleim -of the work, as its successive stages appeared, which they were -delegated to perform, and which Jeove himself directed. The prize, -to her, far outweighed the penalty, and the aspiring sibyl dared to -lift the innermost veil in the adytum of the temple, and grasp the -lofty truths which made her as one of the Aleim. So fell Prometheus. - -And then, no sooner had the flame-crowned seer won her precious prize, -than, woman-like, she turned and laid it before her husband, and he, -the innocent one, "did eat." - -The serpent was not a mere snake, be it understood; it was the Egyptian -Typhon, the dark Spirit of doubt, the questioner, the tempter, the -eternal if, the why, whence, what, and whither? - -It was her insatiable aspiration to reach the highest possible -limits of human knowledge which gave strength to her daring, and -not a childish fancy for an apple. All this, of course, is lost in -the translation. It is as though the national standard of a mighty -people had been disinterred from the remains of past ages, which had -been borne aloft at the head of mighty armies for centuries, and for -which thousands had gloriously died in battle in defence of a sacred -cause, and which now, its past history untraced, has been catalogued -as a brass bird of some sort mounted on a stick. - -It is to be regretted that there is no plain, popular work by a -thoroughly capable scholar, without theological or anti-theological -bias, which treats of the origin, form, root-derivation, usage, -accurate signification, and construction of the comparatively few -words employed in the ancient narratives which compose the first -half-dozen chapters of Genesis, and, we may add, the book of Job; -something like those inestimable works which deal with the ancient -cosmogonic literature of Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, India, China, -Phoenicia, and Central America. Nothing of this sort is to be found, -at all events in a form accessible to the general reader, and such a -work, in small compass, would be of the highest importance to popular -instructors, to students, and to the public as well, for it would -throw a flood of light on these extremely valuable but, hitherto, -so illy-comprehended records. - - - - THE MOSAIC NARRATIVE OF CREATION. - - 1. Aleim, the Forces, fashioned like the work of a sculptor, in - the commencement of individualized existence, the individualized - substance of the heavens and the individualized substance of - the earth. - - 2. And the earth was in tomb-like darkness and undeveloped, - and there was compressive hindering darkness on the surface of - undifferentiated nature. And the dilating and liberating Spirit - of the Forces hovered with incubating love on the surface of the - seeds of all beings, the waters. - - 3. Then Aleim said, There shall be a diffused light; and a diffused - light was. - - 4. And Aleim regarded with attention the individualized substance - of the diffused light, because good. And Aleim caused a separation - to be made between the diffused light and between the compressive - hindering darkness. - - 5. Then Aleim exclaimed for the diffused light, Day! and for the - compressive hindering darkness exclaimed, Night! And there was a - transition from light to darkness, and then there was a renewal - of light; First Day. - - 6. Then Aleim said, There shall be an expansion obtained by a - thinning in the center of the waters, and there was that which - caused a separation to be made by occupying a spot, the waters - according to the waters. - - 7. And Aleim made the individualized substance of the expanse, - and caused a separation to exist by the occupation of the spot, - of the waters which are under as regards the expanse of space, - and by the occupation of the spot, of the waters which are above - as regards the expanse of space; and it was so. - - 8. Then Aleim exclaimed for the expanse of space, The Heavens! and - there was a transition from light to darkness, and then there - was a renewal of light; Second Day. - - 9. And Aleim said, The waters which are underneath the heavens - will tend directly, in order to meet in it, towards a single spot - fixed upon for their meeting; and of dryness produced by the action - of an internal fire the appearance shall be made; and it was so. - - 10. Then Aleim exclaimed for the dryness, Earth! and for the spot - fixed upon for the meeting of the waters exclaimed, Seas! Then - Aleim looked attentively at it, because good. - - 11. And Aleim said, There shall be made to grow from the earth - a dwarf vegetation which can be trodden under foot, a maturing - plant causing to be sowed around it a seed, the strong and woody - substance of fruit making fruit after his kind whose seed is in - itself above the earth; and it was so. - - 12. And there was caused to arise suddenly and full of strength - a dwarf vegetation, a maturing plant sowing around it seed after - his kind; and the woody substance yielding fruit whose seed is - in itself after his kind. Then Aleim considered it, because good. - - 13. And there was a transition from light to darkness, and then - there was a renewal of light; Third Day. - - 14. Then Aleim said, There shall be starry-lights in the expanse - of space of the heavens to separate between the duration of the - day and between the duration of the night; and they shall be for - signs, and for seasons, and for the days which make the year, - and for the repetitions of years. - - 15. And they shall be for luminous bodies in the expanse of - space of the heavens to cause light to move above the earth; - and it was so. - - 16. And Aleim made a double individualized substance, the superior - in size and excellence of the starry-lights, the individualized - substance which was the greater of the luminous bodies to represent - the rule of the day, and the lesser luminous body to represent - the rule of the night. - - Of the dim and almost extinct lights [the stars] they made the - individualized substance also. - - 17. And Aleim established these individualized substances in the - expanse of space of the heavens to make light move above the earth. - - 18. And to be representatives of dominion during the day and - during the night, and to separate between the continuance of - diffused light and between the continuance of compressive hindering - darkness; then Aleim looked attentively at it, because good. - - 19. And there was a transition from light to darkness, and then - there was a renewal of light; Fourth Day. - - 20. Then Aleim said, The waters shall bring forth a swarm of - swarming creatures having living breath; and that which flies, - the birds, shall be made to fly with strength and fleetness above - the earth in the space extended of the heavens. - - 21. And Aleim fashioned like the work of a sculptor the - individualized substance of those which are superior in size of - the gigantic reptiles and every individualized substance having - living breath, that moveth, which they had produced, swarming - from the waters, according to their kind; and every individualized - substance of flying thing with wings, after his kind. Then Aleim - looked attentively at it, because good. - - 22. And Aleim blessed these individualities by saying, propagate - your species and multiply yourselves, and fill the individualized - substance of the waters in the seas; and as for the flying thing, - it shall multiply itself on the earth. - - 23. And there was a transition from light to darkness, and then - there was a renewal of light; Fifth Day. - - 24. Then Aleim said, From the earth shall be brought forth the - living breath according to its kind, the quadruped, and the being - which moveth about, and the terrestrial animal according to its - kind; and it was so. - - 25. And Aleim made the individualized substance of the animal of - the earth according to his kind, and the individualized substance - of the quadruped according to his kind, and every individualized - substance that moveth about of red earth according to his - kind. Then Aleim regarded it, because good. - - 26. Then Aleim said, We will make mankind of a like order of - intellect with ourselves, and they shall extend their dominion - over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the heavens, and - over the quadruped, and over all of the earth, and over all the - moving beings that move about over the earth. - - 27. And Aleim fashioned like the work of a sculptor the - individualized substance of mankind in the exactness of a shadow - cast upon a wall; on this shadow Aleim carved the individuality; - male and female they fashioned the individualized substance. - - 28. Then Aleim blessed the individualized substance. And Aleim - said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the - individualized substance of the earth, and subdue it, and extend - your dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of - the heavens, and over all life of the being which moveth about - over the earth. - - 29. And Aleim said, Behold I have given for you every useful - plant-substance yielding seed, yielding seed which there is over - the surface of all the earth, and every individualized substance - of tree which has in it fruit pertaining to a tree yielding seed, - yielding seed for you, it shall be for food. - - 30. And for all animal life of the earth, and for everything - that flies in the heavens, and for every being that moveth over - the surface of the earth which has in it living breath, every - individualized substance which is a green maturing plant shall - be for food. And it was so. - - 31. Then Aleim looked at every individualized substance which - they had made, and behold it was as good as possible. And there - was a transition from light to darkness, and then there was a - renewal of light; Sixth Day. - - (Chapter ii.) 1. Then the finishing was made of the heavens, - and of the earth, and of all the orderly arrangement. - - 2. And Aleim [the Forces] finished on the seventh day the divinely - appointed and directed work which they had performed; and they - came again to a state of rest on the seventh day from all the - appointed work which they had done. - - 3. Then Aleim blessed the individualized substance of the seventh - day and sanctified it, because in it they returned to their - primitive condition from all the divinely appointed and directed - work which the Forces had fashioned like the work of a sculptor, - in accordance with the making of creation. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -CONCLUSION. THE HARMONY OF NATURE'S LAWS AND OPERATIONS. - - -We have passed before us the different orders of celestial phenomena; -we have called down the denizens of the starry skies and placed them -on the witness stand, and we have interrogated them in the light of -the evidence which they have given before; we have compared their -different statements, and have found that in their testimony they -all finally agree. Instead of confusion, we find order; instead of -complexity, simplicity; instead of discord, harmony; and through all -we see the orderly progress of nature with uniform step, from stage -to stage, higher and higher, until at last she stands triumphant, -the handmaid of creative power, in the very center of the arch of -the universe. We have taken the simplest operations which we find -in progress around us, and have extended them to larger operations, -constantly keeping in view their relevancy and the facts which form -their sole support. Mere speculation has been excluded, and theory -has found its every step based on an established fact. In this way -we may hope to make place for further investigation in this field -by abler minds, and that the conclusions of science may then become -so well understood and so firmly established that to go back to the -"dead-and-dying" theories of solar energies will be like going back -to Ptolemy and Tycho for our astronomy. - -We have considered the hypothesis which bases the energy of our -sun upon his inherent heat, upon combustion, upon the accretion -of meteoric streams, and upon his slow and gradual condensation -of volume; and have found that all these hypotheses, singly or -combined, fail to account for his energy through the vistas of the -past, during which we know he must have shone as he now shines, -and fail to account for more than a slow but inevitable decline, -in the relatively near future, into eternal darkness and death. We -have found that all these theories are alike, in that they recognize -the sun itself as the only source of his energy, that his enormous -emission of light and heat is almost entirely wasted in empty space, -and that this will go on with the same frightful waste until he has -squandered his whole patrimony and ends his melancholy career in the -poor-house or the dungeon. We have, however, seen that even this will -not save the wretched client, for he has already spent far more than -he ever could have received originally by inheritance, and far more -than he could have gained by gifts pitched in in bulk--like the poor -colored brother's potatoes--through the window. - -We have therefore gone over the case anew, and have learned that -enormous electrical currents are constantly passing between the earth -and the sun, with practically no resistance, and this irrespective of -any hypothesis, actual or possible; and these facts have solved at the -outset one of the greatest conceivable difficulties,--to wit, that of -the transmission through space of such essential currents. Turning -our attention to the more recent advances in electricity and the -arts of electrical construction, we have found that induction -machines, as contradistinguished from the older friction machines, -operate in a manner strongly suggestive of the rotation of a planet -through space, and we learn that the electrical potential of the air -overhead increases constantly by an enormous multiplying number as we -ascend, proving great electrical action in the regions immediately -surrounding the earth, and which we have called the terrestrial -electrosphere. We have also found that sun-spots and solar storms -and other disturbances are at once reflected in our earth-currents, -and are followed immediately by great electrical disturbances here -and by extensive auroral displays at night. Experiment shows that -similar auroral displays may be produced with an electrical machine by -interruption of the current leading to its principal condenser, thus -demonstrating that the currents are from the earth to the sun, and not -the converse. We have also found that while the solar atmosphere is -largely composed of hydrogen gas, that of the earth and other planets -is largely composed of oxygen, and that these gases, the constituents -of water, are separately disengaged at the opposite electrical -poles by the electrolytic action of a powerful current of electricity -applied to the decomposition of aqueous vapors, in accordance with the -established electrical law that any fluid which will transmit a current -may be decomposed by it; hence we learn that our interplanetary space -contains attenuated aqueous vapors, which we have also learned to be -true from other sources. As our other planets, as well as the earth, -are found to be surrounded with an atmosphere of dilute oxygen, and -with aqueous vapors suspended in it, we know that their action upon -the sun must be similar to that of the earth, and that the congeries -of planets thus unite in their supply of electricity to the sun in -constant and enormous currents. Examining now the effects of passing -powerful electrical currents through a compressed envelope of hydrogen -gas surrounding a conductor, we find that great heat ensues, that the -hydrogen becomes highly incandescent, and that the metallic nucleus -within is raised to an extremely high temperature, and we also observe -the same effects when the current is transmitted through the separated -carbons of an electrical arc light. We have thus accounted for the -constant supply of the energy which, transformed into light and heat, -as in the last-mentioned experiments, the sun pours forth perpetually -into space. We have also learned that electrical induction machines -derive their electrical currents from the surrounding air, and also -that no electricity can be generated in, or transmitted through, -a vacuum, and hence we learn that the planets, by the rotation of -their electrospheres in contact with the attenuated vapors of space, -generate these powerful electrical currents with which the sun is -supplied, and that the sun merely restores to the ocean from which, -in another form, it was abstracted the light and heat which he emits, -and that, instead of all being wasted except that which falls upon the -planets, in fact that is the only part which actually, in one sense -at least, is wasted: all the rest is deposited in bank, but that is -"spent." The important generalization is thus arrived at, that the -true source of solar energy is to be found in the attenuated vapors of -space, and that the mode is that of the generation of electricity by -the rotating planetary electrospheres, its transference through the -aqueous vapors of interplanetary space to the sun, its passage under -resistance through the compressed hydrogen envelope, its transformation -there into light and heat, and its final emission or backpouring into -space again. The molecular motions which give rise to light and heat -in their passage through the vast distances of space are finally -retarded by and disappear as radiated energy in the restoration -or increase of the intermolecular tension of the vapors of space, -and these processes continue, and must continue, to all eternity, -if the sun exists and his planets continue to revolve in orderly -circuit around him. If there be any permanent degradation of energy, -it must be with reference to the total volume of infinite, or at least -indefinite, space, and not with reference to the relatively minute -spark of fire which we call the sun. We have also learned that the -moon's electrosphere is repelled by that of its neighbor, the earth, -and that whatever vapor and atmosphere it may have can exist only on -its opposite side; and we have also learned that, by reason of the -moon's peculiar axial rotation with reference to the earth, any other -arrangement of the lunar moisture and air, even if such were possible, -would have absolutely prohibited all life on that subordinate planet -at any stage of its existence whatever. We have applied the above -principles to the fixed stars, and have learned that, by the same law, -the resplendent star itself is proof conclusive that it, too, must -have planets rotating around it, and that these planets must have an -oxygen atmosphere and clouds of aqueous vapor like our own. We have -interpreted the double and multiple stars, and, by an extension of -the same law, explained their frequently contrasted or complementary -colors. The new stars which blaze up in sudden conflagration and -then die out have no secrets when this new light is turned upon them; -they, too, are but the faithful followers of the law; and the temporary -and variable stars likewise fall into their appropriate categories and -obediently move on with the procession. The comets,--the banner-bearers -of the sidereal hosts,--which from the earliest ages have defied -science to read their cabalistic legend, find it now "writ large" -and in plain English. Even the meteorites, the cosmical dust, the -unorganized débris of space, are found to be amenable to the same -law. When we turn in wider gaze to spy out the fantastic nebulæ on the -very outer fringe of visible things, after we have separated out the -star-clusters and organized galaxies of suns, we apply our touchstone -to the irresolvable gaseous nebulæ, and lo! their mystery dissolves -at a touch. We have even been able to picture the processes of the -creation of solar systems and whole galaxies of suns in which the -same law finds scope, and by its infinite and harmonious extension we -learn that nature moves with a comprehensive plan, and is uniform in -her infinite variety and eternal in her ceaseless activity. We have -been told that-- - - - "The poem of the universe - No rhythm has nor rhyme; - Some god recites the wondrous song, - A stanza at a time." - - -But it is all a mistake; the loftiest strains which ever inspired -the soul of Mozart or of Beethoven had not the ineffable harmony, -nor the sweetest songs of the greatest poets the perfect rhyme, -ever repeated and ever varied, of the universe. Its orderly progress -is like the onward movement of a mighty army, and there is but one -grand commander, "but one God," and Nature, that showeth forth his -handiwork, "is his prophet." We have found that the "course of nature," -the eternally youthful mother, is the same, whether in spinning a -tendril in the garden, in weaving a whirlwind in the atmosphere, or -in elaborating from the universal vapors of primordial space a solar -system or a galaxy. And it is not a convulsive, spasmodic nature that -we find; we do not love to associate great explosions, cataclysms, -the destruction of worlds, or the extinction of suns with our ideas -of nature. These seem not to be of nature. The nature we love is -the gentle mother, uniform in her operations, kindly in her ways, -beneficent in her results; the nature of the rain, the sunshine, -seed-time and harvest and the sprouting seed again; ever patient, -ever responsive, but in all as firm and steadfast as the foundations -of eternity itself. So we have found her. We have assumed nothing; we -have observed and endeavored to deduce from observation her systematic -plan, for this is the voice of her law, "the same yesterday, to-day, -and forever." To quote the words of Matthew Arnold, from out the -darkness of the past we seem to hear her say,-- - - - "Will ye claim for your great ones the gift - To have rendered the gleam of my skies? - - Race after race, man after man, - Have thought that my secret was theirs, - - --They are dust, they are changed, they are gone! - I remain." - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Source and Mode of Solar Energy -Throughout the Universe, by Isaac Winter Heysinger - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOURCE AND MODE OF SOLAR ENERGY *** - -***** This file should be named 56302-8.txt or 56302-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/3/0/56302/ - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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-} -.p178width { -width:486px; -} -.p189width { -width:323px; -} -.p196width { -width:482px; -} -.p211width { -width:481px; -} -.p225-1width { -width:169px; -} -.p225-2width { -width:371px; -} -.p230width { -width:488px; -} -.xd26e2012 { -text-indent:8em; -} -.p263width { -width:489px; -} -.p273width { -width:473px; -} -.p279width { -width:489px; -} -.p288width { -width:480px; -} -.xd26e3205 { -text-indent:2em; -} -@media handheld { -} -/* CSS rules copied from @style attributes in TEI file */ -</style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Source and Mode of Solar Energy -Throughout the Universe, by Isaac Winter Heysinger - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Source and Mode of Solar Energy Throughout the Universe - -Author: Isaac Winter Heysinger - -Release Date: January 4, 2018 [EBook #56302] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOURCE AND MODE OF SOLAR ENERGY *** - - - - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="front"> -<div id="cover" class="div1 cover"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure cover-imagewidth"><img src="images/frontcover.jpg" -alt="Original Front Cover." width="458" height="720"></div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="frontis" class="div1 frontispiece"><span class= -"pagenum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure frontispiecewidth"><img src= -"images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="" width="489" height="720"> -<p class="first">Typical stages in development of a solar system. -(Reproduced from nature. See <a href="#ch13">Chapter -XIII</a>.)—1. Newton’s comet, <span class="sc">A.D.</span> -1680. 2. Comet of 1811, from Guillemin. 3. Donati’s comet, 1858, -from Proctor. 4. Nebula in ship Argo, from Flammarion. 5. Open spiral -nebula in Virgo, Plate XV., Nichol’s “Architecture of the -Heavens,” after Lord Rosse. 6. Plate XII. of same work, nebula in -Canes Venatici: a partially closed spiral. 7. Frontispiece of same, an -almost completed spiral, in the Lion, seen obliquely: rupture of -convolutions preparatory to formation of planets. 8. Ideal solar -system.</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 titlepage"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure titlepage-imagewidth"><img src= -"images/titlepage.png" alt="Original Title Page." width="436" height= -"720"></div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="titlePage"> -<div class="docTitle"> -<div class="mainTitle">THE<br> -SOURCE AND MODE<br> -OF<br> -SOLAR ENERGY<br> -THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE.</div> -</div> -<div class="byline">BY<br> -<span class="docAuthor">I. W. HEYSINGER</span>, M.A., M.D.</div> -<div class="docImprint">ILLUSTRATED.<br> -PHILADELPHIA:<br> -<i>J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY</i>.<br> -<span class="docDate">1895.</span></div> -</div> -<div class="div1 copyright"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first xd26e167"><span class="sc">Copyright, 1894, BY I. W. -Heysinger.</span></p> -<p class="xd26e167"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> -<p class="xd26e175"><span class="sc">Electrotyped and Printed by J. B. -Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A.</span> <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb3" href="#pb3" name="pb3">3</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="toc" class="div1 contents"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"> <span class= -"tocPageNum">PAGE</span></p> -<p><span class="sc"><a href="#intro" id="xd26e190" name= -"xd26e190">Introduction</a></span> -<span class="tocPageNum">7</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER I.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch1" id="xd26e200" name= -"xd26e200">Statement of the Problem of Solar Energy</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">17</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER II.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch2" id="xd26e210" name= -"xd26e210">The Constitution and Phenomena of the Sun</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">39</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER III.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch3" id="xd26e220" name= -"xd26e220">The Mode of Solar Energy</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">70</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER IV.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch4" id="xd26e230" name= -"xd26e230">The Source of Solar Energy</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">96</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER V.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch5" id="xd26e241" name= -"xd26e241">The Distribution and Conservation of Solar Energy</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">139</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER VI.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch6" id="xd26e251" name= -"xd26e251">The Phenomena of the Stars</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">162</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER VII.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch7" id="xd26e261" name= -"xd26e261">Temporary Stars, Meteors, and Comets</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">187</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER VIII.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch8" id="xd26e271" name= -"xd26e271">The Phenomena of Comets</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">210</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER IX.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch9" id="xd26e281" name= -"xd26e281">Interpretation of Cometic Phenomena</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">225</span> <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb4" href="#pb4" -name="pb4">4</a>]</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER X.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch10" id="xd26e293" name= -"xd26e293">The Resolvable Nebulæ, Star-Clusters and -Galaxies</a></span> <span class= -"tocPageNum">237</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER XI.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch11" id="xd26e303" name= -"xd26e303">The Gaseous Nebulæ</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">253</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER XII.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch12" id="xd26e313" name= -"xd26e313">The Nebular Hypothesis: its Basis and its -Difficulties</a></span> -<span class="tocPageNum">268</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER XIII.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch13" id="xd26e323" name= -"xd26e323">The Genesis of Solar Systems and Galaxies</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">282</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER XIV.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch14" id="xd26e333" name= -"xd26e333">The Mosaic Cosmogony</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">308</span></p> -<p class="tocHead">CHAPTER XV.</p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#ch15" id="xd26e343" name= -"xd26e343">Conclusion. The Harmony of Nature’s Laws and -Operations</a></span> <span class= -"tocPageNum">341</span></p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#biblioindex" id= -"xd26e352" name="xd26e352">Reference Index of Authorities -Cited</a></span> <span class= -"tocPageNum">349</span></p> -<p class="tocHead"><span class="sc"><a href="#index" id="xd26e360" -name="xd26e360">Classified Index of Subject-Matter</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">353</span> <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb5" href="#pb5" -name="pb5">5</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 contents"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> -<table class="tocList"> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"></td> -<td class="tocPageNum">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 1 to 8.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Types from nature, illustrating -development of a solar system from the attenuated matter of space</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><i><a href="#frontis">Frontispiece</a>.</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 9.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">A typical sun-spot</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p057">57</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 10.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Structure of the sun, analytical -illustration of</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p060">60</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 11.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Electrical polarities of sun and -planets</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p082">82</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 12.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Ideal view of the generation and -transmission of planetary electricity</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p089">89</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 13.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">The aurora borealis, view of</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p091-1">91</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 14.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Diffused brush discharge of an -electrical machine</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p091-2">91</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 15.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Planetary generation and -transmission of electrical energy to the sun, analytical illustration -of</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p101">101</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 16.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Gradual discharge of electricity -from one conductor to another in a partial vacuum</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p103">103</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 17.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Sudden electrical discharge through -the atmosphere</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p103">103</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 18.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Position of planets with reference -to the generation of sun-spots; maximum and minimum of electrical -action</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p108">108</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 19.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Analysis of a typical sun-spot</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p112">112</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 20.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Retardation of sun-spots in their -travel across the solar face; development to the rear and recession in -front</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p114">114</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 21 and 22.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Complex lines of planetary -electrical action upon the sun produced by the inclination of the solar -axis to the plane of the ecliptic</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p120">120</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 23 to 29.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Examples of electrical repulsion: -Fig. 1, similarly electrified pith-balls; Fig. 2, the electrical -windmill; Fig. 3, repulsion of a flame; Fig. 4, self-repulsion around a -conductor; Fig. 5, attraction between opposite and repulsion between -similar electricities; Fig. 6, mutual repulsion between similar + -electrospheres of the earth and the moon; Fig. 7, mutual repulsion -between the similar—electrospheres of sun and comet</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p124">124</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 30 to 34.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Spectra of solar light, -incandescent sodium and calcium, and the absorption and bright-line -spectra of hydrogen gas</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p155">155</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 35 to 37.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Reversal and neutralization of -spectroscopic lines of hydrogen in the light of a variable star like -Betelgeuse <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb6" href="#pb6" name= -"pb6">6</a>]</span></td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p160">160</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 38.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">A double-sun nebula in process of -development into a solar system</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p164">164</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 39.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Double stars with complementary -colors, interpretation of the phenomena of</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p167">167</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 40.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">A solar system which would explain -the regular variability of the star Mira</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p178">178</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 41.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Lineal nebula in Sobieski’s -Crown which has been affected by currents in the ocean of space</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p189">189</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 42 to 45.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Four stages in the phenomena of a -new or temporary star, a “star in flames;” reversal of the -hydrogen lines in its spectrum</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p196">196</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 46 and 47.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Illustration of repulsion of the -tail of a comet by the similarly electrified solar electrosphere; -comparison with similar repulsion in a vacuum-chamber experiment</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p211">211</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 48 and 49.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">The electroscope, and mutual -electrical repulsion in a bundle of dry straws</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p225-1">225</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 50.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Experiment with a candle and -currents of air from between two disks, illustrating the radial -semi-rotation of a comet’s tail during perihelion</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p230">230</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 51 to 54.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Four non-systemic gaseous -nebulæ: Fig. 1, crab nebula; Fig. 2, dumb-bell nebula; Fig. 3, -lineal nebula in Sobieski’s Crown; Fig. 4, Catherine-wheel -nebula. The latter illustrates the formation of a planetary nebula with -a hollow center, or else dispersion into the elements of space -again</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p263">263</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 55.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Great spiral nebula in Canes -Venatici and a small adjacent nebula affected thereby</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p273">273</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Figs. 56 to 59.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Four gaseous nebulæ in -process of development into solar systems: Fig. 1, divergent spiral; -Fig. 2, later stage of a similar spiral; Fig. 3, subsequent stage of -rupture of the nearly circular convolutions of a similar nebula; Fig. -4, the same stage in the development of a solar system with a double -sun</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p279">279</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 60.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Nucleated planetary nebula, showing -its external ring split and held apart, in part of its circumference, -by electrical repulsion</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"><a href="#p288">288</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">Fig. 61.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7">Divergent spiral nebula on <a href= -"#cover">cover of book</a>.</td> -<td class="tocPageNum"></td> -</tr> -</table> -<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb7" href="#pb7" name= -"pb7">7</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="intro" class="div1 introduction"><span class= -"pagenum">[<a href="#xd26e190">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">INTRODUCTION.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">This work is not presented to the reader as a treatise -on astronomy, although the different phenomena pertaining to that -splendid science are reviewed with some detail, and the established -facts bearing upon the subjects discussed are briefly cited in the very -words of the great writers upon whose authority they rest. A -considerable experience in chemistry, electricity, and the other allied -physical sciences long since convinced the author of this work that -some simple and uniform principle must control the production of the -physical phenomena of astronomy,—some general law capable of -being extended in its application to the widest, as well as applied to -the narrowest, limits of that science. Knowing the absolute certainty -of a magnetic and electrical connection between the sun and the earth, -as evidenced by the reflected energy of sun-spots, auroras, etc., and -that no known cause except electricity could account for some, at -least, of the cometic phenomena, it seemed that any comprehensive law -must at all events include this mode of energy as an effective cause, -and that if the law be uniform in its application, it must equally -exclude all others which may be either antagonistic or not necessary. A -careful investigation <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb8" href="#pb8" -name="pb8">8</a>]</span>was therefore made of those less generally -known principles concerned in the generation and transformations of -electrical energy, in order to determine the sufficiency or -insufficiency of this agency in the grander operations of nature (for, -of course, mere currents of electricity could play no part in these -phenomena), with the result that every line of research led -irresistibly to the conclusions presented in this work. These -investigations, specifically directed, at first, to the source and mode -of the solar energy of our own system alone, were found to be equally -applicable to others, and were successively extended to the whole -sidereal, nebular, and cometic field, and finally to space itself, for -all the phenomena of which it seemed to furnish an adequate and -harmonious interpretation. The fact, when once demonstrated, that the -true source of <i>solar</i> energy is not to be found in the sun -itself, but in the potential energy of space, served as a guiding -principle, and, by its continuously extended application, was found to -cover perfectly the source and mode of all solar energy. Every step of -the investigation has been based on the established facts of science -and the observations of eminent astronomers as laid down by the best -authorities; and the quotations herein made from their works are full -and fair, and are properly credited in every case, and taken from books -easily accessible to the general reader. It is hoped that further -attention may be directed to this field of research by far more capable -investigators than the author of this work, so that systematic -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb9" href="#pb9" name= -"pb9">9</a>]</span>astronomy may no longer bear the reproach that it is -largely an empirical science, but that it may henceforth be based upon -rational and comprehensive principles, capable of universal extension -and of general scientific application.</p> -<p>The authorities cited in this work include many illustrious names: -Proctor, Tyndall, Helmholtz, Langley, Huggins, Newcomb, Young, -Flammarion, Balfour Stewart, R. Kalley Miller, Herschel, Nichol, Lord -Rosse, Urbanitsky, Crookes, Fraunhofer, Ball, and many others, all of -whom are known throughout the world as among the master minds of -science. From them we have drawn the rich stores of knowledge of the -phenomena with which this work deals, and which we have so fully and -freely cited, as the basis of the splendid superstructure which -astronomy to-day reveals. No one will venture to controvert the -statements of fact made by these eminent men, and, where conflict of -opinion has arisen among them, we have quoted all parties, so that the -reader can form his own conclusion, in each case, for himself. So -diverse, apparently, are the phenomena reviewed that they present the -aspect of a great picture-gallery, in which the paintings totally -differ from each other in subject, in treatment, and in origin, their -only common qualities being those of grandeur and fidelity to truth and -to the principles of art. But they are not merely paintings, they are -the moving panorama of creation, and, diverse as they may appear, they -will be found to show the same “handling,” which reveals -the same universal artist; they have, in truth, a <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb10" href="#pb10" name="pb10">10</a>]</span>common -mode of development and a common principle of construction, obscure as -these may seem to be.</p> -<p>For thousands of years “Natural History,” so called, was -studied and taught; zoölogy was a well-known science far back in -old historic times. But it was left for modern biological research to -turn from these fixed and fully-developed forms of life, and go back to -trace their primal development through what is now the science of -embryology, and thus we have learned that nature traverses the same -paths in forming a man as in producing a frog or a bird. The process is -carried further along in one case than in another, but the lines of -development are almost identical; and the tracing out of these common -lines and their subsequent divergencies has shed a flood of new light -upon these dark and hitherto unknown places, so that we are now fairly -on the true highway of physical life at last. When adult forms were -alone compared, animal with animal, no common ground of origin or -development could be discerned; nature was believed to work by -“special creations,” and vast cataclysms were devised to -utterly destroy the organic life of one terrestrial epoch after -another, leaving a few hardy accidental survivors, or -“types,” perchance, to trace back their lines of descent -beyond such periods of cyclical destruction. All this is now changed, -and these views, so recently held and taught, have been abandoned -forever, and continuously operative natural processes of development, -modified by environment and heredity, have <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb11" href="#pb11" name="pb11">11</a>]</span>taken -their place, and biology now has a future as well as a past. And so it -must be with the less complex, but far more extended, creations and -transformations in the vast fields of astronomical science with which -this book is concerned. Hitherto we have here, too, dealt with -“special creations” and cataclysms; henceforth we must -follow the uniform and eternal laws of progressive development.</p> -<p>Among the multitude of hitherto unsolved problems of astronomy we -may enumerate the following: Why sun-spots travel faster around the sun -when near his equator than when more distant from it. The physical -causes of sun-spots, faculæ, and solar prominences. Why the -number and size of sun-spots seem to affect terrestrial magnetism. The -rational interpretation of the eleven-year and the long sun-spot -cycles. The origin of the aurora borealis. The causes of the -periodicity of regularly variable stars. How to explain, in accordance -with the nebular hypothesis, why Algol and its companion, which are not -greatly different in mass and volume, and both obviously gaseous, -should so differ in character, one being a bright sun and the other a -dark planet. Whether there are great, compact, but dark bodies, -comparable to suns and planets in magnitude, and unconnected with any -solar system, floating about in space. Why double and multiple stars -are so frequently of contrasted or complementary colors. Why regularly -variable stars are longer in decline than in growth of brilliancy, -since such decline is no criterion of loss of <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb12" href="#pb12" name="pb12">12</a>]</span>heat, -but rather the reverse. Why the sun and fixed stars have atmospheres -largely composed of free hydrogen, and the planets have atmospheres of -free oxygen and nitrogen. Why a small and sometimes even scarcely -visible star occasionally is seen to suddenly blaze up, in a few hours, -to hundreds of times its normal brilliancy, and then far more gradually -fade, through months and years, back to its former state, in which -thenceforth it continues to maintain its original lustre. Why comets, -when they have tails, always project these appendages radially from the -direction of the sun. How to account for the presence of cyanogen, and -how for the absence of oxygen and the constant presence of hydrocarbon -vapors around the nuclei of comets. Why some comets split up into -separate comets and others sometimes show multiple tails. Why comets, -when they pass around and behind the sun, in some cases reappear shorn -of their splendor and in other cases with their splendor greatly -enhanced. Whence comets are derived, where is their permanent -abiding-place, and how did they originally reach those distant regions -which they occupy before entering our system, if merely the -<i>débris</i> left behind from contraction of the mass of plasma -out of which our solar system is supposed to have been formed. Why so -many of the irresolvable nebulæ present the appearance of -divergent spirals of many different forms. How to account for the -annular nebulæ with hollow centers and for those -partially-completed planetary nebulæ, so called, which afterwards -appear to retrograde <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb13" href="#pb13" -name="pb13">13</a>]</span>into diffused gaseous nebulæ again or -gradually disappear. What is the ultimate constitution of interstellar -space? Have the fixed stars planetary systems like our own, or not? -Must they have such, or merely may they have? What principle of -conservation of energy is it possible to apply to the vast quantities -of light and heat which constantly disappear in the interstellar realms -of space? How to account for this enormous emission of solar energy -during the long period of time requisite for the development of the -earth during its past geological ages. How to explain why the moon -always presents the same face to the earth. Why, if the law of gravity -prevails there, there are no visible traces of atmosphere or moisture -in the moon. What is the basic principle on which depends the ratio of -mean planetary distances, 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, etc., <i>always plus 4</i>? -What is the origin of the planetary satellites and the cause of their -irregular distribution, and what the origin of Saturn’s rings? -How was the belt of asteroids formed between Mars and Jupiter? Why is -the orbit of Neptune relatively compressed against that of Uranus? Why -is the mass of Neptune out of its proper proportion compared with those -of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in a diminishing series? What -is the rational interpretation and what the origin of the sun’s -corona and the cause of the coronal streamers?</p> -<p>There are many other problems equally difficult which are -encountered in the study of this noble science, but the above are -surely sufficiently striking. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb14" href= -"#pb14" name="pb14">14</a>]</span>Any complete interpretation of these -various phenomena, even singly, would seem to be an important step in -advance; then how much more so if the explanation of one and all of -these is to be found in a single, all-embracing cause, a few simple and -uniformly operative principles, as unquestionably operative here as in -the other fields of science to which they pertain, and which, once -thoroughly comprehended and rigidly applied, will be found to elucidate -all the multifarious phenomena of sidereal space so clearly and -precisely that any intelligent observer and reasoner can determine each -question finally for himself, and solve not only these, but all the -other astronomical problems and paradoxes which have from time to time -arisen? It is not to be understood that this sublime science and these -illimitable realms are to be laid off with the metes and bounds of a -farmer’s meadow, for all the lines of the different sciences are -linked together at a thousand points, but that the operative principles -which nature constantly employs once firmly grasped, the intricacy of -each series of phenomena encountered will become gradually lessened, -link by link, as observations and deductions are more closely and -rationally made along these well-established lines of research, instead -of here and there, empirically, and at hap-hazard, as has been the only -method hitherto possible to pursue. When the relatively few fixed -principles which control the operations of nature in the field of -astronomy are thoroughly comprehended, for on this vast panorama she -lays her colors with a heavy <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb15" href= -"#pb15" name="pb15">15</a>]</span>brush, we can study her phenomena and -interpret her processes even more readily than the kindred sciences -have enabled us to do in the adjacent fields of biology, wherein the -splendid achievements of less than a quarter of a century past have not -only aroused the interest and enthusiasm of the world, but already -point the way to still grander triumphs yet to come. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb17" href="#pb17" name="pb17">17</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="body"> -<div id="ch1" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e200">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="super">THE SOURCE AND MODE<br> -OF<br> -SOLAR ENERGY.</h2> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER I.</h2> -<h2 class="main">STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM OF SOLAR ENERGY.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In endeavoring to present a new and rational -interpretation of the source and mode of solar energy, based upon the -established principles of recent science, it becomes necessary to -briefly cite the facts bearing upon the problem to be solved and the -authorities for their support, as well as to describe concisely the -different hypotheses at present in vogue, and to point out the -well-established insufficiency of these theories, one and all, to -account for or explain the difficulties encountered, and which so far -have remained as an unsolved enigma. And this problem of solar energy -is the grandest and most important question of all physics, for upon -the light and heat of the sun depend all physical life and its -consequences, animal and vegetable, past, present, and future. If -within finite time, and relatively, compared with the enormous vistas -of the past, a very brief time, this source of <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb18" href="#pb18" name="pb18">18</a>]</span>energy -is to cease, and our whole system be involved in darkness and death, -such darkness and death must be eternal; for the dead sun in his final -stage of condensation will be as fixed and unchangeable as the -operation of eternal laws can make it, and henceforth there can be no -revival or reversals, no turning back of the hand upon the dial, while -the laws of nature continue; and outside the uniform operation of the -laws of nature there is no source, or mode, or continuance of solar -energy conceivable. It is true that when our system shall have ran down -to its culmination in death, other present systems may continue for a -time to exist and new ones spring into being; but these, too, must -inevitably follow the same course, and likewise end in eternal -darkness, until finally the great experiment of creation shall have -ended in eternal failure. The changes we see in progress around us, -however, are not of this nature. The individual dies, but the forces -which gave life and strength to the race persist, and others will take -his place, and the same forces will continue to operate with constant -renewals, since we draw our light and heat and life from without; but -in the death of suns and their attendant planets there is no analogous -process, for such suns are constantly expending their enormous energies -in the support of life external to themselves, and only the smallest -part of this energy, even, can ever be utilized by themselves or by -other suns or planets under any mode of interpretation now in vogue, -the boundless realms of so-called inert and empty space receiving the -same proportionate <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb19" href="#pb19" -name="pb19">19</a>]</span>quota of light and heat as the almost -microscopic points in the sky which constitute the suns and systems we -see, and practically all, or nearly all, of this enormous energy is an -absolute dead waste; so that whether receiving new supplies from a -constant rain of adjacent meteor streams, or from the gradual -contraction of the solar volume, the vast realms of space are the -useless recipients of what can never return to the sun again, and, of -course, in such case the inevitable end can be predicted; for -contraction of volume, with a given mass, must have an effective limit, -and meteoric aggregation must also find an effective limit, if the -planets are not to be thrown out of place as they continue to revolve -around the sun.</p> -<p>All accepted theories begin with a primordial impulse, the energies -of which are of necessity constantly frittered away and wasted, until -finally all light and heat and life must cease to exist, and that at a -stage in which no further impulse can ever be given, since the whole -universe will have passed through every possible stage of degradation -down to the final one of universal and eternal death. And yet this is -the best that science has to suggest; the only comfort offered us is -that it will not happen in our time, and so, “after us the -deluge.” The nebular hypothesis, so called, of Laplace, has -required much modification, in the light of more recent science, but -the essential principles of this theory are still generally accepted, -for they fairly well account for the primal connection of the sun and -planets, and the position of the central <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb20" href="#pb20" name="pb20">20</a>]</span>sun within, with the -orbital and rotational planetary movements, as no other theory has yet -done. By this theory the limits of our solar system were once occupied -by an attenuated gaseous nebula containing within itself all the matter -which now forms our solar system. This great nebular mass, primordially -assumed, was given by gravity a slow but gradually increasing rotation -upon its center; the force of gravity acted more strongly upon this -rotating body as it contracted, so that rings of nebulous matter were -successively thrown off, which coalesced into single masses and these -finally into planets. These planetary globes themselves, as they -coalesced and contracted, left behind or threw off rings of their outer -matter, which, in turn, became moons, and finally our solar system with -its central sun was evolved as we now see it; development continued, -the planets cooled and condensed, life appeared when the conditions -became suitable, and the original progressive condensation of the -central mass—the sun—still continuing, the evolution of -light and heat continues, and will continue in a correlative degree. As -our moon has passed, apparently, beyond the stage of life, and is cold, -airless, waterless, and dead, so will the earth pass; and the larger -planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, which have not yet reached the -life stage of condensation, are still hot, but they, too, will pass -through the present stage of the earth, then through that in which the -moon now is; and the central sun, still glowing, but more and more -dimly, will itself pass through the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb21" -href="#pb21" name="pb21">21</a>]</span>stages in which Jupiter and -Saturn now are, then through that of our present earth, and finally -into that of the moon, long before which time the emission of all light -and heat will have ceased from the sun to its encircling planets, and -finally the sun itself will sink into eternal frigidity, and all its -store of light and heat will have been dissipated into boundless space, -and the possibility of anything resembling what we know as life will -have been forever extinguished. In considering the question of the -sun’s energy, the author of the article “Sun,” in -Appleton’s Cyclopædia, says, “How to account for the -supply of the prodigious amount of heat constantly radiated from the -solar surface has offered a boundless field of hypothesis. One -conjecture is that the sun is now giving off the heat imparted to it at -its creation, and that it is gradually cooling down (1). Another -ascribed it to combustion (2), and a third to currents of electricity -(3). Newton and Buffon conjectured that comets might be the aliment of -the sun (4); and of late years a somewhat similar theory (first -broached by Mr. Waterston in 1853) has been in vogue,—viz., that -a stream of meteoric matter constantly pouring into the sun from the -regions of space supplies its heat, by the conversion into it of the -arrested motion (5). As the sun may, indeed, derive a small amount of -heat from this cause, it deserves more attention than previous -conjectures. But conjecture and hypothesis may be said to have given -place to views which claim a higher title, as it is now becoming -generally recognized, in accordance <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb22" -href="#pb22" name="pb22">22</a>]</span>with modern physical theories of -heat, that in the gravitation of the sun’s mass toward its -center, and in its consequent condensation, sufficient heat must be -evolved to supply the present radiation, enormous as this undoubtedly -is. It appears to be susceptible of full demonstration that a -contraction of the sun’s volume of a given definite amount, which -is yet so slight as to be invisible to the most powerful telescope, is -competent to furnish a heat-supply equal to all that can have been -emitted during historical periods. According to this theory, then -(which is largely due to the development by Helmholtz of Mayer’s -great generalization), the sun’s mass remains unaltered, and its -temperature nearly constant, while its size is slowly diminishing as it -contracts; so slowly, however, that the supply may be reckoned on -through periods almost infinite as measured by the known past of our -race, and which are in any case to be counted by millions of years -(6).” To these must be added the hypothesis of Dr. Siemens, fully -described in Professor Proctor’s “Mysteries of Time and -Space.” This ingenious theory, in brief, is that the rotation of -the sun on its axis causes a suction in the manner of a fan, at the -poles, and a tangential projection, at the equator, of a disk-like -stream of gaseous matter into space. The light and heat of the sun, -dispersed through space, slowly but continuously act upon the compound -gases with which space is universally pervaded to disassociate them -into their elements. The disassociated gases thus sucked in at the -solar poles at an extremely low temperature <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb23" href="#pb23" name="pb23">23</a>]</span>are -brought into a state of combustion by friction and condensation, thus -generating new supplies of light and heat, and the gases thus reunited -by combustion are again projected into space, to be again slowly -disassociated by the operation of the sun’s light and heat. The -result of this combustion is to form aqueous vapor and carbonic acid -and carbonic oxide, and these gases, when disassociated in space, are -resolved into carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, which again and again are -thus recombined and again and again decomposed as they pass over the -sun’s surface (7).</p> -<p>The seven hypotheses above described are the only ones now in vogue, -and a brief analysis will show that no single one of them, nor all -combined, will give sufficient results to account for the essential -difficulties or known conditions of the problem. The first and second -hypotheses are answered by the fact set forth by Helmholtz (Popular -Scientific Lectures, article “On the Origin of the Planetary -System”), that, if the mass of the sun were composed of the two -elements capable by combination of producing the greatest possible -light and heat,—to wit, hydrogen and oxygen in the proportions in -which they unite to form water,—“calculation shows that -under the above supposition the heat resulting from their combustion -would be sufficient to keep up the radiation of heat from the sun three -thousand and twenty-one years. That, it is true, is a long time, but -even profane history teaches that the sun has lighted and warmed us for -three thousand years, and geology puts it beyond doubt <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb24" href="#pb24" name="pb24">24</a>]</span>that -this period must be extended to millions of years.”</p> -<p>The third hypothesis relates to <i>currents</i> of electricity. We -have no knowledge of currents of electricity which could produce, -however multiplied or intensified, such light and heat as are -constantly poured forth from the sun into all space. That electricity -is the intermediate cause of our sun’s energy, and of all solar -energy, it is the purpose of this work to demonstrate, but not electric -<i>currents</i>, which find their attractiveness to theorists in the -vague suggestion of which Professor Proctor speaks, referring to -comets, in his article on “Cometic Mysteries,” “that -perhaps <i>this</i> is an electrical phenomenon; perhaps <i>that other -feature</i> is electrical, too; perhaps <i>all or most</i> of the -phenomena of comets depend on electricity.” But he adds, -“It is so easy to make such suggestions, so difficult to obtain -evidence in their favor having the slightest scientific value. Still, I -hold the electrical idea to be well worth careful study. Whatever -credit may hereafter be given to any electrical theory of comets will -be solely and entirely due to those who may help to establish it upon a -basis of sound evidence,—none whatever to the mere suggestion, -which has been made time and again since it was first advanced by -Fontanelle.” It will be seen that the present work, in -demonstrating the true source and mode of solar energy, in itself -presents a full and sufficient explanation of all the cometic mysteries -referred to, as well as all those pertaining to other solar systems in -space, and the multifarious <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb25" href= -"#pb25" name="pb25">25</a>]</span>phenomena which they present. Indeed, -the philosophic mind will not be satisfied with the sufficiency of any -hypothesis which will not unlock the mysteries and clearly explain the -phenomena of other systems,—of comets, variable and temporary -stars, double stars, and all the complicated celestial economy which to -the eye of the mere observer presents a bewildering scene of the -operation of independent and inscrutable forces. The fifth hypothesis -cited, that of meteoric impact, doubtless plays a part, as we know from -the generation of light and heat by the constant passage of similar -bodies through our own atmosphere. And we know, of course, that the -sun, by its vastly-increased attraction, must be subjected to the -constant impact of such meteoric bodies in enormous numbers. But the -fatal defect in the theory is that such impacts, to produce the radiant -energy of the sun, must constantly add to its mass in like proportion, -and as the motions and distances of the planets in their orbits are -regulated and preserved by virtue of the substantially constant mass of -the sun, any progressive and considerable increase in its mass must -constantly bring the planets nearer and nearer, and thus increase their -orbital velocity. Helmholtz quotes from Sir William Thomson’s -investigation, that, “assuming it to hold, the mass of the sun -should increase so rapidly that the consequences would have shown -themselves in the accelerated motion of the planets. The entire loss of -heat from the sun cannot, at all events, be produced in this way; at -the most a portion, which, however, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb26" -href="#pb26" name="pb26">26</a>]</span>may not be -inconsiderable.” R. Kalley Miller, in “The Romance of -Astronomy,” says, “But more recent observations have led -Sir William Thomson to a modification of his theory. He has calculated -that if the meteoric shower were sufficiently heavy to make up for the -sun’s whole expenditure of heat, the matter of the corona must be -so dense as seriously to perturb the orbits of certain comets which -pass very close to his surface,—a result which is found not to be -the case. But the meteoric theory is only thrown back a step. If the -sun’s mass were originally formed, as is not at all improbable, -by the agglomeration of these particles, Sir William Thomson has -calculated that the heat generated by their thus falling together would -be sufficient to account for a supply of twenty million years of solar -heat at the present rate of emission. And thus, though the meteors are -not sufficient to maintain the energy of our system unimpaired, they -may yet have been the original storehouse from which all that energy -was derived …. But if the economy of our system be spared -long enough, the day must come when the sun with age has become wan; -when the matter of the corona has all been drawn in and used up without -avail; when the lavish luxuriance with which he has showered abroad his -light and heat has finally exhausted all his stores. He has still -power, aided by the resisting medium, to drag his satellites one by one -down upon his surface; and the shock of each successive impact will, -for a brief period, give him a fresh tenure of life. When the earth -crashes into the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb27" href="#pb27" name= -"pb27">27</a>]</span>sun it will supply him with a store of heat for -nearly a century, while Jupiter’s large mass will extend the -period by nearly thirty thousand years. But when the last of the -planets is swallowed up, the sun’s energies will rapidly die out -and a deep and deathly gloom gather about nature’s grave. Looking -into the ages of a future eternity, we can see nothing but a cold and -burnt-out mass remaining of that glorious orb which went forth in the -morning of time, joyful as a bridegroom from his chamber, and rejoicing -as a strong man to run a race.”</p> -<p>The sixth hypothesis is that to which most credence is now given. It -is that of evolution of energy by condensation of volume. Professor -Proctor (“The Sun as a Perpetual Machine”) says, “In -company with this great mystery of seeming waste comes the yet more -difficult problem, how to explain the apparent continuance of solar -light and heat during millions of years. We know from the results of -geological research that the earth has been exposed to the action of -the solar rays with their present activity during at least a hundred -million years. Yet it is difficult to see how, on any hypothesis of the -generation of solar heat, or by combining together all possible modes -of heat generation, a supply for more than twenty millions of years in -the past and a possible supply for as long a period in the future can -be accounted for.” Of these vast periods of terrestrial existence -in the past we quote the following from a recent publication: -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb28" href="#pb28" name= -"pb28">28</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Professor C. D. Wolcott expresses the opinion that geologic -time is not to be measured by hundreds of years, but simply by tens of -millions. This is widely different from the conclusion arrived at by -Sir Charles Lyell, who, basing his estimate on modifications of certain -specimens of marine life, assigned 240,000,000 years as the required -geological period; Darwin claimed 200,000,000 years; Crowell, about -72,000,000; Geike, from 73,000,000 upward; McGee, Upham, and other -recent authorities claim from 100,000,000 up to 680,000,000.”</p> -<p>Helmholtz (“On the Origin of the Planetary System”) -says, “It is probable rather that a great part of this heat, -which was produced by condensation, began to radiate into space before -this condensation was complete. But the heat which the sun could have -previously developed by its condensation would have been sufficient to -cover its present expenditure for not less than 22,000,000 of years of -the past …. We may therefore assume with great probability -that the sun will still continue in its condensation, even if it only -attained the density of the earth, though it will probably become far -denser in its interior, owing to its far greater pressure; this would -develop fresh quantities of heat, which would be sufficient to maintain -for an additional 17,000,000 of years the same intensity of sunshine as -that which is now the source of all terrestrial life.” Of this -process of condensation Professor Ball, in his recent work, “In -the High Heavens,” says, “It goes without saying that the -welfare of the human race is necessarily <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb29" href="#pb29" name="pb29">29</a>]</span>connected with the -continuance of the sun’s beneficent action. We have indeed shown -that the few other direct or indirect sources of heat which might -conceivably be relied upon are in the very nature of things devoid of -necessary permanence. It becomes, therefore, of the utmost interest to -inquire whether the sun’s heat can be calculated on indefinitely. -Here is indeed a subject which is literally of the most vital -importance, so far as organic life is concerned. If the sun shall ever -cease to shine, then it must be certain that there is a term beyond -which human existence, or indeed organic existence of any type -whatever, cannot any longer endure on the earth. We may say once for -all that the sun contains just a certain number of units of heat, -actual or potential, and that he is at the present moment shedding that -heat around with the most appalling extravagance.” Quoting from -Professor Langley, he says, “We feel certain that the incessant -radiation from the sun must be producing a profound effect on its -stores of energy. The only way of reconciling this with the total -absence of evidence of the expected changes is to be found in the -supposition that such is the mighty mass of the sun, such the -prodigious supply of heat or what is the equivalent of heat which it -contains, that the grand transformation through which it is passing -proceeds at a rate so slow that, during the ages accessible to our -observations, the results achieved have been -imperceptible …. We cannot, however, attribute to the sun -any miraculous power of generating heat. That great body cannot disobey -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb30" href="#pb30" name= -"pb30">30</a>]</span>those laws which we have learned from experiments -in our laboratories. Of course no one now doubts that the great law of -the conservation of energy holds good. We do not in the least believe -that because the sun’s heat is radiated away in such profusion it -is therefore entirely lost. It travels off, no doubt, to the depths of -space, and <i>as to what may become of it there we have no -information</i>. Everything we know points to the law that energy is as -indestructible as matter itself. The heat scattered from the sun exists -at least as <i>ethereal vibration, if in no other form</i>. But it is -most assuredly true that this energy, so copiously dispensed, is lost -to our solar system. There is no form in which it is returned, or in -which it can be returned. The energy of the system is as surely -declining as the store of energy of the clock declines according as the -weight runs down. In the clock, however, the energy is restored by -winding up the weight, but there is no analogous process known in our -system.” The purpose of the present work, however, is to clearly -demonstrate that just such a process is actually being carried on, and -has been so carried on from the beginning, and will be forever. This -writer continues reviewing the suppositions formerly entertained, that -the sun was a heated body gradually cooling down, or that it was -undergoing absolute combustion, and shows that they were utterly -insufficient. He then refers to the theory of meteoric supply, of which -he says, “It can, however, be shown that there are not enough -meteors in existence to supply a sufficient quantity of heat -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb31" href="#pb31" name= -"pb31">31</a>]</span>to the sun to compensate the loss by radiation. -The indraught of meteoric matter may, indeed, certainly tend in some -small degree to retard the ultimate cooling of the great luminary, but -its effect is so small that we can quite afford to overlook it from the -point of view that we are taking in these pages. It is to Helmholtz we -are indebted for the true solution of the long-vexed problem. He has -demonstrated in the clearest manner where the source of the sun’s -heat lies …. A gaseous globe like the sun, when it parts -with its heat, observes laws of a very different type from those which -a cooling solid follows. As the heat disappears by radiation the body -contracts; the gaseous object, however, decreases in general much more -than a solid body would do for the same loss of heat …. -The globe of gas unquestionably radiates heat and loses it, and the -globe, in consequence of that loss, shrinks to a smaller -size …. In the facts just mentioned we have an explanation -of the sustained heat of the sun. Of course we cannot assume that in -our calculations the sun is to be treated as if it were gaseous -throughout its entire mass, but it approximates so largely to the -gaseous state in the greater part of its bulk that we can feel no -hesitation in adopting the belief that the true cause has been -found.”</p> -<p>Regarding the constitution of the sun, it may be stated, however, -that we only see its photosphere, which is the visible sun, and the -whole volume has a density about that of water; but no man has ever -seen the body of the sun itself. In this respect it is like the planet -Jupiter: we only know that its <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb32" -href="#pb32" name="pb32">32</a>]</span>density cannot be less than -one-fourth the density of the earth’s solid globe. If the -photosphere extend to a depth of one thousand, ten thousand, or a -hundred thousand miles, the density of the sun’s body or core -will be correspondingly increased. Even computing the whole visible -volume, the density is far greater than that of any gas we know, even -with the solar pressure of gravity; with the sun’s metallic -vapors, if the whole core were already vaporized, we would not, to say -the least, be likely to observe the sun-spots and other solar phenomena -as we find them actually to occur; this, however, will be more fully -considered later on. The author continues, “But there is a -boundary to the prospect of the continuance of the sun’s -radiation. Of course, as the loss of heat goes on the gaseous parts -will turn into liquids, and as the process is still further protracted -the liquids will transform into solids. Thus, we look forward to a time -when the radiation of the sun can be no longer carried on in conformity -with the laws which dictate the loss of heat from a gaseous body. When -this state is reached the sun may, no doubt, be an incandescent solid -with a brilliance as great as is compatible with that condition, but -the further loss of heat will then involve loss of -temperature …. There seems no escape from the conclusion -that the continuous loss of solar heat must still go on, so that the -sun will pass through the various stages of brilliant incandescence, of -glowing redness, of dull redness, until it ultimately becomes a dark -and non-luminous star …. There is thus a distinct -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb33" href="#pb33" name= -"pb33">33</a>]</span>limit to man’s existence on the earth, -dictated by the ultimate exhaustion of the sun …. The -utmost amount of heat that it would ever have been possible for the sun -to contain would, according to this authority (Professor Langley), -supply its radiation for eighteen million years at the present -rate …. It seems that the sun has already dissipated about -four-fifths of the energy with which it may have originally been -endowed. At all events, it seems that, radiating energy at its present -rate, the sun may hold out for four million years or for five million -years, but not for ten million years …. We have seen that -it does not seem possible for any other source of heat to be available -for replenishing the waning stores of the luminary.” He concludes -by saying that the original heat may have been imparted as the result -of some great collision, the solar body having itself been dark before -the collision occurred, and that it may be reinvigorated by a -repetition of a similar startling process, but indicates in general -terms that such an operation would be bad for the round world and all -contained therein. It would, in fact, be rough treatment for even a -hopeless case.</p> -<p>Condensation of the solar volume is unquestionably a source of heat, -for we know that the solid or liquid interior of the earth increases in -temperature at a definite ratio as we descend through its crust; but -long before the sun shall have become contracted to the density of the -earth all its heat will have become substantially internal heat, and it -can then supply no more by radiation to its surrounding planets. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb34" href="#pb34" name= -"pb34">34</a>]</span></p> -<p>It will be seen that the radiant energy of the sun on any of the -above hypotheses is not sufficient to account even for the life period -of the earth in the past, and that its future period of energy must be -still more brief. Professor Ball (“In the High Heavens”), -basing his views on Laplace’s “Nebular Hypothesis,” -says, “Looking back into the remote ages, we thus see that the -sun was larger and larger the further back we project our view. If we -go sufficiently far back, we seem to come to a time when the sun, in a -more or less completely gaseous state, filled up the surrounding space -out to the orbit of Mercury, or, earlier still, out to the orbit of the -remotest planet.” According to this hypothesis, all these -brilliant suns, the author says, will “settle down into dark -bodies like the earth,” and that “every analogy would teach -us that the dark and non-luminous bodies in the universe are far more -numerous than the brilliant suns. We can never see the dark objects; we -can discern their presence only indirectly. All the stars that we can -see are merely those bodies which at this epoch of their career happen -for the time to be so highly heated as to be luminous …. -It may happen that there are dark bodies in the vicinity of some of the -bright stars to which these stars act as illuminants, just in the same -way as the sun disperses light to the planets.” One would -naturally suppose, however, that there must be some sort of laws to -govern such stupendous operations, and that nature is not merely -engaged in blowing bubbles. To quote Professor Newcomb: <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb35" href="#pb35" name= -"pb35">35</a>]</span>“At the present time we can only say that -the nebular hypothesis is indicated by the general tendencies of the -laws of nature; that it has not been proved to be inconsistent with any -fact; that it is <i>almost a necessary consequence of the only theory -by which we can account for the origin and conservation of the -sun’s heat</i>; but that it rests on the assumption that this -conservation is to be explained by the laws of nature as we now see -them in operation. Should any one be sceptical as to the sufficiency of -these laws to account for the present state of things, science can -furnish no evidence strong enough to overthrow his doubts until the sun -shall be found growing smaller by actual measurement, or the -nebulæ be actually seen to condense into stars and -systems.”</p> -<p>While the validity of the views set forth in the present volume does -not depend on the sufficiency or insufficiency of the nebular -hypothesis, and in fact requires the condensation as well as the -expansion of the solar volume <i>under the influence of heat</i> to be -recognized and its extreme importance pointed out, yet it must not be -supposed that this great generalization of Kant and Laplace, based on -the views presented originally by Sir William Herschel, is established, -or that the difficulties in its way are not so enormous as to be almost -insuperable. Professor Ball points out that thousands of bodies occupy -our solar system, and together compose it as a whole; that these have -orbits of every sort of eccentricity and direction, and occupying all -possible planes which can pass through the sun; <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb36" href="#pb36" name="pb36">36</a>]</span>that the -bodies circle around the sun, some backward and others forward, and -that only the planets seem to conform to some common order; and without -this order, which may be accidental, so far as our knowledge goes, the -system would have been disrupted long since, if it ever could have -begun its operations; and that in this view the heavens may be strewn -with wrecks of systems which failed to survive from inherent want of -harmony,—that is to say, as based on observation only. Whether -the nebular hypothesis be a universal or a partial law of development, -or whether the real processes be quite different, cannot, however, -depend on the continued maintenance and evolution of the sun’s -energy, as this source must in truth be sought for in quite a different -direction.</p> -<p>The remaining hypothesis (the seventh) is considered in detail in -Professor Proctor’s work, “Mysteries of Time and -Space.” The fatal defect in Dr. Siemens’s theory is, that -his gases will not be projected from the sun’s equator. Professor -Proctor says, “Thus the centripetal tendency of matter at the -sun’s equator is very much greater (many hundreds of times -greater) than its centrifugal tendency, and there is not the slightest -possibility of matter being projected into space from the sun’s -surface by centrifugal tendency. Nor is there any part of the -sun’s mass where the centrifugal tendency is greater than at the -surface near the equator. So that, whatever else the sun may be doing -to utilize his mighty energies, he is certainly not throwing off matter -constantly from his <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb37" href="#pb37" -name="pb37">37</a>]</span>equatorial regions, as Dr. Siemens’s -theory requires.” There are other difficulties which Professor -Proctor considers, such as the doubt as to the power of the sun’s -rays to disassociate combined gases in space, and also that, since both -light and heat must be utilized in this work, if the sun’s -energies are to be perpetually renewed, these forces would sensibly -disappear in work, and the result would be that the fixed stars would -be invisible beyond their domains, and their light, when not totally -cut off, would be greatly diminished, in any event, as distances -increased, which is not the case. Besides, these gases thus -disassociated could never be entirely used by the sun, and the -remainder would be wasted, and the part wasted would vastly exceed that -utilized, probably in as great proportion of waste as that of the -sun’s light not utilized by the planets, which gather but one -two-hundred-and-thirty-two-millionths of the whole. It may be further -added that these gases would be mechanically mixed, the combined and -the disassociated, and this would be mostly the case in those parts -nearest the sun, so that large volumes of spent and useless gases would -have to be carried in to no purpose whatever. In fact, these gases -would gradually form a closed circuit of supply and discharge, and -surrounding space would be but slightly affected. Professor Proctor -concludes, “We have, in fact, the fallacy of perpetual motion in -a modified form.”</p> -<p>It will be apparent that under any single one, or all, of these -hypotheses, the future prospect for created forms and continued -existence is hopeless, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb38" href="#pb38" -name="pb38">38</a>]</span>and that the inevitable result must do -violence to every conception of either an intelligent creative power or -the operations of universal law. The mind revolts from the continued -degradation and destruction of all organic creation, while the -malevolent and iconoclastic forces of nature hold high revel over final -ruin and eternal destruction, brought about by their own incessant -efforts, striking out blindly to make or mar, and they alone the -deathless survivors, the half-blind fates and furies of the eternal -future. It betokens, not the processes of orderly government, but the -reign of anarchy.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Note.</span>—Since this work has been in -press, at the annual meeting of the British Association, August 8, -1894, Lord Salisbury, the President, delivered a powerful and lucid -address on the present status of scientific knowledge and its -limitations. With reference to the antiquity of the earth we quote the -following: “It is evident, from the increase of heat as we -descend into the earth, that the earth is cooling, and we know, by -experiment within certain wide limits, the rate at which its -substances—the matters of which it is constituted—are found -to cool. It follows that we can approximately calculate how hot it was -so many million years ago; but if at any time it was hotter at the -surface by fifty degrees Fahrenheit than it is now, life would then -have been impossible upon the planet, and, therefore, we can without -much difficulty fix a date before which organic life on earth cannot -have existed. Basing himself on these considerations, Lord Kelvin -limited the period of organic life upon the earth to a hundred million -years, and Professor Tait, in a still more penurious spirit, cut that -hundred down to ten.” If a period of anything like ten million -years, even, has been requisite to cool the earth’s surface only -fifty degrees in temperature, what time must have elapsed since the -terrestrial globe had a temperature high enough to effect the difficult -chemical combinations of many of the elements which compose its -structure? And even this must have been far less than the vast cycles -of time during which original consolidation was effected. Through all -these ages the sun must have been pouring out his radiant energy at at -least his present rate. Radiation of heat from the earth may have been -relatively less rapid from a denser carbon-laden atmosphere in times -past than at present, but it never could have been more so. The whole -address cited is, indeed, strongly corroborative of the facts upon -which the present work is based. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb39" -href="#pb39" name="pb39">39</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch2" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e210">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER II.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE CONSTITUTION AND PHENOMENA OF THE SUN.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The various theories thus reviewed, while not -sufficient in themselves to account for the facts of our own solar -system, are fatally defective in another respect. While they aim to -account for the sun’s light and heat, they all fail to consider -the active medium of the solar light and heat in the sun itself. It is -not simply a highly-heated central mass glowing in space. It is a vast -orb surrounded by different envelopes of incandescent vapors or gases, -and by far the most vast in volume, as well as in light and -heat-radiating power, are the photosphere and its superincumbent -chromosphere, composed almost entirely of free hydrogen gas in a state -of intense incandescence. Whence comes this enormous mass of hydrogen? -And how explain the entire absence of free hydrogen gas from our own -atmosphere and its replacement by oxygen? There is a recent theory -propounded by Mr. A. Mott, which is set forth in detail in Professor -Ball’s “In the High Heavens,” and which endeavors to -account for the remarkable absence of free hydrogen gas from the -earth’s atmosphere, for, as the author states, “It is a -singular fact that hydrogen in the free state is absent from our -atmosphere.” The theory, in brief, is that the molecules of -hydrogen gas have an average speed of about a <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb40" href="#pb40" name="pb40">40</a>]</span>mile a -second,—which, however, is only one-seventh that required to -shoot them off into space,—but that these molecules are -continually changing their velocity, and may sometimes attain a speed -of seven miles a second; the result is that “every now and then a -molecule of hydrogen succeeds in bolting away from the earth altogether -and escaping into open space.” During past ages the molecules of -hydrogen would thus have gradually wiggled up through the air, and -finally disappeared into outer darkness for good and all; and thus -“the fact that there is at present no free hydrogen in the air -over our heads may be accounted for.” Since the molecules of -oxygen have only a velocity of a quarter mile a second, that -unfortunate gas remains behind and is consumed.</p> -<p>The first difficulty with this theory is to explain how, if the -hydrogen wiggled off in this unceremonious manner, it ever wiggled on. -There is no objection to a gait of this rapidity, however; it is highly -creditable, in fact; but we have a right to expect some degree of -consistency in even so light-headed a body as hydrogen gas. The article -quoted thus continues: “If the mass of the earth were very much -larger than it is, then the velocities with which the molecules of -hydrogen wend their way would never be sufficiently high to enable them -to quit the earth altogether, and consequently we might in such a case -expect to find our atmosphere largely charged with hydrogen.” It -will be seen that, according to this theory, hydrogen is able to -achieve a speed of seven miles per second under exceptional -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb41" href="#pb41" name= -"pb41">41</a>]</span>excitement, and that this molecular velocity is -just enough, and no more than enough, to give it egress. We know that -Jupiter’s mass is three hundred times as great as that of the -earth, and the attraction of gravity is so powerful on the surface of -that planet that, as the writer just quoted says, “Walking, or -even standing, would involve the most fearful exertion, while rising -from bed in the morning would be a difficult, indeed, probably, an -impossible, process.” We also know that the atmosphere of this -planet is laden with enormous clouds floating at various altitudes and -with incessant movements. We are told that “the molecular speed -of aqueous vapor averages only one-third of that attained by the -molecules of hydrogen.” Of course, on the planet Jupiter, -hydrogen would have no chance of escape at all: it would just have to -stay and take it, like the rest of us. Jupiter must thus have an -atmosphere like our own, except that it is “largely charged with -hydrogen.” Of the clouds upon this planet, Professor Ball says, -“In fact, the longer we look at Jupiter the more we become -convinced that the surface of the planet is swathed with a mighty -volume of clouds so dense and so impenetrable that our most powerful -telescopes have never yet been able to pierce through them down to the -solid surface of the planet.” With the densities, molecular -velocities, and specific gravity of the oxygen, nitrogen, and the -hydrogen, with which latter the atmosphere of Jupiter must be -“largely charged,” as it is said, it is difficult to -understand how such enormous clouds of <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb42" href="#pb42" name="pb42">42</a>]</span>aqueous vapors, -themselves composed of oxygen, which is a very slow-footed gas, and -hydrogen, could travel about with such facility; we ought to find them -packed down like London fog, to say the least, upon the surface of that -planet, with the supernatant gases all adrift overhead. Jupiter is a -hot body; it has not yet cooled down; and if it is provided with -volcanoes, such as its great red spot and the analogies of the earth -and moon would suggest, we can tell pretty nearly what would have -happened long ago with a Jovian atmosphere like ours; but -“largely charged with hydrogen,” if we compare it with, -say, an equal mass of dynamite touched off by a volcanic explosion; -there would not have been enough of old Jupiter left to swear by, and -what was left would not have had any atmosphere at all. On Mars, the -same writer thinks the oxygen would still cling, like the fragrance of -the rose, but that all the molecules of the fleet-footed and excitable -hydrogen would long since have taken French leave, as it did from the -earth; but at the moon, on account of its small size and mass, both -gases would have gone off incontinently together. “It is now -easy,” the author says, “to account for the absence of -atmosphere from the moon …. Neither of the gases, oxygen -or nitrogen, to say nothing of hydrogen, could possibly exist in the -free state on a globe of the mass and dimensions of our -satellite …. Indeed, the weight of every object on the -moon would be reduced to the sixth part of that which the same object -has on earth.” Nevertheless, it may be said that the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb43" href="#pb43" name="pb43">43</a>]</span>moon has -considerable weight, as weights go, but with a comet it is quite a -different matter. “These bodies,” the author says, -“demonstrate conclusively that the quantity of matter even in a -comet is extremely small when compared with its bulk. The conclusion -thus arrived at is confirmed by the fact that our efforts to obtain the -weight of a comet have hitherto proved unsuccessful …. It -has thus been demonstrated that, notwithstanding the stupendous bulk of -a great comet, its mass must have been so inconsiderable as to have -been insufficient to disturb even such unimportant members of the solar -system as the satellites of Jupiter.” Now, here is a state of -things; for the spectroscope shows that comets are fully provided with -a large supply of hydrogen, enough and to spare for ornament, even, and -of nitrogen also, while it is the abnormally fugacious oxygen which -has, apparently, taken its departure. Of course, such facts demonstrate -the untenability of the theory, which is, besides, in direct -contradiction with the laws governing gaseous diffusion. Gases pass -into each other with the same velocity as into a vacuum, and it is not -to be imagined that the molecules of hydrogen could thus move -individually off, unless forced upward by the pressure of some other -gas, which the law of gaseous diffusion makes impossible. We should as -readily expect to see a tumbler full of iron balls, into the -interstices of which loose sand has been poured, manifest a similar -phenomenon by the wiggling out of the less dense sand at the top of the -glass. One might also ask whence, if <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb44" href="#pb44" name="pb44">44</a>]</span>this theory had any -substantial basis, could come the enormous volumes of hydrogen gas in -the atmosphere of a new or temporary star, in a few hours, or the -changes manifested in the atmospheres of the variable stars. So, also, -the nebular or any other hypothesis of creation would be impossible -under this theory, as the heavier and less mobile gaseous elements -would remain behind, or be condensed nearest the center of gravity of -the aggregating nebula, while the more rapid gases would disappear -outwardly, and in consequence the sun would be found to be composed of -the heavier elements exclusively, and each of the planets, in turn, -would consist of only one or two elements, in accordance with the more -and more mobile character of their molecular movements, and the -uniformity of chemical constitution between the sun and planets, as -well as the fixed stars, would not be found to exist. The theory, in -fact, is an example of the endeavor to explain an easily understood -difficulty by a less easily understood impossibility.</p> -<p>None of the different theories even attempt to account for the -prodigious volumes of hydrogen in the solar atmosphere, and without its -presence the sun, so far as we know, would be almost an inert mass, -considered as a source of energy for the supply of our planetary -system. We know, of course, that meteors contain sometimes as much as -six volumes of gases, largely composed of hydrogen, at our own -atmospheric pressure. But the pressure at the sun’s surface is -more than twenty-seven times that at the surface of the earth, and yet -the volume <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb45" href="#pb45" name= -"pb45">45</a>]</span>of hydrogen there existing visibly is vaster -beyond computation than any possible mass of meteoric material could -supply. So, also, while it may be granted that condensation of volume -must vastly raise the solar temperature, how could it produce the -enormous masses of hydrogen, the lightest of all the elements, unless -they have been temporarily occluded and finally thrown out from within, -which is impossible? These vast volumes of hydrogen are to be -considered first of all in any attempt whatever to solve the problem of -the source and mode of solar energy.</p> -<p>Considering the phenomena presented within the limits of our own -solar system alone, we find that the earth is one of a single family of -planets, each of which very closely resembles it, and all of which -circle, in slightly elliptical orbits, at various distances around the -sun, their orbits occupying substantially the same plane, thus making -our solar system a flat disk of space occupied by the sun as a center, -with the planets and their satellites moving harmoniously around it. -The planets differ from each other in size, mass, and temperature, but -each is surrounded by an envelope of aqueous vapor, suspended in an -atmosphere substantially like our own. Professor Proctor, in his -“Light Science for Leisure Hours,” says of the planet -Jupiter, “His real surface is always veiled by his dense and -vapor-laden atmosphere. Saturn, Venus, and Mercury are similarly -circumstanced.” Of Mars he says that it is “distinctly -marked (in telescopes of sufficient power) with continents and oceans -which <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb46" href="#pb46" name= -"pb46">46</a>]</span>are rarely concealed by vapors.” Now, whence -comes this aqueous vapor surrounding all the planets? Whether received -originally from the diffused nebular mass from which our solar system -is supposed to have been condensed, or attracted by the force of -gravity from interplanetary space, like the meteors which fall upon the -earth’s surface, it is evident that interplanetary space must -once have been pervaded with aqueous vapor, since the nebular mass from -which our solar system was constituted must have occupied at least the -space embraced within its largest planetary orbit, and doubtless much -more; and if so, such aqueous vapor, and other vapors also, must still -persist in space, just as the meteoric particles which so constantly -manifest themselves in our atmosphere. If the planets had no common -origin, the evidence is equally conclusive, since then this identical -substance could only have been derived from a common source, which can -only be interplanetary space. This also is in accordance with the laws -of attraction, which would operate to gather and condense the rarefied -aqueous vapor of space around the planetary masses in definite -proportions. In his “Familiar Essays on Scientific -Subjects,” Professor Proctor says, “In fact, we do thus -recognize in the spectra of Mars, Venus, and other planets the presence -of aqueous vapor in their atmosphere;” and in his -“Mysteries of Time and Space” he says, “We may admit -the possibility that the aqueous vapor and carbon compounds are present -in stellar or interplanetary space.” But in addition to this -aqueous vapor <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb47" href="#pb47" name= -"pb47">47</a>]</span>which surrounds the planetary bodies, we find free -oxygen in vast quantities, and, with this, free nitrogen in mechanical -admixture, and these together constitute the atmosphere we breathe, and -which sustains organic life by a process of slow combustion. But we -find no free hydrogen either in our own atmosphere or in that of other -planets. Turning now to the sun, we find that it is surrounded by an -atmosphere as well as the planets, but that this atmosphere is composed -not of free oxygen, but of free hydrogen. In his article, “Oxygen -in the Sun,” Professor Proctor says, “Fourteen only of the -elements known to us, or less than a quarter of the total number, were -thus found to be present in the sun’s constitution; and of these -all were metals, if we regard hydrogen as metallic …. But -most remarkable of all, and most perplexing, was the absence of all -trace of oxygen and nitrogen, two gases which could not be supposed -wanting in the substance of the great ruling center of the planetary -system.” The researches of Dr. Draper indicated, however, that -oxygen could be found in the sun; not in his external atmosphere but -far down within his surface. Professor Proctor says, “Dr. Draper -mentions that he has found no traces of oxygen above the -photosphere.” Such free oxygen cannot be associated with the -hydrogen, however, even if its presence be finally determined, but it -may be due to the deoxidation of solid compounds precipitated upon the -sun from space, and held at a temperature above that of disassociation, -as hydrogen <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb48" href="#pb48" name= -"pb48">48</a>]</span>is sometimes generated at the surface of the -earth.</p> -<p>The vast mass of the solar atmosphere is composed of hydrogen gas, -with which are found commingled vapors of the various elements which -enter into the sun’s constitution, and this solar atmosphere -corresponds in proportion, speaking generally, with our own atmosphere, -except that the volume of solar hydrogen is vastly greater than that of -terrestrial oxygen, for the reason, as will be explained, that water -contains two volumes of the former to one of the latter.</p> -<p>In Appleton’s Cyclopædia the sun is thus described, -(article by Professors Langley and Proctor): “To sum up briefly -the received hypotheses of the physical constitution of the sun: of its -internal structure we know nothing, but we can infer, from the low -density of the solar globe as a whole, that no considerable portion is -solid or liquid. The regions we examine appear to consist of cloud -layers at several levels floating in a complex atmosphere, in which -probably most of the elements are known to us, and certainly many of -them exist in the form of vapor. Outside this complex atmosphere extend -envelopes of simpler constitution, though into them occasionally arise -the vapors which ordinarily lie lower down. The sierra, for instance, -consists in the main of glowing hydrogen gas and that gas, whatever it -may be, which produces the line near the orange-yellow sodium lines. -The prominence region may be regarded as simply the extension of the -sierra.” Of these prominences, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb49" href="#pb49" name="pb49">49</a>]</span>Professor Ball says, -“The memorable discovery made by Janssen and Lockyer, -independently, in 1868, showed that the prominences could be observed -without the help of an eclipse, by the happy employment of the peculiar -refrangibility of the rosy light which these prominences -emit …. We can now obtain, not, as heretofore, merely -isolated views of special prominences through the widely opened slit of -the spectroscope, but we are furnished, after a couple of -minutes’ exposure, with a complete photograph of the prominences -surrounding the sun …. The incandescent region of the -chromosphere from which these prominences arise is also recorded with -accuracy.” Resuming our quotation from Appleton’s -Cyclopædia: “The inner corona is still simpler than the -sierra, so far as its gaseous constitution is concerned; but here -meteoric and cometic matter appears, extending to the outer corona and -to great distances beyond even the visible limits of the zodiacal. -Returning to the photosphere, we find it subject to continual -fluctuations, both from local causes of agitation and from the -subjacent vapor acting by its elasticity to burst through it; the -faculæ, which are found to be above the general level of the -photosphere, are taken to be heapings up of the luminous matter like -the crested surges of the sea. All the strata are subject to great -movements, which sometimes have the character of uniform progression -analogous to our trade-winds, and sometimes are violent, and resemble -in their effects our tornadoes and whirlwinds. Eruptive action appears -to operate from <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb50" href="#pb50" name= -"pb50">50</a>]</span>time to time with exceeding violence, but whether -the enormous velocities of outrush are due to true explosive action -(which would compel us to believe that the sun is enclosed by a liquid -shell, so as to resemble a gigantic bubble) or to the uprising of -lighter vapors from enormous depths, as heated currents rise in our own -atmosphere, is not as yet certainly known.” The sierra, or -chromosphere, is thus described in the same article: “The sierra -presents four aspects: 1, smooth with defined outline; 2, smooth but -with no defined outline; 3, fringed with filaments; and, 4, irregularly -fringed with small flames. The prominences may be divided into three -orders,—heaps, jets, and plumes. The heaped prominences need no -special description. The jets … originate generally in -rectilinear jets either vertical or oblique, very bright and very well -defined. They rise to a great height, often to a height of at least -eighty thousand miles, and occasionally to more than twice that; then -bending back, fall again upon the sun like the jets of our fountains. -Then they spread into figures resembling gigantic trees more or less -rich in branches. Their luminosity is intense, insomuch that they can -be seen through the light clouds into which the sierra breaks up. Their -spectrum indicates the presence of many elements besides hydrogen. When -they have reached a certain height they cease to grow, and become -transformed into exceedingly bright masses, which eventually separate -into fleecy clouds. The jet prominences last but a short -time—rarely an hour, frequently but a few minutes,—and they -are <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb51" href="#pb51" name= -"pb51">51</a>]</span>only to be seen in the neighborhood of the spots. -Wherever there are jet prominences there also are faculæ. The -plume prominences are distinguished from the jets in not being -characterized by any signs of an eruptive origin. They often extend to -an enormous height; they last longer than the jets, though subject to -rapid changes of figure; and, lastly, they are distributed -indifferently over the sun’s surface. It would seem that in the -jets a part of the photosphere is lifted up, whereas in the case of -plumes only the sierra is disturbed.” Of these eruptions -Professor Ball says, “Vast masses of vapors are frequently -expelled from the interior of the sun by convulsive throes with a speed -of three hundred, four hundred, and sometimes nearly a thousand miles a -second …. The spectroscope enables the observer actually -to witness the ascent of these solar prominences.”</p> -<p>The corona, which extends beyond the chromosphere, has been -determined by its continuous spectrum to be a vast envelope extending -at least a million miles from the sun’s surface. “It cannot -be a solar atmosphere,” Professor Proctor observes in his article -on this subject, in his “Mysteries of Time and -Space.”… “It will be seen, then, how inconceivably -great the pressure exerted by a solar atmosphere some eight thousand -times as deep as ours would necessarily be, let the nature of the gases -composing it be what it may.”… “If a man could be -placed on the solar surface, his own weight would crush him as -effectually as though while on earth a weight of a couple of tons were -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb52" href="#pb52" name= -"pb52">52</a>]</span>heaped upon him …. Now, it happens -that we know quite well that the pressure exerted by the real solar -atmosphere, even close by the bright surface which forms the visible -globe of the sun, is nothing like so great as it would be if the corona -formed part of that atmosphere.” In the article -“Sun,” in Appleton’s Cyclopædia, it is stated -that “Mr. Arthur W. Wright, of Yale College, has succeeded in -showing that this light (the zodiacal) is not emitted from incandescent -gas, but reflected from particles or small bodies, and hence derived -from the sun.”… “There is reason to believe that the -true solar corona extends much farther (than a million miles), and -that, in reality, the zodiacal light forms the outer part of the solar -corona.” Proctor, again, in his article on the corona, says, -“It would seem to follow that the corona is due to bodies of some -sort travelling around the sun, and by their motion preserved either -from falling towards him (in which case the corona would quickly -disappear) or from producing any pressure upon his surface, as an -atmosphere would.” In his article on “The Sun as a -Perpetual Machine,” he says, “There is every reason for -regarding the zodiacal as consisting in the main of meteorolithic -masses, a sort of cosmical dust, rushing through interplanetary space -with planetary velocities. To such matter, assuming, as we well may, -that space really is occupied by attenuated vapors, … the -luminosity of the zodiacal would be attributable to particles of dust -emitting light reflected by the sun or by phosphorescence (this last -may be seriously <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb53" href="#pb53" name= -"pb53">53</a>]</span>questioned). But there is another cause for -luminosity of these particles which may deserve a passing -consideration. Each particle would be electrified by gaseous friction -in its acceleration, and its electric tension would be vastly increased -in its forcible removal, in the same way as the fine dust of the desert -has been observed by Werner Siemens to be in a state of high -electrification on the apex of the Cheops Pyramid. Would not the -zodiacal light also find explanation by slow electric discharges -backward from the dust towards the sun?” It may be observed in -passing that such electrical glow is much more prominently, and more -likely to be, the result of induction than of friction. In the article -“Sun,” previously quoted, Professor Young says, -“There is surrounding the sun, beyond any further reasonable -doubt, a mass of self-luminous gaseous matter, whose spectrum is -characterized by the green line 1474 Kirchhoff. The precise extent of -this it is hardly possible to consider as determined, but it must be -many times the thickness of the red hydrogen portion of the sierra, -perhaps, on an average, 8′ or 10′, with occasional horns of -twice that height. It is not at all unlikely that it may even turn out -to have no upper limit, but to extend from the sun indefinitely into -space.” In the same article the sun’s apparent diameter is -placed at about 32′, so that the thickness of the above gaseous -envelope would be not less than one-fourth the sun’s diameter, or -more than two hundred thousand miles. This coronal envelope, extending -out from the solar body until gradually merged into the attenuated -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb54" href="#pb54" name= -"pb54">54</a>]</span>matter of space, has a light so feeble that it can -only be clearly observed during total eclipse. Professor Ball -(“In the High Heavens”) says, “The sunlight is so -intense that if it be reduced sufficiently by any artifice, the coronal -light also suffers so much abatement that, owing to its initial -feebleness, it ceases altogether to be visible.” During the great -eclipse of 1893 it was photographed, and of these photographs the same -author says, “One of the most remarkable features in the -structure of the corona is the presence of streamers or luminous rays -extending from the north and south poles of the sun. <i>These rays are -generally more or less curved</i>, and it is doubtful whether the -phenomena they exhibit are not in some way a consequence of the -rotation of the sun. This consideration is connected with the question -as to how far the corona itself shares in that rotation of the sun with -which astronomers are familiar. I should perhaps rather have said that -rotation of the sun’s photosphere which, as the sun-spots prove, -is accomplished once every twenty-five days. Even this shell of -luminous matter does not revolve as a rigid mass would do. By some -mysterious law the equatorial portions accomplish their revolution in a -shorter period than is required by those zones of the photosphere which -lie nearer the north and south poles of the luminary. As to how the -parts of the sun which are interior to the photosphere may revolve, we -are quite ignorant …. We have no means of knowing to what -extent the corona shares in the rotation. It would seem certain that -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb55" href="#pb55" name= -"pb55">55</a>]</span>the lower parts which lie comparatively near the -surface must be affected by the rapid rotation of the photosphere; but -it is very far from certain that this rotation can be shared to any -great extent by those parts of the corona which lie at a distance from -the sun’s surface as great as the solar radius or -diameter …. The corona presents a curious green line that -seems to denote some invariable constituent of the sun’s outer -atmosphere, but the element to which this green line owes its origin is -wholly unknown.” The same author quotes from Dr. Huggins as -follows: “It is interesting to read what Dr. Huggins has to tell -us about the solar corona. The nature of this marvellous appendage to -the sun is still a matter of uncertainty. There can, however, be no -doubt that the corona consists of highly-attenuated matter <i>driven -outward from the sun by some repulsive force</i>, and it is also clear -that if this force be not electric, it must at least be something of a -very kindred character …. So far as the spectrum of the -corona is concerned, we may summarize what is known in the words of Dr. -Huggins: ‘The green coronal line has no known representative in -terrestrial substances, nor has Schuster been able to recognize any of -our elements in the other lines of the corona.’ ” The -account given by General Myer—quoted in Professor Proctor’s -article, “The Sun’s Corona”—of the great -eclipse of 1869, as viewed from an altitude of five thousand five -hundred feet above sea-level, is as follows: “As a centre stood -the full and intensely black disk of the moon, surrounded <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb56" href="#pb56" name="pb56">56</a>]</span>by an -aureola of soft bright light, through which shot out, as if from the -circumference of the moon, straight, massive silvery rays, seeming -distinct and separate from each other, to a distance of two or three -diameters of the lunar disk; the whole spectacle showing as upon a -background of diffused rose-colored light. The silvery rays were -longest and most prominent at four points of the circumference, -… apparently equidistant from each other. There was no motion of -the rays: they seemed concentric.” Three diameters would make -these rays extend two and a half million miles at least from the -sun’s photosphere, or even its chromosphere. The coincidence -between these rays and those observed (see above) in the eclipse of -1893 must be noted, since these latter were conceived at one time to be -meteor streams. As those seen in 1893 radiated from the poles, and were -curved in form, while those last noted radiated at four equidistant -points, none polar, and were straight, it will be seen that, if both -phenomena were of the same class, they could not have been due to -meteor streams.</p> -<div class="figure p057width" id="p057"><img src="images/p057.jpg" alt= -"A typical sun-spot. (From the Popular Science Monthly, 1885.)" width= -"475" height="609"> -<p class="figureHead">A typical sun-spot. (From <i>the Popular Science -Monthly</i>, 1885.)</p> -</div> -<p>The sun’s spots, which we will next refer to, are deep, -relatively dark, but in fact extremely bright depressions in the -photosphere. “Many spots are of enormous size” (see -article, “Sun”); “one had a diameter exceeding fifty -thousand miles, and many far larger than this have been seen. The spots -are not scattered over the whole surface of the sun, but are for the -most part confined to two belts between latitude five degrees and -thirty degrees, on <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb57" href="#pb57" -name="pb57">57</a>]</span>either side of the solar equator. An -equatorial zone six degrees wide is almost entirely free from -spots …. The inclination of the solar equator is about -seven degrees …. The spots on the sun usually have a dark -central region called <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb58" href="#pb58" -name="pb58">58</a>]</span>the <i>umbra</i>, within which is a still -darker part called the <i>nucleus</i>, while around this there is a -fringe of fainter shade than the umbra, called the <i>penumbra</i>. -Although the umbra and nucleus appear dark, however, it is not to be -supposed that they are really dark; … though the nucleus looks -perfectly black by contrast with the general surface, it shines in -reality with a light unbearably brilliant when viewed alone, while his -thermal measurements show that the heat from the nucleus is even -greater proportionately than the light, and not very greatly below the -heat of the surrounding surface …. The recognition of a -nucleus within the umbra would seem to indicate that a third cloud -layer (besides the outer or photosphere and a darker cloud layer -beneath) exists within the second or internal layer of Herschel’s -theory. But the observations of Professor Langley show that most -probably all the features of the solar photosphere yet observed are -phenomena of cloud envelopes, since he has been able to recognize cloud -forms at one level floating over cloud forms at a lower level, while -even in the (relatively) darkest depths of the nucleus clouds are still -to be perceived, though so deep down that their outlines can be barely -discerned.” Professor Ball says of the heat-wave of 1892, -“As to the activity of the sun during the past summer, a very -striking communication has recently been made by one of the most rising -American astronomers, Mr. George E. Hale, of Chicago. He has invented -an ingenious apparatus for photographing on the same plate at one -exposure both the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb59" href="#pb59" -name="pb59">59</a>]</span>bright spots and the protuberances of the -sun …. On the 15th of July a photograph of the sun showed -a large spot. Another photograph taken in a few minutes exhibited a -bright band; twenty-seven minutes later a further exposure displayed an -outburst of brilliant faculæ all over the spot. At the end of an -hour the faculæ had all vanished and the spot was restored to its -original condition. It was not a mere coincidence that our magnetic -observatories exhibited considerable disturbances the next day, and -that brilliant auroras were noted.” Carrington’s -observations have shown that spots in different solar latitudes travel -at different rates. “Taking two parts of the visible solar -surface in the same longitude, but one in latitude forty-five degrees -(say), the other on the equator, the latter will advance farther and -farther in longitude from the former, gaining daily about two degrees, -so that in the course of about one hundred and eighty days it will have -gained a complete revolution. That is to say, the sun’s equator -makes about two revolutions more per annum than regions in forty-five -degrees north and south solar latitude.” The sun is about 850,000 -miles in diameter; its density is one-fourth that of the earth; its -mass is 316,000 times greater, and its volume 1,253,000. Gravity at its -surface is 27.1 times that of the earth; its distance is approximately -92,000,000 miles; it rotates upon its axis, which is inclined to the -planetary plane at an angle of seven degrees, once in twenty-five and -one-third days, apparently increased to thirty days by the -earth’s orbital advance in the same direction <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb60" href="#pb60" name="pb60">60</a>]</span>around -the sun; and it has a motion around its center,—a true orbital -motion,—due to displacement by gravity of the planetary masses, -which, however, is always within its own mass.</p> -<div class="figure p060width" id="p060"><img src="images/p060.jpg" alt= -"" width="427" height="507"> -<p class="first">Structure of the sun.—A, solar core, or -nucleus<span class="corr" id="xd26e866" title="Source: :">;</span> B, -photosphere, the visible orb; C, chromosphere, or sierra; D, corona, -fading off into space; E, sun’s long streamer<span class="corr" -id="xd26e869" title="Source: :">;</span> F, over faculæ in C and -B; G, direction of line of planetary energy; H, active stage of a -sun-spot; I, plume prominence; K, jet prominence; S, direction of -sun’s rotation.</p> -</div> -<p>The above, in brief, is, so far as we know, the constitution of the -sun and its appendages. Its internal globe is surrounded by a glowing -gaseous <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb61" href="#pb61" name= -"pb61">61</a>]</span>envelope, the photosphere, which is the visible -orb, composed of cloud masses of glowing hydrogen gas intermingled with -vapors of many of our terrestrial elements, all in a state of apparent -disassociation. Of the constitution of the sun’s mass, Professor -Ball says, “Professor Rowland has shown that thirty-six -terrestrial elements are certainly indicated in the solar spectrum, -while eight others are doubtful. Fifteen elements have not been found, -though sought for, and ten elements have not yet been compared with the -sun’s spectrum. Reasons are also given for showing that, though -fifteen elements had no lines corresponding to those shown in the solar -spectrum, yet there is but little evidence to show that they are really -absent from the sun. Dr. Huggins epitomizes these very interesting -results in the striking remark, ‘It follows that if the whole -earth were heated to the temperature of the sun, its spectrum would -resemble very closely the solar spectrum.’ ” Outside -the photosphere is the simpler chromosphere, composed largely of -hydrogen, and merging into the corona at a distance of hundreds of -thousands of miles from the sun’s apparent surface, and this -corona extends outward to a vast distance, and is itself largely -composed of self-luminous matter, the action of gravity being -counterbalanced by the centrifugal force of orbital rotation, or more -probably by electrical repulsion. The metallic vapors in the -sun’s photosphere are suspended in glowing hydrogen, which vastly -preponderates over all the others in mass and volume, the incandescence -of which is the principal source <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb62" -href="#pb62" name="pb62">62</a>]</span>of solar light and heat. The -planets revolve in elliptical orbits around this central sun, and -crossing these orbits at various angles rush streams of cometic matter -and comets and meteoric bodies, in streams and clouds, which, swiftly -sweeping around at various distances, are again thrown off into space. -Meteors constantly fall into the sun’s mass, as they do upon the -earth; but the grand key-note of all his life and energy, so far as we -can perceive, is the vast envelope of glowing hydrogen gas.</p> -<p>Conversely, the planetary envelopes are of relatively cool oxygen -mixed with nitrogen gas, which hold in suspension diffused aqueous -vapors. If our own aqueous vapors are derived by the attraction of -gravity from the interplanetary space, as they must have been, we can -be sure that, were the sun at a sufficiently low temperature, he, too, -would gather to himself a surrounding envelope of aqueous vapor, larger -than our own in proportion to his mass, and larger than that of all the -planets together, the combined mass of which he exceeds by seven -hundred and fifty times. We should also expect similar aggregations of -aqueous vapors to surround all the fixed stars in proportion to their -various masses, yet we do not find aqueous vapor there, but hydrogen -instead. And in the distant telescopic nebulæ we still find -hydrogen and nitrogen; even in the comets we find free hydrogen in vast -predominance, but not free oxygen; so that we may roughly divide the -bodies of stellar space into two grand categories,—those with -atmospheres of hydrogen and those with atmospheres of oxygen. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb63" href="#pb63" name= -"pb63">63</a>]</span>It is true that the latter are limited to the -planets of our own system, so far as direct observation goes, for we -cannot see such dark planets as exist beyond our own solar system; but -if such planets exist, as they must, for reasons stated later on, and -revolve around their own central suns, we may infer, with the strength -of demonstration almost, that if their suns correspond to our sun in -this respect, their planets will correspond to our planets in a similar -respect. But the bodies with atmospheres of oxygen are those which -rotate around the sun substantially as a center, while with reference -to themselves the sun is more or less a fixed body in space. It is true -that our whole system is drifting through space, at present in the -direction of the constellation Lyra, and directly away from that -portion of space occupied by Sirius and Canopus, with an annual motion -of probably hundreds of millions of miles. Professor Ball (“In -the High Heavens”) says, “In conclusion, it would seem that -the sun and the whole solar system are bound on a voyage to that part -of the sky which is marked by the star Delta Lyræ. It also -appears that the speed with which this motion is urged is such as to -bring us every day about 700,000 miles nearer to this part of the sky. -In one year the solar system accomplishes a journey of no less than -250,000,000 miles.” A speed of eight miles per second gives an -annual rate of 252,288,000 miles. This speed, however, is greatly -exceeded by many stars (as determined by displacement of the lines of -the spectrum); the star No. 1830, of Groombridge’s catalogue (see -“In the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb64" href="#pb64" name= -"pb64">64</a>]</span>High Heavens”), has a rate of two hundred -miles per second. The author says, “Indeed, in some cases stellar -velocities are attained which appear to be even greater than that just -mentioned. We do not, therefore, make any extravagant supposition in -adopting a speed of twenty miles per second,” which he takes as -the average. “I have adopted this particular velocity as fairly -typical of sidereal motions generally. It is rather larger than the -speed with which the earth moves in its orbit.” The distances, of -course, are equally enormous. This author says, “The nearest -star, as far as we yet know, in the northern hemisphere is 61 -Cygni …. I think we cannot be far wrong in adopting a -value of fifty millions of millions of miles …. In the -course of a million years a star with the average speed of twenty miles -a second would move over a distance which was about a dozen times as -great as the distance between 61 Cygni and the solar system.” -This assuming that the solar system is at rest, which is not the case, -as the author says, “Unless binary, stars do not remain in -proximity, so far as we know; the general rule appears to be that of -universal movement through space.” This drift through space, -however, no more affects the terms of the problem than the rotation of -the earth upon its axis or its orbital motion affects the operations of -an electric machine as the handle may be rotated to or from the -direction of these motions. Both machine and reservoir of energy -occupying a fixed relation with reference to each other, the positions -of each are the same as though <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb65" -href="#pb65" name="pb65">65</a>]</span>absolutely fixed. This is true -of gravitation, likewise, as well as of all other natural and universal -forces.</p> -<p>The fact established, then, that attenuated aqueous vapor is -diffused throughout the interplanetary space occupied by our own solar -system, and that it tends to surround our sun and planetary bodies with -aqueous envelopes of increased density, proportionate to the action of -gravity, the question arises, Is there any known force which will act -through such interplanetary space to decompose such aqueous vapor into -its constituent elements and deposit hydrogen gas around the sun and -oxygen gas around the planets, and which, while maintaining a planetary -temperature such as we find on the planets, will at the same time raise -the hydrogen envelope of the sun to such a temperature of incandescence -that it will become a glowing sphere of heated hydrogen, in which other -constituents of the sun’s mass will be raised to incandescence -and partially volatilized in the intense heat of that incandescent gas; -in which, in fact, the phenomena of the sun will become manifest? If -so, two vastly important corollaries are inevitable: first, that the -fixed stars, which also shine with the light of their own glowing -hydrogen, are themselves surrounded by a similar aqueous vapor, -diffused through their own adjacent space, and that, in consequence, -not only our own planetary distances, but all interstellar space, as -far as the utmost distance of the faintest fixed stars, is likewise -pervaded by the same attenuated aqueous vapor, and <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb66" href="#pb66" name="pb66">66</a>]</span>that -this is the grand source from which is derived all solar energy, not -only of our own sun, but of all the other flaming orbs of space; and, -second, which is still more important to us as citizens of the -universe, that each flaming hydrogen sun must have surrounding it a -correlative dark planetary system of its own, and that the complement -of glowing hydrogen, as an incandescent envelope of the central orb, -necessitates the corresponding supplement of cool oxygen as an envelope -for each of such planetary bodies; in other words, that without such -planets as our system possesses, there can be no suns such as our own -and the other suns we see. Vast orbs might be conceived of as rotating -in eternal darkness without associated satellites, but the incandescent -atmosphere of hydrogen must have—not may have, but must -have—subordinate planets substantially similar to ours, -surrounded by atmospheres substantially similar to our own (for we find -free nitrogen in comets, in meteorites, and in the faintest -nebulæ), and these planets are thus fitted, so far as we can -know, for the support of organic life and for the same orderly courses -of nature as we see manifest around us. They must be cool, for at the -planetary poles there must be a moderate temperature in contrast with -the solar pole, which becomes, of necessity, highly heated; they must -have an atmosphere of oxygen in order that the solar center may have an -atmosphere of hydrogen; these planetary atmospheres must be supplied -with nitrogen, because nitrogen is universally available, and similar -causes operating under <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb67" href="#pb67" -name="pb67">67</a>]</span>similar circumstances will produce like -effects; these atmospheres must be charged with condensed aqueous -vapors, and, if cool enough, must have deposited water in liquid form, -for aqueous vapors when condensed by gravity are the correlated sources -of supply of their respective gaseous components at both solar and -planetary poles; and these planets must rotate in orderly periods -around their central suns, or the aqueous vapors cannot be regularly -and continuously disassociated into their elemental gases. These -planets may be few or many—perhaps even a single one -sometimes—for each sun, but they must be large enough or numerous -enough to operate by their aggregate mass, so as to disassociate around -the planets as much oxygen as their central sun disassociates of -hydrogen in their combining proportions,—that is, two volumes of -hydrogen for each one of oxygen. We will therefore find in such planets -all the potentialities of life—we can see and study these -planets, though physically invisible, as easily and as thoroughly as we -do our own, for having the relationship of constitution between our own -planets and our sun, we may thereby learn the essential relationship -between any fixed star and its planets by directly studying the -constitution of such star alone. Among the planets of our own system -Neptune and Mercury, and those which exist adjacent to their -boundaries, can be studied with difficulty and uncertainty; but what -astronomer doubts that they are constituted much like the other -planets, and have passed, or will pass, through such stages of -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb68" href="#pb68" name= -"pb68">68</a>]</span>progress as we find apparent among those more -directly under our observation? While we shall thus find universality -and harmony among all the starry systems, we shall not find identity; -but with the guiding light of demonstrated scientific principles, we -may apply our knowledge as a key to unlock the mysteries of the most -distant stars. The Milky Way will gleam with new meaning, Sirius, -Aldebaran, the Pleiades, will send us messages of fellowship, and the -established sphere of creative energy will have expanded, with all its -wondrous mechanism, to fill the universe. When we see at night a vast -factory building with every window lighted, one who understands the -operation and mechanism essential to the work of a mill sees not alone -the illuminated windows, but the looms in motion, the flying shuttles, -the spindles humming, the wheels turning, and all the complicated -machinery in active operation. And he can even picture operatives at -work in their various avocations, and the flashing windows, though -themselves silent, are the visible index of the light within which -illuminates and makes possible the work there performed. And so, when -thus comprehended, the flaming stars, but points of light in the -archways of the sky, themselves will reveal to us the wondrous workings -within the realm which they illuminate and warm and vivify. We may also -reasonably infer, as will be more fully explained further on, that -there can be no actual basis for the opinion sometimes expressed, that -great, dark, solid orbs—independent worlds, in fact—are -drifting about <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb69" href="#pb69" name= -"pb69">69</a>]</span>through space at random, as it were, like homeless -vagabonds. In these sparsely-occupied domains the head of each -household, as in every well-regulated family, has all its different -members gathered around in strict subordination, to aid in the support -of the establishment. No sun no planets; no planets no sun, is the -general statement of the sidereal formula. Like a sexual duality, the -mutually correlated parts constitute a single, composite, and -interdependent whole: one generates, concentrates, and transmits; the -other receives, transforms, and delivers.</p> -<p class="endNote"><span class="sc">Note.</span>—Regarding the -absence of oxygen from the sun’s atmosphere we quote the -following from Lord Salisbury’s very recent address (see note at -end of Chapter I.): “It is a great aggravation of the mystery -which surrounds the question of the elements, that, among the lines -which are absent from the spectrum of the sun, those of nitrogen and -oxygen stand first. Oxygen constitutes the largest portion of the solid -and liquid substances of our planet, so far as we know it; and nitrogen -is very far the predominant constituent of our atmosphere. If the earth -is a detached bit whirled off the mass of the sun, as cosmogonists love -to tell us, how comes it that in leaving the sun we cleaned him out so -completely of his nitrogen and oxygen that not a trace of these gases -remains behind to be discovered even by the sensitive vision of the -spectroscope?” We shall find that the absence of oxygen in the -solar envelope is a necessary corollary of its presence in those of the -planets. The same is true, possibly, of nitrogen. Ammoniacal vapors are -decomposable into hydrogen and nitrogen, and hydrocarbon gases into -hydrogen and carbon, just as aqueous vapors are resolvable into -hydrogen and oxygen. In the earlier stages of the earth’s -development we have abundant evidence of an atmosphere heavily laden -with carbonic vapors, which have disappeared, to remain stored as fixed -carbon, and the oxygen has also largely disappeared, to constitute the -enormous mass of oxides in the earth’s mass, while the nitrogen -remains to dilute the remaining oxygen and constitute the air we -breathe. Their common correlative, hydrogen, intermingled with metallic -vapors, composes the vast atmosphere of the sun. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb70" href="#pb70" name="pb70">70</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch3" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e220">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER III.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE MODE OF SOLAR ENERGY.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">But is there such an available force? There is one, -and only one,—electricity, when properly generated and suitably -applied. It is an axiom of electrical science that any fluid which will -at all conduct a current of electricity can be decomposed by a current -of electricity. (See Urbanitsky’s work, “Electricity in the -Service of Man,” Cassell’s edition, page 154.) It is there -stated (page 152), “We have frequently had occasion to mention -certain chemical effects of electricity,—namely, the -decomposition of gaseous compounds into simple gases.” Page 157, -“Whatever the substances we expose to the action of the galvanic -current, decomposition takes place proportional to the strength of the -current.” Page 152, “Hydrogen is always evolved at the -negative pole of the battery and oxygen at the positive pole. The gases -can then be collected in different tubes, the hydrogen tube receiving -twice as much gas as the oxygen tube; since water consists of two -volumes of hydrogen and one volume of oxygen, it follows that the -galvanic current decomposes water into its constituents. As chemically -pure water has so great a resistance as almost to force us to consider -it a non-conductor, it is generally acidulated with sulphuric acid. The -smallest amount of acid diminishes the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb71" href="#pb71" name="pb71">71</a>]</span>resistance considerably. -The silent discharge is far more effective in bringing about this -transformation than the spark discharge.” Page 37, “Gases -are bad conductors of electricity; if it had been otherwise, we should -never have become acquainted with electricity, as it would have been -conducted away by the air as fast as it was generated. The vacuum also -does not conduct electricity, but <i>moist air</i> becomes a partial -conductor. Moist air also will spoil the insulation of non-conducting -supports. All bodies are more or less hygroscopic, and the moisture -condensed on their surfaces <i>thus turns the best insulators into -conductors</i>. Change of temperature also influences -conductivity.” Page 63, “When using induction machines, the -moisture of the air often causes experiments to fail, especially before -large audiences. The atmosphere becomes saturated with moisture, and it -is often impossible to get the machine in working order.” Several -desiccating devices are mentioned by the authors of this work, as used -with such machines, to prevent such dissipation or conduction of -electricity from the machine into space by the aqueous vapor of the -atmosphere. In describing the aurora borealis (page 93), these authors -say, “The rarefied air is nearer the earth at the poles than the -equator, in consequence of the earth’s centrifugal motion, and, -the earth being negatively electrified, negative electricity will flow -from this point, directed against the <i>positively electrified upper -layers of rarefied air</i>.” Same work, pages 127, 128, -“The resistance (in liquids) diminishes <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb72" href="#pb72" name="pb72">72</a>]</span>as the -temperature increases, a result which is exactly opposite to what -occurs with metals. Conductivity for carbon increases with the -temperature, thus agreeing with the action of liquids.” Page 133, -“To determine the resistance in liquids, the above methods cannot -be employed, liquids being decomposed by the electrical current.” -Referring to the voltaic arc and the spark of the induction apparatus -(page 200), it is said, “Dry air under great pressure offers a -high resistance, but a <i>perfect vacuum is a perfect insulator</i>, -and between these extremes there are degrees of rarification which -admit of a flow of electricity.” In general, it is said that -electrical decomposition requires that the electrolyte be in liquid -form, but this is not universally true, and throughout interplanetary -space may not be true at all. In Ferguson’s work on Electricity, -it is stated that, “The passage of electricity through compound -gases in a state of great rarity, as in the so-called vacuum tubes, -frequently separates them up into their constituents.” So, also, -the opinion that electricity cannot be readily conducted through dry -gases is refuted by the play of the auroral streamers. The distance -from the surface of the earth of these electrical waves and the auroral -arch is variously estimated at from seventy to two hundred and -sixty-five miles, and in one instance “at a height of from four -thousand to six thousand miles;” see article in Appleton’s -Cyclopædia. Certainly there could be no sensible moisture at the -temperatures there prevalent, and especially at night and during the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb73" href="#pb73" name= -"pb73">73</a>]</span>fall and winter months when these displays are -very frequent. Whether the currents be due to induction, as between -neighboring bodies one of which is electrified, or from direct -emission, as in brush discharges, there must obviously be some medium -of contact and continuity for the free transference of electrical -energy through space. Regarding the <i>rationale</i> of electrolysis -(“Electricity in the Service of Man”), after discussing -certain other theories, the authors say, “Clausius, too, assumes -an electrified condition of the molecules of each electrode, but he -neither attributes to the galvanic current the force of direction nor -power of decomposing. He points out that both the molecules of fluids -and also their atoms are in continual motion. The atoms in molecules of -fluids are held together but by a moderate force, and the molecules -themselves constantly undergo changes both of synthesis and analysis. -The galvanic current merely effects a regulated motion of the atoms; -the positive ions are attracted by the negative electrode, and the -negative ions by the positive electrode, and by this means are -separated out from the liquid.” Page 91, “The upper layers -of air are more or less electrified, so as to have a potential -differing from that of the earth, but <i>how their electrical condition -has been produced is not at present known</i>. Condensation of -water-vapor is supposed to produce electricity. Close to the earth the -air has little or no electricity; the farther from the earth the -greater the amount of electricity in the air.” Referring to the -sparking discharge, it is <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb74" href= -"#pb74" name="pb74">74</a>]</span>said, page 75, “The density of -the air, however, has to be taken into account; the sparking distance -is lessened in denser air, and becomes greater when the atmospheric -pressure is diminished. Not only the density, but also the chemical -composition of the medium influences the sparking distance. Faraday -found the distances considerably less in chlorine gas, but <i>twice as -long in hydrogen gas as in air</i>.” Page 74, “The sparking -distance increases at a somewhat greater rate than the difference of -potential of the discharging bodies …. When the sparking -distance becomes very great … it is proportional to the -difference of potential.” Page 91, “There is a difference -of potential between the earth and points in the air above. In fine -weather the potential is higher the higher we go, increasing usually at -the rate of <i>twenty to forty volts for each foot</i>.”</p> -<p>It will be seen that, continued upward at this rate, the increased -electrical pressure for each mile of elevation would be between 100,000 -and 200,000 volts, or for each one hundred miles more than 10,000,000 -volts; and at an altitude of one thousand miles, if carried so far, the -potential would be between one and two hundred million volts, an -electrical pressure quite inconceivable to us. Such a potential in -currents of enormous quantity continually flowing from the earth to the -sun would certainly decompose any aqueous vapors condensed around these -bodies. But the question at once arises, What reason is there to -suppose that such currents could possibly flow between the earth and -the sun, across <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb75" href="#pb75" name= -"pb75">75</a>]</span>that vast intervening region of space, a distance -of more than 90,000,000 miles? And would not the resistance to such -currents in transit be so enormous that the entire potential, however -great, would have been practically lost long before reaching the sun? -To this there is a complete and irrefutable answer, not based upon any -abstract theory, but upon established fact. It is an absolute certainty -that electrical currents of enormous quantity and high potential are -constantly passing between the earth and the sun, and that these -currents have so free a passage—far more free than through any -metallic circuits that we know of—that they pass over this -enormous distance absolutely without appreciable resistance. We may -note in this connection the well-known facts, now being largely -utilized, though the art is still in its infancy, of telegraphing and -transmitting all sorts of electrical currents over large distances -without wires or any conductors, except those furnished by nature.</p> -<p>Of the currents between the earth and the sun, Professor Proctor, in -his “Light Science for Leisure Hours,” says, -“Remembering the influence which the sun has been found to -exercise upon the magnetic needle, the question will naturally arise, -Has the sun anything to do with magnetic storms? We have clear evidence -that he has. On the 1st of September, 1859, Messrs. Carrington and -Hodgson were observing the sun, one at Oxford and the other in London. -Their scrutiny was directed to certain large spots which at that time -marked the sun’s face. Suddenly a bright light was seen by -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb76" href="#pb76" name= -"pb76">76</a>]</span>each observer to break out on the sun’s -surface and to travel, slowly in appearance, but in reality at the rate -of about seven thousand miles in a minute, across a part of the solar -disk. Now, it was found afterwards that the self-registering magnetic -instruments at Kew had made <i>at that very instant</i> a -strongly-marked jerk. It was learned that at that moment a magnetic -storm prevailed in the West Indies, in South America, and in Australia. -The signal men in the telegraph stations at Washington and Philadelphia -received strong electric shocks; the pen of Bain’s telegraph was -followed by a flame of fire; and in Norway the telegraphic machinery -was set on fire. At night great auroras were seen in both hemispheres. -It is impossible not to connect these startling magnetic indications -with the remarkable appearance observed upon the sun’s disk. But -there is other evidence. Magnetic storms prevail more commonly in some -years than in others. In those years in which they occur most -frequently it is found that the ordinary oscillations of the magnetic -needle are more extensive than usual. Now, when these peculiarities had -been noticed for many years, it was found that there was an alternate -and systematic increase and diminution in intensity of magnetic action, -and that the period of the variation was about eleven years. But at the -same time a diligent observer had been recording the appearance of the -sun’s face from day to day and from year to year. He had found -that the solar spots are in some years more freely displayed than in -others, and he had determined the period in <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb77" href="#pb77" name="pb77">77</a>]</span>which -the spots had successively presented with maximum frequency to be about -eleven years. On a comparison of the two sets of observations it was -found (and has now been placed beyond a doubt by many years of -continual observation) that magnetic perturbations are most energetic -when the sun is most spotted, and <i>vice versa</i>. For so remarkable -a phenomenon as this none but a cosmical cause can suffice. We can -neither say that the spots cause the magnetic storms nor that the -magnetic storms cause the spots. We must seek for a cause producing at -once both sets of phenomena.” It will be observed that the -phenomena seen in the sun were marked <i>at the same instant</i> by -violent electric perturbations on earth. Hence something must have -passed with the velocity of light, which we know to be at the rate of -188,000 miles per second, or in about eight minutes from the sun to the -earth. But it is stated in “Electricity in the Service of -Man,” page 82, that, “According to the theoretical -calculations of Kirchhoff, as well as of Ayrton and Perry, the velocity -of electricity in a wire <i>without resistance would be equal to the -velocity of light</i>.” Hence we perceive that the apparent -difficulty has vanished in the light of observed fact, and that -currents of electricity do pass and are constantly passing between the -earth and the sun without the slightest loss of speed,—that is to -say, without resistance. We shall find in the sequel that the above -phenomena were caused most probably by a partial interruption of a -constant direct current from the earth to the sun, instead of by an -opposite return <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb78" href="#pb78" name= -"pb78">78</a>]</span>current from the sun to the earth. In further -illustration of the above facts we quote the following, page 172, -“Electricity in the Service of Man:” “Many attempts -have been made to find a connection between the spots and prominences -in the sun and the electrical phenomena on the earth. Professor Forster -says that by numerous magnetic observations of the last thirty or forty -years it has been proved that the formation of black spots on the -surface of the sun, and the generation of pillars and clouds of glowing -gases in the immediate neighborhood of the sun, stand in close -connection with certain deviations in direction and intensity of the -earth’s magnetic forces.” Professor Proctor, in his -“Light Science for Leisure Hours,” says, “From all -this it appears, incontestably, that there is an intimate connection -between the causes of auroras and those of terrestrial -magnetism …. The magnetic needle not only swayed -responsively to auroras observable in the immediate neighborhood, but -to auroras in progress hundreds and thousands of miles away. Nay, as -inquiry progressed, it was discovered that the needles in our northern -observatories are swayed by influences associated even with the -occurrence of auroras around the southern polar regions …. -Could we only associate auroras with terrestrial magnetism, we should -still have done much to enhance the interest which the beautiful -phenomenon is calculated to excite. But when once this association has -been established, others of even greater interest are brought into -recognition; for terrestrial magnetism has been <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb79" href="#pb79" name="pb79">79</a>]</span>clearly -shown to be influenced directly by the action of the -sun …. We already begin to see, then, that auroras are -associated in some mysterious way with the action of the solar rays. -The phenomenon which had been looked on for so many ages as a mere -spectacle, caused perhaps by some process in the upper regions of the -air of a simple local character, has been brought into the range of -planetary phenomena. As surely as the brilliant planets which deck the -nocturnal skies are illuminated by the same orb which gives us our days -and seasons, so are they subject to the same mysterious influence which -causes the northern banners to wave respondently over the starlit -depths of heaven. Nay, it is even probable that every flicker and -coruscation of our auroral displays correspond with similar -manifestations upon every planet which travels round the sun.” In -Professor Ball’s late work, “In the High Heavens,” -the author says, “Dr. Schuster suggests that there may be an -electric connection between the sun and the planets. In fact, with some -limitations, we might even assert that there <i>must</i> be such a -connection. It is well known that great outbreaks on the sun have been -immediately followed, I might almost say accompanied, by remarkable -magnetic disturbances on the earth. The instances that are recorded of -this connection are altogether too remarkable to be set aside as mere -coincidences. Dr. Huggins has not referred in this connection to -Hertz’s astonishing discoveries; but it seems quite possible that -research along this line may throw light on the subject, <i>at present -so obscure</i>, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb80" href="#pb80" name= -"pb80">80</a>]</span>of the electric relation between the sun and the -earth.” Of this common electrical relationship between our sun -and the different planets, and of these with each other, Professor -Proctor says, in his article, “Terrestrial Magnetism,” -“Interesting as are the bonds of union which Copernicus and -Kepler and Newton have traced in the relations of our system, <i>it -would seem as though we were approaching the traces of a yet more -wonderful law of association</i>. We see the earth’s magnetism -responding to the solar influences, not merely in those rhythmic -motions which belong to the periodic variations, but in sudden thrills -affecting the whole framework of our globe. The magnetic storms which -are called into action by such solar disturbances as the one of -September, 1859, are, we may feel sure, not peculiar to our own earth. -The other planets feel the same influence,—not, perhaps, in -exactly the same way, but according to the constitution and physical -habitudes which respectively belong to them. So that one can scarce -conceive a subject of study at once more promising and more -interesting.” Of these prophetic shadows which science often -seems to cast before, Professor Nichol, in his “Architecture of -the Heavens” (referring to Sir William Herschel), says, -“Without difficulty or pretence he there casts aside an idea -which had not been questioned before, unless in a few of those obscure, -indefinite speculations <i>which, strangely enough, often prelude -important discoveries</i>.” These facts are thus incontestably -established: that electric currents of enormous energy and vast -quantity <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb81" href="#pb81" name= -"pb81">81</a>]</span>are constantly passing without appreciable -resistance and with the speed of light between the earth and the sun; -that such currents cannot be conducted through vacua, or through dry -gases, or through a dense medium; and that, whatever other matter may -exist in the intervening space, such space is pervaded throughout by an -attenuated vapor of such constitution and density that it will transmit -such electrical currents with the highest conceivable efficiency. We -know that such passage of these currents cannot depend upon the ether -of space which is acted upon by the sun to produce the ethereal -undulatory vibrations of light and heat, for, after we have produced -the most perfect vacuum possible, we find that the rays of light -continue to pass through it as freely as they pass through space, while -currents of electricity cannot be made to pass at all. Hence we know to -a certainty that the medium which transmits these enormous currents of -electricity must be a vapor capable of conducting electricity, that it -must hence be decomposable by the electric current, and that when -decomposed one of its elements must consist of hydrogen gas and the -other of oxygen; in other words, that this conducting medium must -consist of attenuated <i>aqueous</i> vapor, commingled doubtless with -other vapors which themselves, like the acid of the acidulated water -used in electrolysis, aid in the conduction of these enormous currents. -We also know that such vapors in space will be necessarily attracted, -by gravitation, around the solar and planetary bodies immersed therein, -and must form <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb82" href="#pb82" name= -"pb82">82</a>]</span>condensed vaporous atmospheres or cloud masses, -and if these are decomposed by the passage of such currents of -electricity, that hydrogen gas will be liberated at the solar galvanic -pole and oxygen at the terrestrial or other planetary pole, precisely -as we find to be the case in nature. Will such gaseous envelopes, then, -have the same temperature for each gas when thus liberated, or will the -hydrogen envelope of the sun be heated to incandescence, due to the -passage of the electrical current?</p> -<div class="figure p082width" id="p082"><img src="images/p082.jpg" alt= -"" width="477" height="219"> -<p class="first">Electrical polarities of sun and planets. A, body of -the planet; B, planetary electrosphere; C, body of the sun; D, solar -electrosphere.</p> -</div> -<p>The temperature of interplanetary space is probably very low. Of -this Professor Ball says, “What this may be is a matter of some -uncertainty, but from all the evidence available it seems plain that we -may put it at not less than three hundred degrees below zero;” -and the same author adds, “The temperature is taken to be -sixty-four degrees below zero, being presumably that at the confines of -the atmosphere.” Whatever the temperature of space, or its -variations, may be, the passage of the planetary <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb83" href="#pb83" name= -"pb83">83</a>]</span>electricity through the condensed hydrogen -envelope of the sun will produce great changes in the heat of that body -and of the solar core within. While with a small electrolytic apparatus -we find no special differences of temperature in the gases, with large -quantities of electricity, driven at a high potential, we find that a -new and startling result ensues. Something of this sort is seen in the -operation of electric arc-light lamps, now in common use, in which two -slightly separated carbon points are traversed by a current of -considerable potential. The current is driven across the intervening -space between the points, carrying with it an atmosphere of -disintegrated carbon, through which the electricity is carried at its -highest speed, and a most brilliant light is produced. In -“Electricity in the Service of Man,” page 151, it is said, -“We may conclude from this that the current does not cease when -the arc of light is formed. The resistance of the arc seems to be only -very slight; in fact, the current must be conducted by it.” Of -the structure and constitution of the luminous electrosphere, or arc, -produced in these lamps, “Professor J. A. Fleming,” says -the <i>Scientific American</i>, “has shown that the well-known -color of the light of the electric arc from carbon points is due to the -incandescence of the carbon filling the space between the positive and -the negative rods. The true arc is here, and exists in a space filled -with the <i>vapor of carbon</i>, which has a brilliant violet color. -Examined by the spectroscope, the central axis of the carbon arc gives -a spectrum marked by <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb84" href="#pb84" -name="pb84">84</a>]</span>two bright violet bands. Outside this is an -aureole of carbon vapor of yellow or golden color. The electrical -strain of the arc occurs chiefly <i>at the surface of the crater</i> -which forms at the end of the positive rod, where, in fact, the -principal work of generating light is done; for <i>eighty per cent. of -the total light of the arc comes from the incandescent carbon at this -place</i>. Thus, in a sense, the arc light is mainly an incandescent -light, the effect being produced by the layer of carbon which is being -constantly evaporated at an extremely elevated temperature. Hence the -light of the carbon arc is not, and can never be, white, as it is -sometimes described as being, but must always be tinted violet by the -carbon vapor normally present between the rods.”</p> -<p>The significance of the above-quoted extract will be readily -perceived when we come to consider the action of the direct planetary -electrical currents upon the solar envelope, the effects in both cases -being substantially identical. The quantity and intensity of the -electric current, as it passes through the incandescent arc to the -negative pole, and thence back to the dynamo, are diminished exactly in -proportion to the energy expended in the generation of the light and -heat of the arc. It is precisely the same as in the operation of a -turbine water-wheel; if working at its highest efficiency, the -discharged water is almost deprived of force: its gravity has been -converted into work. In the electric light this conversion is only -partial, owing to atmospheric and other conditions; but in the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb85" href="#pb85" name= -"pb85">85</a>]</span>case of the solar envelope and its core, it is -nearly, if not altogether, perfect, so that the currents of electricity -are almost entirely converted into light and heat, or expended in the -electrolytic decomposition of the surrounding aqueous vapors, and do -not reappear as electricity, but as converted solar energy. Brilliant, -however, as the light rays are in a powerful arc lamp,—perhaps -the nearest to solar light we can produce,—the obscure heat rays -are far more numerous and powerful. On page 476 of the work just cited -a table is given, showing the proportion of visible and invisible rays -emitted by different illuminants, and with the electric lamp, even, -ninety per cent. of all the rays emitted by the voltaic arc are heat -rays, which are obscure and invisible. But the startling effects of -electricity of large quantity and high potential, in the decomposition -of water, are far more strikingly exhibited by an apparatus shown in -1893 at the Chicago Exhibition by a firm from Brussels, and which is -described in the <i>Electrical Review</i> as follows: “An -ordinary wooden pail is three-quarters filled with water slightly -acidulated; a lead plate about nine inches broad by sixteen inches long -dips to the bottom of the pail and is connected to an incandescent -dynamo machine capable of giving over one hundred and fifty -ampères. The iron rod, or article to be heated, is connected to -the pole of the dynamo and simply dipped into the water; it immediately -becomes heated and rapidly rises to a melting temperature; only that -portion of the metal completely immersed becomes heated, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb86" href="#pb86" name="pb86">86</a>]</span>and the -heating is so rapid that neither the water nor that portion of the -metal out of the water becomes very warm. Wrought iron and steel -actually melt if long enough held under water. A carbon rod subjected -to this process becomes amorphous carbon, proving that a temperature of -at least four thousand degrees Centigrade has been reached, and it is -stated that with two hundred and twenty volts’ pressure a -temperature of eight thousand degrees Centigrade has been reached. -There are various theories to account for this phenomenon, but from -close observation it appears to be a case of arc heating. The moment -the metal is plunged into the water <i>it is enveloped in hydrogen -gas</i> decomposed from the water. This envelope of gas parts the water -and metal, forming an arc, which raises the surrounding gaseous -envelope to an enormous temperature; the metal surrounded by this arc -is almost immediately raised to the same temperature. <i>A flame of -burning hydrogen</i> appears around the metal on the surface of the -water. The principle of the method is the same as that on which the -burning of an arc light between two carbon points under water depends. -An arc lamp will burn quite steadily under water if the connections are -made water-proof; the arc itself requires no protection.”</p> -<p>It will be seen that the process above described is precisely -analogous to that involved in the problem of the sun’s energy. -The planets correspond with the leaden plates, upon which oxygen is -disengaged from the water, while at the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb87" href="#pb87" name="pb87">87</a>]</span>same moment the liberated -hydrogen necessarily appears at the opposite pole. The generation of -hydrogen gas forms an envelope or atmosphere of hydrogen around the sun -which forces back the aqueous vapor. The current, in passing through -this gaseous envelope to the metal core within, intensely heats the -hydrogen, which rapidly communicates its rising heat to the central -core. If this core is composed of metals, and the temperature be raised -sufficiently high, which only depends upon the quantity and working -pressure of the electricity employed, the metal core will be -volatilized in whole or in part, and, if of mixed metals, we will find -the presence of these elements revealed in the spectroscopic lines -corresponding thereto, and the flames and flashes of hydrogen at the -surfaces beyond the envelope, at the surface of contact with the matter -of space, will be also seen. In fact, such an experiment, properly -prepared, could be made to show roughly most of the phenomena of solar -light and heat as they actually appear, such as sun-spots, prominences, -jets, plumes, faculæ, the photosphere, chromosphere, absorption -bands, vortical disturbances, metallic vapors, and the complete solar -spectrum, with the different Fraunhofer lines. In the case of the sun, -these currents must be measured by millions of ampères, and -possibly by hundreds of millions of volts, instead of by mere hundreds, -while the hydrogen envelope extends outward from the sun’s -surface hundreds of thousands of miles until, perhaps, finally merged -into the corona. As the currents <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb88" -href="#pb88" name="pb88">88</a>]</span>pass from the planets and -planetoids (for not only the larger planets, but all the planetary -bodies of our system must contribute, if any of them contribute) to the -sun, or rather to the sphere of its electrical action, without -resistance, so long as these planets generate constant currents of the -same, or nearly the same, potential, so long will the sun maintain his -constant light and heat; if these are increased or diminished, the -sun’s light and heat will be temporarily, but only temporarily, -increased or diminished; and this process must continue, without -further loss or change, indefinitely into the future. Whatever the sun -may gain by increment of meteoric masses may pass for what it is worth, -but the gradual contraction of his volume cannot proceed while his -present temperature is maintained by the passage of such -currents,—that is to say, his light and heat will remain -constant, and also his mass and volume, so long as the electric -currents which pass from the planets to the sun and the constitution of -space which surrounds the sun and planets themselves remain -constant.</p> -<div class="figure p089width" id="p089"><img src="images/p089.jpg" alt= -"Ideal view of the generation and transmission of planetary electricity." -width="480" height="138"> -<p class="figureHead">Ideal view of the generation and transmission of -planetary electricity.</p> -</div> -<p>It now remains to consider how such enormous currents of electricity -can be generated and maintained. We know, of course, that chemical -changes cannot operate to produce them. They must be derived from -something contained in or diffused through interplanetary space, and -the planets themselves must be the means by which such currents of -electricity are brought into effective operation. On our own earth we -have many kinds <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb89" href="#pb89" name= -"pb89">89</a>]</span>of mechanically-constructed electrical apparatus -which <i>generate</i> electricity, to use a popular expression, or -which, more properly, separate the opposite potentials from an unstable -electrical tension or equilibrium of the matter of space. These -machines practically take positive electricity from the -mutually-balanced electric potentials of which the earth and its -surrounding gaseous envelope are the vast common storehouse, in such -manner that the positive electricity thus drawn out from and again -passing into the common storehouse shall, during such transit, be -compelled to pass through channels which will cause it to do work, at -the expense of its potential or pressure, during its passage, or in -which electricity is raised in its electro-motive force from a lower to -a higher potential or pressure, just as the pressure of water is -increased when delivered from a greater or a still greater height, or -steam, when confined in space under higher and still higher -temperatures. But none of these machines actually <i>generate</i> -electricity <i>ab initio</i>; they merely put into effective operation -the pre-existing force. The mass of the earth is of irregularly -negative polarity, the air above is positive, and as we <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb90" href="#pb90" name="pb90">90</a>]</span>ascend, -the potential, or voltage, or pressure increases at a nearly uniform -rate of from twenty to forty volts for each foot. The earth is thus -surrounded by an electrosphere as well as an atmosphere, and the two -are not coincident, for while the pressure of the atmosphere diminishes -as we ascend, that of the electrosphere increases. The moon, too, and -each planet must have its electrosphere, and around the sun’s -core we can see the solar electrosphere in its visible glory. Thus, all -our planets rotate upon their axes and revolve around the sun, each -surrounded by an enormous electrosphere, just as an electrical -induction machine is surrounded, when in operation, with an -electrosphere of its own, and which, by breaking connection with the -conductor which carries away its current, becomes, when shown in a -darkened room, clearly visible. In “Electricity in the Service of -Man” it is said, page 63, “The inductive action of the -machine is quite as rapid and as powerful when both collectors are -removed and nothing is left but the two rotating disks and their -respective contact or neutralizing brushes. The whole apparatus then -bristles with electricity, and if viewed in the dark presents a most -beautiful appearance, being literally bathed with luminous brush -discharges.” This is a true aurora.</p> -<div class="figure p091-1width" id="p091-1"><img src= -"images/p091-1.jpg" alt= -"The Aurora Borealis. (From “Electricity in the Service of Man.”)" -width="481" height="332"> -<p class="figureHead">The Aurora Borealis. (From “Electricity in -the Service of Man.”)</p> -</div> -<div class="figure p091-2width" id="p091-2"><img src= -"images/p091-2.jpg" alt= -"Diffused brush discharge of electrical machine, when operating with its current cut off or interrupted between machine and principal condenser." -width="317" height="376"> -<p class="figureHead">Diffused brush discharge of electrical machine, -when operating with its current cut off or interrupted between machine -and principal condenser.</p> -</div> -<p>Let us now examine some of these more recent electric -machines,—the later induction, not the older frictional machines, -for it is obvious that the rotation of the planets, if they operate as -electric generators, or separators, must act by induction <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb92" href="#pb92" name="pb92">92</a>]</span>and not -by friction. The frictional machines are of the old type and are well -known from the books; in these a glass disk or cylinder is rubbed upon -in its rotation by an amalgamated (so called) friction pad fixed -securely to the bed of the machine. But more recently these have been -replaced by far more powerful and simple machines which operate -entirely by induction, like approaching thunderclouds, for instance, -and in which one or more glass disks are merely rotated rapidly and -freely in the air, these disks having a number of light metallic -sectors, such as bits of tin-foil, pasted on their outer sides at equal -radial intervals, and with metallic collecting brushes which, however, -barely graze the surfaces of the rotating disk. There is no pressure -and no friction, except that of the disks as they freely revolve in the -atmosphere.</p> -<p>In the above-quoted work, page 61, is a description of -Wimshurst’s influence machine, one of the most recent and most -powerful, which we condense as follows: This machine was produced about -1883. It consists of two circular disks of thin glass fourteen and -one-half inches in diameter in the sample described, attached at their -centers to loose bosses, so as to be rotated by cords and pulleys -operated by a handle, in opposite directions. The disks rotate parallel -with each other and are not more than one-eighth of an inch apart, and -have their surfaces well varnished; and attached by cement to their -outer surfaces are twelve or more radial, sector-shaped plates of thin -brass- or tin-foil, disposed around the disks at equal distances apart. -These <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb93" href="#pb93" name= -"pb93">93</a>]</span>sectors take the place of the -“inductors” of Holtz’s instrument, and appear to act -also as carriers, though the exact nature of their action is somewhat -mysterious. It appears, however, probable that those acting for the -time as carriers on the one disk act at the same time as inductors on -the other. The two sectors on the same diameter of each disk, at -opposite sides of the center, are twice in each revolution momentarily -placed in metallic connection with one another by means of a pair of -fine wire brushes attached to the ends of a bent metal rod loosely -pivoted at the center of each disk, the metal sectors <i>just -grazing</i> the tips of the wire brushes as they pass. There is one of -these bent rods on the outside of each disk, and their position as -pivoted on their center can be varied at will, both with reference to -the one on the opposite side and to the position of the fixed -collecting combs. The efficiency of the machine varies with their -position, and the maximum appears to be generally when the brushes -touch the disks on diameters crossing the position of the collecting -combs at about forty-five degrees, and with the bent rods on opposite -sides at right angles to each other. The collecting combs are simple -forks with collecting points turned inward, which forks embrace the -opposite sides of the disks outside, which freely rotate between them, -and they are supported on insulated posts. These supports may be small -Leyden jars or condensers, with discharging knobs, or may be connected -with similar condensers at a distance, or arranged in batteries or -otherwise. The presence <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb94" href= -"#pb94" name="pb94">94</a>]</span>of the collecting combs is not -necessary to the operation of the machine, their sole function being to -carry away the positive electricity as generated. The machine is -self-exciting, and it is believed that the <i>initial action</i> must -be due to friction in the layer of air contained between the plates, -which, as above stated, are only about one-eighth of an inch apart. It -is nearly independent of atmospheric conditions, and not liable to -reverse its polarity, as are the Voss machines. The Voss machine uses a -larger glass disk which does not rotate, but is fixed, and which has a -central opening three inches wide, with a different arrangement of -tin-foil disks or sectors, and a smaller glass disk rotates parallel -with it. The Holtz machine is somewhat similar, using a single -rotating, well-varnished glass disk revolving opposite a well-varnished -larger disk, the latter provided with three sector-shaped openings or -windows, with varnished paper inductors or flaps passing through these -windows so as to touch the revolving disk. There are also two series of -fine metal points held by brass bars provided with insulated handles -and discharging knobs.</p> -<p>It is only necessary to give a general idea of the construction and -operation of such machines, as their specific construction can be -readily learned from the books. Of the mode of operation, however, it -is said, “What takes place when the machine is in action is of a -very complicated nature, and can hardly be said to be perfectly -understood.” With a Wimshurst machine having disks of a diameter -of fourteen and one-half inches “there is produced <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb95" href="#pb95" name="pb95">95</a>]</span>under -ordinary atmospheric conditions a powerful spark discharge between the -knobs when they are separated by a distance of four and one-half -inches, a pint size Leyden jar being in connection with each knob (one -on each opposite diameter of the two disks), and these -four-and-one-half-inch discharges take place in regular succession at -every two and a half turns of the handle. It is usual to construct the -machine with small Leyden jars or condensers attached to conductors, by -which the spark is materially increased. A machine has been constructed -with plates seven feet in diameter, which, it was believed, would give -sparks thirty inches long; but no Leyden jars have been found to -withstand its discharge, all being pierced by the enormous -tension.” Three of Toepler’s induction machines (see page -59, “Electricity in the Service of Man”), connected -together, gave a current which maintained a platinum wire one-fifth of -a millimeter thick continually at a red heat, and was also capable of -decomposing water. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb96" href="#pb96" -name="pb96">96</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch4" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e230">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IV.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE SOURCE OF SOLAR ENERGY.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The remarkable resemblance between the mode of -operation and effects of these electrical induction machines and the -vast rotating electrosphere of the earth must be at once apparent. The -operation is precisely the same, and the results must, <i>pari -passu</i>, be substantially similar. We need not seek for precise -parallelism of structure, because these machines themselves, it has -been shown, widely differ in structure among themselves. But the almost -infinitely more vast terrestrial electrosphere, which cannot be less -than ten thousand miles in diameter, and perhaps much more (if we may -form an opinion from the relative magnitude of the field of action of -the hydrogen envelope which constitutes the solar electrosphere), -rotating in the attenuated vapors of space, among which vapors that of -water plays a most important part, and which vapors constantly impinge -with various disturbances of contact against the more and more -attenuated layers of the terrestrial atmosphere, and which gradually, -from within outward, less and less partakes of the earth’s -rotation until, finally, its rotatory movement is lost in the vast -ocean of space, establishes the certainty that enormous quantities of -electricity must there be disengaged, precisely <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb97" href="#pb97" name="pb97">97</a>]</span>as in -the machines which we have described, and to learn the potential or -active pressure of this electricity we have only to consider the fact -that we find a rise so rapid, as we ascend through our atmosphere, that -the potential increases by from twenty to forty volts for each foot. -That these currents are transmitted to the sun without appreciable -resistance we already know, and that they are there transformed into -light and heat we can, from the previously cited experiments, see.</p> -<p>But it may be urged that the resistance of such attenuated vapors in -space, and the generation of electricity in such quantities, would -inevitably retard and finally destroy planetary motion. The sufficient -answer to this is found in the consideration that the same facts must -exist under any possible mode of organization of our solar system, and -that such interference, besides, must have absolutely prevented its -formation at all, if such were the case. All the matter of our -planetary system together is only one seven-hundred-and-fiftieth that -of the sun; if this were added to the sun’s bulk it would but -slightly enlarge it. But all this solar and planetary matter together, -if distributed over the space occupied by our planetary -system,—and, by the nebular hypothesis of the organization of our -solar system, this is requisite,—and having an axial diameter -one-half that of its equatorial (see Proctor’s “Familiar -Essays on Scientific Subjects,”—“Oxygen in the -Sun”), would have had a density of only about one -four-hundred-thousandth that of hydrogen gas at atmospheric pressure. -This nebular mass must <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb98" href="#pb98" -name="pb98">98</a>]</span>have had a diameter at least sixty times that -of the distance of the earth from the sun and a depth of thirty times -its distance. That this enormous mass of attenuated matter should ever -have been made to rotate as a whole by any force of attraction, -repulsion, or rotation, with a tenuity so great that, if measured by an -equal volume of hydrogen gas,—the lightest substance known to -us,—it would have furnished material for four hundred thousand -such systems as ours, presupposes a resistance so slight that the -planets themselves, when coagulated out of such a mass, could never in -any conceivable time exhibit retardation from such a source; and we -know to a certainty that such attenuated vapors do exist in space, for -electricity cannot be transmitted through a vacuum, and it is -transmitted with perfect freedom between the earth and the sun. But it -may be said that the laws were then different. If they were different -then, they are doubtless different now. If, on the other hand, we -assume that the bodies of which our solar system is composed were -simply aggregated into concrete masses from meteoric dust, the -difficulty is not lessened; for if the resistances to their operation -now are such as to perceptibly retard their motions, they must have -operated still more powerfully to originally prevent them; while, if -hurled forth by an almighty fiat, complete from the hand of creative -energy, the same force which impelled them forward must have also -established the laws under which they now move.</p> -<p>It is calculated that our earth must be losing <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb99" href="#pb99" name="pb99">99</a>]</span>time, by -tidal retardation, at the rate of one-half the moon’s diameter in -each twelve hundred years (see Proctor, “Light Science for -Leisure Hours,”—“Our Chief Timepiece Losing -Time”), and that “the length of a day is now more by about -one eighty-fourth part of a second than it was two thousand years -ago.” Perhaps, however, we may discover that these changes are -themselves periodic and increase in cycles to a maximum, and then -diminish, as is the case with magnetic, planetary, and stellar -variations, and other similar changes, when sufficiently long observed; -for while such changes may very well accompany a theory under which our -system and all other systems are slowly running down to decay and -death, it is entirely incompatible with the primal forces under which -they <i>must</i> have been originally formed. In other words, if the -tides are dragging back our earth without compensation, this dragging -back can only come from the oceanic deposit of water on the earth from -the aqueous vapors of space which do not partake of the planetary -rotation and orbital movement of the earth. But if these can now retard -the earth’s motion, they must have originally prevented it in the -beginning. This loss of time is, moreover, merely inferential from -mathematical computations, and its basis is found in the belief that -all the operations of nature are in a slow process of degradation, and -the calculated loss itself may be merely theoretical, and not true in -fact. Professor Proctor himself concedes the uncertainty of this -alleged retardation when he says in the same <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb100" href="#pb100" name= -"pb100">100</a>]</span>article, “At this rate of change our day -would merge into a lunar month in the course of thirty-six thousand -millions of years. But after a while the change will take place more -slowly, and <i>some trillion or so of years</i> will elapse before the -full change is effected.”</p> -<p>While the processes of nature are generally believed to be running -down, everything is bent to that belief; but the forces of nature must, -nevertheless, be uniform and supreme, for it is by these forces that -the expected results are to be achieved. That changes occur constantly -is inevitable, but the source of these must be looked for in the -interaction of original forces, and not in the degradation of systems. -There is reason to believe, in fact, that the repulsion of the -terrestrial electrosphere by that of the moon may itself be sufficient -to counteract such retarding force of lunar gravity, for the tides upon -earth are not merely oceanic, but atmospheric, and on the latter the -electrical repulsion of the moon must act very powerfully and with -directly counteractive effect.</p> -<div class="figure floatRight p101width" id="p101"><img src= -"images/p101.jpg" alt="" width="329" height="523"> -<p class="first">Planetary generation and transmission of electrical -energy.—A, the planet; B, electrosphere showing circles of -gradually diminishing rotation; E, interplanetary space; D, curve of -gradually diminishing rotation; F, F, currents of electricity flowing -to the sun; S, direction of the sun.</p> -</div> -<p>Let us now apply the preceding principles to the problem under -review. All planetary space is pervaded with attenuated vapors or -gases, among which aqueous vapor occupies a leading place. The planets -and all planetary bodies, having opposite electrical polarity from the -central and relatively fixed sun, by their orbital motions around and -constant subjection thereto act as enormous induction machines, which -generate electricity from the ocean of attenuated aqueous vapor, each -planet being surrounded <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb101" href= -"#pb101" name="pb101">101</a>]</span>by an enormous electrosphere, -carried with the planet in its axial and orbital movements, the -successive atmospheric envelopes gradually diminishing in rotational -velocity until merged into the outer ocean of space. As the planets -advance in their orbits they plunge into new and fresh fields, and, as -the whole solar system gradually moves <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb102" href="#pb102" name="pb102">102</a>]</span>onward through space, -these fields are never re-occupied. These electrospheres, by their -rotation, generate enormous quantities of electricity at an extremely -high potential,—so high that we can scarcely even conceive -it,—and this electricity flows in a constant current to the sun, -where it disappears as electricity, to reappear in the form of solar -light and heat. These planetary currents also flow towards such other -negatively electrified bodies as may exist in space—the comets -and fixed stars, for example—in proportion to their distance; -for, since resistance is not appreciable between ourselves and the sun, -as is also the case with light, so, like light, our electricity must -pass outward as well as inward to take part in the harmonious -operations of the whole universe. But it should be noted that the -distribution of electric energy in the form of currents is quite -different from that of light or other radiant energy; for while light -is diffused from a center outward through space, electric currents, on -the contrary, are concentrated and directed along lines of force to -concrete centers of opposite polarity. As a consequence, the intensity -of light decreases according to the squares of the distances traversed -plus the resistance to the passage of the light itself, while the -electric current is only diminished by the resistance of the medium -through which it passes. As the light of the sun has a velocity of one -hundred and eighty-eight thousand miles per second, and the electric -current between the earth and the sun the same, it will be seen that -the resistance is practically alike for these two forms <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb103" href="#pb103" name="pb103">103</a>]</span>of -energy. Indeed, the striking resemblance between the ethereal -vibrations which constitute light and heat and exceedingly rapid -alternating currents of electricity through molecular media may suggest -that the transformation of one force into the other is some sort of a -“step-up” or “step-down” process, much higher -in degree, but of the same character as the well-known analogous -electrical transformations used in the arts. It should also be borne in -mind that, while the <i>intensity</i> of light diminishes according to -the above law, the <i>quantity</i> remains the same, less resistance, -as the area covered increases precisely in the same proportion as the -intensity diminishes,—that is, in the ratio of squares.</p> -<div class="figure p103width" id="p103"><img src="images/p103.png" alt= -"" width="481" height="147"> -<p class="first">Upper figure.—Gradual discharge between two -conductors, in partial vacuum.</p> -<p>Lower figure.—Sudden electric discharge through the -atmosphere, from left to right.</p> -</div> -<p>Around the earth and other planets gravity attracts the aqueous -vapors in increased density, the same as around the sun; but the -electric currents passing between the planets and the sun decompose -this aqueous vapor into its constituent gases, hydrogen and oxygen. The -oxygen is deposited within the positive electrospheres of the planetary -bodies, where it mingles with nitrogen to form our atmosphere -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb104" href="#pb104" name= -"pb104">104</a>]</span>and those of the other planets. In this float -the aqueous vapors condensed from space, which are lighter than air. -(See Tyndall, “The Forms of Water:” “It also sends up -a quantity of aqueous vapor which, being far lighter than air, helps -the latter to rise.”) These aqueous vapors, condensed into clouds -and precipitated upon the earth, form our oceans and their affluents. -The hydrogen gas disengaged upon the sun’s surface forms a -similar envelope, which is penetrated by the planetary electric -currents, and is thus highly heated and rendered incandescent; the -glowing hydrogen transmits its heat to the sun’s mass within, -which is thus raised to, and permanently maintained in, a liquid or -densely gaseous state, its metallic constituents being volatilized in -part, and these metallic vapors mingle with the lower strata of -hydrogen to form the sun’s photosphere, while, above, the glowing -hydrogen grows more pure, and finally, at a distance of hundreds of -thousands of miles, is merged into the corona, which is composed, in -part at least, of cosmical dust rotating around and repelled by the -sun, and which shines partly by reflected light, partly by that of the -relatively cooler hydrogen, and partly, perhaps, by electrification of -its constituents by the powerful currents passing through it. Each of -the planetary bodies, large or small, takes its proportionate part in -the generation and transmission of electricity, according to its -volume, mass, and motion. As an adjunct to this electrical sequence we -have learned that any interruption of such currents between the -generator <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb105" href="#pb105" name= -"pb105">105</a>]</span>and the receiver will cause the generating -apparatus to glow with diffused electrical light, as is the case with -the Wimshurst machine already described. When such connection is -removed, it is said, “the whole apparatus bristles with -electricity, and if viewed in the dark presents a most beautiful -appearance, being literally bathed with luminous <i>brush</i> -discharges.” Such a phenomenon recalls at once the aurora -borealis; and when we find this as a sequence of the electrical storm -of the first of September, 1859, before described (“at night -great auroras were seen in both hemispheres”), and connect with -this the persistence of electricity upon insulated surfaces (see -“Electricity in the Service of Man,” page 53: “Glass -being a bad conductor, the electricity does not spread all over the -plate, but remains where it is produced”), we shall inevitably -conclude that there was some partial interruption in the current -flowing from the earth to the sun at that moment; and if we recall that -at that very instant “suddenly a bright light was seen by each -observer to break out on the sun’s surface and to travel across a -part of the solar disk,” we shall learn that the processes -connected with the production of such a bright light will interrupt in -part the terrestrial current. We can readily understand that if this -bright light exceeded in electrical intensity that due to the -earth’s current, it might temporarily reverse the polarity of the -afferent current or retard its flow, like the so-called -“backwater” of a mill. It would be like attempting to -discharge steam at sixty pounds’ pressure into a vessel filled -with <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb106" href="#pb106" name= -"pb106">106</a>]</span>other steam at sixty-one pounds. Whence, then, -came this bright light? Perhaps from the conjoint action of some other -planet, perhaps from sudden chemical disassociation beneath the -surface, perhaps by the abnormal piling up of depths of transparent -glowing hydrogen or other local disturbance.</p> -<div class="figure p108width" id="p108"><img src="images/p108.png" alt= -"" width="472" height="480"> -<p class="first">Position of planets with reference to the generation -of sun-spots.—S, the sun; S′, axis of sun’s rotation -inclined 7° to plane of planetary rotation; A B, C, D, maximum -intensity of planetary action; A′, B′, C′, D′, -minimum intensity of same.</p> -</div> -<p>And this leads to the consideration of the uniformity of solar -action. The planetary electrospheres will be constant in their -operation if the constitution of surrounding space remains uniform; but -we shall find reason to believe that there are currents in the ocean of -space, as there are currents in our own seas, and electrical generation -will necessarily vary when such currents are encountered. The sun -itself in such case, however, will become an automatic regulator, for -his density being but one-fourth that of the earth, and the -spectroscope having shown his chemical composition to a large extent, -we know that his mass must be either liquid or vaporous, and perhaps in -part both. Such masses readily respond to variations of temperature, -expanding as it rises and contracting as it falls. Hence, if a portion -of space were reached where the action of the planetary electrospheres -was increased by relative increase of temperature in some interstellar -“Gulf Stream,” the sun’s volume would expand and -compensation be at once established, while, conversely, with diminution -of such planetary action, the solar volume would contract and an -increased supply from his reserve store be given out thereby. In this -way the condensation relied upon to give us heat for <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb107" href="#pb107" name= -"pb107">107</a>]</span>seven or seventeen million years becomes a -compensating mechanism, self-operative through the most distant cycles -of time. We shall also find in such electric currents an explanation of -sun-spots. It is not meant that a full knowledge can be obtained of -their minute constitution, nor is it necessary; but the equatorial belt -of six degrees, nearly free from sun-spots, we can readily understand -to be caused—since sun-spots are depressions in the photosphere -down to the deeper and denser cloud strata beneath—by the -equatorial piling up of the sun’s atmosphere by its rotation. Any -point on the sun’s equator travels at four times the rotational -velocity of one on the earth’s equator, but the sun’s -attraction of gravity is twenty-seven and one-tenth times that of the -earth, so that the piling up of an atmosphere of hydrogen would be -considerable, and such depressions would not ordinarily exist there. -Similarly, near the sun’s poles we should find a gradual -darkening, as is the case; but from five degrees to thirty degrees -latitude, the sun, in its rotation, by reason of the inclination of its -axis, passes at every point directly beneath the planets, or within -their area of control, and here we find the solar spots in their -greatest number, size, and intensity. These sun-spots cross the face of -the sun in about fifteen days, and vary in development from year to -year, having a cycle of 11.11 years from maximum to maximum. They also -have a long cycle of about fifty-six years. (See article “The -Sun,” in Appleton’s Cyclopædia.) “Wolf, in -1859, presented a formula by which the frequency of spots <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb108" href="#pb108" name="pb108">108</a>]</span>is -connected with the motions of the four bodies, Venus, the earth, -Jupiter, and Saturn. Professor Loomis, of Yale College, has since -advocated a theory (suggested by the present writer [Proctor] in 1865, -in ‘Saturn and his System,’ page 168, note) that the long -cycle of fifty-six years is related to the successive conjunctions of -Saturn and Jupiter. But the association is as yet very far from being -demonstrated, to say the least.” Should such fact be established, -an explanation for it will be found in the direct impact of the -condensed electric currents from several planets approaching -conjunction, and raising a portion of the sun’s atmosphere -suddenly <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb109" href="#pb109" name= -"pb109">109</a>]</span>to a higher temperature and volatilizing an -abnormal proportion of the semi-vaporous metallic core beneath. This -would form an upburst piling the intensely heated faculæ up on -the sides and revealing the relatively darker masses of cloud beneath, -the cooler supernatant hydrogen pouring in from the upper layers to -fill the returning void. This is precisely what is seen in such spots -and their surrounding disturbances. In the article “The -Sun,” above quoted, we read, “Mr. Huggins has found that -several of the absorption bands belonging to the solar spectrum are -wider in the spectrum of a spot, a circumstance indicative of increased -absorption so far as the vapors corresponding to such lines are -concerned …. Near the great spots or groups of spots there -are often seen streaks more luminous than the neighboring surface, -called <i>faculæ</i>. They are oftenest seen towards the borders -of the disk.” This writer also describes “luminous bridges -across spots which sink into the vortex and are replaced by others of -the numberless cloud-like forms from one hundred to one thousand miles -in diameter, the brilliancy of which so greatly exceeds that of the -intervening spaces that they must be recognized as the principal -radiators of the solar light and heat.” The apparent retardation -of the spots most distant from the sun’s equator may also be -partially, at least, explained by planetary currents of electricity, as -the equatorial atmosphere is deeper and more likely to carry forward -such vortices when formed, while the planets act more directly on the -sun’s mass beneath their direct influence. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb110" href="#pb110" name="pb110">110</a>]</span></p> -<p>Let us consider this retardation of sun-spots somewhat more in -detail. Take, for example, the case of a large planet at such orbital -position that its direct line of electrical impact will penetrate the -photosphere at (say) seven degrees north solar latitude, which is about -fifty-two thousand miles from his equator. During its annual revolution -this planet will traverse, with its line of energy, every point of the -sun’s surface down to seven degrees south latitude and back again -to its initial point, thus tracing a close spiral around the sun for -fourteen degrees, or about one hundred and four thousand miles in -width. The centrifugal force of the solar rotation piles up the -photosphere and the chromosphere around the sun’s equator, -precisely as our atmosphere is piled up around our own equator. If the -planet be a large one (for distance has but little to do with these -electrical currents at planetary distances, in which they differ -entirely from light, heat, and gravity), or if there be two planets -nearly in conjunction, the body of the chromosphere and the surface of -the photosphere will gradually become highly heated, for currents of -electricity, of themselves, do not directly heat the solar core any -more than a like current heats the under carbon of an arc lamp, the -high temperature in both cases being altogether due to the incandescent -heat of the interposed arc or envelope. Faculæ of intense -brightness will then appear upon the photosphere, and these will be -driven forward and also outward in the direction of the higher -latitudes, producing an oblique forward movement from difference of -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb111" href="#pb111" name= -"pb111">111</a>]</span>rotational speed at different portions of the -sun’s surface. Similar phenomena are constantly observed on the -surface of the earth in the generation and behavior of cyclones and -other atmospheric disturbances. They may be compared to the wake of a -vessel anchored in a strong tide-way. These faculæ will slowly -raise the temperature of the surface of the sun’s core beneath to -the point of eruptive volatilization, and particularly so if the planet -is receding from, instead of advancing towards, the solar equator. At -some point in advance of the line of planetary energy an eruption of -volatilized metals will suddenly occur, first thrusting up a vast area -of the photosphere and then bursting it asunder, which will drive these -ruptured masses with enormous speed forward and obliquely outward from -the equator. Such faculæ (see Proctor’s “Light -Science”) sometimes reach a velocity of seven thousand miles per -minute, while the sun’s rotational movement at the equator is -less than seventy miles per minute. This sudden eruption will be almost -immediately succeeded by great expansion and consequent fall of -temperature, so that within a few hours the heavy volatile metals begin -to condense and rapidly recede into their crater, and the faculæ -in front and at the sides will now stream inward to occupy this vacuum -with constantly accelerated velocity, pouring over the edges like the -rush of waters at the Falls of Niagara. As they sweep downward over the -inner rim of the funnel, these streams of faculæ will glow with -increased whiteness, and appear to <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb113" -href="#pb113" name="pb113">113</a>]</span>be sharply cut off at their -inner ends; but this is only apparently so, and is due to the position -of the observer, who looks almost directly downward upon these -descending streams. It is for the same reason that the faculæ -appear more brilliant when near the borders of the solar disk (see page -109). Any good view of a sun-spot when analyzed will show the streams -of faculæ thus pouring inward, and they are among the most -peculiar and conspicuous phenomena to be observed. The drawings of -Professor Langley, reproduced in the <i>Popular Science Monthly</i> for -September, 1874, and July, 1885, are particularly striking in their -illustration of these effects, though their significance and -interpretation were not then at hand.</p> -<div class="figure p112width" id="p112"><img src="images/p112.jpg" alt= -"" width="506" height="636"> -<p class="first">Analysis of a typical sun-spot. Intersections of lines -drawn between AA and MM, CC and MM, show state of active eruption; DD, -inflowing faculæ pouring downward over the rim; PP, the same; OO -and BB a floating bridge, partially completed, supported by the uprush, -and along the line NN torn asunder, and upward into plumes and sprays. -The general surface shows the mottlings and faculæ. The partial -formation of a loop is shown at XX, YY. The line EQ represents the -sun’s equator; from <i>rear</i> to <i>front</i>, the direction of -solar rotation. The line of planetary impact is in rear.</p> -</div> -<p>But while these heavy metallic vapors so rapidly condense and -subside in the forward or initial portion of the sun-spot under -observation, new depths of intensely-heated faculæ are generated -behind, and these operate with renewed energy upon the fresh surface of -the solar core in rear of the original seat of eruption; so that each -sun-spot, while in an active state, will exhibit two entirely distinct -aspects, the forward portion of the crater in a state of rapid -condensation and subsidence of the recently erupted metallic vapors, -and with inflowing streams of incandescent hydrogen from the front and -sides, and the rear portion of the crater up to its rearward wall, and -even streaming forth from beneath it, in a state of violent eruption. -The large volcanic craters of the Hawaiian Islands exhibit similar -partial eruptions and subsidences progressing <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb114" href="#pb114" name= -"pb114">114</a>]</span>simultaneously in the same depths. The sudden -formation of the great incandescent loops and plumes to which Professor -Langley calls especial attention, and which have hitherto been so -perplexing, can now be readily understood and explained. If one of -these inflowing streams be carried partially down into and across the -crater, and then caught, in its advance, by the uprush in the central -or rear portions of the cavity, it will be at once swept upward -alongside the ascending eruption, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb115" -href="#pb115" name="pb115">115</a>]</span>and either scattered at its -forward extremity into sprays and plumes, or else thrown forward bodily -in the form of a more or less complete loop. In a sun-spot fifty -thousand miles in diameter, such a loop, having a long diameter of -twenty thousand miles, if we give a speed to the faculæ of seven -thousand miles per minute, would be formed in about seven minutes, -during which the sun-spot would itself have advanced less than five -hundred miles across the face of the sun. The luminous bridges which -form so suddenly across portions of the crater may be explained in a -similar manner: they are streams of faculæ floated on the nearly -balanced uprush of metallic vapors from beneath.</p> -<div class="figure p114width" id="p114"><img src="images/p114.jpg" alt= -"" width="480" height="474"> -<p class="first">Retardation of sun-spots by continuous development to -the rear, and recession in front, as the sun rotates on its axis. The -short arrows represent lines of planetary energy; the long arrows show -the direction of the sun’s rotation.</p> -<p>The dark inner disk represents the solar core, the white circle the -photosphere, the mottled area the chromosphere and faculæ, and -the dark outer ring the corona. Loops and tufted sprays are shown, -caused by inflowing faculæ in front, caught by the uprush of -active portions of the sun-spot towards rear.</p> -</div> -<p>It will thus be seen that a sun-spot is not merely a fixed eruption, -like a volcano, but rather a continuous series of eruptions, like a -line of activity following, for example, the great terrestrial volcanic -curve which extends up the western coast of America, across the Pacific -Ocean and Asia, and into Central and Southern Europe, for during its -progression its scene of action is constantly being shifted to the -rear; it is like a furrow cut by a plough, in which the upturned sod is -constantly falling in at one end of the furrow while the plough is -cutting a new furrow at the other, except that in this case the plough -is relatively fixed overhead, and the field itself passes along beneath -it. Consequently, the center of activity of a sun-spot is only in its -rear portions, generally considered, and the whole sun-spot is -gradually retreating, by successive filling up in front and opening out -behind, farther <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb116" href="#pb116" -name="pb116">116</a>]</span>and farther to the rear,—that is to -say, to the east,—so that retardation relatively to the -rotational advance of the photosphere necessarily ensues.</p> -<p>But when the sun-spot is developed upon or near the equatorial line -this retardation is not so considerable, for the deeper layers of the -photosphere in those regions are slower to act and require greater -energy to affect them, so that all except deep and violent eruptions -fail to show themselves at the surface at all, and the heated -faculæ are carried directly forward along the surface of the -equatorial swell, so that the center of activity is driven forward more -rapidly than in the higher latitudes, and the rate of progression is -more nearly coincident with that of the photosphere. But if these facts -are correctly stated and explained, we may have to revise our -calculations of the sun’s rotational period, for retardation to -some extent must occur in all cases, if in any.</p> -<p>A sun-spot, we thus perceive, is an elongated wave or ridge of -eruption along the rotational direction of the sun’s body. Why, -then, it may be asked, is not this line of eruption continuous entirely -around the sun? For the same reason, it may be answered, that our own -cyclones are not continuous, though caused substantially in the same -manner, and that volcanic eruptions only occur at long intervals, -though the forces at work are continuous. Lowering of temperature -follows swiftly after eruption, and as the deeper structures of the -solar nucleus become gradually affected, instead of volatilization of -the outer layers of the surface, we will have diffused gaseous -expansion of large portions, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb117" href= -"#pb117" name="pb117">117</a>]</span>and finally of the entire solar -mass, which cannot as a whole be volatilized by any conceivable -planetary energy. We see these operations exemplified in heating a bar -of copper in a Bunsen flame; the latter first turns green from surface -volatilization of the copper, but as the heat is communicated to the -deeper structures the green flame disappears, and the whole additional -heat goes to raise the temperature of the mass.</p> -<p>These processes in the sun are thus seen to be self-compensatory in -their nature. They are the means provided to distribute the restricted -areas of abnormally heated photosphere over the solar surface, and -finally to cause the absorption of the whole excess of heat in the -sun’s central mass. The balance is so evenly maintained, however, -that, were all the planets equally distributed with reference to the -sun’s surface, such sun-spots would be the exception and not the -rule, and their distribution would be equal and constant; but, as the -planets continually change their positions with reference to the sun -and to each other, only by some such provision of nature could the -internal structure of the sun be maintained without serious -derangement, or, indeed, final disruption. So nature distributes her -stores of heat upon the earth. These beautiful self-compensations we -shall find suddenly appearing, as we advance, in all parts of the field -of astronomical research.</p> -<p>It may seem like temerity to advance statements so positive and -specific as to the cause, constitution, and progression of sun-spots, -in the absence <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb118" href="#pb118" name= -"pb118">118</a>]</span>of any considerable accumulation of observations -to sustain them, but the few examples which we have noted are in -accordance with these views, and when attention is once called to the -basic principles on which they depend, observations will doubtless be -made in abundance to prove or disprove what has been here stated. The -mere fact of a differential rate of advance among sun-spots, as they -pass across the solar face, of itself demonstrates that the active -causes of these phenomena must be extra-solar, and if so, their only -possible dynamic source must be looked for in the planets, and the -remaining conclusions will of necessity follow as a corollary. We may -even, by merely examining an accurate drawing of a sun-spot, determine -its position and direction upon the solar sphere from which it was -delineated by its lines of active eruption and influx of faculæ, -and also whether it be a new spot or one which has passed entirely -beyond its active stage and is about to finally disappear.</p> -<p>As for the faculæ which striate the photosphere, the mottlings -and so-called “willow-leaves,” any one who will quietly -gaze downward upon the turbid surface of the Mississippi or other -similar river, in mid-channel, will see plenty of such faculæ: -the river is full of them. The heavier, intermingled clay, slowly -subsiding, is caught up in the turmoil beneath the surface and swept -upward in elongated ovals and eddies, the larger swells nearly -colorless, and others of all shades of ochre and yellow, and the whole -as richly mottled, sometimes, as the variegated pattern of a Persian -carpet. If we substitute <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb119" href= -"#pb119" name="pb119">119</a>]</span>for the subsiding clay the rapidly -sinking heavy metallic vapors, and enlarge the scale from the -dimensions of the river to those of the sun, we will have the mottled -solar surface with its kaleidoscopic changes, the so-called -“willow-leaves,” and the faculæ in all their glory. A -careful study of the sun will show most clearly that only in some such -explanation as the present view affords can a rational basis for its -varied phenomena be found.</p> -<div class="figure p120width" id="p120"><img src="images/p120.png" alt= -"" width="437" height="588"> -<p class="first">Illustrating complex lines of planetary electrical -energy produced by inclination of sun’s axis.—A B, A′ -B′, plane of planetary orbits.</p> -<p>Upper figure shows sun’s axis inclined laterally; lower -figure, from front to rear, and at right angles to former.</p> -<p>C, chromosphere; E E, solar equator; A B, A′ B′, lines -of planetary electric currents; F, latitude covered by vertical -position of planets, 14° in width; P P, sun’s axis.</p> -</div> -<p>If the sun’s equator were coincident with the plane of the -planetary orbits, it is obvious that all the planetary energies would -be directed, whatever the position of the planets around the sun, -immediately upon this equatorial great circle, and that, at each -revolution upon his axis, corresponding nearly to our calendar month, -the same part of his sphere would be exposed to these direct currents, -so that the intensity would be, in its aggregate, nearly a constant -quantity. But, by reason of the sun’s axial inclination of seven -degrees to the plane of the planetary orbits, a far more complex and -important condition of affairs ensues. It will be seen at once that the -plane of the planetary orbits intersects the sun’s equator at -opposite sides, and that, from a minimum of nothing, this line reaches -a maximum, twice in each circumference, of seven degrees, one north and -the other south of the equator, and that this arc of fourteen degrees, -thus traversed by every planet in its orbital rotation around the sun, -measures more than one hundred thousand miles from north to south upon -the solar surface, nearly one-half the distance which separates the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb120" href="#pb120" name= -"pb120">120</a>]</span>earth from the moon. If all the planets were in -conjunction or nearly so, on one side of the sun, for example, and in -the vertical plane of the sun’s axis, they would continue to -deliver their electrical currents with their greatest intensity upon a -single point of his surface fifty-two thousand miles north of his -equator, while the opposite point, one hundred and four thousand miles -distant, would be unaffected by any direct currents at all. Conversely, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb121" href="#pb121" name= -"pb121">121</a>]</span>if in conjunction on the opposite side of the -sun, they would continue to deliver these currents upon a corresponding -point fifty-two thousand miles south of the equator; but if in -conjunction in the vertical plane transverse to the sun’s axial -inclination, these currents on either side of the sun would be -delivered directly upon the solar equator. The importance of this will -be understood when it is considered that for many of our years such -planets as Jupiter and Saturn must continue to direct their currents -upon a very slowly changing point of the sun’s surface, by reason -of their vast annual rotational period, while with the earth and the -interior planets these various points are struck with ever-increasing -rapidity as the year decreases in length with the different planets, -the earth, Venus, and Mercury. There is a solar equinoctial, so to -speak, just as there is a terrestrial equinoctial in which the sun -crosses the line twice each year, and the meteorological disturbances -faintly shown on the earth at such times are vastly increased on the -sun, and rendered far more complex by the interaction of many planets -upon the sun, instead of a single sun upon each planet. While our -equinoctial has to do with gravity and light and heat, and probably -magnetism, the solar equinoctial deals with the vast electrical streams -which feed its fires and set it boiling with furious energy, first at -one point, then at another, until the increment has been absorbed and -adjusted, and thus equalized throughout his mass. What a new interest -this must arouse in our study of sun-spots, faculæ, prominences, -sun-storms, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb122" href="#pb122" name= -"pb122">122</a>]</span>and the vast panorama of solar action hung up -before our astonished eyes! A new world here awaits its Columbus.</p> -<p>But not only the planets thus gather, so to speak, electricity for -the sun’s support from space; the moon also must do its part, as -it rotates in the same manner, subject to the sun, and has its own -motion through space. But an examination of the moon shows no -atmosphere and no aqueous matter visible to us, and also the singular -fact that it constantly presents one side only to the earth. R. Kalley -Miller, in his “Romance of Astronomy,” article “The -Moon,” says, “After an elaborate analysis, Professor -Hausen, of Gotha, found that it could be accounted for only by -supposing that the side of the moon nearest us was lighter than the -other, and hence that its center of gravity was not at its center of -figure, but considerably nearer the side of it which is always turned -away from us. He calculates the distance between these centers to be -nearly thirty-five miles, evidently a most important eccentricity, when -we remember that the radius of the moon is little over a thousand -miles. It must have been produced by some great internal convulsion -after the moon assumed its solid state; but the forces required to -produce this disruption are less than might at first sight appear -necessary, owing to the fact that the force of gravitation and the -weight of matter are six times less at the moon than with us.” -Those who are fond of the so-called “Argument of Design” -will be gratified to learn that, if the moon had a rotation upon its -own <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb123" href="#pb123" name= -"pb123">123</a>]</span>axis similar to that of the earth, all -life—past, present or future—would have been impossible on -that satellite or planet; and that, on the contrary,—provided she -always turns the same side of her surface to the earth,—it is -quite possible that air, water, and life may exist, or may have -existed, on the opposite side of the moon, but not otherwise. In fact, -air and water must now exist on the opposite side; and, since her whole -supply will thus be condensed upon half her surface or less, even with -her small force of gravity, it may be quite sufficient in quantity and -density for the support of animal, vegetable, or even human life. By -reason of this difference in the lunar center of gravity, the side -presented to the earth in physical position is similar to the summit of -a mountain upon the earth’s surface two hundred miles high, and -surely we would not expect to find much air or water or life at that -altitude. But the opposite side would resemble a champagne country at -the foot of this enormous mountain, and might be well fitted for human -existence. Now, we know that similar electricities repel each other, -and air or gases charged with similar electricities are equally -self-repellent. Professor Tyndall, in his “Lessons in -Electricity,” says, “The electricity escaping from a point -or flame into the air renders the air self-repulsive. The consequence -is, that when the hand is placed over a point mounted on the prime -conductor of a good machine, a cold blast is distinctly -felt …. The blast is called the ‘electric -wind.’ Wilson moved bodies by its action; Faraday caused it to -depress <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb125" href="#pb125" name= -"pb125">125</a>]</span>the surface of a liquid; Hamilton employed the -reaction of the electric wind to make pointed wires rotate. The wind -was also found to promote evaporation.”</p> -<div class="figure p124width" id="p124"><img src="images/p124.png" alt= -"" width="461" height="720"> -<p class="first">Fig. 1, mutual repulsion of similarly electrified -pith-balls; 2, the electrical windmill, atmospheric repulsion; 3, -repulsion of a flame by electricity; 4, electrical distribution around -an oval conductor; 5, mutual attraction of opposite electricities; 5a, -mutual repulsion of similar electricities; 6, mutual repulsion of -electrospheres of earth and moon; 7, mutual repulsion of electrospheres -of sun and comet.</p> -</div> -<p>While electrical repulsion is doubtless analogous to, and -correlative with, the attraction of gravitation, this force, and even -gravity itself, has been sometimes interpreted as derived from the -mutually interacting molecules of space itself. We may even learn -somewhat of how such repulsions of similar and attractions of opposite -electrospheres might occur. We constantly speak of positive and -negative electricity as though these were different fluids, but such -expressions are employed only in the same manner as the analogous -terms, heat and cold. We know, of course, that cold is the relative -absence of heat, the dividing line being not a fixed, but a constantly -changing one, so that one body is cold to another by reason of -relative, and not absolute, deprivation of heat. It is well known, -however, that cold, which is purely a negative state, manifests the -same apparent radiant energy as heat. A vessel near an iceberg is -exposed to a wave of cold, precisely as of heat from a heated body at -the same distance. This, of course, is due to abstraction and not to -increment. All space being occupied by attenuated matter in a state of -unstable electrical equilibrium, as we say, which simply means a -condition ready to be raised or lowered in tension by absorption from -or into outside media, all concrete bodies floating in that space must -have an electrical potential <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb126" href= -"#pb126" name="pb126">126</a>]</span>either equal to, or higher, or -else lower than that of their surrounding space. A solitary body in -space, if we can conceive of such, in either a higher or lower state of -electrical tension, would be drawn upon from all sides to equalize the -distribution and restore the general average. But if two bodies occupy -the same field, and are widely different from each other in electrical -potential, one higher and the other lower than that of space, this -distribution will be towards each other, and must be manifested by -mutual attraction. But if, on the contrary, these two bodies are both -equally higher or lower than the spatial average, they have nothing to -give to each other, but have this difference to give to or receive only -from outer space, and hence they will be drawn apart or, as we say, -mutually repelled. The case is similar to what we see in the case of -bodies of water at various levels. Suppose there be a lake of a fixed -level, and communicating with it and with each other, by open channels, -two ponds of water occupying an island in the middle of the lake. If -one of these ponds be higher in level and the other lower than the -lake, their waters will rapidly converge, the higher flowing into the -lower; but if both are at the same level, and higher than the lake, -they will flow apart into the lake. Or, if both are at the same level, -and lower than the lake, the water of the latter will equally flow from -outside into both ponds, and their waters will still be held separate -from each other. The analogies of these various levels may be pursued -to any desired extent, as electrical tensions <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb127" href="#pb127" name="pb127">127</a>]</span>find -their most exact analogies in the pressures of bodies of water at -different levels and of different quantities, and these analogies are -those most constantly used in the interpretation of such electrical -phenomena.</p> -<p>The great electrical activity of the electrospheres of the earth and -moon, while they discharge their tremendous currents directly into the -sun, at the same time must cause their similarly electrified -atmospheres to mutually repel each other, while gravity continues to -operate to maintain the earth and moon at their fixed distances from -each other, and to retain their gaseous envelopes around their own -bodies. The result must be that these similarly electrified atmospheres -repel each other with a force proportioned to their masses of -atmosphere and the intensity of the electricities of each. The -moon’s axial rotation being completed but once in twenty-eight -days, and that of the earth once in each day, and the moon’s mass -and volume being so much less than those of the earth, whatever of -electrified air or moisture she may have (and she must have both, -proportionate to her attributes) would have been driven as by a cyclone -to the opposite side of the moon and there retained. Now, with an -atmosphere and water only on one side of the moon, and that the side -opposite the earth, it is obvious that a rotation on her axis at all -resembling that of the earth would carry every part of her surface, at -each complete rotation, from a region of air and moisture into one -deprived of both, and in such a condition she would of necessity -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb128" href="#pb128" name= -"pb128">128</a>]</span>be deprived of both life and its possibility; -hence, as the laws of nature compel the lunar atmosphere and moisture -to reside permanently on the side always opposite the earth, a -co-ordinate arrest of the moon’s axial motion with reference to -the earth could alone compensate for such a state of things, and, -curiously enough, we find as a solitary exception, compared with the -planets, that such is the case. The moon unquestionably has both -atmosphere and water on its opposite side. In his recent work, -“In the High Heavens,” Professor Ball reviews the physical -conditions of the other planets as possible abodes of life. He -pronounces against the moon because night and day would each be a -fortnight in length; but this is surely no objection, for even in -Norway and Greenland such nights and days are not uncommon at different -seasons, and thousands of human beings, even as at present constituted -on earth, spend their lives there in content and happiness. That the -moon also would be terribly scorched by the long day and frozen by the -long night does not necessarily follow, for the atmosphere of Mars, -that author says, “to a large extent mitigates the fierceness -with which the sun’s rays would beat down on the globe if it were -devoid of such protection.” As the moon’s opposite face -must have a double quota both of atmosphere and clouds, the difficulty -will be correspondingly less than on Mars; and as for the -“lightness” of bodies on the moon, they would probably get -along quite as well as mosquitoes and like “birds of prey” -in the marshes along our coasts. The author refers <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb129" href="#pb129" name= -"pb129">129</a>]</span>constantly to <i>our</i> bodies; for example, -“Could <i>we</i> live on a planet like Neptune?” No, we -could not; we would be dead before we got there. Nor could <i>we</i> -live in the bark of a tree, or at the bottom of the ocean, or in a -globule of serum; but living beings are found there nevertheless. The -principle is that wherever life is possible there we may expect to find -life; and surely life is, or has been, or will be possible, not only on -the moon, so far as our knowledge of physical conditions can go, but -also on some of the other planets. Of course each planet has its life -stage, but this applies not only to the earth, but to all the other -planets as well, and not only to the planets of our own system, but to -those of all other solar systems. Each has had, or will have, its stage -in which life is possible, and these planets may be like human -habitations, in which whole races at times migrate from one home to -another. There is no conceivable reason why this may not be the general -law of creation, and every analogy leads us to believe that it is -so.</p> -<p>It has been recently announced that, from telescopic observations, -the atmosphere of Mars must be at least as attenuated as that among the -highest mountainous regions of the earth, if this planet has any -atmosphere at all. That it must be far less dense than that of the -earth at sea-level is obvious, for the mass and volume of Mars are very -much less than those of our own planet; but that Mars is devoid of a -gaseous envelope or atmosphere is contrary to what we know of all -sidereal physics. The sun, the fixed stars, the comets, the -nebulæ, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb130" href="#pb130" -name="pb130">130</a>]</span>even the meteorolithic fragments which fall -upon the earth, all show the same elementary chemical constitution as -the earth itself, and we cannot believe that Mars alone is differently -constituted from every other body we have been able to examine. We have -direct evidence, on this planet, of polar snows and their melting away -under the sun’s heat; we see the apparent areas of sea and land; -it has its moons as the earth has hers, and exhibits all the -characteristic phenomena of the earth and other planets. All sidereal -bodies that we know of, except, perhaps, our moon, which exception we -have fully accounted for, are found to be surrounded by gaseous -envelopes or atmospheres of some sort. The sun, the fixed stars, the -nuclei of comets, the condensing nebulæ, the planets Jupiter and -the earth, which are those under our most direct observation, and even -the meteorites, when examined, reveal the presence of many times their -own volumes of independent atmospheric gases; and whatever may be the -theory of the origin or development of Mars, it must have been -subjected to the same influences, the same environment, and the same -processes of creation as those of our solar system generally; and that -this body alone should possess no gaseous envelope—for the denial -of atmosphere denies, at the same time, the presence of any or all -surrounding gases—is quite incredible. Only the most positive, -direct, and long-continued proofs of such fact could be accepted, and -even then the history of all scientific progress shows that what are -believed to be facts themselves fluctuate like fancies till, by -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb131" href="#pb131" name= -"pb131">131</a>]</span>their accumulated force, they solidify into -universally accepted demonstration. The fact, moreover, that the -atmospheres of the smaller planets are more attenuated than our own and -those of the larger ones denser has no bearing, in itself, on the -probability of the existence of life on these other planets, for in our -own atmosphere oxygen, which is the efficient element, is diluted with -four times its quantity of inert nitrogen. These proportions doubtless -vary largely in other atmospheres, so that the oxygen may be much -richer in some and far poorer, relatively, in others. The mere fact -that the presence of nitrogen, probably, and aqueous vapor, certainly, -depends on the gravity of the mass of each planet, while the oxygen is -due to electrolytic decomposition induced by the combined volume, mass, -and rotation, and other causes,—such as the axial inclination of -such planets, for example,—renders these variations in the -constitution of planetary atmospheres a certainty. As Mars has a -diameter much more than one-half that of the earth, and a diurnal -rotational period nearly the same, while his mass, which controls the -action of gravity, is only about one-ninth that of the earth (see -Appleton’s Cyclopædia), it is obvious that his -oxygen-gathering power, compared with that for accumulating nitrogen -and aqueous vapor, is much higher than that of the earth, and we should -expect to find there an attenuated atmosphere very rich in oxygen, and -with a relatively smaller proportion of aqueous vapor, or even water, -on his surface. Such seem to be the facts as far as observed. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb132" href="#pb132" name= -"pb132">132</a>]</span></p> -<p>In operating an electric machine the strength of the current is -directly proportionate to the speed of rotation,—that is to say, -to the velocity of the generating surface; for example, of the -Wimshurst induction machine it is stated (page 63, “Electricity -in the Service of Man”), “These four-and-one-half inch -discharges take place <i>in regular succession at every two and a half -turns</i> of the handle.” It is also a well-established law of -electrolysis that “The amount of decomposition effected by the -current is in proportion to the current strength.” Professor -Ferguson (“Electricity,” page 225) says of the voltameter, -an instrument devised by Faraday, and used for testing the strength of -currents by the proportionate decomposition of acidulated water, -“Mixed gases rise into the tube, and <i>the quantity of gas given -off in a given time measures the strength of the current</i>.” -Roughly estimating the diameter of Mars at five-eighths, the surface -velocity at three-fifths, and the mass at one-ninth those of the earth, -this planet should have an atmosphere containing about sixty per cent. -of oxygen and forty of nitrogen, with a barometric pressure at -sea-level of about six and one-half inches of mercury. This would be an -excellent atmosphere,—about equal in its quota of oxygen for each -respiration to that of the higher areas of Persia, a great country for -roses. The aqueous vapors lying low and near the surface would serve as -a vaporous screen to concentrate and retain the sun’s heat and -retard radiation from that planet. Nothing in particular seems to be -the matter with Mars. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb133" href= -"#pb133" name="pb133">133</a>]</span></p> -<p>On the contrary, the mass of Jupiter is so great, and his attraction -of gravity so powerful, that it is only by his exceedingly rapid -diurnal rotation (once in less than ten hours) that it is possible for -him to accumulate any effective percentage of oxygen at all. But there -is certainly plenty of water there.</p> -<p>We may approximately compute, in general terms, the proportion of -oxygen in the atmospheres of the other planets in the same way. -Neptune, it is true, is so far distant from the sun that the solar orb -only “appears about the same magnitude as Venus when at its -greatest brilliancy, as viewed from the earth,” but we must not -forget that “the <i>intensity</i> of the sun’s light would -be more than ten thousand times greater than that of Venus” -(Professor Dunkin, in “The Midnight Sky”). Unless the moon -gathers a portion of the earth’s oxygen (the planetary -satellites, like Saturn’s rings, thus constituting in their -rotations a constituent part of the planets themselves), the percentage -of this gas in her atmosphere must be exceedingly small, for her axial -rotation has a period of a whole lunar month, being the same as that of -her revolution around the earth as a center.</p> -<p>The absence of apparent atmosphere and moisture from the -<i>visible</i> lunar surface has already been mentioned and explained. -The means by which this fact has been approximately determined are -described by Professor Dunkin, in “The Midnight Sky,” as -follows: “Among the many proofs of the non-existence of a lunar -atmosphere, it may <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb134" href="#pb134" -name="pb134">134</a>]</span>be mentioned that no water can be seen; at -least there is not a sufficient quantity in any one spot so as to be -visible from the earth. Again, there are no clouds; for if there were, -we should immediately discover them by the variable light and shade -which they would produce. But one great proof of the absence of any -large amount of vapor being suspended over the lunar surface is the -sudden extinction of a star when occulted by the moon. The author has -been a constant observer of these phenomena, and, though his experience -is of long standing, he has never observed an occultation of a star or -planet, <i>especially at the unilluminated edge of a young moon</i>, -without having his conviction confirmed that there is no appreciable -lunar atmosphere …. Professor Challis has subjected the -results of a large number of these observations to a severe -mathematical test, but he has not been able to discover the slightest -trace of any effect produced by a lunar atmosphere.”</p> -<p>In Appleton’s Cyclopædia, article “The -Moon,” it is stated that “Schröter (about 1800) -claimed to have discovered indications of vegetation on the surface of -the moon. These consist of certain traces of a greenish tint which -appear and reappear periodically; much as the white spots covering the -polar regions of Mars …. As we are able, under the most -favorable conditions, to use upon the moon telescopic powers which have -the effect of bringing the satellite to within one hundred and fifty to -one hundred and twenty miles of us, we should doubtless notice any such -marked <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb135" href="#pb135" name= -"pb135">135</a>]</span>changes on her surface as the passage of the -seasons produces, for example, on our own globe.” Very recently -(August 12, 1894), it has been stated, Professor Gathmann has observed -a peculiar green spot about forty by seventy miles in area near the -crater of Tycho Brahe, “on the <i>northwestern edge</i> of the -satellite’s upper limb,” which had disappeared twenty-two -hours afterwards.</p> -<p>We understand, of course, that the moon’s librations, by the -variation of position of the lunar body, enable us to see, at times, -around the edge of this satellite somewhat, so that, instead of -observing only one-half, we can in this way see nearly six-tenths of -her surface, but not at the same time, of course. When the moon is dark -it occupies a position between the earth and the sun, and only its -opposite face is illuminated. In this position the attraction of solar -gravity and the attraction of the electrically opposite solar -electrosphere both accumulate their forces upon the moon’s -atmosphere in the same line as the repulsion of the earth’s -similar electricity, so that the lunar moisture and atmosphere are, at -this part of her subordinate orbit, most powerfully forced away from -the direction of the earth. As the moon now proceeds towards her first -quarter, the terrestrial repulsion drives her atmosphere radially -outward, while solar gravity and electrical attraction tend to hold it -in the direction of the sun. The result will be an electrospheric -libration, so to speak, and the moon’s atmosphere and moisture -will be carried around towards its illuminated face and, to some -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb136" href="#pb136" name= -"pb136">136</a>]</span>extent, will overlap the area of terrestrial -repulsion. But as the moon advances this will gradually diminish, soon -cease, and finally be reversed as it again approaches darkness. We can -now understand why the green surface, if it really was due to -vegetation, appeared along the <i>lunar margin</i> at the time -described above, and also that the observation of planetary -occultations “at the unilluminated edge of the young moon” -was the very worst part of the moon and its orbit in which to look for -air or moisture; as the sun’s influence is then directly <i>away -from</i> the unilluminated surface of the moon, and his -“pull” would have, in fact, still further denuded the very -portion most persistently examined, and where this absence of -atmosphere was <i>especially</i> noted.</p> -<p>When considering the transference of energy from the peripheral -regions of the solar system to the center, its conversion there into a -new form of molecular force, and its subsequent distribution, we find a -curious and instructive parallel in the action of the reflex nervous -system of animal life. This system is one in which the brain or other -conscious center of nerve-energy takes no part. Tickle the foot of a -child, for example, and its whole muscular system is thrown into -uncontrollable convulsions of laughter. Here an exciting contact with -the terminal filaments of the afferent or sensory nerves is rapidly -carried into the local nerve-center of this part of the -system,—that is, the sensory column of the spinal cord. This -center of ganglionic nerve-matter lies directly against the -corresponding <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb137" href="#pb137" name= -"pb137">137</a>]</span>motor mass, both freely communicating with each -other. The sensory current passing into its central ganglion undergoes -some peculiar change of character, probably one of intensification, -such as is observed in the action of the condenser of an electrical -machine, through which sensory ganglion, thus raised in potential, it -passes to the motor ganglion adjacent, where it is instantly -transformed into an entirely different form of energy. The sensory -character has now entirely disappeared, and it has been converted into -and is flashed forth as motor energy to the different muscles of the -body, which are immediately contracted, the violent molecular motion of -the fibres being at once converted into muscular motion in mass. The -changes are entirely analogous to those we see in the different -conversions of energy in our solar system. Considering the surface of -the body as a planetary electrosphere, it is acted upon by excitation -from without; currents of energy are engendered, which are at once -transmitted to the sensory ganglion, corresponding to the hydrogen -atmosphere or electrosphere of the sun; intensification of action here -ensues, the current passing through this ganglion or atmosphere into -the solar body itself, which corresponds to the motor ganglion; both -ganglia are now highly excited; the electrical force is converted into -the radiant molecular motor energy of heat and light in the sun and -muscular excitement in the body, and these are flashed forth and find -scope for their action within the body of the subject or upon the -surface of the planets, which <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb138" -href="#pb138" name="pb138">138</a>]</span>lie, like the muscular -structure of the body, within the genetic electrosphere where, acted -upon from without and by agencies entirely external, moving contact has -induced the primary molecular action, which was then instantaneously -transferred to the center, there converted into another form, that of -motor energy, and thence sent forth to produce action in the muscles of -the body in the one case, and in the other upon the planetary bodies -and their satellites and other structures which occupy surrounding -space. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb139" href="#pb139" name= -"pb139">139</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch5" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e241">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER V.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE DISTRIBUTION AND CONSERVATION OF SOLAR -ENERGY.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">What, then, becomes of the light and heat flashed -forth with eternal energy from the fiery waves of the sun’s -incandescent atmosphere? Professor Ball (“In the High -Heavens”) says, “Much of what has been said with regard to -light may be repeated with regard to heat. We know that radiant heat -consists of ethereal undulations of the same character as the waves of -light. Hence we see that the heat or the light radiated from a glowing -gas is mainly provided at the expense of the energy possessed by the -molecules in virtue of their internal oscillations.” Conversely, -of course, the ethereal undulations thus induced by high molecular -motion in the heated gas or vapor must disappear in so-called -absorption or transference by contact with other molecules, themselves -devoid of such specific internal oscillations. The heat motion then -disappears as heat by its conversion into work, just as the motion of a -belt in a mill disappears in the work of the machine which it drives. -One two-hundred-and-thirty-two-millionth part of the radiant solar -energy, we know, is caught by the flying planets of our system in the -forms of heat and light, adapted to sustain life and its continued -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb140" href="#pb140" name= -"pb140">140</a>]</span>potentiality, and we know that this solar energy -is the sole source of all the development and maintenance of the -planets as the possible abodes of organic life, past, present or -future.</p> -<p>But what of the vast total, of which we consume so minute a -fraction? It is true that, in addition to the planets, space is -occupied by many small meteoric bodies, which manifest themselves to us -as shooting stars and meteorites, but the mass of these is too trifling -to be estimated. Professor Helmholtz, in his “Popular Scientific -Lectures,” says, “According to Alexander Herschel’s -estimates, each stone is, on an average, at a distance of four hundred -and fifty miles from its neighbors.” When these bodies enter our -atmosphere by force of the earth’s attraction they are heated by -its atmospheric friction to incandescence, and in most cases are even -volatilized before reaching the earth’s surface. The vast volumes -of solar heat and light, however, are poured forth from the sun -indiscriminately in all directions into illimitable space, wherein all -the masses of concrete matter, including the stars, are relatively far -less in volume than the flying motes of the purest morning air which -sparkle in the flood of light sent forth by the rising sun. Is all the -rest wasted? Professor Balfour Stewart, in his work “The -Conservation of Energy,” says, “If this be the fate of the -high-temperature energy of the universe, let us think for a moment what -will happen to its visible energy. We have spoken already about a -medium pervading space, the office of which appears to be to degrade -and ultimately <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb141" href="#pb141" name= -"pb141">141</a>]</span>extinguish all differential motion, just as it -tends to reduce and ultimately equalize all difference in temperature. -Thus, the universe would ultimately become an equally heated mass, -utterly worthless as far as the production of work is concerned, since -such production depends upon difference of temperature.”</p> -<p>It is obvious that the starting-point taken by the author last -quoted, but which, nevertheless, is in accordance with the views now -generally prevalent, is diametrically opposed to that sought to be -established in this work. Professor Stewart takes the sun’s -inherent energy as the initial point of departure, and reasons from -that as to the final consequence when all its light and heat shall have -been distributed or dissipated into the attenuated medium which -occupies space, and which will be thus slowly heated until all space -has been raised in temperature to that of the last dying sun, when all -will thenceforth remain unchanged and unchangeable, silent, dark, and -dead, to all eternity. On the contrary, the purpose of the present work -is to establish a directly opposite principle, based, however, on -demonstrated scientific facts and not on theory, that the medium which -pervades all space was originally in the same equally and universally -potential state (with its molecules raised to a tension constituting an -unstable equilibrium) in which, practically, Professor Stewart’s -argument leaves it finally, and that this universal molecular energy of -position was permanently maintained by the employment of the forces -which afterwards, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb142" href="#pb142" -name="pb142">142</a>]</span>transformed into light and heat, were shed -abroad by the sun in the work of again overcoming the intermolecular -tension of cohesion, and that the light and heat of the sun are merely -caught up again by these same or other molecules and successively -employed in the same manner, while the planetary electrospheres utilize -these same forces of internal tension in the generation of electricity, -which, sent to the sun, is converted into light and heat, and these are -again transferred to their original source. The rotation of the planets -is the grand exciting cause, and the process, in its complete cycle of -development, has live stages: first, planetary generation; second, -transference by currents of electricity to the sun; third, conversion -into light and heat; fourth, emission; and, fifth, reabsorption and -conversion again into molecular energy of position. All space is thus -found to be pervaded by extremely attenuated vapors, which contain the -elemental constituents out of which suns and planets are evolved under -favorable circumstances of development, and, among other vapors, -aqueous vapor, and that these are the agency upon which the planetary -electrospheres operate in their generation of electrical currents, and -which vapors, in turn, by absorption of the solar energy of radiation, -again transform this energy into mutually balanced electric potential, -until it is once more disengaged as electricity by the rotating -planetary electrospheres, and so on in a constant circuit forever -repeated. It differs from perpetual motion, however, in that the -planetary rotation is the external <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb143" -href="#pb143" name="pb143">143</a>]</span>and not the internal -generative cause, since the electrical forces neither cause nor control -these motions; they belong to the realm of gravity. The disassociation, -moreover, is electrical and not chemical disassociation. The tensions -are against cohesion and not against chemical affinity; are, in fact, -similar to those which constitute our atmosphere a vast electrical -reservoir; and the aqueous vapors, through all their changes, -permanently remain as aqueous vapors, except those condensed portions -disassociated by electrolytic action at the electrospheric poles, and -which have no relation to the attenuated vapors of space, except in -that the latter are their sources of supply. The process is analogous -to what we see around us at all times in the atmosphere. While the -process described by Professor Stewart resembles the emptying of the -inherent water of a cloud, in the form of rain, into an ocean which -never yields up its water again, so that, when the cloud has rained -itself out, it is gone forever, the processes here sketched are like -the vapors which are caught up by the heated air, carried over the -thirsty lands, distributed in rain to fertilize and vivify them, then -gathered in a thousand tiny rills from countless fountains, again -descending to the sea and again carried up in vapor, and so on over and -over in unceasing round. It is the difference between an old-fashioned -flintlock musket and a modern magazine rifle, except that the magazine -is always full.</p> -<p>This great ocean of space was primordially charged with these -potential vapors; it is the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb144" href= -"#pb144" name="pb144">144</a>]</span>constitution of space itself. We -are so accustomed to consider space as empty, and that it is -nothingness, the antithesis of something or anything, that it is a -negation or a blank, that it requires an effort to even think of it as -a fully stocked establishment with all the goods necessary for use or -ornament, in the latest styles and of prime quality, only not made up, -and that all our suns and worlds are merely tailoring establishments -where the operatives cut and fit and make them up to order. When more -goods are wanted they have to go to the store.</p> -<p>Is space, then, eternal, and is this constant round of energies to -be eternal? If one is eternal, so is the other, and surely nothing can -be more eternal than space, and we cannot conceive of any other space -than this space. Out of it came all created things, and so long as the -orbs rotate without retardation, so long will these interchanges go on -without impairment, and that they do so rotate is the necessary -corollary of the fact that they ever began to rotate. If rotation, on -the contrary, was imparted by special creative power, then the same -power established the laws by which they rotate, and took cognizance of -resistance as well. Whatever the impulse was, it still remains; -whatever caused the rotation to begin maintains it; if the cause is -eternal the rotation may be eternal; and, in any case, its period must -be measured by cycles of æons, to which the allotted lifetime of -a dying sun—a few million years, perhaps—is but as the -sunburst of a morning-glory flower to the hoary age of a mighty planet. -Compared with the popular <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb145" href= -"#pb145" name="pb145">145</a>]</span>view of the sun’s -life-period, we may formulate the terms of an equation in which the -sun’s mass, compared with the realms of infinite space, is as the -sun’s lifetime—on a basis of contraction of his -volume—to the lifetime which actually is to be. As one of the -terms is practically infinite, so must be the answer to the problem. -Professor Stewart says, “We cannot help believing that there is a -material medium of some kind between the sun and the earth; indeed, the -undulatory theory of light requires this belief.” It has already -been shown that the transmission of electricity also requires it, but -that there must be a medium quite different from the undulatory ether. -Professor Proctor (“Mysteries of Time and Space”) says, -“We may admit the possibility that the aqueous vapor and carbon -compounds are present in stellar or interplanetary space.” Again -he says, “Assuming, as we well may, that space is really occupied -by attenuated vapors.” The same writer says further, “To -this end all thoughtful study of the mechanism seems to tend -(associating, perhaps, our visible universe with others, permeating it -as the ether of space permeates the densest solids, and in turn with -others so permeated by it); there may be that constant interchange, -that perpetual harmony, of which Goethe sung:</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">‘Balanced worlds from change defending,</p> -<p class="line">While everywhere diffused is harmony -unending.’ ”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">The light and heat poured forth from the sun are, as -stated, in the form of radiated energy. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb146" href="#pb146" name="pb146">146</a>]</span>They penetrate the -attenuated vapors as far as vision extends, and doubtless farther, but -they cannot reach the boundaries of space, for even the mind of man -cannot reach those limits. Aqueous vapor absorbs heat; we know this -without any demonstration, for the radiated heat of the earth is -arrested by a veil of clouds, so that on cloudy nights frost will not -form. So also the sun shining into water will raise its temperature, as -in a glass globe, and such absorption of heat by aqueous vapors or -water would be much more manifest were not a large part employed in -loosening the tension of the constituent molecules, since, when thus -employed, it is not manifest as sensible heat. Professor Tyndall, in -“The Forms of Water,” states that “The quantity of -heat which would raise the temperature of a pound of water one degree -would raise the temperature of a pound of iron ten degrees.” -Professor Stewart, in “The Conservation of Energy,” says, -“That peculiar motion which is imparted by heat when absorbed -into a body is, therefore, one variety of molecular -energy …. Part of the energy of absorbed heat is spent in -pulling asunder the molecules of the body under the attractive force -which binds them together, and thus a store of <i>energy of -position</i> is laid up, which disappears again after the body is -cooled.</p> -<p>“Heat will only be changed into work while it passes from a -body of high temperature to one of low …. At very high -temperatures it is possible that most compounds are decomposed, and the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb147" href="#pb147" name= -"pb147">147</a>]</span>temperature at which this takes place, for any -compound, has been termed its temperature of disassociation. <i>Heat -energy is changed into electrical separation</i> when tourmalines and -certain other crystals are heated.” It may be added that it is -also changed into electrical energy by the operation of all electrical -machines, as molecular motions are all mutually interconvertible, and -heat itself is only a mode of such motion. Of radiant energy, the same -writer says, “This form of energy [radiant heat] is converted -into absorbed heat whenever it falls upon an opaque substance … -and heats it. It is a curious question to ask what becomes of the -<i>radiant light</i> from the sun that is not absorbed either by the -planets of our system or by any of the stars. We can only reply to such -a question that, <i>as far as we can judge from our present -knowledge</i>, the radiant energy that is not absorbed must be -conceived to be traversing space at the rate of one hundred and -eighty-eight thousand miles a second.”</p> -<p>We know, of course, that aqueous vapors are partially opaque to heat -rays, as the radiated heat of the earth is partially arrested by such -vapors in the atmosphere, but they are apparently transparent to the -rays of light. But we know that this cannot be entirely true in fact, -for light rays only differ from heat rays in the comparative length of -their waves or impulses, while rays of light are always -accompanied—when emitted by a thermally incandescent -body—by a much larger number of those of heat. As a body is -raised in temperature radiant dark rays first appear; these being -raised higher, become <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb148" href= -"#pb148" name="pb148">148</a>]</span>visible as light, and new dark -rays are radiated behind them, and this continues till after the state -of highest incandescence is reached and the invisible chemical rays -beyond the spectrum appear. It is like a crowd surging forth in flight -from the doors of a building; as the speed of those in front increases -to a run, others follow more slowly in the mass, and as these gain -speed others continue to follow, while the great mass of laggards still -trails along in a lengthening line to the rear. The perception of light -is itself merely due to the constitution of the optic apparatus of the -observer, which only takes cognizance of vibrations radiated from the -middle portion of the scale, just as the ear does with sounds, and not -to any actual difference in their mode of production. That heat rays -and light rays are identical in constitution can be readily shown by -the experiment described by Professor Tyndall in his “Forms of -Water,” in which an opaque screen of iodine solution in -bisulphide of carbon was employed to arrest, in a beam of light, all -the light waves (to which it is entirely opaque), while transmitting -the dark rays. These non-luminous rays are then converged by a lens: -“Let us, then, by means of our opaque solution, isolate our dark -waves and converge them on the cotton. It explodes as -before …. At the same dark focus sheets of platinum are -raised to vivid redness; … a diamond is caused to glow like a -star, being afterwards gradually dissipated.” Sir William -Herschel (see article “Spectrum,” Appleton’s -Cyclopædia) says, “If we call light those rays which -illuminate <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb149" href="#pb149" name= -"pb149">149</a>]</span>objects, and radiant heat those which heat -bodies, it may be inquired whether light be essentially different from -radiant heat. In answer to which I would suggest that we are not -allowed by the rules of philosophizing to admit of two different causes -to explain certain effects, if they may be accounted for by -one.”… “Tyndall, by similar experiments, found that -the thermal energy of the invisible radiation of a very powerful -electric light is eight times that of the visible …. -Seebeck showed that the position of maximum heat in the spectrum -changes with the nature of the prism and sometimes occurs in the -red.” Melconi, with prisms of alcohol and water, found it in the -yellow. Athermic bands are also found in the heat-spectrum, -corresponding to the Fraunhofer lines seen in the visible spectrum.</p> -<p>We may illustrate this successive development of more and more rapid -light-waves by conceiving of a harp having musical strings of various -length and thickness, but not strung up, so that, when swept by the -hand, the vibrations are felt, but no musical tones are produced. If, -now, all the strings are simultaneously and gradually stretched while -under continuous vibration, we will first hear the hum of the lighter -strings, but deep down in the scale; and as the tension gradually -increases the pitch of these will rise higher and higher and be -succeeded by other new tones below, until the whole register is -simultaneously sounded. And if the tension be further increased, the -vibrations of the upper strings will gradually grow so rapid that the -ear can take no cognizance of them, corresponding <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb150" href="#pb150" name="pb150">150</a>]</span>to -the invisible chemical rays of the spectrum, while the middle strings -will be sounding loudly, and others will be slowly vibrating below the -musical scale, but without sound, corresponding to the invisible heat -rays. In addition to this gradual ascent of pitch along the scale, -however, there is reason to believe that sympathetic vibrations are -induced in the spectrum of thermal and chemical light corresponding to -the over-tones in music and to those hidden rhythms which differentiate -the “timbre” of one kind of musical instrument from that of -another, so that a definite wave-length will not only repeat itself -among adjacent molecules, but will give rise to harmonious vibrations -quite different in amplitude and velocity. An example of this is found -in some of the phenomena of phosphorescence and fluorescence, in which -chemical rays totally invisible are able, under suitable conditions, to -excite molecular movements corresponding to parts of the visible -spectrum, and quite different in wave-lengths and in rapidity. This -process is precisely the converse of what we perceive in thermal light; -in the latter case the colors ascend, loaded with invisible heat rays; -in the former they descend, loaded with invisible chemical rays, only -noted, perhaps, by their actinic action on the photographic plate. -Others, as the sulphide of calcium paints and the like, repeat their -own vibrations for many hours, and we find in certain chemical salts of -some rare metals, as lanthanum and cerium, the curious property of -suddenly raising the whole scale, as in a recently introduced -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb151" href="#pb151" name= -"pb151">151</a>]</span>gas-lamp, in which a skeleton mantle of these -oxides glows with a wondrously beautiful white light under the -relatively low temperature of a small Bunsen burner; similar phenomena -are manifested in the behavior of electric discharges in attenuated -gases, as well as in what is known to children as -“fox-fire,” wood undergoing slow decomposition in damp -places, or in the self-luminous secretions (corresponding, perhaps, to -ptomaines or like products) of glow-worms and other animals. If we -ever—as we probably soon shall—reach that point where we -can illuminate our dwellings with “cold candles,” as the -inhabitants of tropical countries carry about a few fire-flies in a -paper box for a lantern on dark nights, it must be by the study of -these phenomena. But meantime “Old Sol” will continue to -discharge his accumulating stores of both heat and light, for both -these are essential, not only for use upon the planets, but throughout -all the realms of space. In the transformation into and emission of his -radiant energy the sun is not a chemical engine, but a mill,—one -of those which “grind slowly, but they grind exceeding -small.”</p> -<p>The difference between radiated thermal light and heat is obviously -one of degree only and not of kind. The undulations of light may be -compared to the thrust of a rapier, and the more massive waves of -radiant heat to the blow of a bludgeon, but the same resistance which -arrests the advance of the one must retard and finally arrest that of -the other, if sufficiently extended. Within the limits of a space in -which Professor <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb152" href="#pb152" -name="pb152">152</a>]</span>Stewart conceives that the first rays of -light which ever flashed forth at the dawn of creation, in the primal -æons of the universe, are still to this day, along their original -lines of radiation, “traversing space at the rate of one hundred -and eighty-eight thousand miles per second,” there must certainly -be room enough and absorption enough (which even a few yards of mist -will supply) to curb these runaway steeds somewhere along their lines -of flaming passage. At that very point they are at work acting upon the -molecules of the attenuated vapors of space, and assisting to -re-establish the potential energy which has there been converted, into -another form of force by the planetary rotations of the solar systems -of those distant regions. By the law of the diffusion of gases, and -that of the diffusion or transference of heat-energy from molecule to -molecule, the vast realms of interstellar space must tend to be all -brought into approximate uniformity of tensions, and the force -abstracted at those points of space occupied by the relatively few and -insignificant solar systems will be returned, not directly at the -identical places where such solar systems may exist, but at every part -of space to which their radiant energy extends. As we give from our own -supplies to other systems for their support, so they, in turn, give -back again to us. It is said that in the earliest days of creation the -stars sang together; they still sing together, planets and suns, as</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“Jura answers from her misty shroud</p> -<p class="line">Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her -aloud.”</p> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb153" href="#pb153" name= -"pb153">153</a>]</span></p> -<p>When old Earth lifts his brimming beaker from the great crystal sea -and drains it to the good health of all the stars of heaven, they each -respond with fiery energy, and by their merry twinkle we may know how -highly they appreciate the toast. We are all one family,—but what -a family! Comets, planets, double stars, variable stars, stars of -complementary colors, blue, yellow, orange, and red stars, stars which -blaze up in sudden conflagration, apparently new stars, nebulæ -half star and half vapor, nebulæ all vapor and others all stars, -the vast milky-way like a wondrous river of hundreds of millions of -solar systems, the insulated stars scattered through space like -watchmen on the distant hills beyond the city walls, streams of stars, -stars which are parting from each other in space like scattering -families, and those which travel together in groups like pioneers in a -strange country,—all these and doubtless other unknown types and -forms compose this sidereal family. Will they fall into their -categories as lawful subjects, so as to be properly classified in a -single scheme of the visible order of creation, or shall we fail to -interpret their apparent mysteries when we apply the same principles -which have been successfully applied to the phenomena of our own solar -system? Let us see.</p> -<p>In examining the sun, we find that a beam of its light passed -through a prism is thrown upon the wall in a wedge-shaped streak of -rainbow-tinted colors. Fraunhofer, many years ago, found that this -spectrum was crossed at irregular intervals <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb154" href="#pb154" name="pb154">154</a>]</span>by a -series of dark lines, of variable width and distance apart, of which he -catalogued more than five hundred. These lines were subsequently found -to correspond in the aggregate, in their position in the spectrum, with -a series of bright lines of different colors which formed the separate -spectra of various metals when burned, in vapor or powder, in the flame -of an alcohol lamp. Each of these transverse lines was found to have a -fixed and invariable position in the extended scale of the spectrum, -and scarcely any lines of the different elements are alike; so that, -when the spectrum is properly magnified under telescopic observation -and the lines identified, we have the means of determining the presence -or absence of such elements in the vaporous constitution of any -incandescent body by examination of its spectrum. In this way many of -our terrestrial elements are found to exist in the sun,—so many, -in fact, that we know that the sun’s nucleus, or core, must be -composed substantially of the same elements, the same sort of matter, -as exists on earth,—that we are, in fact, “a chip of the -old block.” But it was found—and this is the real basis of -spectrum analysis—that if a certain metal or other element be -burned in the flame of an alcohol lamp, and a more brilliant flame of -the same metal or element burned in another lamp be observed through -the first flame, it will be seen that, “while the general -illumination of the spectrum is increased, the previous bright lines -characterizing the element are now replaced by dark lines or lines -relatively very <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb155" href="#pb155" -name="pb155">155</a>]</span>faint; in a word, the spectrum -characteristic of the given element is exactly reversed” -(Appleton’s Cyclopædia, article “Spectrum -Analysis”). We have referred to this fact above in considering -the origin of sun-spots, showing that they are due to increased heat -acting upon the core of the sun so as to volatilize an abnormally large -proportion of the elements usually in a more condensed state upon the -surface of the solar body beneath its hydrogen envelope. These vapors, -thus raised in temperature, are driven upward by their volatilization -into the incandescent atmosphere of hydrogen, and the vaporous matters -in the higher strata thus produce the characteristic absorption bands -of these elements, while the overheated <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb156" href="#pb156" name="pb156">156</a>]</span>vapors, by a vast -uprush from beneath, hurl aside the more highly heated hydrogen above -to appear as faculæ around the sun-spot, the cooler upper layers -of hydrogen following downward the subsiding vaporous metallic uprush -as it sinks back beneath the photospheric level.</p> -<div class="figure p155width" id="p155"><img src="images/p155.jpg" alt= -"" width="475" height="329"> -<p class="first"><i>1 Solar.</i> <i>Dark Heat</i> <i>Red</i> -<i>Orange</i> <i>Yellow</i> <i>Green</i> <i>Blue</i> <i>Violet</i> -<i>Actinic</i></p> -<p><i>2 Sodium</i>,</p> -<p><i>3 Calcium.</i></p> -<p><i>4 Hydrogen (Absorption Spectrum)</i></p> -<p><i>5 Hydrogen (Bright Line Spectrum)</i></p> -<p>Spectra of different elements compared with the solar spectrum, and -showing reversal of hydrogen lines under special circumstances.</p> -</div> -<p>It is obvious that by similar spectrum analysis we may determine to -a large extent the constitution of the fixed stars and other -self-luminous bodies of space and interpret the phenomena which they -exhibit. We quote the following from the previously cited article in -Appleton’s Cyclopædia, by Professor Proctor: -“Spectroscopic analysis applied to the stars has shown that they -resemble the sun in general constitution and condition. But -characteristic differences exist, insomuch that the stars have been -divided into four orders distinguished by their spectra. These are thus -presented by Secchi, who examined more than five hundred star spectra: -The first type is represented by Alpha Lyræ, Sirius, etc., and -includes most of the stars shining with a white light, as Altair, -Regulus, Rigel, the stars Beta, Gamma, Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta of Ursa -Major, etc. These give a spectrum showing all the seven colors, and -crossed usually by many lines, but <i>always by the four lines of -hydrogen, very dark and strong</i>. The breadth of these four lines -indicates a very deep, absorptive stratum at a high temperature and at -great pressure. <i>Nearly half the stars</i> observed by Secchi [more -than two hundred out of five hundred] showed this spectrum. The second -type includes most of the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb157" href= -"#pb157" name="pb157">157</a>]</span>yellow stars, as Capella, Pollux, -Arcturus, Aldebaran, Alpha of Ursa Major, Procyon, etc. The Fraunhofer -lines are well seen in the red and blue, but not so well in the yellow. -<i>The resemblance of this spectrum to the sun</i> suggests that stars -of this type resemble the sun closely in physical constitution and -condition. About one-third of the stars observed by Secchi [more than -one hundred and fifty out of five hundred] showed this spectrum. The -third type includes Antares, Alpha of Orion, and Alpha of Hercules, -Beta of Pegasus, Mira, and most of the stars shining with a red light. -The spectra show bands of lines; according to Secchi, there are shaded -bands, but a more powerful spectroscope shows multitudes of fine lines. -The spectra resemble somewhat the <i>spectrum of a sun-spot</i>, and -Secchi has advanced the theory that these stars are covered in great -part by spots like those of the sun. About one hundred [out of five -hundred] of the observed stars belong to this type.” (It should -be noted that the presence of sun-spots is no evidence of diminished -heat in a sun; see Professor Proctor in his “Myths and Marvels of -Astronomy,” article “Suns in Flames:” “It may -be noticed, in passing, that it is by no means certain that the time -when the sun is most spotted is the time when he gives out least -light …. All the evidence we have tends to show that when -the sun is most spotted his energies are most active. It is then that -the colored flames leap to their greatest height and show their -greatest brilliancy, then also that they show the most rapid and -remarkable <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb158" href="#pb158" name= -"pb158">158</a>]</span>changes of shape.”) … “The -fourth type differs from the preceding in the arrangement and -appearance of the bands. It includes only faint stars. A few stars, as -Gamma of Cassiopeia, Eta of Argus, Beta of Lyra, etc., show the -<i>lines of hydrogen bright instead of dark</i>, as though surrounded -by hydrogen glowing with a heat more intense than that of the central -orb itself around which the hydrogen exists.”</p> -<div class="figure p160width" id="p160"><img src="images/p160.jpg" alt= -"" width="480" height="191"> -<p class="first">Reversal and neutralization of spectroscopic lines in -spectrum of a variable star like Betelgeuse.—1, photosphere -hotter than chromosphere; hydrogen lines dark. 2, chromosphere hotter -than photosphere; hydrogen lines bright. 3, chromosphere and -photosphere equally incandescent.</p> -</div> -<p>All the above five hundred stars reveal the presence of hydrogen -under precisely such conditions as conform to the general principle -involved in the source and mode of solar energy as herein stated. But a -single star (Betelgeuse) was observed by Huggins and Miller in England -which showed the lines of sodium, magnesium, iron, bismuth, and -calcium, “but found those of hydrogen wanting.” Of the -spectrum of this gas, Professor Ball says, “The hydrogen spectrum -appears to present a simplicity not found in the spectrum of any other -gas, and therefore it is with great interest that we examine the -spectra of the white stars, in which <i>the dark lines of hydrogen</i> -are unusually strong and broad.” Referring to the new star in the -Northern Crown, which burst forth in 1866, the same writer says, -“The feature which made the spectrum of the new star essentially -distinct from that of any other star that had been previously observed -was the presence of <i>certain bright lines</i> superposed on a -spectrum with dark lines of one of the ordinary types. The position of -certain of <i>these lines showed that one of the luminous gases must be -hydrogen</i>.” Of <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb159" href= -"#pb159" name="pb159">159</a>]</span>this particular star (Betelgeuse) -it is said (Proctor’s “Familiar Essays”), “Red -stars and variable stars affect the neighborhood of the Milky Way or of -well-marked star-streams. The constellation Orion is singularly rich in -objects of this class. It is here that the strange -‘variable’ Betelgeuse lies. At present this star shows no -sign of variation, but a few years ago it exhibited remarkable -changes.” We thus see that Betelgeuse is a variable star, and it -must have passed in its different variations between the limits of -extreme brilliancy, in which the lines of hydrogen appear bright, and -that of a less brilliant stage, in which they appear dark,—that -is, as absorption bands. It has thus, in fact, run the gamut, so to -speak, of color changes, and now occupies an intermediate position in -the scale. In his article “Star unto Star,” the same writer -says, “On this view we may fairly assume that the darkness of the -hydrogen lines is a characteristic of stars at a much higher -temperature than our sun and suns of the same class.” We have -already seen that the spectra of stars of the fourth -type—Appleton’s Cyclopædia, “Spectrum -Analysis”—“show the lines of hydrogen bright instead -of dark, as though surrounded by hydrogen glowing with a heat more -intense than that of the central orb itself.” Professor Dunkin -says, in his work “The Midnight Sky,” “One of the -conclusions drawn by Kirchhoff from these experiments is that each -incandescent gas <i>weakens</i>, by absorption, rays of the same degree -of refrangibility as those it emits; or, in other words, that the -spectrum of each incandescent gas <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb160" -href="#pb160" name="pb160">160</a>]</span>is reversed when this gas is -traversed by rays of the same refrangibility emanating from an -intensely luminous source which gives of itself a continuous spectrum -like that of the sun.” … “The third division, -including Betelgeuse, Antares, Alpha Herculis, and others of like -color, seems to be affected by something peculiar in their physical -composition, <i>as if their photospheres contained a quantity of gas at -a lower temperature than usual</i>. The stars in this class have -generally a ruddy tint, probably owing to their light having undergone -some modification while passing through an absorbing -atmosphere …. A great number of the stars in the third -division are variable in their lustre.” We may therefore readily -conclude that midway between the inverted lines which constitute the -dark absorption bands and the faint spectra which show the bright lines -of hydrogen direct there must be an atmosphere of glowing hydrogen -superposed upon a deeper one in such proportion that it will -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb161" href="#pb161" name= -"pb161">161</a>]</span>not reveal its presence in the spectroscope at -all; for when the dark and light bands, which occupy precisely the same -position in the spectrum, are of approximately equal intensity the -result will obviously be the neutralization of both. That among a -myriad suns, some with dark hydrogen lines and some with bright, there -should occur occasionally an example corresponding to this point of -divergence, and especially among variable stars, is not only to be -expected, but is, in fact, confirmatory of the general hypothesis -itself. It is an exception which emphatically proves the rule, when we -can trace the operative cause which has produced it. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb162" href="#pb162" name="pb162">162</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch6" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e251">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VI.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE PHENOMENA OF THE STARS.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Let us now consider the phenomena of the double stars. -These were formerly believed to be single orbs, but the more powerful -telescopes of recent years have shown them to consist of two suns, each -substantially similar to our own sun, revolving around each other at a -relatively small distance apart. In Appleton’s Cyclopædia, -article “Star,” we read, “It is noteworthy that few -simple stars show such colors as blue, green, violet, or indigo; but -among double and multiple star systems not only are these colors -recognized, but such colors as lilac, olive, gray, russet, and so on. A -beautiful feature in many double stars remains to be noticed: it is -often found that the components exhibit complementary colors. <i>This -is oftener seen among unequal doubles</i>, and then the larger -component shows a color from the red end of the spectrum, as red, -orange, or yellow, while the smaller shows the corresponding color from -the blue end, as green, blue, or purple. The colors are real, not -merely the result of contrast, for when the larger star is concealed -the color of the smaller remains (in most cases) unchanged. Spectrum -analysis shows that the colors of many double stars are due to the -absorptive vapors cutting off certain portions of the -light …. The components <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb163" href="#pb163" name="pb163">163</a>]</span>are circling around -each other, or rather around their common center of gravity.” -Professor Ball, in his work “In the High Heavens,” says, -“There is no more pleasing phenomenon in sidereal astronomy than -that presented by the contrasted hues often exhibited by double -stars …. It seemed not at all impossible that there might -be some optical explanation of colors so vividly contrasted emanating -from points so contiguous. It was also remembered that blue stars were -generally only present as one member of an associated -pair …. When, however, Dr. Huggins showed that the actual -spectrum of the object demonstrated that the cause of the color in each -star arose from absorption by its peculiar atmosphere, it became -impossible to doubt the reality of the phenomena. Since then it has -been for physicists to explain why two closely neighboring stars should -differ so widely <i>in their atmospheric constituents</i>, for it can -be no longer contended that their beautiful hues arise from an optical -illusion.”</p> -<p>Of these double stars with complementary colors we quote the -following from Professor Dunkin (who, in turn, quotes from Admiral -Smyth, the author of “Sidereal Chromatics”): “In Eta -Cassiopeiæ the large star is a dull white and the smaller one -lilac; in Gamma Andromedæ, a deep yellow and sea-green; in Iota -Cancri, a dusky orange and a sapphire blue; in Delta Corvi, a bright -yellow and purple; and in Albiero, or Beta Cygni, yellow and blue. In -most of the remaining stars of the list the contrasting colors are -equally marked, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb164" href="#pb164" -name="pb164">164</a>]</span>also in many others which are not included -in it.” Some of these double stars are variable in their colors, -as are the ordinary single variables, and, of course, for a similar -reason,—to wit, the varying intensity of more or less cumulative -planetary impacts.</p> -<div class="figure floatRight p164width" id="p164"><img src= -"images/p164.jpg" alt= -"Reduced from Plate X. of Nichol’s work. For interpretation see Chapter XIII., “The Genesis of Solar Systems.”" -width="327" height="324"> -<p class="figureHead">Reduced from Plate X. of Nichol’s work. For -interpretation see Chapter XIII., “The Genesis of Solar -Systems.”</p> -</div> -<p>The interpretation, of course, as explained below, is that these -suns, each one of different mass and consequently of different -electrical resistance, are arranged in parallel circuit along a single -line of electric current; a pair of different-sized arc or incandescent -lamps, similarly arranged, would exhibit precisely the same phenomena. -A compound solar system of this sort, apparently, with double sun and -single planetary system in process of formation, nearly completed from -a spiral nebula, is shown in a gaseous nebula within the constellation -Ursa Minor, illustrated in Lord Rosse’s drawing (see Nichols -“Architecture of the Heavens,” Plate X., lower figure).</p> -<p>More than three thousand of these binary stars have been catalogued, -and some of them make a complete revolution about their common centers -of gravity—so distant are they from each other—in periods -of not less than sixty, or even eighty, years. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb165" href="#pb165" name="pb165">165</a>]</span>Of -the double star Mizar,—the middle one of the three which form the -tail of the Great Bear,—Professor Ball states that, by new -methods of spectroscopic analysis, the component stars which form this -double have been found to be one hundred and fifty millions of miles -apart, while Alcor, a smaller star, visible to the naked eye, and -enormously farther from Mizar than are the components of the latter -from each other, moves through space in a parallel direction and with -the same velocity as its double companion. What the connection may be, -if any, we do not know, but their identical course is obviously related -to some common circumstance of origin, as is the probable case with -those other groups of stars which drift through space together. They -show that solar systems are not necessarily individual creations, but -may be formed in groups at the same period of time, and by the -operation of natural laws simultaneously directed upon or into the -creative matter from which solar systems are built up and sent along -their way. It has been already shown that our sun has a motion around -the center of gravity of our own solar system, as a whole, similar to -that of the binary stars around each other, but that, by reason of his -vast relative mass (seven hundred and fifty to one for all the -planets), this center is always within the confines of his own volume. -If, however, our sun were divided into two suns one, two, or five -million miles apart, each revolving around a common center of gravity -situated between the two, and the planets revolving around the same -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb166" href="#pb166" name= -"pb166">166</a>]</span>center of gravity, but relatively more distant, -the planets would thus rotate around both suns as a common center, and -with the electric polarity of both suns the same, as must necessarily -be the case, they would present phenomena precisely similar to those -exhibited by the double stars. And such might very easily be the case -in even a system so small as our own, for the planet Mercury has so -elliptical an orbit that its distance from the sun varies in different -parts of its annual movement from twenty-eight to forty-five millions -of miles. There would then be mutual electric repulsion of the two -solar electrospheres, such as we see in the case of comets and in the -sun’s corona and long streamers. Professor Proctor, article -“The Sun’s Long Streamers,” says, “These -singular appendages, like the streamers seen by Professor Abbe, extend -directly from the sun, as if he exerted some repellent -action …. I cannot but think that the true explanation of -these streamers, whatever it may be (I am not in the least prepared to -say what it is), will be found whensoever astronomers have found an -explanation of comets’ tails …. Whether the -repulsive force is electrical, magnetic, or otherwise, does not at -present concern us, or rather does concern us, but at present we are -quite unable to answer the question.” A similar example is to be -found in the self-repellent positive electrospheres of the earth and -moon, illustrated on a previous page, which, in fact, are types among -planets of precisely what we find in double stars. Now, if these double -central suns, with a <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb167" href="#pb167" -name="pb167">167</a>]</span>common system of planets revolving around -them both, differ one from the other in size, they will differ also in -the depth and density of their hydrogen atmospheres, and the electric -forces directed against them will produce different results in each. In -one we will have high temperature, great volatilization, and wide -absorption bands; in the other, a shallow atmosphere, a temperature -below that <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb168" href="#pb168" name= -"pb168">168</a>]</span>of an extensive volatilization of its metallic -components, and a spectrum rich in light at the blue end, while the -former one will be correspondingly richer in the yellow and red rays at -the opposite and lower end of the spectrum. One, in fact, will manifest -the phenomena of blue-white stars, the other, those of orange-red, but -variously modified in a chromatic series. The case may be extended to -multiple stars, and complementary colors, more or less perfect, may be -almost predicated as the law of compound solar bodies having cores like -that of our sun, but each of different mass, and surrounded by hydrogen -atmospheres of different depths and densities, both acted upon by the -same exterior planetary electrical currents. It is certainly true of -double stars, and probably so of all the others. Of course such -enormously massive double suns presuppose enormous planets, rotating -around them at enormous distances; but when we compare the distance of -our own satellite, the moon, from the earth with the distance of -Neptune from the sun, and consider that the light of the sun will reach -Neptune in about four hours, and then compare this distance with the -inconceivable distances of space requisite to retard and merge all -radiant energy into the diffused molecular energy of position, our -wonder will cease.</p> -<div class="figure p167width" id="p167"><img src="images/p167.jpg" alt= -"" width="484" height="486"> -<p class="first">Double stars with complementary colors.—A, B, C, -D, planets<span class="corr" id="xd26e1564" title="Source: :">;</span> -S, S′, double central sun<span class="corr" id="xd26e1567" title= -"Source: :">;</span> S, larger sun, with dark absorption spectrum, -yellow-red, or orange<span class="corr" id="xd26e1570" title= -"Source: :">;</span> S′, smaller sun, many bright lines, -bluish-white<span class="corr" id="xd26e1573" title= -"Source: :">;</span> E, E′, lines of planetary energy; S, -S′ also show self-repulsion of their solar electrospheres.</p> -</div> -<p>We have also to consider those single stars which (see -Appleton’s Cyclopædia, article “Star”) are -variable in their brilliancy. “These stars may be divided into -periodic variables, irregular variables, and temporary stars. Periodic -variable stars <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb169" href="#pb169" name= -"pb169">169</a>]</span>are those which undergo increase and diminution -of light at regular intervals. Thus, the star Mira, or Omicron of -Cetus, varies in lustre, in a period of three hundred and thirty-one -and one-third days, from the second magnitude to a faintness such that -the star can only be seen with a powerful telescope, and thence to the -second magnitude again. It shines for about a fortnight as a star of -the second magnitude, and then remains invisible for five months, the -<i>decrease</i> of lustre occupying about three months, the -<i>increase</i> about seven weeks. Such is the general course of its -phases. It does not always, however, return to the same degree of -brightness, nor increase and diminish by the same gradations; neither -are the successive intervals of its maxima equal. From recent -observations and inquiries into its history, the mean period would -appear to be subject to a cyclical fluctuation embracing eighty-eight -such periods, and having the effect of gradually lengthening and -shortening alternately those intervals to the extent of twenty-five -days one way and the other. The irregularities in the degree of -brightness attained at the maximum are probably also -periodical …. It suggests a probable explanation of these -changes of brightness, that when the star is near its minimum, its -color changes from white to a full red, which, from what we know of the -spectra of colored stars, seems to indicate that the loss of brightness -is due to the formation of many spots over the surface of this distant -sun.</p> -<p>“Algol is another remarkable variable, passing, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb170" href="#pb170" name= -"pb170">170</a>]</span>however, much more rapidly through all its -changes. It is ordinarily a second-magnitude star, but during about -seven hours in each period of sixty-nine hours its lustre first -diminishes until the star is reduced to a fourth magnitude, and after -it has remained twenty minutes at its minimum its lustre is gradually -restored. It remains a second-magnitude star for about sixty-two hours -in each period of sixty-nine hours. These changes seem to correspond to -what might be expected if a large opaque orb is circling around this -distant sun in a period of sixty-nine hours, transiting its disk at -regular intervals.”</p> -<p>Of this star, Professor Ball says, “Applying the improved -spectroscopic process to Algol, he [Vogel] determined on one night that -Algol was retreating from the earth at a speed of twenty-six miles per -second …. When Vogel came to repeat his observations, he -found that Algol was again moving with the same velocity, but this time -towards the earth instead of from it …. It appeared that -the movements were strictly periodic; that is to say, for one day and -ten hours the star is moving towards us, and then for a like time it -moves from us, the maximum speed being … twenty-six miles a -second …. It is invariably found that every time the -movement of retreat is concluded the star loses its brilliance, and -regains it again at the commencement of the return -movement …. The spectroscopic evidence admits of no other -interpretation save that there must be another mighty body in the -immediate vicinity of Algol …. Algol must <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb171" href="#pb171" name="pb171">171</a>]</span>be -attended by a companion star which, if not absolutely as devoid of -intrinsic light as the earth or the moon, is nevertheless dark -relatively to Algol. Once in each period of revolution this obscure -body intrudes itself between the earth and Algol, cutting off a portion -of the direct light from the star and thus producing the well-known -effect.” This is, in fact, a periodic transit or eclipse of Algol -by a planet, such as we see in eclipses of our own sun by the moon and -the inner planets, except that Algol’s planet is apparently -single like our moon with reference to the earth, and that it is -relatively much larger than any of our own planets, as we would -necessarily suppose it to be, if solitary. Its mass has been computed -by the effects which it produces, and we learn that it is not a dark -sun with a brilliant planet, but a brilliant sun with a dark planet, -just as our solar system presents. “Algol, at the moment of its -greatest eclipse, has lost about three-fifths of its light; it -therefore follows that the dark satellite must have covered -three-fifths of the bright surface …. The period of -maximum obscuration is about twenty minutes, and we know the velocity -of the bright star, which, along with the period of revolution, gives -the magnitude of the orbit.” From these data it has been computed -that the globe of Algol itself is about one-fourth larger than that of -our visible sun, but its mass is so much less that its weight is only -one-half that of our sun, so that its body is probably gaseous. The -author concludes, “No one, however, will be <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb172" href="#pb172" name= -"pb172">172</a>]</span>likely to doubt that it is the law of -gravitation, pure and simple, which prevails in the celestial spaces, -and consequently we are able to make use of it to explain the -circumstances attending the movements of Algol’s dark companion. -<i>This body is the smaller of the two</i>, and the speed with which it -moves is double as great as that of Algol, so that it travels over as -many miles in a second as an express train can get over in an hour. The -companion of Algol is about the same size as our sun, but has a mass -only one-fourth as great. This indicates a globe of matter which must -be <i>largely in the gaseous state</i>, but which, <i>nevertheless, -seems to be devoid of intrinsic luminosity</i>. Their distance [apart] -is always some three million miles. This is, however, an unusually -short distance when compared with the dimensions of the two globes -themselves.” With this exception, the author says, “the -movements of Algol and its companion are not very dissimilar to -movements in the solar system with which we are already -familiar.” It will be seen that the want of luminosity in the -dark companion of Algol finds a ready explanation in the fact that it -is a planet, acting precisely as our own planets do, and that the -luminosity of Algol itself is directly attributable to the electricity -developed by the presence of this planet rotating axially and orbitally -around it, and the darkness of the planet itself is the necessary -correlative of the heat and light of its sun. The planet has about -one-half the density of Saturn, while Algol has one-half the density of -the sun, and hence we <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb173" href= -"#pb173" name="pb173">173</a>]</span>should expect to find on Algol an -atmosphere largely composed of glowing hydrogen, and on its planet an -atmosphere largely composed of oxygen, in which, doubtless, float -enormous clouds of aqueous vapor. The interpretation is direct and -conclusive, and upon no other hypothesis can the facts be explained, -for their close connection with each other demonstrates their common -origin, and their masses are not so different one from the other as to -permit, on any theory of their coequal origin as suns, one to glow with -the fires of youth and energy and the other to have grown dark and dead -from old age and exhaustion, and especially so if still in its gaseous -stage, which is that which must characterize its highest state of -incandescent energy from the most active condensation of its volume, if -the nebular hypothesis has any validity whatever. In fact, this example -alone, if the constitution of Algol’s dark satellite is really -gaseous, must go very far to throw the gravest doubt, in itself, on the -validity of this hypothesis.</p> -<p>The star Beta, of the constellation Lyra, has a full period of -twelve days and twenty-two hours, divided into two periods of six days -and eleven hours, in each of which the star has a maximum brightness of -about the three and one-half magnitude, but in one period the minimum -is about the four and one-third magnitude, while in the other it is -about the four and one-half magnitude. This peculiarity points, it is -said, to an opaque orb with a satellite, the satellite being occulted -by the primary in the alternative transits, and therefore the loss of -light is less. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb174" href="#pb174" name= -"pb174">174</a>]</span></p> -<p>The star Delta of Cepheus is quite different, however, for, while it -takes only one, day and fourteen hours in passing from its minimum to -maximum of brightness, it occupies three days and nineteen hours, or -somewhat more than double this time, in passing from maximum to -minimum. Two or three hundred of these variable stars are already -known. The above examples are cited in detail because they furnish the -strongest possible proof of the truth of the hypothesis which we are -endeavoring to present. While the movements of the stars Algol and Beta -Lyræ may find an adequate interpretation in the one case in a -large occulting planet, and in the other in an occulting planet with a -satellite, it is obvious that Mira and Delta Cephei cannot be explained -except by the presence of planetary bodies or satellites which do not -<i>mechanically</i> occult the light of their suns. In these regularly -variable stars it is the light which varies, but of course the solar -heat must vary also,—that is to say, the solar energy varies -regularly, but with unequal periods of growth and decline and with -larger periods of cyclical variation in addition. Such variations can -only be produced by the action of permanently connected and orbitally -rotating planetary bodies, acting <i>dynamically</i> through space, to -regularly increase and diminish the solar energy, and such bodies can -only do this by their orbital positions with reference to each other -and to the central sun itself. In this case, since the activity of -solar energy is most unquestionably varied by the planetary energies, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb175" href="#pb175" name= -"pb175">175</a>]</span>by their position and movements, at least a -portion of solar energy <i>must</i> be due to planetary action, and if -this be so, it may be affirmed with certainty that substantially all -solar energy may be produced in the same way; for, otherwise, we seek -for two diverse causes to produce a single effect, which may be -produced by one. We have no knowledge, however, of any planetary energy -which could operate to increase or diminish the energy of the central -sun in its emission of light, except that which we have already -presented, and no theory of our own sun’s energy hitherto -advanced has ever taken cognizance of the planetary energies of our -system as an effective cause for those of the sun. But while the -sun’s energy is—as it must be in this case—the -outcome of that of the planets, it is equally obvious that the planets -themselves can have no permanent, inherent energy of their own to -generate or modify such energy of the sun, since they are in fact -supplied by the solar energy, and their motions are controlled and -regulated by the sun itself. Hence the inference is irresistible that -the planets must derive their primary force from an external source not -solar, and this they can only do by means of their rotation in space, -and the only force derivable from space of which we have any knowledge -is electricity, so that the circle thus becomes complete. How now shall -we explain these periodical aberrations of energy? The color of a star, -as we know, is no criterion of its age or size. The color is due to -atmospheric absorption of the radiant light. The double stars, for -example, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb176" href="#pb176" name= -"pb176">176</a>]</span>revolve around each other at regular periods, -and they are necessarily of nearly the same age, as sidereal ages are -computed, but they frequently differ one from the other in color, and -multiple stars may be all different each from the others; and the -color, as before stated, is no criterion of size, for a small sun, with -its glowing hydrogen in a state of high incandescence, and with few -absorption bands in its spectrum, will appear bluish-white, or of that -specific type of stars, without reference to size, while a much larger -sun, with its light darkened by broad absorption bands and sun-spots, -will appear orange or red; and, consequently, difference of color can -be no criterion of distance, since a blue-white star of small size will -outshine a red orb of much greater magnitude, whether it be more or -less distant. The variable stars, for these reasons, belong to the -order of red stars mostly, if not altogether. We must also bear in mind -that sun-spots do not diminish the solar heat, as they are the result -of increased and not of diminished energy. Electric currents of high -potential pass directly, as we know, along the lines of least -resistance to their opposite center of polarity, so that two planets -nearly in conjunction with each other transmit their currents almost -directly towards the sun’s center, and upon the same point of -solar latitude, while, if at right angles with the sun, they must -deliver their electricity along converging lines and thus strike the -solar surface at different points. Currents of electricity of high -potential also (see “Electricity in the Service of Man,” -page 75), by <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb177" href="#pb177" name= -"pb177">177</a>]</span>their own passage, facilitate the passage of -succeeding currents, so that generators discharging along the same -lines find less and less resistance. It is true that we find no -appreciable resistance in the passage of these currents between the -earth and the sun, as their velocity is that of light, but both light -and electricity may be equally retarded by resistance in a small -degree. We know also that in the condensed hydrogen atmosphere of the -sun there must be resistance, and also that the resistance in fluids -diminishes as the temperature rises. Considering now the variable star -Mira, as above described, we observe, as is the case with Delta Cephei, -also cited, that the period between its greatest light, in a descending -scale, and its least is about twice as long as its rise from minimum to -maximum. During a period of four years (1672 to 1676) it is said that -it was not visible at all.</p> -<div class="figure p178width" id="p178"><img src="images/p178.jpg" alt= -"" width="486" height="486"> -<p class="first">Possible solar system of variable star Mira.—D, -central sun with axis of rotation considerably inclined from -perpendicular to planetary plane; A, B, double internal planet, like -the earth and moon, with short orbital period; C, large external -planet, like Jupiter, with long period; line A′, B′, -C′, conjunction, period of greatest energy; A, B, C, opposition, -period of least planetary energy.</p> -</div> -<p>If Mira be considered a relatively small sun, with its axis strongly -inclined to the planetary plane, and having three planets only, two of -them constituting a double planet, like the earth and moon, but nearly -equal in size, and having a rotation about the sun in nearly eleven -months and a rotation about each other in the same period, and, besides -these, a much more distant large planet, something like our Jupiter, -with an orbital period of many years, so that the cycle of relative -positions is complete in about eighty-eight of the shorter periods of -variation, we would have such results as we see in Mira. Twice in each -revolution of the double planet its two members and <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb178" href="#pb178" name= -"pb178">178</a>]</span>their sun would be in conjunction, and we would -have great brilliancy and whiteness until the metallic elements began -to volatilize in increased proportions; then an era of wide absorption -bands and redness, gradually increasing to a maximum after its periods -of greatest light, and then slowly diminishing as the double planet -advanced in its <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb179" href="#pb179" -name="pb179">179</a>]</span>rotation; and, finally, as it again -approached conjunction, the brilliant hydrogen illumination, -subsequently followed by the gradually darkened spectrum, and so on, -while the large outer planet by its various positions would first -relatively retard and then accelerate the variation until its grand -cycle was complete. The permanent disappearance for years, if true, may -be due to other causes, which will be referred to in considering the -phenomena of new and temporary stars. Many of the irregular variables -may doubtless be similarly explained,—our own sun, in fact, being -a variable with a period of about eleven years,—and doubtless the -apparent irregularity in most cases is due to lack of sufficient time -for observation. Those stars which are in fact really irregular in -their variation owe their changes, doubtless, to the same causes which -produce new stars, so called, and “suns in flames,” which -will be next considered.</p> -<p>Among the countless stars of heaven a great catastrophe seems -occasionally to occur. A star bursts out into sudden flame, to all -appearance, or a great fixed star appears where no star had ever been -seen before. In Professor Proctor’s article, “Suns in -Flames” (“Myths and Marvels of Astronomy”), we will -find an extended discussion of these wonderful phenomena. The -astronomer Tycho Brahe described the one which appeared in 1572 as -follows: “It suddenly shone forth in the constellation Cassiopeia -with a splendor exceeding that of stars of the first magnitude, or even -Jupiter or Venus at their brightest, and could be seen by <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb180" href="#pb180" name="pb180">180</a>]</span>the -naked eye on the meridian at full day. Its brilliancy gradually -diminished from the time of its first appearance, and at the end of -sixteen months it entirely disappeared, and has never been seen since. -During the whole time of its apparition its place in the heavens -remained unaltered, and it had no annual parallax, so that its distance -was of the same order as that of the fixed stars.” Tycho -described its changes of color as follows: first, as having been of a -bright white; afterwards of a reddish-yellow, like Mars or Aldebaran; -and, lastly, of a leaden white, like Saturn. In 1604 a first-magnitude -star suddenly appeared in the right foot of Ophiucus. “It -presented appearances resembling those shown by the former, and -disappeared after a few months.” Many other cases are cited by -astronomers, and in 1866 “a star appeared in the Northern Crown, -the observations of which threw great light on the subject of so-called -new stars. In the first place, it was found that where this new star -appeared there had been a tenth-magnitude star; the new star, then, was -in reality a <i>star long known, which had acquired new brilliancy</i>. -“When first observed with this abnormal lustre, it was shining as -a star of the second magnitude. Examined with the spectroscope, its -light revealed a startling state of things in those remote depths of -space. The usual stellar spectrum, rainbow-tinted and crossed by dark -lines, <i>was seen to be crossed also by four exceedingly bright lines, -the spectrum of glowing hydrogen</i>…. The greater part of the -star’s light manifestly came from this glowing <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb181" href="#pb181" name= -"pb181">181</a>]</span>hydrogen, though it can scarcely be doubted that -the rest of the spectrum was brighter than before the outburst, the -materials of the star being raised to an intense heat. The maximum -brightness exceeded that of a tenth-magnitude star nearly eight hundred -times. After shining for a short time as a second-magnitude star, it -diminished rapidly in lustre, and it is now between the ninth and tenth -magnitudes” (Appleton’s Cyclopædia). Of this new -star, Professor Ball says, “Another memorable achievement in the -early part of Dr. Huggins’s career is connected with the -celebrated new star that burst forth in the Crown in 1866. It seemed a -fortunate coincidence that just at the moment when the spectroscope was -beginning to be applied to the sidereal heavens a star of such -marvellous character should have presented itself …. The -feature which made the spectrum of the new star essentially distinct -from that of any other star that had been previously observed was the -presence of certain bright lines superposed on a spectrum with dark -lines of one of the ordinary types. The position of certain of these -lines showed that one of the luminous gases must be -hydrogen …. The spectroscope showed that there must have -been something which we may describe as a conflagration of hydrogen on -a stupendous scale, and this outburst would account for the sudden -increase in luminosity of the star, and also to some extent explain how -so stupendous an illumination, once kindled, could dwindle away in so -short a time as a few days.” It will be seen that these new stars -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb182" href="#pb182" name= -"pb182">182</a>]</span>leap suddenly into great brilliancy: it is a -matter of a few hours only. After remaining a very short time in this -stage of abnormal incandescence, they gradually die out again in lustre -and revert <i>to their original condition</i>; they are not consumed -either in body or atmosphere.</p> -<p>Several theories have been advanced to account for these remarkable -phenomena; see “Suns in Flames,” by Professor Proctor. One -is, in effect, that by some sudden “internal convulsion a large -volume of hydrogen and other gases was evolved from it, the hydrogen by -its combination with some other element giving out the lines -represented by the bright lines, and at the same time heating to a -point of vivid incandescence the solid matter of the star’s -surface …. As the liberated hydrogen gas became exhausted -the flame gradually abated, and with the consequent cooling the -star’s surface became less vivid and the star <i>returned to its -original condition</i>;” which, by the way, it never could have -done if its atmosphere had been exposed to such a disintegration, -without the construction of an entirely new atmosphere precisely -similar to the one just destroyed. The process would be one of simple -combustion. It requires the evolution of enormous volumes of hydrogen -from within the planet, and of other enormous volumes of something -else, by which to burn it up and yet not burn up the <i>original</i> -hydrogen envelope. This other element could not have previously existed -outside the solar body and contiguous thereto, or it would have burned -up the ordinary hydrogen envelope of the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb183" href="#pb183" name="pb183">183</a>]</span>sun long before, as -well as the metallic vapors floating therein. Both these mutually -hostile gases must have come from within, and this is manifestly -impossible, as we should thus have explosion and solar destruction, but -not combustion. There is no reason to believe that hydrogen, the -lightest of elements, could have remained occluded within the solar -mass, to the exclusion of the heavier metals, if disassociated, and if -held combined no such sudden liberation could occur. Besides, such -convulsion would be impossible in any sun at all resembling ours, as -any further liberation of gases from internal condensation must be due -to solar contraction, hence gradual, and not sudden. Moreover, such -liberation of hydrogen gas from within would show its spectrum loaded, -at its earliest eruption, with absorption bands; and, finally, the -convulsion presupposes as great an activity, and consequently as great -a difficulty, before the phenomenon as the phenomenon itself presents; -for such vast disturbance of mass would be more difficult to account -for, and require more energy to produce, than the results themselves. -Moreover, the whole mass of the star appeared to increase equally in -temperature, as shown by the spectrum, and, if produced by an internal -convulsion, this must have extended to, if not proceeded from, its -core; so that while the combustion of hydrogen might have ceased in a -very brief time, the intense heat of the solar mass could not have been -dissipated for thousands of years. It would, in fact, have disrupted -the whole orb. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb184" href="#pb184" name= -"pb184">184</a>]</span></p> -<p>Another theory is that this vast incandescence was caused by the -“violent precipitation of some mighty mass—perhaps a -planet—upon the globe of that remote sun, by which the momentum -of the falling mass would be changed into molecular motion; in other -words, into heat and light.” This theory is no more plausible -than the other, since it fails to account for the enormous volume of -hydrogen, with bright lines, as a result of such contact; while -Professor Proctor very clearly shows that such contact would have been -preceded, necessarily, by repeated partial grazings, as the outside -body repeatedly passed in swifter and closer passage by the sun in its -gradually approaching orbital revolutions, and that the increase of -light and heat must have been measured by years instead of by hours. -The same difficulties exist in the supposed passage of the star through -nebulæ or star clouds, of which Professor Proctor says, “As -for the rush of a star through a nebulous mass, that is a theory which -would scarcely be entertained by any one acquainted with the enormous -distances separating them …. All we certainly know -suggests that the distances separating them from each other are -comparable with those which separate star from star.” In fact, no -tenable theory has been advanced which will cover the phenomena. -Professor Proctor describes a star which flamed out in 1876. At -midnight, November 24, a star of the third magnitude was noticed in the -constellation of the Swan; its light was very yellow; its brilliancy -rapidly faded. On December 2 it was equal <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb185" href="#pb185" name="pb185">185</a>]</span>to a star of the -fifth magnitude only, and the color, which had been yellow, was now -greenish-blue. “The star’s spectrum at this time consisted -almost entirely of bright lines. December 5 he found three bright lines -of hydrogen, the strong double line of sodium, the triple line of -magnesium, and two other lines. One of these last seemed to agree -exactly in position with a bright line belonging to the corona seen -around the sun during total eclipse.” The star afterwards faded -away gradually until quite invisible to the naked eye. It will be -noticed that none of the above elements—sodium, potassium, or -magnesium—are such as would combine with hydrogen to produce the -phenomena in question. Professor Proctor concludes, “This -evidence seems to me to suggest that the intense heat which suddenly -affected this star had its origin from without.” He suggests -possible meteoric flights; but meteoric stones themselves are separated -in space by enormous distances, and these, if converged in orbital -flight, would present the same phenomena of successive grazings as a -small planet approaching under like circumstances, and by their -gradually increasing incandescence we should certainly have other -elements visible in the spectroscope besides those observed. And these -meteoric bodies, if projected into the sun, would pass in a very brief -time through the hydrogen envelope, producing only local phenomena, so -that their first blow would be manifested in volatilization of the -outer portions of the mass and broad absorption bands, and consequent -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb186" href="#pb186" name= -"pb186">186</a>]</span>redness of the planet, exhibiting great heat, -but not great light. In such case the bright lines of hydrogen, if they -appeared at all, would only be visible as an after-consequence, and not -at the earliest moment of conflagration,—that is, the star might -grow from red to white, but by no possibility the reverse. It is, -however, characteristic of these new stars that their first flash, as -it were, is into the incandescence of directly glowing hydrogen, with -its bright lines, then through a series of gradually increasing -sun-spots, and finally a slow return to their original condition and -apparent magnitude. It is obviously a surface phenomenon of the solar -atmosphere, primarily, then followed by consequences involving only the -outer surface of the solar core, but with no observable permanent -change in the character or constitution of the mass of the sun itself. -These characteristics are invariable, and the sequence of phenomena is -the same in all the cases observed. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb187" href="#pb187" name="pb187">187</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch7" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e261">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VII.</h2> -<h2 class="main">TEMPORARY STARS, METEORS, AND COMETS.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">What, then, is the probable cause of these terrific -conflagrations, as they appear to us? Take an ordinary electric -induction machine,—a Holtz or a Wimshurst,—and, if the -surrounding air is moist, as we operate it we will find that the -results are poor, the sparks short and relatively few; but let us take -the machine into another room in which the atmosphere is dry and crisp. -A wondrous change will occur, and instead of a current which could -scarcely flash across a few inches of space, we will now have so great -an increase of energy that its tension will even cause the spark to -perforate and destroy the glass walls of the heavy Leyden jars in which -it is condensed. The vast realms of space, with their attenuated -vapors, are the field in which the planetary electric generators -operate, and into which, likewise, myriads of suns constantly pour -their light and heat. We may consider this space, according to the -popular view, to be uniform in constitution and density throughout all -its parts,—that it is, in fact, like a vast, silent, and -motionless dead sea. But this cannot possibly be true, any more than -throughout the vast compass of our own atmosphere; for while some parts -of space are peopled by millions of solar <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb188" href="#pb188" name="pb188">188</a>]</span>systems, others, as -we can plainly see, so far as telescopic vision extends, are -comparatively vacant. Far more electricity is being abstracted (so to -speak) in some parts of space than in others, and far more heat and -light are being poured back to restore the equilibrium in some than in -others. We have already seen that the temperature at the exterior -surface of the terrestrial atmosphere is estimated to be more than two -hundred degrees higher than in the realms of open interplanetary space; -hence there must be currents,—currents of rotation like cyclones, -vortical currents like whirlwinds, currents of transmission like our -land- and sea-breezes and the trade-winds,—and, in fact, all -space must be in a state of constant displacement and replacement, and, -if visible, we should see it like a vast room filled with smoke, in -which currents of every shape and direction and of all velocities would -be manifest. Such currents could throw nebulæ during their -condensation into rotation which could never rotate of their own -motion, or gather to centers of aggregation vast whirling clouds of -spatial matter, and in the spiral nebulæ we may see many such -movements of rotation in apparent active progress. Of these we read in -Appleton’s Cyclopædia, “They have the appearance of a -maelstrom of stellar matter, and are among the most interesting objects -in the heavens.” In Professor Nichol’s splendid work -(“The Architecture of the Heavens,” 1850) we may see -magnificent engravings of these wonderful phenomena, from the drawings -by Lord Rosse, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb189" href="#pb189" name= -"pb189">189</a>]</span>and no one can study these figures without -realizing the presence of vast currents in space.</p> -<div class="figure floatLeft p189width" id="p189"><img src= -"images/p189.jpg" alt="" width="323" height="324"></div> -<p>In the great spiral nebula in the constellation <i>Canes -Venatici</i> (see illustration in Chapter XII.) we perceive that the -tail of the smaller nebula has been drawn into the outer convolution of -the great spiral, against the radial repulsion of the latter nebula, as -we can see by its curvature. This can only be due to a tremendous -inflowing current in space. Were the deflection due to gravity the -trend would be to the center and not to the outer convolution of the -larger nebula. Professor Nichol says, “The spiral figure is -characteristic of an extensive class of galaxies.” Not only in -the spiral, but in other forms of nebulæ we may observe these -currents of space, so that we cannot fail to perceive that they exist, -and we should even conclude, <i>a priori</i>, that these must -exist.</p> -<p>In the elongated linear nebula in Sobieski’s Crown, -illustrated above, its length is deflected into irregular curves -apparently due to counter-currents of space. These gaseous -nebulæ, Flammarion says, “appear like immense vaporous -clouds tossed about by some rough winds, pierced with deep rents, and -broken in jagged portions.” It may be said generally that every -sun, as it drifts through <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb190" href= -"#pb190" name="pb190">190</a>]</span>space, must leave a wake of -increased electric potential among the molecules which line its -pathway. Beyond the limits of every vortex extend radial or tangential, -polar or equatorial, streams of space, and these must extend without -limit until deflected or neutralized by other conditions. Throughout -all space, just as in our own atmosphere, but vastly more slowly, there -must be an infinitude of movements in every direction,—movements -in lines, circles, vortices, ellipses and irregular curvatures, and of -all possible varieties of mass and volume.</p> -<p>Suppose, now, a sailing vessel lighted with incandescent lamps, the -electrical currents for the support of which are derived from the -chemical action of sea-water on multiple pairs of suitable metallic -plates arranged to extend downward as a galvanic battery into the ocean -as the ship sails along, and that these plates, by the chemical action -of the sea-water at ordinary, temperatures, should furnish a sufficient -current to properly light the vessel. If the constancy of such current -depended on the average temperature of the sea-water, at, say, sixty -degrees Fahrenheit, we should find that, on suddenly crossing into the -Gulf Stream, with a temperature twenty degrees higher, the energy of -the battery would be rapidly increased and the lights would glow with -increased brilliancy until, on emerging from the Gulf Stream at its -opposite side, the original status would be gradually restored. If -these distant solar systems, in their drift through space, should -encounter a corresponding stream <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb191" -href="#pb191" name="pb191">191</a>]</span>under an increased molecular -tension, more highly heated, for example, or charged with electrical -potential by the surrounding solar systems, or otherwise, we should -expect a similar result to ensue,—that the currents would be -increased suddenly, both in quantity and intensity, and all the -phenomena of “blazing” stars be revealed in the precise -order in which we see them. Professor Proctor seems to have had some -such idea of space vaguely in his mind when he says, in his -“Familiar Essays,” “One is invited to believe that -the star may have been carried by its proper motions into regions where -there is a more uniform distribution of the material whence this orb -recruits its fires. It may be that, in the consideration of such causes -of variation affecting our sun in long-past ages, a more satisfactory -explanation than any yet obtained may be found of the problem -geologists found so perplexing,—the former existence of a -tropical climate in places within the temperate zone, or even near the -arctic regions. Sir John Herschel long since pointed to the variation -of the sun as a possible cause of such changes of climate.” In -confirmation of the view that such changes may be due to the passage of -a solar system into or through such a “Gulf Stream” of -space, we quote the following from Professor Proctor’s -“Suns in Flames:” “It is noteworthy that all the -stars which have blazed out suddenly, except one, have appeared in a -particular region of the heavens,—the zone of the Milky Way (all, -too, in one-half of that zone). The single exception is the star in the -Northern Crown, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb192" href="#pb192" -name="pb192">192</a>]</span>and that star appeared in a region which I -have found to be connected with the Milky Way <i>by a well-marked -stream of stars</i>; not a stream of a few stars scattered here and -there, but a stream where thousands of stars are closely aggregated -together, though not quite so closely as to form a visible extension of -the Milky Way …. Now, the Milky Way and the outlying -streams of stars connected with it seem to form a region of the stellar -universe where fashioning processes are still at work.” In just -such regions of potential energy should we look for such currents in -space, as, on our own earth, the Gulf Stream and the trade-winds, as -well as cyclones and other atmospheric movements, find their origin -under precisely parallel circumstances,—to wit, the outpour upon -and direct precipitation of increased quantities of heat at the tropics -or other local centers of such development. The effects of such an -increase of quantity and potential in an electrical current are clearly -illustrated in the device previously referred to, in which electrolytic -decomposition was effected in a pail of water; we find it also in the -burning out of the brushes and commutators in dynamo-electric machines -and in telegraphic apparatus during thunder-storms and the like. -Allowing a solar system a drift through space only equal to that of our -own, which has a relatively slow movement, it would traverse such a -“Gulf Stream” of space seven hundred thousand miles wide in -a single day. But it may not even have passed through; it may merely -have grazed the margin of such a current; for the motions of -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb193" href="#pb193" name= -"pb193">193</a>]</span>solar systems are not controlled by the same -forces as those upon which their electrical energies depend.</p> -<p>Professor Ball, in his chapter on the great heat-wave of 1892, says, -“Towards the end of July an extraordinarily high temperature, -even for that period of the year, prevailed over a very large part of -the North American continent. The so-called heat-wave then seems to -have travelled eastward and crossed the Atlantic Ocean; … a -fortnight after the occurrence of unusually great heat in the New World -there was a similar experience in the Old World …. This -discussion will at all events enable us to make some reply to the -question which has often been asked, as to what was the cause of the -great heat-wave …. It is, however, quite possible that -certain changes in progress on the sun may act in a specific manner on -our climate …. It cannot be denied that local, if not -general, changes in the sun’s temperature must be the -accompaniment of the violent disturbances by which our luminary is now -and then agitated. It is, indeed, well known that there are occasional -outbreaks of solar activity, and that these recur in a periodic manner; -it is accordingly not without interest to notice that the present year -has been one of the periods of this activity. We are certainly not -going so far as to say that any connection has been definitely -established between a season of exuberant sun-spots and a season -remarkable for excessive warmth; but, as we know that there is a -connection between the magnetic condition of the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb194" href="#pb194" name= -"pb194">194</a>]</span>earth and the state of solar activity, it is by -no means impossible that climate and sun-spots may also stand in some -relationship to each other.” These local deviations are doubtless -due to planetary positions with reference to the sun, but more general -variations must depend upon the constitution of such parts of space as -the solar system may occupy; but even then they will be but temporary, -since the sun’s volume will rapidly expand or contract so as -finally to restore the normal emission of solar heat, as will be -further explained later on in this work.</p> -<div class="figure p196width" id="p196"><img src="images/p196.jpg" alt= -"" width="482" height="492"> -<p class="first">Phenomena of a new or temporary star, a “star in -flames.”—1, normal state of star, photosphere more highly -heated than chromosphere: 2, stage of highest incandescence, -chromosphere expanded and more highly heated than photosphere, bright -line spectrum: 3, stage of recession, chromosphere diminishing in -incandescence, heat acting upon solar core, numerous spots, -volatilization of metallic surface, spectrum of dark absorption bands; -4, return to normal state again.</p> -</div> -<p>There are other causes also, readily conceivable, for such increased -electrical action; for instance, in that thickly-peopled region of -space, two solar systems adjacent might easily have their exterior -planets so related to each other as suddenly, at their points of -nearest approach, to cause one or more to direct an abnormally large -electrical current into the sun of the adjacent system; this would -correspond in electric energy, in fact, to a violent -“perturbation” in its orbit by the action of gravity -produced by a neighboring planet or system. No reversal of polarity -could take place between these planets under these circumstances, any -more than between the earth and the moon. In some portions of the Milky -Way, doubtless, suns blaze by dozens across the sky at night, and by -day as well, to which, in our more solitary skies, we are strangers. -Revolving in perfect harmony, perturbations must nevertheless be -frequent, and to what limits they may there be confined we shall -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb195" href="#pb195" name= -"pb195">195</a>]</span>never know until we realize the extent of these -galaxies and the relative contiguity of their solar systems to each -other. It is enough to show how such variations may occur; in what -particular way they do occur does not affect the question of their -origin. Even if such increased energy were to continue by permanently -increased planetary action, it is not necessary to suppose that a -corresponding permanent increase of light and heat would result on the -part of the sun, for its density is such (only one-fourth that of the -earth) that, under the tremendous force of its gravity (twenty-seven -and one-tenth times that of the earth), its constituents cannot be -maintained in solid form, but must be, as before stated, either liquid -or gaseous, and perhaps in part both. Now, as it has been computed that -the sun, by contraction to its present density, would have evolved its -present light and heat for a period of millions of years, it is obvious -that any increase in its present volume, without increase of mass, -would produce precisely opposite and compensated results, so that the -sun could receive from outside sources as much heat as would expand its -present volume to that at the initial point of such assumed -condensation without increased emission of light and heat. The sun is -thus, in effect, a self-compensating machine, and its passage through a -region of increased electrical generation would first manifest itself -in a vast increase of brilliancy, due to higher incandescence of its -hydrogen envelope; this, in turn, would be communicated to the deeper -structures of the sun, producing increased volatilization <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb196" href="#pb196" name="pb196">196</a>]</span>and -dark absorption bands, and finally to the whole solar mass, expanding -its volume in proportion to the heat absorbed. Hence we should see -precisely the phenomena that we do see in flaming stars or so-called -new stars. We find such compensations all through nature, and it is -simply in <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb197" href="#pb197" name= -"pb197">197</a>]</span>accordance with her universal laws that they -occur. It is a singular circumstance that the catastrophe which is -foretold in the biblical record as the termination of all human life on -earth, for the present cycle, at least, should be almost literally in -accordance with the phenomena characteristic of such an increase of -solar energy, and one produced in some such manner. If the temperature -of the solar atmosphere were rapidly raised by increased planetary -action to a point which would reverse the lines of hydrogen from dark -to bright, say to a brightness eight hundred times that of the normal, -as in the case of the temporary star cited, though the heat would not, -of course, be increased in any such proportion, yet the heavens would -be indeed rolled up as a scroll, and all life would be extinguished in -a very brief period. But the planets would continue to roll along their -orbits, the integrity of the earth’s mass would still be intact, -and after a few days or weeks the sun would begin to decline in -brightness, the volatilized vapors would slowly recede within the solar -atmosphere, and the temperature would gradually fall again to its -normal, leaving, however, a lifeless world to roll on its way -henceforth, but as bright and cheerful in all its possibilities, when -the former conditions had gradually become restored, as before. Perhaps -some distant astronomer in the neighborhood of Sirius—if we shall -have travelled so far away by that time—might send a note to the -morning papers to announce that the temporary star near Alpha Centauri -had again receded to the tenth <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb198" -href="#pb198" name="pb198">198</a>]</span>magnitude. In due -time—perhaps a thousand years—all would be ready for a new -development of life, and the cycle would continue as before. Perchance, -too, in some deep abyss, or buried far beneath the surface, some germs -of life might still continue to exist; and from these, like the seeds -resurrected from buried mummies, a new life might again begin, guided -along once more through vast ages in a progressive ascent from -development to development until, in some new and strange forms, the -higher types of life might again appear. To these there would indeed be -revealed a new heaven and a new earth. Who knows how many such cycles -of life may have come and gone on earth, in which, like the dwellers of -Jerusalem, new peoples have built new cities, one above another, upon -the unknown graves of the past? In the words of Tennyson,—</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“A wondrous eft was of old the Lord and Master of -earth,</p> -<p class="line">For him did his high sun flame, and his river billowing -ran,</p> -<p class="line">And he felt himself in his force to be Nature’s -crowning race.</p> -<p class="line">As nine months go to the shaping an infant ripe for his -birth,</p> -<p class="line">So many a million of ages have gone to the making -man:</p> -<p class="line">He now is first, but is he the last?”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">Whatever the coming, the progress, or the going of -life on earth, the course of our solar system will go on the same, the -processes of creation unchanged and her mechanism unimpaired. It is -obvious that no such conditions could prevail in the return to -unorganizable chaos which must be the consequence of any possible -planetary collisions in space. No conceivable process of creation could -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb199" href="#pb199" name= -"pb199">199</a>]</span>return a system disrupted into meteorites to an -operative solar system again. Even the nebular hypothesis contemplates -nothing of that sort as, by the wildest conjecture, ever possible. But -with us the danger is far distant. Professor Proctor says, in his -article “Suns in Flames,” “As Sir William Herschel -long since pointed out, we can recognize in various parts of the -heavens various stages of development, and chief among the regions -where as yet nature’s work seems incomplete is the Galactic -zone,—especially that half of it where the Milky Way consists of -irregular streams and clouds of stellar light. As there is no reason -for believing that our sun belongs to this part of the galaxy, but, on -the contrary, good ground for considering that he belongs to the class -of insulated stars, few of which have shown signs of irregular -variation, while none have ever blazed suddenly out with many hundred -times their former lustre, we may fairly infer a very high degree of -probability in favor of the belief that, for many ages still to come, -the sun will continue steadily to discharge his duties as fire, light, -and life of the solar system.” The passage of our system through -gradually changing regions of space, as contrasted with streams or -vortices, could not affect our sun’s light even temporarily, as -the contraction and expansion of its volume would fully compensate for -any such gradual or partial variation, and, by position, he is far from -likely to pass into any of those whirlpools or torrents of space which -seem to mark at irregular intervals the region of the irregularly -variable stars. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb200" href="#pb200" -name="pb200">200</a>]</span></p> -<p>Allied in appearance to such stars which suddenly flame out in -space, but totally different in reality, are comets. These strangers to -our own system have excited the wonder and astonishment of mankind from -the earliest ages. They seem to defy all rules and all explanation; -but, when properly examined, they will fall inevitably into the general -scheme of the source and mode of solar energy which we have endeavored -to present. These bodies enter our solar system from without. -Appleton’s Cyclopædia says, “Schiaparelli, to whom -the discovery is in part due, considers the meteors to be dispersed -portions of the comet’s original substance,—that is, of the -substance with which <i>the comet entered the solar domain</i>.” -Professor Proctor, “Meteoric Astronomy,” says, “A -word or two may be permitted on the question of the condition of -<i>comets freshly arriving on the scene of the solar system</i>. It is -assumed sometimes that the train of meteors already exists when the -comet <i>first comes within the solar domain</i>.” In the -“Romance of Astronomy” (R. Kalley Miller, M.A.) it is said, -“In a sort of debatable territory between our own solar system -and the infinite stellar universe around we come upon these erratic and -anomalous bodies—the comets; some of which have accidentally -become permanent attendants upon our sun; others have only paid it a -single casual visit in the course of their wanderings through space, -and are not likely again to come within the range of its attracting -influence; while countless millions are doubtless scattered throughout -the realms of the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb201" href="#pb201" -name="pb201">201</a>]</span>infinite, whose existence will never be -revealed to human ken at all.” Professor Helmholtz, in fact (see -addendum to his lecture on the origin of the planetary system), -advanced the idea in a speculative way, that our terrestrial life might -have had its origin in one of these meteoric bodies by the -“transmission of organisms through space.” In Professor -Proctor’s article on comets (“Mysteries of Time and -Space”) he says, “The paths followed by comets show no -resemblance either to the planetary orbits or to each other. Here we -see a comet travelling in a path of moderate extent and not very -eccentric; then another which rushes from a distance of two or three -thousand millions of miles, approaches the sun with ever-increasing -velocity until nearer to him than parts of his own corona (as seen in -eclipses), sweeps around him with inconceivable rapidity, and makes off -again to where the aphelion of its orbit lies far out in space beyond -the most distant known planet,—Neptune. Some comets travel in a -direct, some in a retrograde path; a few near the plane of the -earth’s orbit, many in planes showing every variety of -inclination. Some comets regularly return after intervals of a few -years; some after hundreds of years; others are only seen once or -twice, and then unaccountably vanish; and not a few show by the paths -they follow that they have come from interstellar space to pay our -system but a single visit, passing out again to traverse we know not -what other systems or regions …. When we have said that -these objects obey the law of gravity, we have <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb202" href="#pb202" name= -"pb202">202</a>]</span>mentioned the only circumstance—as it -would appear—in which they conform to the relations observed in -terrestrial and planetary arrangements. And even this law—the -widest yet revealed to man—they seem to obey half unwillingly. We -see the head of a comet tracing out systematically enough its proper -orbit, while the comet’s tail is all unruly and -disobedient …. The fact, then, is demonstrated that two of -the meteor streams encountered by the earth are so far associated with -two comets as to travel on the same orbits. We may not unsafely infer -that all the meteor systems are in like manner associated with other -comets. Nor is it very rash to assume that all comets are in like -manner associated with meteor systems.”</p> -<p>Concerning the influence of gravitation of the planets, the same -author says (“Meteoric Astronomy”), “Now, the -circumstances under which a comet approaching the sun on a parabolic or -hyperbolic orbit can be thus affected must be regarded as exceptional. -The planet’s influence must, in the first place, be very -energetically exercised; in other words, the arriving comet must pass -very close to the planet, for under any other circumstances the -sun’s influence so enormously outvies the planet’s that the -figure of the cometic orbit would be very little affected. Moreover, -the planet’s attraction must produce an important balance of -retardation. The planet will inevitably accelerate the comet up to a -certain point, and afterwards will retard it; the latter influence must -greatly exceed the former. To show how greatly the comet must be -retarded, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb203" href="#pb203" name= -"pb203">203</a>]</span>it is only necessary to mention that the actual -velocity of the November meteors when they cross the orbit of Uranus is -less than one-third of the velocity with which Uranus himself travels, -but their velocity at the same distance from the sun, when they were -approaching him from some distant stellar domain, exceeded the velocity -of Uranus in his orbit in the proportion of about seven to -five …. It follows, not merely as a probable inference, -but, I think, as a demonstrated conclusion, that if the November -meteors came originally into our system as a comet travelling sunward -from infinity, then either that comet was very compact or else Uranus -captured only a small portion of the comet, the remaining portions -moving thenceforth on orbits wholly different from the path of the -November meteors …. No other planet than Uranus can have -brought about the subjection of this comet to solar rule.” In his -article on comets he says, “It may be well here to consider a -case in which some active force (other than gravity) exerted by the sun -seems to have brought the destruction of a comet, or at least to have -broken up the comet into unrecognizable fragments.” He refers to -Biela’s comet, with an orbital period of six and two-thirds -years, and a path which was found to approach very near to the path of -the earth. In 1832 the comet crossed the earth’s track several -weeks before the arrival of the earth at the same point without -appreciable interference. On its second return, in 1845–46, it -was found to be divided into two comets travelling side by side; in -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb204" href="#pb204" name= -"pb204">204</a>]</span>1852 they reappeared, still divided, and -gradually diverging from each other. Since then they have never -reappeared, though diligently sought for at every period. Professor -Proctor adds, “It has been seen again, though not as a comet; -nay, the occasion on which it was seen in the way referred to was -predicted, and the prediction fulfilled, even in details. For a full -account of its reappearance—as a meteor stream—I refer the -reader to my essay on Biela’s comet in ‘Familiar Science -Studies.’ ”</p> -<p>In Miller’s “Romance of Astronomy” we read, -“Encke’s comet, which possesses the smallest orbit of any -connected with our system, is sensibly drawing nearer and nearer to the -sun at every revolution.” In Professor Proctor’s -“Cometic Mysteries,” the author says, “We hear it -stated that the nucleus of a comet is made up of meteoric stones -(Professor P. G. Tait says—for unknown reasons—that they -resemble ‘paving stones or even bricks’) as confidently as -though the earth had at some time passed through the nucleus of a -comet, and some of our streets were now paved with stones which had -fallen to the earth on such an occasion. As a matter of fact, all that -has yet been proved is that meteoric bodies follow in the track (which -is very different from the tail) of some known comets, and that -probably all comets are followed by trains of meteors. These may have -come out of the head or nucleus in some way as yet unexplained; but it -is by no means certain that they have done so, and it is by many -astronomers regarded as more than doubtful. The most important point to -be noticed <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb205" href="#pb205" name= -"pb205">205</a>]</span>in the behavior of large comets as they approach -the sun is, that usually the side of the coma which lies towards the -sun is the scene of intense disturbance. Streams of luminous matter -seem to rise continually towards the sun, attaining a certain distance -from the head, when, assuming a cloud-like appearance, they seem to -form an envelope around the nucleus. This envelope gradually increases -its distance from the sun, growing fainter and larger, while within it -the process is repeated and a new envelope is formed. This, in turn, -ascends from the nucleus, expanding as it does so, while within it a -new envelope is formed. Meanwhile the first one formed has grown -fainter, perhaps has disappeared. But sometimes the process goes on so -rapidly (a day or two sufficing for the formation of a complete new -envelope) that several envelopes will be seen at the same -time,—the outermost faintest, the innermost most irregular in -shape and most varied in brightness, while the envelope or envelopes -between are the best developed and most regular. The matter raised up -in these envelopes seems to have undergone a certain change of -character, causing it no longer to obey the sun’s attractive -influence, but to experience a strong repulsive action from him, -whereby it is apparently swept away with great rapidity to form the -tail. ‘It flows past the nucleus,’ says Dr. Huggins, -‘on all sides, still ever expanding and shooting backward until a -tail is formed in the direction opposite to the sun. This tail is -usually curved, though sometimes rays or extra tails sensibly straight -are also seen.’ ” <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb206" href="#pb206" name="pb206">206</a>]</span></p> -<p>In “The Sun as a Perpetual Machine,” Professor Proctor -says, “Take, again, the phenomena of comets, which still remain -among the greatest of nature’s mysteries. We have reason to -believe … that the nucleus of a comet consists of an aggregation -of stones similar to meteorites. Adopting this view, and assuming that -these stones have absorbed somewhere gases to the amount of six times -their volume (taken at atmospheric pressure), we may ask, What will be -the effect of such a mass of stones advancing towards the sun at a -velocity reaching in perihelion the prodigious rate of three hundred -and sixty-six miles per second (as observed in the comet of 1843), -being twenty-three times our orbital rate of motion?” Professor -Ball says, “One of the most important results of the great shower -of 1866 was the demonstration that the swarm of little bodies to which -that shower owed its origin was connected with a comet. The swarm was -found, in fact, to follow the exact track which the comet pursued -around the sun …. Of this connection between the cometary -orbits and revolving swarms of meteors many other instances could be -cited. I may refer to the remarkable lists published by the British -Association, in which, beside the name of the comet or the designation -which astronomers had affixed to it, the meteoric swarm with which the -comet is associated is also given …. On these grounds it -appears to be perfectly certain that the origin of the shooting stars -which appear in swarms cannot be disassociated from the origin of the -comets by which those <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb207" href= -"#pb207" name="pb207">207</a>]</span>swarms are accompanied.” The -author makes a distinction between such ordinary shooting stars and -meteorites, and attributes the appearance of the latter on earth to -masses thrown forth from some volcano <i>somewhere</i>, but this has -nothing to do with the special phenomena to be interpreted. It may be -said, however, that the presence of olefiant gas as one of the occluded -gases in a meteorite (four and fifty-five-hundredths per cent., as -stated by Professor Proctor, in his article “The Sun as a -Perpetual Machine”), and the remarkable fact, stated in the -article “Spectrum Analysis” in Appleton’s -Cyclopædia, that, in Winnecke’s comet of 1868, “the -bands agree in position with those obtained as the spectrum of carbon, -by passing the electric spark through olefiant gas, “would lead -one to consider a cometic origin, for this particular meteorite at -least, to be highly probable. Professor Ball further says, “There -have been several instances in which a comet has approached so close to -a planet that the attraction between the two bodies must have had -significant influence on the planet, if the cometary mass had been at -all comparable with that of the more robust body. The most celebrated -instance is presented in the case of Lexell’s comet, which -happened to cross the track of Jupiter. The effect upon this body was -so overwhelming that it was wrenched from its original path and started -afresh along a wholly different track.” The same writer, speaking -of the tails of comets, says, “I have no intention to discuss -here the vexed question of the tails of comets. I do <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb208" href="#pb208" name="pb208">208</a>]</span>not -now inquire whether the repulsion by which the tail is produced be due -to the intense radiation from the sun, or to electricity, or to some -other agent. It is sufficient for our present purpose to note that, -even if the tails of comets do gravitate towards the sun, the -attraction is obscured by a more powerful repulsive -force …. Nor do the directions in which the comets move -exhibit any conformity; some move round the sun in one direction, some -move in the opposite direction. Even the planes which contain the -orbits of the comets are totally different from each other. Instead of -being inclined at only a very few degrees to their mean position, the -planes of the comets hardly follow any common law; they are inclined at -all sorts of directions. In no respect do the comets obey those -principles which are necessary to prevent constitutional disorder in -the planetary system …. Now, all we have hitherto seen -with regard to comets tends to show that the masses of comets are -extremely small. Attempts have been made to measure them, but have -always failed, because the scales in which we have attempted to weigh -them have been too coarse to weigh anything of the almost spiritual -texture of a comet. It is unnecessary to go as far as some have done, -and to say that the weight of a large comet may be only a few pounds or -a few ounces. It might be more reasonable to suppose that the weight of -a large comet was thousands of tons, though even thousands of tons -would be far too small a weight to admit of being measured by the very -coarse <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb209" href="#pb209" name= -"pb209">209</a>]</span>balance which is at our disposal.” In the -chapter “Visitors from the Sky,” the same author says, -“As such a comet in its progress across the heavens passes -between us and the stars, those stars are often seen twinkling -brilliantly right through the many thousand miles of cometary matter -which their rays have to traverse. The lightest haze in our atmosphere -would suffice to extinguish the faint gleam of these small stars; -indeed, a few feet of mist would have more power of obstructing the -stellar light than cometary material scores of thousands of miles -thick. It is true that the central portions of many of these comets -often exhibit much greater density than is found in the exterior -regions; still, in the great majority of such objects there is no -opacity, even in the densest part, sufficient to put out a star. In the -case of the more splendid bodies of this description, it may be -supposed that the matter is somewhat more densely aggregated as well as -more voluminous; still, however, it will be remembered that the great -comet of 1858 passed over Arcturus, and that the star was seen shining -brilliantly, notwithstanding the interposition of a cometary curtain -millions of miles in thickness. So far as I know, no case is known in -which the nucleus of a really bright and great comet has been witnessed -in the act of passage over a considerable star. It would indeed be -extremely interesting to ascertain whether in such case the star -experienced any considerable diminution in its lustre.” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb210" href="#pb210" name= -"pb210">210</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch8" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e271">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE PHENOMENA OF COMETS.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">From the extracts thus cited we may form a fairly -clear idea of the phenomena which comets present, and these facts -represent about all that we know of these mysterious objects. They -approach the sun in a nearly radial direction, thus cutting the -planetary orbits transversely. They approach the sun from all -directions and at all angles, without reference to the common plane in -which all the planetary orbits lie. They have no rotation on their own -axes, as the planets have, but, like an aggregated mass of meteorites -or cosmical dust, rush inward from the exterior realms of space, so -that their course is diametrically opposite that of the planets and the -other cosmical bodies which constitute our solar system. Such a body as -a comet, in fact, would present in its approach to our solar system -very much the phenomena of an approaching exterior sun, corresponding -far more closely in appearance and behavior to our own sun than to any -of the planets. Such a body could not generate positive electricity, as -the planets do, but, on the contrary, must have an electrosphere of -negative, or at least neutral, polarity. On its approach to our -planetary system the batteries of all the planets would be at once -turned upon the intruder, and it would be rapidly thrown into the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb211" href="#pb211" name= -"pb211">211</a>]</span>same state of active electrical polarity as the -sun. The aqueous vapor condensed around its nucleus by gravity in its -approach through space, or buried among the meteoric particles -constituting the comet, would be necessarily decomposed into its -constituent gases, just as in the case of the sun, by the positive -electrical currents from the planetary electrospheres, and the -disassociated hydrogen would form the negative electrosphere of the -comet, glowing with its own luminosity, by gaseous incandescence. -“We should then observe, during its continued approach to the -sun, phenomena similar to those which we might expect to manifest -themselves during the approach of a minute solar body towards the sun, -characterized by a rapid increase of velocity, due to attraction of -gravity, and tremendous mutual repulsion between the solar and cometic -electrospheres. We should see the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb212" -href="#pb212" name="pb212">212</a>]</span>luminous hydrogen and -associated gases boiling upward, and thence drawn forward from the -nucleus by the combined gravity of the sun’s mass, that of the -planetary masses, and the opposite polarity of the planetary -electrospheres, while they would be, at the same time, repelled -backward by the enormous repulsive force of the negative electrosphere -of the sun. As a result, we should find these gases in a state of -ebullition, forced forward under great excitement and disturbance, -boiling, eddying about, driven to and fro in all directions until the -sun’s repulsive force had overcome the different attractions, -when these luminous clouds or envelopes would be swept swiftly off to -the rear, as by a powerful current of wind, around the margins of the -nucleus, and they would be seen to stream backward from the sun as an -elongated envelope or tail. New volumes of gas would pour to the front, -attracted from deeper depths, and these, on reaching the cometary -electrosphere, would be again repelled by the solar activity and driven -to the rear, while the gases thus driven backward, themselves similarly -electrified, would mutually repel each other as they streamed backward -around the margins of the nucleus.</p> -<div class="figure p211width" id="p211"><img src="images/p211.jpg" alt= -"" width="481" height="239"> -<p class="first">Repulsion of glow in partial vacuum compared with -phenomena of sun and comet.—<i>C</i>, charged electrical -conductor; <i>A</i>, electrical discharge in partial vacuum, repelled -by like electricity of <i>C</i>; <i>B</i>, Henry’s comet, -<i>C</i> representing the sun.</p> -</div> -<p>Let us now see what these gases are: if they are such as appear in -the sun’s electrosphere, we will know that such must be their -action; if, on the contrary, they are such as appear in planetary -electrospheres, we will find any such attempted explanation to be a -failure. Quoting largely from Dr. Huggins, Professor Proctor, in his -“Cometic <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb213" href="#pb213" name= -"pb213">213</a>]</span>Mysteries,” says, “The spectrum of -the brightest comet of that year was partly continuous, and on this -continuous spectrum many of the well-known Fraunhofer lines could be -traced. This made it certain that part of the comet’s light was -reflected sunlight, though Dr. Huggins considers also that a part of -the continuous spectrum of every comet is due to inherent light. On -this point some doubt may be permitted. It is one thing for special -bands to show themselves, for some substances may become self-luminous -under special conditions at very moderate temperatures; it is quite -another thing that the solid parts of a comet’s substance should -become incandescent. I venture to express my opinion that this can -scarcely happen, except in the case of comets which approach very near -to the sun. Besides the continuous spectrum with dark lines, the -<i>photograph showed also a spectrum of bright lines</i>. ‘These -lines,’ says Dr. Huggins, ‘possessed extreme interest, for -there was certainly contained within this hieroglyphic writing some new -information. A discussion of the position of these new lines showed -them to be undoubtedly the same lines which appear in certain compounds -of carbon. Not long before Professors Liveing and Dewar had found from -their laboratory experiments that these lines are only present when -nitrogen is also present, and that they indicate a nitrogen compound of -carbon,—namely, cyanogen. <i>Two other bright groups were also -seen in the photograph, confirming the presence of -hydrogen</i>,—carbon and nitrogen.’ It is worthy of notice -that only a few <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb214" href="#pb214" -name="pb214">214</a>]</span>days later Dr. H. Draper succeeded in -obtaining a photograph of the same comet’s spectrum. It appeared -to him to confirm Dr. Huggins’s statements, except only that the -dark Fraunhofer lines were not visible, the photograph having probably -been taken under less favorable conditions …. But the -latest comet has brought with it fresh news. Its spectrum is not like -that given by the comets we are considering. The bright lines of sodium -are seen in it, and also other bright lines and groups of lines which -have not yet been shown to be identical with any belonging to the -hydrocarbon groups, but probably are so …. The cyanogen -groups are not seen …. But it is manifest that <i>this -comet underwent important changes</i>…. In April was found -simply a faint continuous spectrum; in May the three bands associated -with carbon were present, though faint, while there was no trace -whatever of the sodium band. On the contrary, in June the nucleus of -the comet gave a very strong and extended continuous spectrum with an -excessively strong bright line in the orange-yellow identical with the -well-known double sodium line of the solar spectrum. On this … -it is necessary to conclude that during the last fortnight of May the -spectrum of Wells’s comet had changed in a manner of which the -history of science furnishes no precedent.”</p> -<p>It should be observed that the elements carbon and hydrogen closely -resemble each other, not only in their multifarious chemical affinities -and reactions, but in their electric polarities, and the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb215" href="#pb215" name= -"pb215">215</a>]</span>hydrocarbon compounds, like their constituents, -carbon and hydrogen, are electrically similar to each other, an example -of this similarity of the elements being found in the identical action -of the carbon arc and hydrogen envelope in the heating and lighting -experiments with electrical currents hereinbefore described.</p> -<p>We have already seen that carbon follows quite a different law from -the other concrete elements, in the fact that its electrical resistance -diminishes as the temperature rises; it also differs widely from the -other solid elements in its <i>atomic heat</i>, which has a value much -less than one-half the mean constant, which is 6.4. Of this matter of -specific heat, Professor Fownes, in his work on chemistry -(Bridges’ edition), says, “Dulong and Petit observed in the -course of their investigation a most remarkable circumstance. If the -specific heats of bodies be computed upon equal weights, numbers are -obtained all different and exhibiting no simple relations among -themselves; but if, instead of equal weights, quantities be taken in -the proportion of the atomic weights, an almost perfect coincidence in -the numbers will be observed, showing that some exceedingly intimate -connection must exist between the relations of bodies to heat and their -chemical nature; and when the circumstance is taken into view that -relations of even a still closer kind link together chemical and -electrical phenomena, it is not too much to expect that ere long some -law may be discovered far more general than any with which we are yet -acquainted …. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb216" href= -"#pb216" name="pb216">216</a>]</span>Nevertheless, this law must not be -understood as perfectly general, for there are three -elements—namely, carbon, boron, and silicon” [these form a -single group of elements in chemical classification]—“which -exhibit decided exceptions to it.”</p> -<p>Organic chemistry is substantially based upon the almost infinitely -interchanging relations among carbon-hydrogen radicals, supplemented by -a few other elements. According to Professor Fownes, “Organic -chemistry is in fact the chemistry of carbon compounds.” The -position of carbon among the elements is something like that of camphor -among the oils, the latter being a volatile oil, but concrete in form. -With a concrete element having the peculiar character of carbon we can -well understand its universal chemical and electrical relationship with -gaseous hydrogen in the grandest operations of nature.</p> -<p>Cyanogen is an electrically similar compound of carbon with the -addition of nitrogen. Of these elements it will be seen that nitrogen -and hydrogen are found to exist also in the gaseous nebulæ, and -<i>with the probable addition there of oxygen</i>; but in comets the -quota of active oxygen must be sought for in the correlated planetary, -and not in the cometic, atmospheres, as is the case with the sun. Of -the presence of the vapor of carbon in comets Professor Ball says, -“This is a very singular fact, when it is remembered that carbon -is one of the substances essentially associated with life in the forms -in which we know it.” Professor Huggins says, “Since that -time the light from some twenty <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb217" -href="#pb217" name="pb217">217</a>]</span>comets has been examined by -different observers. The general close agreement in all cases, -notwithstanding some small divergencies, of the bright bands in the -cometary light with those seen in the spectrum of hydrocarbons -justifies us fully in ascribing the original light of these comets to -matter which contains carbon <i>in combination with -hydrogen</i>.”</p> -<p>We may learn something further of the constitution of comets, -perhaps, by considering the chemical reactions which their spectra seem -to indicate. The following extract is from a recent article on the -manufacture of illuminating gas: “Ammonia contains 82.35 parts of -nitrogen and 17.65 of hydrogen. It is not produced by a direct -combination, for nitrogen can be caught and wedded only by a hot and -skilful wooing. In the gas retort, at a temperature of 2200 degrees and -in the presence of lime, <i>soda</i>, or potash, it will combine with -carbon and form cyanogen, and then further combine with the alkali to -form a cyanide. There is steam in the retort, and, as nearly as the gas -chemists can make out, the nitrogen promptly divorces itself, gives up -the carbon to the oxygen of the steam, and, taking the hydrogen to -itself, becomes, for the time at least, a fixed, if volatile, -substance, but ever ready to enter into new alliances.” It will -be remembered that in the comets examined by Professors Huggins and -Draper the spectroscope revealed both cyanogen and the double line of -sodium. The function of the sodium is readily understood, as by its -presence it enables <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb218" href="#pb218" -name="pb218">218</a>]</span>the nitrogen in the cometic atmosphere to -combine with a part of the carbon of the gaseous hydrocarbons which -constitute this atmosphere, and thus produce the cyanogen. But to -effect this combination requires in the retort a temperature of 2200 -degrees. If the combining temperature around the nucleus of a comet is -the same, it will show that the temperature of this comet’s -nucleus must be very high, and, while many times less than that of the -sun’s photosphere, it still clearly illustrates the powerful -character of the impact of the planetary electrical currents upon the -comet, and its tremendous repulsion by the similarly electrified solar -electrosphere. The second one of the above reactions, that from -cyanogen to ammonia, is due to the steam or aqueous vapor in the -retort. But in the case of the comet all the aqueous vapor and its -constituent oxygen have disappeared by electrolytic decomposition long -before the combining temperature of cyanogen has been reached; so that -the sodium, the hydrocarbons, and the cyanogen alone appear, and the -oxygen compounds are missing. But on the reversal of polarity of this -comet by contact with a planetary electrosphere, should such ever -occur, and its consequent assumption of positive electricity, the -oxygen would again appear, and, if the temperature had not yet receded -below that of the reaction which produces ammoniacal vapors, we might -expect, should a fragment of this comet enter our atmosphere as a -meteorite, to find ammonia as well as sodium as a constituent thereof; -otherwise the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb219" href="#pb219" name= -"pb219">219</a>]</span>ammonia would be replaced by carbonic oxide and -carbonic acid, by the action of oxygen upon the hydrocarbons, and water -by the action of oxygen upon the hydrogen of the same, at much lower -temperatures than would suffice for the generation of ammonia. The -cyanogen would then perhaps remain as cyanide of sodium, unless -decomposed by contact with the meteoric metallic iron at a high -temperature, as occurs in the operation known in the arts as -“case-hardening.” The presence of microscopic diamonds in -meteorites may be accounted for by a somewhat similar reducing reaction -under heat and the active force of the planetary and solar voltaic -arc.</p> -<p>In the popular view comets are always associated with tails, but, in -fact, comets without tails are far more numerous than those to which -these appendages pertain; the tails, when such exist, are the direct -result of the repulsive energy of the solar electrosphere, and are only -manifested when their proximity to the sun has aroused sufficient -activity to swiftly sweep backward from the sun with inconceivable -velocity the gaseous matter concentrated in and around the nucleus. As -these tails owe their formation to the sun’s repulsive energy, -they must always extend radially outward from the sun, and by the -self-repulsive energy of the diverse constituents of the tails -themselves these will be broken occasionally into two, four, or six -lateral strands, and (possibly by the attraction of the different -planetary electrospheres) curvatures may be apparent along the sweep of -the comets’ <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb220" href="#pb220" -name="pb220">220</a>]</span>tails corresponding, in effect, with -perturbations produced by gravity in the orbit of the nucleus. Of these -various phenomena, Professor Proctor, in his article on comets, says, -“A very large number of comets have no visible tails. When first -seen in the telescope a comet usually presents a small, round disk of -hazy light, somewhat brighter near the center. As the comet approaches -the sun the disk lengthens, and, if the comet is to be a tailed one, -traces begin to be observed of a streakiness in the comet’s -light. Gradually a tail is formed, which is turned always from the sun. -The tail grows brighter and larger, and the head becomes developed into -a coma surrounding a distinctly marked nucleus. Presently the comet is -lost to view through its near approach to the sun; but after a while it -is again seen, sometimes wonderfully changed in aspect through the -effects of solar heat. Some comets are brighter and more striking after -passing their point of nearest approach to the sun than before; others -are quite shorn of their splendor when they reappear.” This -change of aspect is not due to solar heat, but to the energetic -repulsion of the solar electrosphere. The force of gravity irresistibly -impels the comet forward to the sun’s electrical vortex, and the -change of aspect is due to the repulsion of its entire stock of free -gaseous matter into space in case its supply is small, or to its -increased development and pouring forth in case the supply is large. It -is like the volatilization by a heated atmosphere of ammoniacal gas, -for instance, absorbed in water. The <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb221" href="#pb221" name="pb221">221</a>]</span>ebullition is vastly -increased by the heat, but if the entire stock of ammonia has been -driven off in its passage through the heated medium, it will emerge -with the residual water quiescent; otherwise, in a state of increased -agitation.</p> -<p>The same author, in “Cometic Mysteries,” says, -“Repulsion of the cometary matter could only take place if this -matter, after it has been driven off from the nucleus, and the sun -<i>have both high electric potentials of the same kind</i>.” His -further guess, however, that it is analogous to the aurora, is wide of -the mark; it is due, in fact, to the mutual repulsion of their similar -negative electrospheres, the cometic electrosphere, however, being so -much smaller than that of the sun that the latter shows no appreciable -disturbance, as is the case, under similar circumstances, with the -electrospheres of the earth and moon. In the article last quoted it is -said, “There is a dark space immediately behind the -nucleus,—that is, where the nucleus, if solid, would throw its -shadow if there were matter to receive the light all round so that the -shadow could be seen.” This presents, it is stated, a great -difficulty. The author, by a happy guess,—almost an inspiration, -in fact, of which this splendid writer and observer was so -full,—suggests in a foot-note a possible explanation, which, -while not in itself correct, suggests an analogous process very like -what we actually see. “If the particles forming the envelopes are -minute flat bodies, and if anything in the circumstances under which -these particles are driven off into the tail causes them to always so -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb222" href="#pb222" name= -"pb222">222</a>]</span>arrange themselves that the planes in which they -severally lie pass through the axis of the tail (which, if the tail is -an electrical phenomenon, might very well happen), then we should find -the region behind the nucleus very dark or almost black, for the -particles in the direction of the line of sight there would be turned -edgewise towards us, whereas those on either side or in the -prolongation of the envelopes would turn their faces towards the -observer.” As a matter of fact, the envelope streaming backward -from the nucleus forms a hollow tube, the opposite sides of which -exhibit the same mutual repulsion as both exhibit towards the sun; -hence the phenomenon would be similar to that exhibited by blowing into -a closed bag of porous material covered with wisps of cotton, for -example, and the gases, in addition to their rush backward from the -sun, would also exhibit a radial rush outward from the longitudinal -axis of the tail. This is what we actually observe, and sufficiently -accounts for the phenomenon, be it altogether or only partially real, -and not merely, as that author thinks it may be, apparent. It is said, -in the same article, that “Bredichen has shown that where there -are three tails to a comet their forms correspond with the theory that -the envelopes raised from the head are principally formed of hydrogen, -carbon, and iron; but this … seems open at present to -considerable doubt.” At all events, these separate tails are -self-repulsive, or they would be merged into each other by the -sun’s repulsive energy; in fact, they occupy the resultant -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb223" href="#pb223" name= -"pb223">223</a>]</span>of the direction produced by the line of the -sun’s repulsion and those of their own mutually repellent -force,—that is to say, radial or divergent.</p> -<p>It must not be supposed that these tails are of insignificant -proportions. “When we see the tail of a comet occupying a volume -thousands of times greater than that of the sun itself, the question -naturally suggests itself, ‘How does it happen that so vast a -body can sweep through the solar system without deranging the motion of -every planet?<span class="corr" id="xd26e1887" title= -"Not in source">’</span> Conceding even an extreme tenuity to the -substance composing so vast a volume, one would still expect its mass -to be tremendous. For instance, if we supposed the whole mass of the -tail of the comet of 1843 to consist of hydrogen gas (the lightest -substance known to us), yet even then the mass of the tail would have -largely exceeded that of the sun. Every planet would have been dragged -from its orbit by so vast a mass passing so near. We know, on the -contrary, that no such effects were produced. The length of our year -did not change by a single second …. Thus we are forced to -admit that the actual substance of the comet was inconceivably -rare …. From what we have already seen, it will be -manifest that the formation of comets’ tails is a process of a -very marvellous nature, apparently involving forces other than those -with which we are acquainted. The tail, ninety million miles in length, -which was seen stretching from the head of Newton’s comet nearly -along the path which the retreating comet had to traverse, must, it -would seem, have been formed <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb224" href= -"#pb224" name="pb224">224</a>]</span>by some force far more active than -the force of gravity. The distance traversed by the comet in the last -<i>four weeks</i> of its approach to the sun under gravity was no -greater than that over which the matter of the tail, seen after the -comet had circled around the sun, <i>had been carried in a few -hours</i>. Yet we have no other evidence of any repulsive force at all -being exerted by the sun,—at least no evidence which can be -regarded as demonstrative,—and still less have we any evidence of -a repulsive force exceeding in energy the sun’s attracting -power.” (Proctor.) <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb225" href= -"#pb225" name="pb225">225</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch9" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e281">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IX.</h2> -<h2 class="main">INTERPRETATION OF COMETIC PHENOMENA.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure floatLeft p225-1width" id="p225-1"><img src= -"images/p225-1.png" alt="" width="169" height="271"> -<p class="first">Electroscope, showing repulsion of pith-ball from -charged conductor.</p> -</div> -<div class="figure floatRight p225-2width"><img src="images/p225-2.png" -alt="" width="371" height="241"> -<p class="first">Bundle of straws unelectrified, and afterwards -suddenly forced asunder by electricity.</p> -</div> -<p>Now, curiously enough, we have in constant use in our laboratories a -little instrument called the electroscope, in which we have manifested -very clearly a repulsive force exceeding in energy the earth’s -attracting power, and very greatly exceeding it. It is described in -“Electricity in the Service of Man” as follows: “If -we rub a large glass rod with a silk pad, we observe that it will -attract light bodies, then, after contact, repel them. During the -process we may notice a peculiar noise, and if the experiment be -carried out in the dark we may further notice sparks passing between -the rod and the rubber, and also that the rod becomes luminous. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb226" href="#pb226" name= -"pb226">226</a>]</span>If we suspend a pith-ball by means of a silk -thread, on bringing the rubbed rod near the pith-ball it will move -towards the rod, touch it, and then be repelled. If the glass rod be -again brought near the pith-ball, it will move away from the glass rod, -and continue to be repelled until it has been touched by some other -body …. In order to ascertain whether electricity is -communicated by electrified bodies to non-electrified bodies when -brought into contact, let us suspend two pith-balls from the same point -of support by threads of uniform silk, and touch the pith-balls with -the rubbed glass rod. The balls fly from the rod and also from one -another. On bringing near them a third pith-ball or any other light -body, we find that, though they repel one another, they are attracted -by the light body, showing that they have become electrified by contact -with the rubbed glass rod. From this we conclude that an unelectrified -body may be electrified by contact with an electrified body, and also -that there is repulsion after contact. There is <i>mutual repulsion -between two electrified bodies</i>, but there is attraction between a -single electrified body and one that is unelectrified.” The -mutual repulsion of these pith-balls is the exact measure of the -strength of electrification. Hung side by side to the knob of a prime -conductor of an electrical machine, the mutual repulsion of the similar -electrospheres of these pith-balls drives them apart against the -earth’s gravity and holds them extended, if the electrical -tension be sufficient, to their widest limit of divergence. It is, in -effect, precisely similar to <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb227" href= -"#pb227" name="pb227">227</a>]</span>the action of the solar and -cometic electrospheres (see illustration in a previous chapter, page -124), each being similarly electrified and communicating with the other -across a space which, as before stated, is freely traversable by -electric currents without appreciable resistance. That such -electrospheres are flaming with heat does not interfere with such -self-repellent action; in fact, it intensifies it. In Professor -Tyndall’s “Lessons in Electricity” we read, -“<i>Flames</i> and glowing embers act like points; they also -<i>rapidly discharge electricity</i>. The electricity escaping from a -point or flame renders the air self-repulsive. The consequence is that -when the hand is placed over a point mounted on the prime conductor of -a machine in good action a cold blast is distinctly -felt …. Wilson moved bodies by its action, Faraday caused -it to depress the surface of a liquid, Hamilton employed the reaction -of the electric wind to make pointed wires rotate. The -‘wind’ was also found to promote evaporation.”</p> -<p>Let us now apply these principles to the tails of comets. If we -conceive the sun and comet to be analogous to our pith-balls, one -enormously larger than the other, however, and hung by vaporous -conducting cords from the combined generating planetary electrospheres, -both sun and cometic nucleus surrounded each by a vaporous envelope, -and suspended so that they will hang from parallel cords, say a dozen -million miles apart, and with no currents of electricity as yet in -operation, we will find that the sun and comet will be simply attracted -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb228" href="#pb228" name= -"pb228">228</a>]</span>towards each other by the force of gravity, so -that their suspending cords will converge. If the planetary electrical -machines now commence their rotations, and currents of electricity -begin to pass in quantity and intensity like those which pass between -the earth and the sun, both the solar and cometic pith-balls will -become similarly electrified, and their gaseous atmospheres, instead of -drawing towards each other, will become luminous and self-repulsive. -The <span class="corr" id="xd26e1933" title= -"Source: amosphere">atmosphere</span> which surrounds the cometic -pith-ball, by reason of its great tenuity, will be driven backward with -extreme velocity, while the solar pith-ball electrosphere will be so -little affected that its repulsion will be imperceptible. All the -gaseous matter, however, of the smaller pith-ball will be forced off in -a direction opposite that of the larger one, and this repulsive energy -will even carry the pith-balls apart, causing the suspending cords to -widely diverge from each other, while the force of gravity of the earth -tends to bring them nearer together. If the gravity of the larger -pith-ball, however, was equal, relatively, to that of the sun, the -result would be that the solid pith-balls would be mutually attracted -by gravitation and only the electrified atmospheres, would be mutually -repelled. This experiment would present phenomena similar to those we -are now considering. (See illustration, page 211.)</p> -<p>In describing Newton’s comet, with a tail ninety million miles -long projected backward both from the sun and the comet, when it -disappeared in the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb229" href="#pb229" -name="pb229">229</a>]</span>light of the sun, and exhibiting a similar -tail, also ninety million miles long, when, less than four days -afterwards, it reappeared from behind the sun, but with the tail now -directed forward from the comet, but in both cases extended radially -outward from the sun, it is obvious that this whole tail must have made -a sweeping change of direction of nearly one hundred and eighty degrees -upon the nucleus as its center. Professor Proctor says, “As Sir -John Herschel remarks, we cannot look on the tail of a comet as -something whirled round like a stick as the comet circles around its -perihelion sweep. The tail with which the comet reappeared must have -been an entirely new formation.” It is true that a comet’s -tail cannot be conceived of as being whirled round like a stick, but we -can very readily conceive of it as something like a flame composed of -incandescent gases, and it may very easily be <i>blown</i> round a -stick; and this is precisely what must happen in the case of a comet. -Construct, for experiment, a little apparatus consisting of a blow-pipe -adapted to deliver a current of air between two horizontal metal disks, -say an eighth of an inch apart, one perforated at the center to admit -the nozzle of the blow-pipe. By directing a constant current of air -through the latter, it will be deflected so as to blow radially outward -in all directions and in the same plane. Now take a stick with a flame -on the end of it, or a lighted candle, and with it approach this center -of repellent energy in the plane of the space between the disks and -along an ellipse <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb230" href="#pb230" -name="pb230">230</a>]</span>representing the orbit of a comet. As the -flame approaches the improvised solar center it will be driven backward -from the wick of the candle almost along the line of its approach, and -as it passes around the center it will be constantly blown outward in a -radial direction until, when it recedes after perihelion, the flame -will be seen pointed almost directly ahead. At all times the direction -of the flame will lie along the radial lines prolonged outward from the -center through the wick of the candle, and it will not be a new flame -generated at every change of its direction, but the same flame -constantly forced outward by the repulsive force of the central -atmosphere in this case or the solar electrosphere in the case of the -sun. This experiment is an accurate and conclusive exhibit of -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb231" href="#pb231" name= -"pb231">231</a>]</span>the phenomena of solar repulsion in its action -upon the tail of a comet. It is analogous in principle to the repulsion -of the pith-balls and the electric wind and (in application) to the -phenomena presented by comets in their movements to, around, and from -the sun. This repulsion is not operative in effect against the wick of -the candle,—that is to say, it is not the repulsion of the -nucleus which determines the direction of the tail, but the repulsion -by direct outblow of the sun, so to speak, upon the incandescent gases -of the tail itself. This fact clearly demonstrates that the repulsion -of like electrospheres is the cause of the phenomenon, and, when once -understood, the process is quite as simple as that of the original -formation of the tail itself, which no one disputes.</p> -<div class="figure p230width" id="p230"><img src="images/p230.png" alt= -"Mechanical device illustrating repulsion by the solar electrosphere of a comet’s tail." -width="488" height="332"> -<p class="figureHead">Mechanical device illustrating repulsion by the -solar electrosphere of a comet’s tail.</p> -</div> -<p>There is to be further considered the theoretical resistance of -space to the projection and deflection of such enormous volumes of -attenuated matter as appear in comets’ tails. While it may not be -absolutely necessary to offer an explanation of this apparent -difficulty, in view of the fact that such projection and deflection do -actually occur, still, the well-known laws of the diffusion of gases, -in accordance with which any gaseous matter will traverse any other -gaseous matter with the same velocity as, and with no more resistance -than, in a vacuum, will show that this difficulty has been much -overrated, while for the twin difficulty, how to account for the -persistence of luminosity at such vast distances from its source, we -may quote from Professor Proctor, “Cometic Mysteries,” who, -in <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb232" href="#pb232" name= -"pb232">232</a>]</span>turn, quotes as follows: “Comets travel in -what must be regarded as to all intents and purposes a vacuum. From Dr. -Crookes’ experiments on very high vacua we may infer that there -is very little loss of heat, except by radiation.” By -“intents and purposes” we understand, of course, as a cause -of resistance, and certainly there is no reason to believe that the -attenuated vapors of space are sufficient in density to cause any rapid -diffusion of heat by convection, as contrasted with that of -radiation.</p> -<p>We have seen that comets of short period sometimes disappear, and -that their disappearance is frequently followed by the appearance of -trains of meteors. In other words, they have apparently lost their -cometic properties and become permanent adjuncts to our solar system. A -curious confirmation of this fact is to be found in the character of -the occluded gases which are contained in such meteorites as sometimes -fall upon the earth’s surface. Of this Professor Proctor says, -“We have reason to believe that the nucleus of a comet consists -of an aggregation of stones similar to meteorites.” Speaking of -the condition in which meteorites reach the earth, he says, “They -are known to contain as much as six times their own volume of gases -(taken at atmospheric pressure). In one of these meteorites recently -examined by Dr. Flight, the following percentages of various gases were -noted: Of carbonic oxide, 31.88; of carbonic acid gas, 0.12; of -hydrogen, 45.79; of olefiant gas, 4.55; and of nitrogen, 17.66.” -The presence of olefiant <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb233" href= -"#pb233" name="pb233">233</a>]</span>gas at once suggests the -hydrocarbons of the cometic nucleus. The presence of this gas cannot be -accounted for by the passage of the meteorite through our atmosphere, -nor can that of hydrogen, and these are two characteristic gases, -together with the vapor of carbon, constantly found to exist in -comets.</p> -<p>As before explained, the advent of a comet into our solar system is -that of a stranger, with electric polarity the opposite of that of the -planetary electrospheres and identical with that of the sun. Under the -combined influence of the solar gravity and perturbation by the gravity -of the planets these foreign bodies tend to shorten their periods, and -finally fall into the ordinary array of the bodies which compose our -own solar system. But when this occurs they will, in turn, become -contributors to, instead of antagonists of, the energy of the sun; in -other words, they must then conform electrically to the condition of -the family into which they have married,—that is to say, the -planets,—and a reversal of their electrical polarity will take -place. This reversal of polarity is no novelty in the operation of -electrical apparatus. In “Electricity in the Service of -Man” we read as follows of the Voss induction machine: -“This machine is exceedingly powerful in favorable weather, but -has an important defect <i>in a tendency to self-reversal, which is apt -to occur at a stoppage</i>. This defect can be produced in a Voss -machine, when desired, <i>by holding a metal point</i> to the positive -brush <i>K</i>. The two derived inductive circuits are beautifully -manifested <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb234" href="#pb234" name= -"pb234">234</a>]</span>when this machine is worked in the dark. A -luminous stream is seen pouring towards the collecting comb <i>L</i> on -whichever side of the machine the comb is positive.” It will thus -be seen that simple contact of a neutral (or negatively opposite) body -will reverse the electrical polarity of this machine, or even the -interruption of its motion will do so at times. Possibly a similar -reversal may be produced in a comet by the contact in whole or in part -of its nucleus with a planetary electrosphere, since the action of -gravity is entirely independent of that of the attraction or repulsion -of the electrospheres of both planetary and cometic bodies. Such -reversal of polarity in a comet would at once extinguish its -luminosity, and the generation of oxygen would at once replace the -prior generation of hydrogen, and herein we may find explained the -presence of carbonic oxide in large volume and carbonic acid in small -volume in the meteorite above referred to, and of which gases Professor -Proctor says, “It is quite certain these gases were not taken up -by the meteorolite during its flight through the air.” These -aggregations of discrete meteoric bodies, loosely adherent by mutual -gravity alone, would be gradually torn apart by planetary interference -and dragged into streams of small bodies, thenceforth traversing space -in elliptical orbits around the sun, just as do the planets and -planetoids. Cyanogen, also, the deadly gas so frequently found to exist -in enormous quantities in the nuclei of comets, would at once -disappear, by double conversion into carbonic acid, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb235" href="#pb235" name="pb235">235</a>]</span>or -oxide, and ammonia, or nitrogen, so that this danger, as the result of -a comet’s possible approach to the earth’s atmosphere, may -be dismissed from apprehension.</p> -<p>It will be seen that all the enormous difficulties in the phenomena -of comets find an explanation in the operation of the same universal -laws which we have endeavored to apply to the other sidereal bodies. In -conclusion, we may cite the following from Dr. Huggins: “Broadly, -the different applications of principles of electricity which have been -suggested group themselves about the common idea that great electrical -disturbances are set up by the sun’s action in connection with -the vaporization of some of the matter of the nucleus, and that the -tail is probably matter carried away, possibly in connection with -electric discharges, under an electrical influence of repulsion exerted -by the sun. This view necessitates the supposition that the sun is -strongly electrified, either negatively or positively, and, further, -that in the processes taking place in the comet, either of vaporization -or of some other kind, the matter thrown out by the nucleus has become -strongly electrified in the same way as the sun,—that is, -negatively if the sun’s electricity is negative, or positively if -the sun’s is positive. The enormous disturbances which the -spectroscope shows to be always at work in the sun must be accompanied -by electrical changes of equal magnitude, but we know nothing as to how -far these are all, or the great majority of them, in one direction, so -as to cause the sun to maintain <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb236" -href="#pb236" name="pb236">236</a>]</span>permanently a high electrical -state, whether positive or negative.” The above speculations will -have thus become demonstrated facts (though not in the mode suggested -by the above writer) as soon as we clearly understand that, instead of -the sun’s “enormous disturbances” producing -“electrical changes of equal magnitude,” it is the -electrical changes of equal magnitude which themselves cause the -sun’s disturbances, and that the sun’s negative electrical -polarity is permanently fixed by the opposite and positive polarity of -the planetary electrospheres, and that all these various phenomena are -but the normal expression of a single universal law, and are all due to -the constant interaction of planetary, solar, and cometic -electrospheres, in accordance with the well-established principles of -electrical science. If, however, we consider, as is generally believed -to be the case, the sun itself to be the sole prime source of its -visible energy, nothing but difficulty and vague speculation can be -looked for on every hand; but by relegating the solar orb to its proper -place, and taking as the starting-point the true source of all -energy,—to wit, the hidden forces embodied in the vapors or gases -of interstellar space,—the whole process and mode of action will -logically follow, and obscurity and difficulty together disappear. This -principle, properly understood, is a master-key which will unlock every -problem and interpret every enigma which the realms of interstellar -space can present. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb237" href="#pb237" -name="pb237">237</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch10" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e293">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER X.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE RESOLVABLE NEBULÆ, STAR-CLUSTERS AND -GALAXIES.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">When we come to consider the nebulæ, and -endeavor to learn what part electricity has to play in the phenomena -presented by these singular objects, we must recollect, in order to -give them their due importance, that they are neither few in number nor -uniform in constitution. Of the nebulæ, Professor Proctor -(“Star-Clouds and Star-Mist”) says, “When the depths -of the heavens are explored with a powerful telescope a number of -strange cloud-like objects are brought into view. It is startling to -consider that if the eye of man suddenly acquired the light-gathering -power of a large telescope, and if at the same time all the single -stars disappeared, we should see on the celestial vault a display of -the mysterious objects called nebulæ or star-clouds exceeding in -number all the stars which can now be seen on the darkest night in -winter. The whole sky would seem mottled with these singular -objects.” As telescopes, with the advances of constructive art, -increased in power, these luminous clouds became more and more clearly -defined, and many of them became resolved into clusters of stars, -galaxies of suns like the Milky Way, of which latter our solar system -is a constituent part, but more distant from us than the separately -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb238" href="#pb238" name= -"pb238">238</a>]</span>visible stars of that galaxy, and each separated -from the relatively adjacent clusters by intervals of space comparable -only with those which separate them from our own system. Of these -glorious star-clusters, says Flammarion, in “The Wonders of the -Heavens,” “In the bosom of infinite space, the unfathomable -depth of which we have tried to comprehend, float rich clusters of -stars, each separated by immense intervals. We shall soon show that all -the stars are suns like ours, shining with their own light, and foci of -as many systems of worlds. Now, the stars are not scattered in all -parts of space at hazard; they are grouped as the members of many -families. If we compared the ocean of the heavens with the ocean of the -earth, we should say that the isles which sprinkle this ocean do not -rise separately in all parts of the sea, but that they are united here -and there in archipelagoes more or less rich …. They are -all collected in tribes, most of which count their members by -millions.” Says Professor Nichol, “System on system of -majesty unspeakable float through the fathomless ocean of space. Our -galaxy, with splendors that seem illimitable, is only a unit among -unnumbered throngs; we can think of it, in comparison with creation, -but as we were wont to think of one of its own stars. “Of these -glorious star-clusters the same writer says, “That no one has -ever seen them in a telescope of adequate power without uttering a -shout of wonder.” These mist-like star-clouds were successively -resolved, nebula by nebula, until science settled into the belief that -with telescopes <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb239" href="#pb239" -name="pb239">239</a>]</span>of adequate power all nebulæ might be -so resolved, and the capacity of telescopes to thus resolve -nebulæ became a test of their power. But spectrum analysis -finally entered the lists with new methods of investigation, and the -comparatively tiny spectroscope at a single leap passed far beyond the -utmost limits of the highest telescopic vision, and at one blow struck -the whole category of nebulæ into two widely different -classes,—those composed of discrete stars grouped like the suns -of our own Milky Way, and exhibiting the characteristic spectra of such -bodies, and those composed of diffused gaseous matter not yet condensed -into suns, and showing the disconnected spectral lines of simple -elemental gases. The line of division was clear, direct, positive, and -beyond all dispute. Yet beyond these two classes further research has -disclosed certain vast nebulæ in which some portions exhibit true -solar spectra more or less modified and others true gaseous spectra, -each apparently merging into the other by gradations so faint and -delicate that the inference is irresistible that in these nebulæ -we see the processes of galactic and solar creation at various stages -of their development.</p> -<p>Of these nebulæ, Professor Ball says, “In one of his -most remarkable papers, Sir W. Herschel presents us with a summary of -his observations on the nebulæ, arranged in such a manner as to -suggest his theory of the gradual transmutation of nebulæ into -stars. He first shows us that there are regions in the heavens where a -faint diffused <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb240" href="#pb240" name= -"pb240">240</a>]</span>nebulosity is all that can be detected by the -telescope. There are other nebulæ in which a nucleus can be just -discerned, others again in which the nucleus is easily seen, and still -others where the nucleus is a bright star-like point. The transition -from an object of this kind to a nebulous star is very natural, while -the nebulous stars pass into the ordinary stars by a few graduated -stages. It is thus possible to enumerate a series of objects, beginning -at one end with the most diffused nebulosity and ending at the other -with an ordinary fixed star or group of stars. Each object in the -series differs but slightly from the object just before it and just -after it.” And of these composite nebulæ, he adds, -“The great nebula in Orion is known to be the most glorious body -of its class that the heavens display. Seen through a powerful -telescope, … the appearance of this grand ‘light -stain’ is of indescribable glory. It is a vast volume of bluish -gaseous material with hues of infinite softness and delicacy. Here it -presents luminous tracts which glow with an exquisite blue light; there -it graduates off until it is impossible to say where the nebula ceases -and the black sky begins.”</p> -<p>With reference to these distant galaxies of apparently complete -solar systems like our own, the same principles must regulate the -conversion of this energy of planetary electricity into the energy of -solar light and heat as we see manifested in our own sun. The light of -the individual stars is sufficient evidence of this; but the question -may be <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb241" href="#pb241" name= -"pb241">241</a>]</span>asked, Is the electrical interaction between -separate galaxies and between different solar systems in the same -galaxy universal, or are these operations merely local? In other words, -Is the source and the mode of solar energy in accordance with a single -universal law of and between all created universes, or is it limited in -effective energy to the members of each individual solar system alone? -The answer is, that it is not less universal than the law of -gravitation and no more so. There is a prevalent popular fallacy that -the force of gravity is such that the movements, not only of solar -systems, but of whole galaxies, and of all the illimitable systems of -galaxies, are under its effective control, and that the whole universe -of boundless space acknowledges its overwhelming sway. But nothing can -be further from the truth. We know, of course, that the law is -universal, as expressed in the statement of its terms by Newton, but -the mere statement of the law itself, as applied to interstellar -distances, refutes the idea that solar systems and galaxies can rotate -around any common center by virtue of the attraction of gravitation as -a controlling force. The universality of the law itself has even been -doubted. Professor Ball says, “In the first book about astronomy -which I read in my boyhood there was a glowing -description …. I allude to the discovery, or the alleged -discovery, of a certain ‘central sun’ about which it was -believed or stated that all the bodies in the universe -revolved …. It was too good to be true. No one ever hears -anything about the central sun <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb242" -href="#pb242" name="pb242">242</a>]</span>hypothesis -nowadays …. It must be, then, admitted that when the law -of gravitation is spoken of as being universal, we are using language -infinitely more general than the facts absolutely warrant. At the -present moment we only know that gravitation exists to a very small -extent in a certain indefinite small portion of space. Our knowledge -would have to be enormously increased before we could assert that -gravitation was in operation throughout this very limited region; and -even when we have proved this, we should only have made an -infinitesimal advance to a proof that gravitation is absolutely -universal.”</p> -<p>Anyone who chooses may prove for himself that the force exercised by -gravitation between the multitudinous suns of our own galaxy, the Milky -Way, and our earth must be quite infinitesimal, and totally unable to -control the motions of our own solar system in a definite orbit through -universal space. We know that the law which regulates the intensity of -light at various distances is the same as the law of -gravity,—that is to say, the proportion is directly as the mass -and inversely as the square of the distance. We know also that the -stars which compose the Milky Way are similarly constituted, generally -considered, to our own sun, and that under similar circumstances the -emission of light, roughly speaking, will vary according to the -magnitude of these distant suns. Now, if any one will stand, at the -darkest hour of the night, when the moon is absent and the sky -perfectly cloudless, when the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb243" -href="#pb243" name="pb243">243</a>]</span></p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“Stars that oversprinkle all the heavens seem to -twinkle</p> -<p class="line xd26e2012">With a crystalline delight,”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">and sweep with his gaze all the concave hemisphere of -the sky, and then compare the light which is radiated around him with -the gorgeous effulgence of the noonday summer sun, he can pretty -closely compare the relative attraction of gravity which all those -distant suns together can exercise upon our earth with that of our own -sun. Under control of the latter, the earth sweeps around in her orbit -at the rate of about twenty miles per second; all these suns could not -give our solar system even a minute fraction of that. Of this starlight -Professor Ball says, “The sun certainly must receive some heat by -the radiation from the stars; but this is quite infinitesimal in -comparison with his own stupendous radiation.” Any such -attraction, of course, could not control the motions of our solar -system, and much less that of many of the others.</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“The night has a thousand eyes, and the day but -one,</p> -<p class="line">But the light of the whole world dies when the day is -done.”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">We can also demonstrate the fact mathematically by an -exceedingly rough calculation, which, however, will be sufficient for -our purpose. Of the Milky Way, which comprises only the stars of our -own sidereal system, Professor Ball says, “One hundred million -stars are presumed to be disposed in a flat circular layer of such -dimensions that a ray of light would require thirty thousand years to -traverse one diameter.” (The most recent estimates <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb244" href="#pb244" name="pb244">244</a>]</span>make -the number of the stars which compose the Milky Way several times one -hundred million, occupying a correspondingly greater amplitude of -space. The number in any case is sufficiently stupendous.) Our solar -system is located in space at the apex of a vast transverse cleft, and -nearly at the center of this disk. Let us leave out of consideration -the lower half of the Milky Way, as we look upward on a starlit night, -and conceive this galaxy to extend only across the midnight sky above -us like an archway, with fifty million suns, visible and invisible, -exposed in the field of our vision. The nearest of all the fixed stars -to us is that known as Alpha Centauri,—not visible, however, in -our northern skies. This star is about two hundred and thirty thousand -times as far from our sun as is the earth. If of the same mass as our -sun, it must exert upon us an attractive force of gravity one -fifty-three-billionth that of our own sun. Next in distance is the star -No. 61 of the constellation Cygnus. This may be three times as distant, -and is certainly not less than twice. The light of the former will -reach the earth in three and one-quarter years; that of the latter in -not less than six and one-half years, perhaps much more. These are our -nearest stellar neighbors. While the former will attract us with only -one fifty-three-thousand-millionth that of the sun, the latter will -attract us with less than one two-hundred-thousand-millionth that of -our sun. Conceive, then, a square pyramid extending radially upward for -three thousand times the mean of these distances to the upper -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb245" href="#pb245" name= -"pb245">245</a>]</span>probable limits of the Milky Way, a -light-distance of fifteen thousand years, and that this pyramid expands -according to the squares of its distances, so that it will contain -within it, equally distributed, all the stars (fifty million) of the -upper half of the disk of the Milky Way; the sum total of all these -attractions could not reach one twenty-millionth part of that of our -sun upon the earth. If we continue to pile galaxies, in the same -perpetual recession, behind each other to all infinity, we still could -not engender sufficient attractive force to control the observed -movements of the multitudinous stars of space. The very statement of -the law of gravitation itself disproves it; for if we multiply orbs and -systems according to any principle of aggregation that we know of in -the way of distribution of such systems, or anything possible, with due -regard to their own mutually interacting movements in space, we could -never reach the inside limits of such a sphere of control, because the -piling up of orb behind orb adds but an infinitesimal fraction to the -force of gravity, for as the orbs themselves multiply in distance -progressively by hundreds, their relative attractions inversely -diminish by ten thousands. No possible increase of suns directly in -mass could compensate for such an inverse ratio of squares, even if all -intergalactic space were peopled with suns, instead of being, in fact, -like a vast ocean, with a few small clusters of islands scattered here -and there throughout its illimitable extent.</p> -<p>Of these vast realms of space, Professor Ball <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb246" href="#pb246" name= -"pb246">246</a>]</span>asks, “Is our sidereal system to be -regarded as an oceanic island in space, or is it in such connection -with the systems in other parts of space as might lead us to infer that -the various systems had a common character? The evidence seems to show -that the stars in our system are probably not permanently associated -together, but that in the course of time some stars enter our system -and other stars leave it, in such manner as to suggest that the bodies -visible to us are fairly typical of the general contents of the -universe. The strongest evidence that can be presented on this subject -is met with in the peculiar circumstances of one particular star. The -star in question is known as No. 1830 of Groombridge’s catalogue. -It is a small star, not to be seen without the aid of a -telescope …. We shall probably be quite correct in -assuming that the distance is not less than two hundred billions of -miles …. The velocity is no less than two hundred miles -per second …. The star sweeps along through our system -with this stupendous velocity …. The velocity being over -twenty-five miles a second, the attraction can never overcome the -velocity, so that the star seems destined to escape.” Of the star -Alcyone he says, “Doubtless that star is thousands of billions of -miles from the earth; doubtless the light from it requires thousands of -years—and some astronomers have said millions of years—to -span the abyss which intervenes between our globe and those distant -regions.” And yet these stars, these galaxies, and even all the -nebulæ we see or ever shall see, are merely in the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb247" href="#pb247" name= -"pb247">247</a>]</span>vestibule of space; we have scarcely even yet -lifted the outer curtain at the entrance of those vast realms. That the -popular, but pseudo-scientific, idea of a series of ever-widening -concentric orbits, increasing at every new expansion by an -inconceivable ratio, is incredible we can well understand, and it is a -satisfaction to know that such a wild hypothesis finds no warrant in -the dicta or the demonstrations of science. And it is in the failure of -gravity to control over the intervening space which lies between those -vastly distant centers that we may hope to find the inklings of a more -far-reaching law, by which nebulæ like that of Orion crystallize -out into separate star systems, just as in the rocks, whether igneous, -metamorphic, or sedimentary, we find the attraction of cohesion yield -to that of crystallization, until the whole cleft rock blazes with -countless garnets in the schist and quartz crystals in the gneiss, or -reveals the yellow specks of olivine in volcanic ejections.</p> -<p>We shall find in the processes concerned with the development of -living things the workings of a similar great law, perhaps the same. -Wherever there is the possibility of life, there we find life. There -seems to be an all-pervading vital tension, so to speak, an energizing -force, which drives the evolution and ascent of life forward and upward -by successive leaps, as it were, from type to type, from race to race, -and even from nation to nation. In this universal forward movement we -may dimly discern the primordial creative and developing impulse, -constantly acting, but manifesting visible <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb248" href="#pb248" name= -"pb248">248</a>]</span>change only at intervals as gathering forces -accumulate and equilibrium is disturbed. It manifests itself in all the -fields of nature,—vital, chemical, molecular, molar, systemic. It -is the ever-acting, eternal past, present, and future, the macrocosm -and the microcosm, the panurgus, the Brahma, the Ancient of Days, and -cannot be silenced or evaded:</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“They reckon ill who leave me out,</p> -<p class="line">When <span class="sc">me</span> they fly I am the -wings.”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">R. Kalley Miller, in his “Romance of -Astronomy,” says, “It would be hopeless to attempt -expressing in ordinary language the vast distance at which these -clusters of stars are situated from us. If we were to reckon it in -miles, or even in millions of miles, figures would pile upon figures -till in their number all definite idea of their value was lost. We must -choose another unit to measure these infinitudes of space,—a unit -compared with which the dimensions of our own solar system shrink into -absolute nothingness. The velocity of light is such that it would flash -fifteen times from pole to pole of our earth between two beats of the -pendulum. It bridges the huge chasm that separates us from the sun in -little more than eight minutes. But the light that shows us these faint -star-clusters has been travelling with this frightful velocity for more -than two million years since it left its distant source. We see them -to-day in the fields of our telescopes, not as they are now, but as -they were countless ages before the creation of <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb249" href="#pb249" name="pb249">249</a>]</span>man -upon the earth. What they are now who can tell?”</p> -<p>The movements of solar systems through space are unquestionably -controlled by some wider law than that of gravitation, and it still -remains for science to seek its hidden principles and discover its mode -of operation. We know that some stars travel alone, like the star -already noted, No. 1830 of Groombridge’s catalogue; that others -travel in pairs, like the double star Mizar and its companion Alcor; -and others in groups, like the stars Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and -Zeta, of the constellation Ursa Major; that we are driving towards the -constellation Lyra and leaving behind us Sirius and its fellows, and -that many, if not all, of the stars whose motions we can measure have a -rapid movement through space, but under what control, in accord with -what hidden harmony, and under what general plan they move, we do not -know; but the laws of electrical action of the circling planets upon -their central suns, and of these upon space, we can readily account for -by the similar operation of the same laws within our own solar domain; -and we know by the similar terms of the ratio of distribution of light -that this is commensurate in extent with the law of gravity, and -operates in a like proportion of energy over all intervening distances; -so that wherever our sun presents a visible point of light, there it is -pouring its energy into space, and every sun we can see, every galaxy, -every star-cluster, nay, every nebula, is likewise pouring into the -interplanetary space of our own <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb250" -href="#pb250" name="pb250">250</a>]</span>solar system its -proportionate quota of energy. The very fact that we can see the star -shine is itself the fullest evidence that this is so, and evidence also -that the law of gravitation there, too, is still in force, operating -over these same distances, and with the same proportionate energy.</p> -<p>Knowing all this, we can read with a new light the grand vistas of -the skies, with their starry denizens, and claim them all as parts of -our own family; and the mutual interchange of attractive energy and of -light and heat will not fail between us until those inconceivable -distances shall have been reached which human knowledge can never span -and where speculation fails; and even there, from out those dark -abysses,—dark to our human eyes,—the call will still -faintly reach us, and our response will reach them also, though we -shall never have tangible evidence that such mutual ties continue to -exist. Industriously our planets gather their mighty energies from the -surrounding springs of space, as one dips water from a crystal stream; -we hand it over to our sun, and he, the royal high-priest, sprinkles it -in glittering diamond-sprays over all those countless suns and their -subject worlds, and they are baptized with an eternal baptism into our -common brotherhood and we into theirs. Our familiar planets, Mars, -Jupiter, Neptune, the earth, and even our little moon, seem to raise -their voices and take actual part in the councils of almighty power, to -move about as perpetual benefactors, gathering and spreading -beneficence abroad, instead of cowering, a hapless few, like -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb251" href="#pb251" name= -"pb251">251</a>]</span>storm-stayed travellers, around the dying embers -of our poor old sun, passive recipients of the light and heat and life -which we have been taught to believe are slowly sinking into ashes and -fading away in eternal darkness and death. One swift glance into these -boundless truths is better for the human soul than the slow passage of -whole hopeless centuries, which leave as their inevitable legacy on -earth a vast and final catastrophe, in which everything that gave us -light and heat and being must perish forever. Has it, indeed, come to -this, that the last word which science has to offer is, “After us -the deluge”? By no means. We have merely been endeavoring to -measure the right hand of God by weighing and measuring a single -isolated one of his countless multitude of suns.</p> -<p>It is as though one standing beside a great water-wheel should -estimate its power and rotation by measuring the width and depth of the -buckets and calculating the weight of water which its thirty-two -receptacles contain, saying, “at its present rate in so many -seconds it will cease to move.” But we take him to the -water-gate, and show it wide open; to the great dam above it which -contains cubic miles of water; and still beyond that to the mighty -fountains bursting forth with their rush and roar from the rock-ribbed -fastnesses of the eternal hills, and pouring their unfailing flood-tide -down forever and ever. And we do not pause even here: we show him the -vapors rising from the spent water again, condensing into clouds, -pouring down in torrents of rain among the hills, and that these -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb252" href="#pb252" name= -"pb252">252</a>]</span>continuously feed the sources of the fountains, -which in turn supply the wheel almost to bursting. And so it is with -the glorious mechanism of the heavens.</p> -<p>The source of solar energy is not to be found in the sun itself, but -in his environment; and he himself, in all his glory, is but the king, -crowned with gold, blazing with rich apparel, and scattering benefits -among his satellites, not from his own private treasury, but who -himself is enriched by the mighty tribute with which his willing -subjects continually endow him, and to whom alone he owes all his pride -and power and wealth and magnificence, and which he, in turn, so freely -expends, transmuted in form alone, in the perpetual improvement and -welfare of his domain. He is the faithful ruler, but not the creator; -the beneficent monarch, but not the god. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb253" href="#pb253" name="pb253">253</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch11" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e303">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XI.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE GASEOUS NEBULÆ.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">When we reach the irresolvable nebulæ, we -unquestionably have approached the creative period of solar systems and -in many cases of whole galaxies. These are multifarious in form, but -all can be reduced to a few comprehensive types. In determining the -question as to whether these irresolvable nebulæ were composed of -distinct stars like the Milky Way, but too distant to be resolved from -their mist-like light into discrete stars by the most powerful -telescopes, or whether they were gaseous in constitution,—that -is, composed of diffused gaseous elements not condensed into solar -bodies,—the spectroscope became the final and infallible test. Of -this instrument, thus used, Professor Proctor, in his -“Star-Clouds and Star-Mist,” says, “A very few words -will explain the whole matter to readers who remember the three -fundamental laws of this new mode of investigation,—viz., that, -first, light from a burning solid or liquid source gives the -rainbow-colored streak of light commonly known as the prismatic -spectrum; secondly, when vapors surround such a source of light, the -rainbow-colored streak is crossed by dark lines; and, thirdly, when the -source of light is gas, there is no longer a rainbow-colored streak, -but <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb254" href="#pb254" name= -"pb254">254</a>]</span>merely a finite number of bright lines.” -Dr. Huggins selected for investigation the small planetary nebula in -the Dragon. He says, “When I had directed the telescope armed -with the spectrum apparatus to this nebula, I at first suspected that -some derangement of the instrument had taken place, for no spectrum was -seen, but only a short line of light. I then found that the light of -this nebula, unlike any other extra-terrestrial light which had yet -been subjected by me to prismatic analysis, was of definite colors, and -therefore could not form a spectrum. A great part of the light is -monochromatic, and so remains concentrated in a bright line occupying a -position in the spectrum corresponding to its color. Careful -examination showed a narrower and much fainter line near the one first -discovered. Beyond this point, about three times as far from the first -line, was a third exceedingly faint line. From the position of one of -the bright lines it is inferred the <i>gas nitrogen</i> is one of the -constituents of the nebula; another line indicates the <i>existence of -the gas hydrogen</i> in that far-off system; the third line has not yet -been associated with any known terrestrial element, though it is near -one belonging to the metal barium, and <i>still nearer one belonging to -oxygen</i>; a fourth line occasionally seen <i>belongs to -hydrogen</i>.” Professor Proctor says, “Dr. Huggins -examined a large number of the planetary nebulæ (so called), -obtaining in each case a spectrum which indicates gaseity. In some -cases only one line could be seen, in others two, more commonly three, -and in <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb255" href="#pb255" name= -"pb255">255</a>]</span>a few instances four. When these lines were seen -they invariably corresponded in position with those already described. -The single line sometimes seen corresponded with the brightest line of -the three; and when a second line was visible, this also was no new -line, but agreed with the second brightest line in the three-line -spectrum. The fourth line was seen only in the spectrum of a very -bright, small, blue planetary nebula, but was later observed in other -cases, and especially in the great Orion nebula.” At this time -the latter was not visible, but when Dr. Huggins had opportunity to -examine it, he says, “The telescopic observations of this nebula -seem to show that it is suitable to a crucial test of the usually -received opinion that the resolution of a nebula into bright stellar -points is a certain indication that the nebula consists of discrete -stars.” Professor Proctor says, “A simple glance resolved -the difficulty. The light from the brightest part of the -nebula—the very part which under Lord Rosse’s great -reflector blazed with innumerable points of light—gave a spectrum -identical in all respects with that which Huggins had obtained from the -planetary nebulæ. Thus, what had been deemed boldness in -Herschel—namely, that he should have associated the wildest and -most fantastic nebula in the heavens with the circular and (in ordinary -telescopes) almost uniformly luminous planetary nebulæ—was -unexpectedly confirmed.” The spectrum of this nebula has more -recently been photographed by a long exposure in the camera of the -prepared plate. Of the result, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb256" -href="#pb256" name="pb256">256</a>]</span>Professor Proctor thus -speaks, “The nebula is seen to be in great part gaseous, and, -where gaseous, to shine in the main with the tints described above; but -parts of the nebula are not gaseous, and those portions which are so -are not all constituted in the same manner …. That portion -which is called the fish’s mouth gives a continuous spectrum; in -other words, the same spectrum which we obtain from a star or a -star-cluster. This is the spectrum arising from a glowing solid or -liquid mass, or if from a gaseous body, then the gaseous body must be -in a state of great compression …. But the stars thus -forming must be immersed in the glowing gas forming the general -substance of the nebula …. It would be absurd to suppose -that the nebula is a flat surface; … nebulous matter lies also, -in all probability (certainly one might fairly say), between us and the -stellar aggregration as well as on the farther side.” Further, -the same author says, “If, as is probable, the luminosity of the -gaseous portion of the Orion nebula is accompanied by but a relatively -small proportion of heat, then the rays from the violet and -ultra-violet part of the spectrum are likely to give us much more -complete information respecting the constitution of these nebulous -masses than can be derived from the visible part of the -spectrum.”</p> -<p>In the recent work of Professor Ball, “In the High -Heavens,” that author says, “There are, however, good -grounds for believing that nebulæ really do undergo some changes, -at least as regards brightness; but whether these changes are such as -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb257" href="#pb257" name= -"pb257">257</a>]</span>Herschel’s theory would seem to require is -quite another question. Perhaps the best-authenticated instance is that -of the variable nebula in the constellation of Taurus, discovered by -Mr. Hind in 1852. At the time of its discovery this object was a small -nebula about one minute in diameter, with a central condensation of -light. D’Arrest, the distinguished astronomer of Copenhagen, -found in 1861 that this nebula had vanished. On the 29th of December, -1861, the nebula was again seen in the powerful refractor at Pulkova, -but on December 12, 1863, Mr. Hind failed to detect it with the -telescope by which it had been originally discovered …. In -1868, O. Struve, observing at Pulkova, detected another nebulous spot -in the vicinity of the place of the missing object, but this also has -now vanished. Struve, however, does not consider that the nebula of -1868 is distinct from Hind’s nebula, but he says, ‘What I -see is certainly the variable nebula itself, only in altered brightness -and spread over a larger space. Some traces of nebulosity are still to -be seen exactly on the spot where Hind and D’Arrest placed the -variable nebula. It is a remarkable circumstance that this nebula is in -the vicinity of a variable star which changes somewhat irregularly from -the ninth to the twelfth magnitude. At the time of the discovery in -1861 both the star and the nebula were brighter than they have since -become.’… It must be admitted that the changes are such as -would not be expected if Herschel’s theory were universally true. -Another remarkable occurrence <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb258" -href="#pb258" name="pb258">258</a>]</span>in modern astronomy may be -cited as having some bearing on the question as to the actual evidence -for or against Herschel’s theory. On November 24, 1876, Dr. -Schmidt noticed a new star of the third magnitude in the constellation -Cygnus …. The brilliancy gradually declined until, on the -13th of December, Mr. Hind found it to be of the sixth magnitude. The -spectrum … exhibited several bright lines which indicated that -the star differed from other stars by the possession of vast masses of -glowing gaseous material …. September 2, 1877, it was then -below the tenth magnitude and of a decidedly bluish tint. Viewed -through the spectroscope, its light was almost completely -monochromatic, and appeared to be indistinguishable from that which is -often found to come from nebulæ …. It would seem -certain that we have an instance before us in which a star has changed -into a planetary nebula of small angular diameter …. -Professor Pickering, however, has since found slight traces of a -continuous spectrum, but the object has now become so extremely faint -that such observations are very difficult …. For the -nebular theory we require evidence of the conversion of nebulæ -into stars.” And not, it may be added, of stars into -nebulæ.</p> -<p>Of the irregular nebulæ, Professor Proctor says, “It may -well chance, as long since suggested by Professor Clark, of Cincinnati, -and as more cautiously hinted by Dr. Huggins, that in the varieties of -constitution observed in the irregular nebulæ, and the evidence -such varieties afford of progressive <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb259" href="#pb259" name="pb259">259</a>]</span>changes, we may find -not merely direct evidence of the development of suns and sun-systems -from the great masses of nebulous matter, but even what would be a far -more important and impressive result,—actual evidence of the -development of so-called elements from substances really elementary, -or, at any rate, one stage nearer the elementary condition than are our -hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and so forth. The peculiarity of -the spectral indications of the presence of nitrogen and hydrogen in -the nebula, that only one line of nitrogen and two or three lines of -hydrogen are discernible, instead of a complete spectrum of either -element as seen under any known conditions, seems suggestive of what -may be called a more elemental condition of hydrogen and -nitrogen.” Whether this be so, or whether these peculiarities are -due to self-obscuration, or mutual reversal of the familiar lines due -to the enormous disturbances of the nebular mass which must exist, it -is certain that there is one terrestrial substance, at least, which -acts invariably, in combination and chemical affinity, as a simple -element in inorganic chemistry, but which is, in fact, -compound,—to wit, the hypothetical radical ammonium, which is -closely allied with the simple alkaline metals potassium and sodium, -forming with them a single group; and yet, while the others have always -remained as fixed, primitive elements, the hypothetical element -ammonium alone is a composite substance consisting of hydrogen and -nitrogen, two of the invariable gaseous constituents of <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb260" href="#pb260" name="pb260">260</a>]</span>all -these nebulæ. In comets we find, vaguely expressed, an occasional -strongly marked sodium line, and also the spectrum of carbon; in these -gaseous nebulæ we find, as yet, no trace of carbon, and this -element is so closely allied to hydrogen in its chemical affinities and -reactions as to suggest that it may be the same element or some alloy -of it, or in some allotropic form, as we find to be the case with other -simple elements under special conditions. In organic -chemistry—the chemistry of organic life—we find almost -innumerable compound radicals which act as simple elements in -combination, but which we can combine and separate into their -constituents at will; to all intents and purposes, in their various -reactions, they behave as elemental substances, and were it not that -our analyses are able to resolve them, as the spectroscope resolves the -nebulæ, we might well believe that here also we were dealing with -simple primary elements. It is almost certain that great discoveries in -this field of chemistry are not far distant, which will recall with -wondering surprise the now universally exploded fallacies of the -“Philosopher’s Stone” and the “Universal -Solvent.” Indeed, we may find in the electrical energies of the -planets and the self-repulsive force of the electrospheres of the earth -and moon possible grounds for investigating anew some of the abandoned -tenets of astrology, in the hope that the light of science may disclose -some basis, at least, for what, at one time,—and for nearly all -time, in fact,—was the universally accepted belief, not only of -the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb261" href="#pb261" name= -"pb261">261</a>]</span>ignorant, but of those the wisest and most -learned of their day and generation. If the planets by their position -can cloud the sun, nearly a million miles in diameter, with spots, or -shed the brilliance of the aurora borealis over all our skies, may they -not also cloud the embryonic intellect, or charge it with energies for -a career of prosperity or of disaster? May not the unseen currents, or -the electric storms around us, or the vast electrical phenomena of the -sun as well affect the sprouting germs of the husbandman or some -abnormally rapid development of an insect pest as the light, the -warmth, the moisture, or the cold, which, to our coarser vision, are -alone apparent? Fancy and fallacy revel luxuriantly where science -fails, but truth existed long before science was systematized, and the -supercilious condemnation of once generally accepted views without -examination is merely pseudo-science, and scarcely a single grade -higher in the scale than ignorant superstition itself. And every new -advance in knowledge requires a new overhauling of abandoned material, -just as a new advance in metallurgical knowledge enables us sometimes -to work over again our once-rejected mining dumps with decided profit. -Indeed, science itself is but a collection of observed facts reduced to -system, and among the shrewd and practical miners there is a well-known -saying, “The ore is where you find it,” which has -frequently put scientific assertion to the blush.</p> -<div class="figure p263width" id="p263"><img src="images/p263.jpg" alt= -"" width="489" height="492"> -<p class="first">Gaseous nebulæ (non-systemic in -development).—Fig. 1, the Crab nebula; Fig. 2, Dumb-bell nebula -(reduced from Nichol, after Lord Rosse); Fig. 3, nebula in -Sobieski’s Crown; Fig. 4, Catherine-wheel nebula (from -Flammarion).</p> -<p>In Fig. 1 gravity preponderates, and electrical repulsion drives the -radiant matter upward and outward. This nebula resembles a comet in its -phenomena; a large nebula in the neighborhood in rear of the -Crab’s body would produce this effect.</p> -<p>Fig. 2 shows a bipolar form produced by repulsion acting against -gravity; the two heads connected by a narrow strand, the lower head -elongated by internal repulsion, and the horns curved upward by the -attraction of gravity of the upper head. This figure suggests the -division of a comet (like Biela’s) into two smaller comets.</p> -<p>In Fig. 3 gravity and electrical repulsion are nearly equal; the -result is an elongated lineal nebula, warped into irregular curves by -counter currents of space.</p> -<p>Fig. 4 is rotary, and the repulsive forces will probably entirely -overcome gravity and result in the formation of an annular nebula with -hollow center.</p> -</div> -<p>A study of the beautiful mezzotint plates, from the drawings of the -Earl of Rosse, contained in <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb262" href= -"#pb262" name="pb262">262</a>]</span>Professor Nichol’s splendid -work, “The Architecture of the Heavens,” will clearly -disclose the forms, as revealed by a powerful telescope, of many of -these gaseous nebulæ. Of such nebulæ, Appleton’s -Cyclopædia says, “nebulæ proper, or those which have -not been definitely resolved, are found in nearly every quarter of the -firmament, though abounding especially near those regions which have -fewest stars. Scarcely any are found near the Milky Way, and the great -mass of them lie in the two opposite spaces farthest removed from this -circle. Their forms are very various, and often undergo strange and -unexpected changes as the power of the telescope with which they are -viewed is increased, so as not to be recognizable in some cases as the -same objects.” An example of this is shown in Plate X. (Figs. 1 -and 2) of Professor Nichol’s work, which gives a greatly enlarged -view of those shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of Plate IX. (For Fig. 2 of -Nichol’s Plate X., see illustration of nebula with double sun, in -previous chapter.) Professor Nichol says, “In every instance -examined, save one, the planetary nebulæ are nebulæ with -hollow centers.” The inference which this writer makes, that such -a planetary nebula consists of “a grand annular cluster of -stars,” has been since disproved by the discoveries of the -spectroscope, but the telescopic form remains true, and still awaits -further interpretation. While the irresolvable nebulæ seem to -seek some retired spot in space for their processes, like certain -animals when incubating, this rule is not <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb264" href="#pb264" name="pb264">264</a>]</span>universal. Of this, -Appleton’s Cyclopædia says, “The density of nebular -distribution increased with the distance from the galactic zone <i>for -the irresolvable nebulæ</i>, but diminished with that distance -for the clusters …. There is not a gradual condensation of -nebulæ towards two opposite regions, near the poles of the -galactic zone, but the nebulæ are gathered into streams, nodules, -and irregular aggregations such as we find in the grouping of -stars …. Between stars and nebulæ their arrangement -follows the law of contrast. There are two remarkable exceptions to -this law,—the Magellanic Clouds. In these, where stars of all -orders, from the ninth magnitude to irresolvable stellar aggregations, -are as richly gathered as in the galactic zone, nebulæ of all -orders are also gathered richly, even more so than anywhere else over -the whole heavens.” In the same work, article -“Nebula,” it is stated of the planetary nebulæ, -“There are several which have perfectly the appearance of a ring, -and are called annular nebulæ …. Some appear to be -physically connected in pairs like double stars. Most of the small -nebulæ have the general appearance of a bright central nucleus -enveloped in a nebulous veil. This nucleus is sometimes concentrated as -a star and sometimes diffused. The enveloping veil is sometimes -circular and sometimes elliptical, with every degree of eccentricity -between a circle and a straight line. There are some which, with a -general disposition to symmetry of form, have great branching arms or -filaments with more or less precision of outline. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb265" href="#pb265" name="pb265">265</a>]</span>An -example of this is Lord Rosse’s Crab nebula. Another remarkable -object is the nebula in Andromeda, which is visible with the naked eye, -and is the only one which was discovered before the invention of the -telescope. Simon Marius (1612) describes its appearance as that of a -candle shining through horn. Besides the above, which have -comparatively regular forms, there are others more diffused and devoid -of symmetry of shape. A remarkable example is the great nebula in -Orion, discovered by Huygens in 1656 …. The great nebula -in Argo is another example of this class.”</p> -<p>The number of nebulæ recognized in all the heavens is upward -of five thousand, and new ones are being constantly discovered. Of -these objects, Professor Nichol says, “The spiral figure is -characteristic of an extensive class of galaxies. Majestic associations -of orbs, arranged in this winding form, with branches issuing like a -divergent geometric curve from a globular cluster.” These -nebulæ, however, are not associations of orbs; they are gaseous -nebulæ apparently in process of evolution. This author (Professor -Nichol) presents views of such spiral nebulæ either foreshortened -to the view, so as to form a long ellipse, or with the convolutions of -the spiral apparently raised from the horizontal plane into a conical -form, and showing the black streaks of space which lie between the -convolutions, others seen in side view, others in front, and, in fact, -presented to the eye in every position for observation. The author -wrote before the days of the spectroscope, and that he should -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb266" href="#pb266" name= -"pb266">266</a>]</span>conceive these vast objects to be spirals made -up of blazing suns like our Milky Way—vast galaxies, in -fact—was an inevitable conclusion at that time; but we now know -that these spiral nebulæ are gaseous, are apparently in process -of manufacture, and we can see them in their different stages of -evolution, and may perhaps learn something about the processes by which -solar systems and galaxies of suns are formed. Of one of these strange -but exceedingly instructive objects, Professor Ball, in his work -“In the High Heavens,” says, “Fig. 3 represents one -of the famous spiral nebulæ (that of Canes Venatici) discovered -many years ago by the late Earl of Rosse. The object is invisible to -the naked eye. It seems like a haze surrounding the stars, which the -telescope discloses in considerable numbers, as shown in the picture. -When viewed through an instrument of sufficient power, a marvellous -spectacle is revealed. There are wisps and patches of glowing -cloud-like material which shine not as our clouds do, by reflecting to -us the sunlight. This celestial cloud is no doubt self-luminous; it is, -in fact, composed of vapors so intensely heated that they glow with -fervor. As I write, I have Lord Rosse’s elaborate drawing of this -nebula before me, and on the margin of this stupendous object the -nebula fades away so tenderly that it is almost impossible to say where -the luminosity terminates. Probably this nebula will in some remote age -condense down into more solid substances. It contains, no doubt, enough -material to make many globes as big as our earth. Before, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb267" href="#pb267" name= -"pb267">267</a>]</span>however, it settles down into dark bodies like -the earth, it will have to pass through stages in which its condensing -materials will form bright sun-like bodies. It seems as if this process -of condensation might almost be witnessed at the present time in some -parts of the great object. There are also some very striking -nebulæ which are often spoken of as <i>planetary</i>. They are -literally balls of bluish-colored gas or vapor, apparently more dense -than that which forms the nebula now under consideration. Such globes -are doubtless undergoing condensation, and may be regarded as incipient -worlds.” Of these spiral nebulæ it is said, in -Appleton’s Cyclopædia, “Many of them had been long -known as nebulæ, but their characteristic spiral form had never -been suspected. They have the appearance of a maelstrom of stellar -matter, and are among the most interesting objects in the -heavens.” Of their spectra it is said, “The bright-line -spectrum is given by all the irregular nebulæ hitherto examined -and by the planetary nebulæ.” That is to say, these -nebulæ are gaseous in constitution, and have not yet reached the -stage of solar condensation which marks the existence of individual -suns. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb268" href="#pb268" name= -"pb268">268</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch12" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e313">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XII.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS: ITS BASIS AND ITS -DIFFICULTIES.</h2> -<div class="epigraph"> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“There sinks the nebulous star we call the -Sun,</p> -<p class="line">If that hypothesis of theirs be -sound.”—<span class="sc">Tennyson.</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">While the nebular theory of Laplace is now the -generally accepted scientific hypothesis of the formation of our solar -system and of all solar systems, it finds its strongest support in the -mode in which it seeks to account for the heat and light of the -sun,—that is, that the central orb, gradually condensing down -from an original volume as large as the orbit of Neptune, at least, -after disengaging the planetary rings, continued to condense to its -present volume, and still so continues, the molecular motions arrested -by condensation under gravity reappearing in the form of the energy of -light and heat, and that this process of degradation will continue -until, finally, the sun becomes a solid inert mass, incapable by -further condensation of exciting the ethereal undulations in space -which constitute heat and light, when the whole process will finally -cease, the sun will die out, the planets continue to rotate in -darkness, and the whole machinery be left running through an eternal -night, like a vast mill in the hands of a negligent watchman (or rather -no watchman at all), left to run <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb269" -href="#pb269" name="pb269">269</a>]</span>itself alone, dark, empty, -lifeless, and deserted, through the long and silent watches of the -night. While the source and mode of solar energy set forth in this work -are to be as readily accounted for if we accept as valid -Laplace’s nebular hypothesis as by any other theory, yet such -basis is not essential for its support; for while the planetary -rotations and the central sun are the necessary consequence, according -to Laplace’s hypothesis, of their mode of formation,—are, -in fact, just what we actually find them to be under any -hypothesis,—electrical generation and transformation will proceed -just the same whether the planets and sun were formed originally in one -mode or in another. But, since this generally accepted hypothesis -accounts for the light and heat of the sun, to a certain extent at -least, and for a certain relatively brief period, while no other -hypothesis has been able to sufficiently account for it at all, and -while this hypothesis also finds both support and contradiction in many -observed phenomena of our solar system, it may well occur that this -hypothesis itself, based upon the necessity of accounting for the -sun’s light and heat, and which latter afford it its strongest -basis of support, may, if the basis upon which the theory rests be -found to be otherwise explicable, still remain as an end, while -originally presented only as a means, and thus be held as an obstacle -to the acceptance of the widely different interpretation of known facts -herein presented, in the absence of any other hypothesis capable of -explaining the same facts in accordance with this <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb270" href="#pb270" name= -"pb270">270</a>]</span>presentation of planetary electrical generation -and the solar transformation of this energy into light and heat. -Herbert Spencer mentions an instance of such perversion of means into -an end as occurring during the agitation for the repeal of the corn -laws in England, which extended over many years, during which organized -efforts were made to influence Parliament. A permanent commission was -established, with official head-quarters permanently located in London, -with clerks, secretaries, higher officers, and all the paraphernalia of -a first-class establishment. The purpose of this institution was to act -in behalf of the popular interests upon Parliament by every available -means to secure this great reform. After years of effort, he says, a -clerk one day rushed, breathless, into the office from the House of -Commons and shouted, in accents of despair, “We are ruined; the -bill has passed!”</p> -<p>The nebular hypothesis, while generally accepted in lieu of a better -one, has no actual primary basis beyond that of mere assumption. Of it -Professor Ball says, “The nebular theory … seems, from the -nature of the case, to be almost incapable of receiving any direct -testimony.” We have already quoted from Professor Newcomb that it -must be accepted, with all its difficulties, until a different and -sufficient explanation of solar energy shall be presented. As set forth -in Appleton’s Cyclopædia, the theory is as follows: -“<i>Assuming, for the sake of the argument</i>, a rare, -homogeneous, nebulous matter, widely diffused through space, the -following successive <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb271" href="#pb271" -name="pb271">271</a>]</span>changes will, on physical principles, take -place in it: 1, mutual gravitation of its atoms; 2, atomic repulsion; -3, evolution of heat by overcoming this repulsion; 4, molecular -combination at a certain stage of condensation; followed by, 5, sudden -and great disengagement of heat; 6, lowering of temperature by -radiation and consequent precipitation of binary atoms, aggregating -into irregular flocculi and floating in the rarer medium, just as water -when precipitated from air collects into clouds; 7, each flocculus will -move towards the common center of gravity of all; but, being an -irregular mass in a resisting medium, this motion will be out of the -rectilinear,—that is to say, not directly towards the common -center of gravity, but towards one or the other side of it,—and -thus, 8, a spiral movement will ensue, which will be communicated to -the rarer medium through which the flocculus is moving; and, 9, a -preponderating momentum and rotation of the whole mass in some one -direction, <i>converging</i> in spirals towards the common center of -gravity. Certain subordinate actions are to be noticed also. Mutual -attraction will tend to produce groups of flocculi concentrating around -local centers of gravity and acquiring a subordinate vortical movement. -These conclusions are shown to be in entire harmony with the observed -phenomena. In this genetic process, when the precipitated matter is -aggregating into flocculi, there will be found here and there detached -portions, like shreds of cloud in a summer sky, which will not coalesce -with the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb272" href="#pb272" name= -"pb272">272</a>]</span>larger internal masses, but will slowly follow -without overtaking them. These fragments will assume characteristics of -motion strikingly correspondent to those of the comets, whose physical -constitution and distribution are seen to be completely accordant with -the hypothesis.” During this process, it is further stated, -successive rings of nebulous matter will be thrown off and left behind, -which are supposed to have coalesced into planets and their satellites, -and the motion of rotation will become more and more rapid as -condensation proceeds, until, finally, the last planet, Mercury, will -be left behind in annular form, and the sun will then become the -central orb of all the planets, and condensation afterwards will -proceed without further delivery of planetary rings. Professor Ball -says, “If we go sufficiently far back, we seem to come to a time -when the sun, in a more or less completely gaseous state, filled up the -surrounding space out to the orbit of Mercury, or, earlier still, out -to the orbit of the remotest planet.”</p> -<div class="figure p273width" id="p273"><img src="images/p273.jpg" alt= -"" width="473" height="364"> -<p class="first">Great spiral nebula in Canes Venatici. (See Fig. 156 -of Guillemin’s “The Heavens.”) The small nebula to -the right is also, according to M. Chacarnac, a spiral, though with the -telescopic power used the figure above does not show it.</p> -</div> -<p>There is nothing in the actively developing nebula illustrated on -the following page which shows the slightest analogy, either in -structure or the forces at work, to what is demanded by the nebular -hypothesis. On the contrary, these radiating, spiral convolutions, -springing from a center and extended, with interstratified dark spaces, -out to the periphery, are entirely incompatible with that theory. There -have not, so far, been observed in all the heavens any gaseous -nebulæ which lend the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb273" href= -"#pb273" name="pb273">273</a>]</span>slightest support to the nebular -hypothesis. We should expect to find, if it were true, that many of the -nucleated planetary nebulæ show exterior concentric rings of -luminous matter, clearly defined, two, three, or a dozen in number, -left behind by the contracting volume of the nebula, and coalescing -into planets, and, within, the glowing disk from which new external -rings are about to be left as a residuum. On the contrary, these -nebulæ gradually fade away towards their margins, and -imperceptibly disappear in the blackness of space. If they terminated -abruptly, we might suppose that here, at <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb274" href="#pb274" name="pb274">274</a>]</span>least, was the orbit -of a newly forming planet, but the regular and delicate gradation of -luminosity from maximum to zero shows that no such sudden breaking off -has occurred. In all these nebulæ we find every definitely marked -structure to exhibit the operation of combined forces of gravity and -internal repulsion nearly equally balanced, but each acting -independently of the other. These phenomena are as universal as the -forces of cohesion and repellent polarity in the “attraction -particles” of cell-life which determine the segmentation, growth, -and development of the living organism. We find here the primal -modification and differentiation of material structure under the stress -of directly opposite and interacting primitive forces, and it is -doubtless the same whether in a cell or a system. It is not a residuum, -but the <i>vis a tergo</i>.</p> -<p>It is well known that there are many and great difficulties involved -in the nebular hypothesis. As for the genesis of comets, it will be at -once seen that the theory will only account for such comets as never -venture much beyond the orbit of Neptune, as well as those which have -an orbital plane nearly coincident with that of the planets. But most -comets come from illimitable space, far, far beyond Neptune’s -circle and at all angles to the plane of the planetary orbits; and we -have already seen that a disk of space of the diameter of -Neptune’s orbit and half as thick (see Proctor’s -“Familiar Essays”) would, to contain all the matter of our -solar system equally distributed, have a density of only one -four-hundred-thousandth that of hydrogen gas at <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb275" href="#pb275" name= -"pb275">275</a>]</span>atmospheric pressure,—that is to say, such -a volume of the lightest substance we know of would make four hundred -thousand solar systems like our own. This author inquires if such a -mass could, under any circumstances, rotate as a whole, and adds, -“Has it ever occurred, I often wonder, to those who glibly quote -the nebular theory as originally propounded, to inquire how far some of -the processes suggested by Laplace are in accordance with the now -well-known laws of physics?” But the great primal difficulty is -in the first assumption of the theory, which is not only entirely -gratuitous, but physically impossible. It is that this great plasma of -nebulous material—in the case of our own solar system not less -than six thousand million miles in diameter—should have in -someway become aggregated into a homogeneous mass of the requisite -tenuity, complete and perfect, and ready for the succeeding stages of -the process, in which, however, the law of gravity has hitherto had no -active operation whatever; for, if gravitation existed and operated -therein, such homogeneous mass could never have been formed, nor ever -existed even if formed. The very forces which alone could have brought -this vast mass together must have been the identical forces which -afterwards broke it up into the sun and planets, and the operation of -the same force must have prevented its original formation at all. -According to the theory, it was like a horse-race, in which all the -participants stood silent and motionless until the judge cried, -“Go!” But the judge was the great creative force itself, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb276" href="#pb276" name= -"pb276">276</a>]</span>and if the fiat reached to this extent, the same -power could just as readily—nay, far more readily—have shot -the sun and planets forth into rotation, as children scatter -dough-balls, instead of holding in abeyance the control of universal -law so as to (as a humorous writer speaks of the operations of a child -in his investigation of a watch) “see the wheels go round.” -This is not nature’s plan, so far as human knowledge goes. Of -course these masses gathering to this great nebulous center, if acted -upon by gravitation, would have at once condensed around the center as -a nucleus, and if rotation ever commenced, it must have commenced then, -millions of years, doubtless, before the outlying masses had even got -within hailing distance. When masses of people assemble at a -camp-meeting, the first comers take the best places, and the late -arrivals have to circulate around in the woods; they do not all gather -in a circle and then make a grand rush. That would be fair, perhaps, -but it is not nature. And this, unquestionably, is how, if ever formed -at all, these nebulæ must have formed into systems.</p> -<p>The fact that the orbital planes of very many of these asteroids are -greatly inclined to the common planetary plane, and still more greatly -inclined to one another, points almost unerringly to the existence -during their stage of formation of some powerful force either of -internal repulsion or external attraction. That no sufficiently large -body could have been present to exercise such attraction so far outside -the general planetary plane is self-evident, and <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb277" href="#pb277" name="pb277">277</a>]</span>if -there had been such source of attraction, while the orbital planes of -the asteroids might have been deflected from the common plane, they -could not have been forced apart so as to differ largely among -themselves. Certainly nothing pertaining to the nebular hypothesis -could have produced any such effects under any conceivable -circumstances, and especially at so late a period of its progress, -after all the principal planets had been completed. The only -alternative is self-repulsion, and this could only have been due to the -causes and their mode of operation already described in this work. In a -modified degree these planes exhibit the same irregular orbital -deflections as are so conspicuously visible in the orbits of comets, -and they must have been unquestionably produced in the same manner. The -barren bands or stripes in the area occupied by these asteroids, like -the dark or vacant rings of the planet Saturn, may have been largely -affected by the perturbing attraction of the neighboring planet -Jupiter; but certainly no influence of that great planet (himself in -the common planetary plane) could have operated to cast these forming -planetoids into planes of diverse inclinations among themselves or to -that of his own. On the contrary, his whole force must have been -exerted to bring them into the closest harmony with his own orbital -movements.</p> -<p>Omitting discussion of the technical difficulties in the application -of the nebular theory to demonstrated facts, which may be found in the -books, we may again repeat that this theory is not essential to -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb278" href="#pb278" name= -"pb278">278</a>]</span>account for the heat of the sun, which finds its -real source elsewhere, while, nevertheless, the theory in itself is not -incompatible with the views which we have endeavored to present and -demonstrate. Certain phenomena, however, have been considered in prior -quotations in this work which may aid us to roughly indicate the -successive processes by which the evolution of solar systems and -galaxies may be explained on another basis which requires no violent -assumptions to be made and no suspension of any of nature’s -universal laws. The same operations which we see around us at the -present time in our own system, if extended to the dimensions of a -nebular aggregation, would probably present the same phenomena as those -we find partially disclosed in the gaseous nebulæ, particularly -the spiral, and these would naturally determine the final production of -solar systems such as our own. The gaseous nebulæ, not spiral, -and the mixed nebulæ also, would fall into their appropriate -categories in the same general plan, and a consistent mode of formation -would be presented from the beginning to the end of the different -processes.</p> -<div class="figure p279width" id="p279"><img src="images/p279.jpg" alt= -"" width="489" height="508"> -<p class="first">Spiral nebulæ, reduced from Nichol, after -drawings of Lord Rosse. Fig. 1 is from Plate XV., Fig. 2 from Plate -XII., and Fig. 3 from frontispiece of Nichol’s -“Architecture of the Heavens;” Fig. 4 is from same work, -showing a similar development, from a spiral nebula, of a solar system -with a double star for its central sun.</p> -</div> -<p>It should be observed that the spiral required by Laplace’s -nebular theory is essentially a centripetal spiral. The spiral -nebulæ we see in the heavens, however, are <i>centrifugal</i> -spirals. This is clearly shown in Plates XV., XII., and the -frontispiece of Nichol’s “Architecture of the -Heavens,” as well as in Plates XIII. and XIV. Plate XV.—the -open spiral—is directly contradictory of any phenomena which -could occur in accordance with the nebular <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb279" href="#pb279" name= -"pb279">279</a>]</span>theory of Laplace. The frontispiece shows the -only form which such a nebula could assume at any stage of its -career,—that is, a close spiral with nearly circular -convolutions. But while this particular form is not only in entire -accordance with the hypothesis which we are about to suggest, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb280" href="#pb280" name= -"pb280">280</a>]</span>being in fact one of the later and necessary -stages in its progress, any such spiral as that shown in Plate XV. is -utterly out of the question in the application of the nebular theory of -Laplace or in any of the more recent modifications thereof.</p> -<p>The only hypothesis by which the various phenomena can be adequately -explained must almost certainly be based upon the combined action of -gravitation and electrospheric repulsion. We find in the corona of our -own sun such phenomena manifested in the most striking degree, even in -a completed system, and we can well understand that during the early -stages of systemic development such phenomena would vastly transcend -anything which we could now hope to observe around our own sun. We see -this repulsion still more highly developed in the formation of the -tails of comets. While these coronal rays are not visible to a distance -of more, perhaps, than five million miles from the sun’s disk, we -have seen that the tail of Newton’s comet was shot forth to a -distance of ninety million miles in a few days, as it were in a moment, -by the tremendous electrical repulsion of the solar electrosphere, and -that this enormous tail, which, if composed of hydrogen gas alone (it -was, of course, enormously more attenuated), would have contained a -mass much more than equal to the weight of the sun, was swung around -over an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees, giving a radial sweep of -the tail over a distance of two hundred and eighty millions of miles in -less than four days. And the tails of many other comets have largely -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb281" href="#pb281" name= -"pb281">281</a>]</span>transcended in dimensions that of Newton, above -cited. We have learned much of the laws which regulate the development -of storms, cyclones, whirlwinds, water-spouts, and other vortical -phenomena in the atmosphere of our own earth, and can readily apply -these principles to phenomena of vastly greater magnitude. We know that -the matter of comets’ tails is self-repulsive, as shown in -multiple tails, as well as that it is repelled by an adjacent similarly -electrified electrosphere,—that of the sun, for example,—as -with pith-balls in the familiar class-room experiments; so that we can -gather a very fair and complete idea of the processes of nature when -dealing with such phenomena on a vastly more extended scale, in which -our moments are measured by millions of years and our miles by the -almost infinite distances of sidereal and nebular space. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb282" href="#pb282" name="pb282">282</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch13" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e323">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIII.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE GENESIS OF SOLAR SYSTEMS AND GALAXIES.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The processes of development of a solar system from -the diffused elemental matter of space may then be roughly sketched as -follows, premising that each stage may have possibly extended over vast -periods of time, and the whole, perhaps, not been completed for -millions of years. With the processes of creation time is as -nothing.</p> -<p>The area of space in which a solar system is about to be developed -has hitherto maintained its molecular constituents in a state of -gradually increased unstable equilibrium, whether such augmented -instability may have been induced by a gradual rise of temperature from -emission of the solar energy of other galaxies, by gradual diffusion -from constantly operative centers, from currents or vortices of space, -or by some primal inherent constitution of space itself, with -constantly increasing tensions relieved by successive discharges, of -which analogous instances are found in various other processes of -nature, as, for example, ovulation, fission, and gemmation in the -reproduction of life, regularly recurring epileptiform convulsions, -regularly repeated spark discharges from electrical machines, or the -ebullition of viscous fluids with their slowly recurring bursting -bubbles. At some <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb283" href="#pb283" -name="pb283">283</a>]</span>focal point of this area a rupture of -tension will finally occur, induced by some sudden current or vortical -movement, as we see sometimes in a pool of water gradually reduced in -temperature below the freezing-point, when its whole surface, by the -passage of a breath of wind even, will be suddenly flashed into -crystals of ice. At this point of space there will be instituted a -rapid expansion among the molecules and a consequent fall of -temperature, followed by an inrush of the vaporous material surrounding -this center of agitation, and a vortical movement will be established, -with currents of spatial matter attracted to this vortex in constantly -increasing streams. The molecular tensions will be successively -unlocked as the circles of agitation continue to widen, and a condensed -nucleus will form, rotating upon its axis and exhibiting the combined -phenomena of gravity and centrifugal force. As the nucleus continues to -increase in mass and density its temperature will constantly rise, -while its speed of rotation will gradually diminish as its volume -increases, and the aqueous vapors of space, as they gather around this -rotating center of attraction, will be forced outward by centrifugal -action and the heat of the nucleus, and form vast attenuated -clouds,—not necessarily visible, however, to human -sight,—and these clouds, in their various stratifications and -disturbances, will gradually come to partake of the rotatory movement -of the center, such movements, however, gradually fading away as they -recede in space and in density. The cyclonic movements of these clouds -of aqueous <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb284" href="#pb284" name= -"pb284">284</a>]</span>vapor upon themselves, but principally against -the surrounding gases of space still under tension, will generate -enormous quantities of electricity, which flash like thunder-clouds as -they approach each other, with incessant streams of lightning and rolls -of thunder. The growing and heating central nucleus is thus thrown into -a state of high electrical opposite polarity, and its own constituent -elements become self-repellent, just as we see in the sun’s -corona and in the phenomena of comets. The electrical tension of the -central mass will gradually grow higher and higher, until a vast stream -or streams of incandescent nebulous matter (for with double suns they -may be multiple, or the internal repulsion may even cause division of -the nucleus itself) will be suddenly driven outward in a radial -direction along the lines of least resistance,—that is to say, in -the plane of equatorial rotation, where centrifugal force is most -effective. We can readily understand the self-repellent force of such -an enormous mass of cosmical matter by considering that, in our own -completed system, the repulsion of the solar electrosphere drove forth -the tail of Newton’s comet, as before stated, to a distance of -ninety million miles, and whirled it around a semicircle of this radius -in less than four days. Our most distant planet, Neptune, is only -thirty times this distance from the sun, and we see during every solar -eclipse the coronal structure glowing to a distance of more than a -million miles from the sun’s disk, and the radial streamers -driven forth five million miles, and even farther. (See illustrations -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb285" href="#pb285" name= -"pb285">285</a>]</span>of solar corona in Guillemin’s “The -Heavens.”) The vast stream of radiating nebulous matter thus -forced out by solar repulsion will likewise be acted upon with equal -energy by its own internal self-repellent force. If we conceive a -stream of water thrown vertically upward by a powerful force-pump, in -which every drop of the fluid is endowed with tremendous self-repulsive -energy, we should find an analogy to the phenomenon in question. We can -see an example of this in the “Crab Nebula,” illustrated in -a previous chapter. The stream, acted upon by gravity downward, by the -force of ejection upward, and by the internal force of repulsion both -transversely and upward, would assume a pyriform shape, narrower -beneath, largely swollen about its middle, and thence gradually -decreasing in diameter to its termination in a rounded tuft, in advance -of which would be driven forth detached sprays and wisps, while -filaments and outlying parallel strands would mark its entire ascent, -except towards its point of ejection, where the primal force which -drove it out is greatly in excess of those of gravity and -self-repulsion. It will be seen at a glance that these phenomena are -precisely those which we observe in a comet’s tail. (See -illustrations of many comets having these characteristics in -Guillemin’s “The Heavens,” Lockyer’s -edition.)</p> -<p>Suppose, now, that this stream of water or the tail of a large comet -were gradually wrapped around its point of emission by the rotation of -this nucleus upon its axis. A spiral would form, very open or -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb286" href="#pb286" name= -"pb286">286</a>]</span>flaring at first, but gradually growing closer -and more circular as the force of gravity drew its convolutions -downward upon the interstratified clouds of aqueous vapor occupying, in -compressed layers, the spaces between the adjacent coils of the spiral. -There would be a composite action of forces observed: gravity would -attract the convolutions and their interstratified layers of cloud -equally, according to their densities, while the central repulsive -force would repel the convolutions of the spiral along the same lines -of force, but would not act at all upon the strata of clouds, and the -force of internal self-repulsion would also tend to disrupt the -convolutions of the spiral by expanding them outwardly. The outer -convolution, however, would have no backward thrust from any internal -repulsion beyond, while, within, gravity and solar repulsion would be -more equally balanced, so that the outer coil would be relatively -compressed in its rotation against the next inner convolution, and its -ratio of distance would not be maintained. We find this exemplified in -the case of Neptune’s, orbit in our own system. The inner -convolution would also be abnormal, since the primal force of ejection -must have been sufficient to carry the outward thrust of the whole -spiral, and in consequence its flare would offer much greater -resistance to the deflection of rotation, and it would have a more -radial direction than those beyond. We shall find that the planet -Mercury, and the inner convolution which was eventually reabsorbed into -the solar mass, exhibit these phenomena. Between the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb287" href="#pb287" name= -"pb287">287</a>]</span>outer and these inner convolutions the curve of -the spiral would be approximately regular, with a fixed ratio of -increase. In the planets of our solar system this ratio is that -produced by constantly doubling the preceding number, the series being -0, 3, 6, 12, 24, etc. In other solar systems, however, the ratio may be -quite different. In this abnormal flare of the inner convolution is -doubtless to be found the rational basis of Bode’s empirical law -of planetary distances, in which the arbitrary number 4 must be added -to each term of the above progression, making the series 4, 7, 10, 16, -28, etc. The inner coil between Mercury and the sun was drawn into the -solar mass on the disruption of the spiral, leaving, from the -abnormally radial curvature of the inner portions of the spiral and its -absence from the series, a vacant place which must be represented by -the relatively fixed increment to be added to each term of the -series.</p> -<p>As the convolutions of the spiral become more and more compressed -towards each other and more and more flattened against the -interstratified cloud-layers, the force of internal repulsion becomes -more and more active in its tendency to disrupt the spiral, since its -forces are more direct and concentrated along lines nearly at right -angles to the force of gravity. During the formation of the spiral we -can easily conceive that—like a stream of water shooting over a -cascade, or the multiple tails of some comets, or even a whole comet, -as, for example, Biela’s, which was split up into two separate -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb288" href="#pb288" name= -"pb288">288</a>]</span>bodies by this force—some convolution, -perhaps a single one of the series, will be laterally divided into a -large number of nearly parallel strands, mutually held apart by their -internal self-repulsion, and with cloud-layers interposed between these -lateral strands. Such a series of small planets as these would finally -produce we find in the belt of our asteroids, the bulk of the -convolution, probably, for the most part, however, scattered in space, -since their aggregate mass is so small, and possibly, in part, -coalesced into the mass of Jupiter, to which Mars, by his position, may -also have contributed.</p> -<div class="figure p288width" id="p288"><img src="images/p288.jpg" alt= -"" width="480" height="271"> -<p class="first">Nebula in Canes Venatici, showing central nucleus and -external ring split and held apart by electrical self-repulsion. (From -Helmholtz’s “Popular Lectures.”)</p> -</div> -<p>Not only may a whole convolution be thus split up, but along the -spiral at many points the outer margins may be thrust outward, forming -partially detached parallel strands, which may thus coalesce -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb289" href="#pb289" name= -"pb289">289</a>]</span>to form the satellites of the completed planets; -while at the outer extremity of all, where the backward thrust of -self-repulsion is wanting, enormous wisps, sprays, and tufts of -nebulous matter would be driven entirely forth into the illimitable -realms of outer space, but not necessarily, or even <span class="corr" -id="xd26e2253" title="Source: prob-bly">probably</span>, into the space -of other systems, which are so enormously distant; and there, in those -unoccupied realms, they will remain to gyrate “in the solitude of -their own originality,” in the form of comets, until, at long -intervals, they may chance to revisit the scenes of their earliest -youth, to warm their frozen limbs for a brief period at the old and -well-remembered parental fire, or finally, worn out with toil and -travel, “come home at last to die.”</p> -<p>Driven forth from the society of their fellows by their own -unbalanced energies, these anarchists of the sky may form loose -aggregations, granulated about multitudes of self-constituted minor -centers; but, cut loose from all effective solar control during their -period of coalescence, they must forever lack the consolidated form and -complex organization of their prosperous and rotund brethren, the -planets and their satellites, or even the tiny asteroids, who stayed -home and, like the little pig, had bread and butter for breakfast.</p> -<p>The disruptive energy of internal repulsion, as above stated, -increases in force as the convolutions of the spiral become more and -more compressed and the spiral becomes more and more circular in form. -Suddenly the coils of the spiral will be burst asunder, and this will -occur along that particular <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb290" href= -"#pb290" name="pb290">290</a>]</span>radial line of gravitation where -the central nucleus acts with its most effective force. The disruption -will be simultaneous, as a general rule, in accordance with the -principles which control ruptures of tension of bodies in a state of -unstable equilibrium, and which we see exemplified in multiplied -centers of crystallization, the simultaneous formation of mud-cracks, -the Giant’s Causeway, and other like phenomena. Each convolution -will now become a detached open ring, one of its broken extremities, -however, being millions of miles farther from the central nucleus than -the other. What occurs when a cometic body, negatively electrified, -impinges upon the positive electrosphere of a planet, or when an -electrical induction machine like Voss’s is touched by an -oppositely electrified body, will now necessarily occur with these -disrupted convolutions. Their connection with the negatively -electrified nucleus being broken, a reversal of electrical polarity -will ensue from contact with the adjacent positively electrified clouds -of aqueous vapor, and, instead of self-repulsion, mutual attraction -will now prevail along the length of each of the open rings. Held apart -from the central nucleus by the interstratified cloud-layers, and acted -upon by the double force of gravity and internal attraction, the -component elements of these open rings will rapidly lose their -luminosity and heat, and coalesce by a retrograde movement down the -lines of their direction, thus approaching the sun along the segment of -an ellipse, the nucleus, or sun, occupying one of the foci, the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb291" href="#pb291" name= -"pb291">291</a>]</span>eccentricity of the ellipse being measured by -the differential between the nearest point of the open ring and the -part of the convolution which lies directly opposite and beyond the -sun. In other words, the form of the spiral will determine the -eccentricity of the ellipse, subject to perturbations, however, of -various sorts. During this stage of coalescence from an open ring into -a sphere, these bodies will take on, by cooling and condensation, their -planetary forms; and as the forming spheres, by the retreat of their -masses down the lines of approach to the sun, advance, their forward -and nearer extremities will be more powerfully acted upon by gravity -than those parts in the rear, and a forward plunge or axial movement of -rotation will be set up. Viscous matter,—pitch, for -example,—molten by the sun’s heat and flowing down a steep -roof, exhibits a similar forward movement, the outer layers tending to -roll over the inner ones in convoluted folds, the adhesion to the roof -of the under surface corresponding to the retarding pull of the -sun’s attraction. In like manner are produced rotating eddies in -streams of water having crooked channels, eddies of air under -water-falls, and other analogous atmospheric disturbances. During the -stage of coalescence of the planetary spheres the adjacent clouds of -aqueous vapor will condense around them, and their hitherto diffused -electrical energies will be concentrated by rotation in <span class= -"corr" id="xd26e2264" title="Source: curents">currents</span> of -enormous quantity and potential directly upon the sun, and a -disassociation of the elements which compose these watery vapors will -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb292" href="#pb292" name= -"pb292">292</a>]</span>ensue, the result of which will be the deposit -of hydrogen gas as an atmospheric envelope around the sun’s body, -and of oxygen around and through the bodies which constitute the -planets. These gases will be disassociated in their combining -proportions, two volumes of hydrogen at the sun for one volume of -oxygen, distributed according to their relative electrical energies -among the planets. This nascent oxygen will rapidly combine with the -consolidating elements of the planets and, interpenetrating their -solidifying bodies, form the vast mass of oxides which we find to -constitute the bulk of our terrestrial mass, the residue, mechanically -commingled with the condensed ever-present nitrogen, forming the -planetary atmospheres. The condensation of volume of the planets will -give rise to great elevation of temperature, while their currents of -electricity, poured into the sun, will, by their passage through its -enormously compressed hydrogen atmosphere, produce intense heat, and -this, rapidly communicated to the solar core within, will raise its -temperature to that of the sun as we now see it, and permanently -maintain it in that state of incandescence.</p> -<p>During the stage of coalescence of the planetary bodies, outlying -strands of the spiral will follow the course of their adjacent masses -in a nearly parallel movement, and will gradually coalesce into smaller -bodies more directly under the influence of the gravity of their own -adjacent planets, by their proximity, than of that of the sun. These -bodies will thus rotate as satellites around their <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb293" href="#pb293" name= -"pb293">293</a>]</span>planets, and the forward shift of their centers -of gravity, by their advance along their lines of coalescence, may -result in a permanent displacement, of which we see an example in the -moon, which constantly presents the same face to the earth, while -having an axial rotation of its own with reference to the sun. (In this -case the action of gravity may have been assisted, however, by the -mutual repulsion of the lunar and terrestrial electrospheres forcing -the atmosphere and moisture of the lunar mass to its opposite side and -maintaining it there, where it would remain as a buffer against -rotation.) In some cases we might find certain outlying strands of a -convolution which, perturbed by external influences, may have been -delayed in its conversion into spherical form, and this subordinate -strand, pyriform itself, as it must have been, in shape, would thus -form a spiral of minute discrete bodies, probably like the nucleus of a -comet, finally assuming the shape of a series of rings, and rotating -like a satellite around the neighboring planet, the inner and outer -strands more attenuated and the middle ones more condensed, as we find -to be the case with the rings of Saturn.</p> -<p>In the original spiral we have seen that, as a whole, it was of -necessity pyriform in shape. The planets formed therefrom would thus be -found to increase in size from within outward to a maximum, after which -they would again decrease, but not to the original minimum, while the -extreme outer planet would also be unduly enlarged by increment from -partially dissipated terminal filaments, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb294" href="#pb294" name="pb294">294</a>]</span>gradually attracted -thereto from surrounding space. There is such an undue enlargement of -the planet Neptune, and this, with its relatively compressed orbit, -before alluded to, renders it almost certain that Neptune is in reality -the outermost member of our planetary system. We find this gradation of -size to be the case in our solar system, except where the series has -been broken by the multitudinous separation, from violent internal -repulsion, of one of the convolutions into parallel strands showing all -sorts of perturbations, this being the convolution which occupied the -region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and which, by the -coalescence of these numerous parallel strands into small planetary -bodies, has filled the space with a belt of asteroids hundreds and -perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands in number. It is probable -that a law regulating the ellipticity of planetary orbits can be -deduced from a consideration of the principles which have governed -their inception, and with these are doubtless closely related those -laws of Laplace which have demonstrated that “in any system of -bodies travelling in one direction around a central attracting orb, the -eccentricities and inclinations, if small at any one time, would always -continue inconsiderable.” (Appleton’s Cyclopædia, -article “Planet.”)</p> -<p>We have thus traced the genesis of a solar system from its earliest -stages forward through its various changes until, complete and in -working order, it is ready to be sent on its eternal course, either -alone or as one of a vast congeries of similar <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb295" href="#pb295" name= -"pb295">295</a>]</span>systems, like the Milky Way. (See frontispiece -for illustration of a series of types of development from a -straight-tailed comet, through different curvatures, and spiral -nebulæ of less and less divergence, until nearly circular, and -finally terminating in a complete solar system.) These processes of -creation may be isolated, or they may flash a hundred million solar -systems into being together, as crystals flash forth in the rock; but, -when once formed, they go forth each as eternal as space itself.</p> -<p>But can we not go back one step farther still in the progressive -stages of creative energy? Whence came these powerful agencies by means -of which all those distant regions became peopled with suns and worlds? -The great source of all is to be found alone in space,—the -so-called “empty space.” But it is far from empty; all -through it are diffused the attenuated vapors which, condensed, -constitute our suns and planets, and all that is, or ever shall be, -gaseous vapors, which are held poised, with their opposite tensions of -cohesion and expansion, like the Prince Rupert drops which -glass-blowers make for toys,—a little bulb of glass, chilled as -it falls, molten, in a vessel of water. From one extremity projects a -long, crooked stem, scarcely thicker at the end than a horse-hair, spun -out from the molten glass as it hung from the glass-blower’s rod. -The bulbous body is as large, perhaps, as a nut; you can beat it with a -hammer and it will not break; it is the hardest in structure of all -glass. Now, wrap this bulb up in a thick <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb296" href="#pb296" name="pb296">296</a>]</span>handkerchief, or you -may be injured; hold it firmly, and break off the very tiniest tip of -the long stem three, four, or even six inches from the bulb. There is a -sudden shock; open your handkerchief, and lo! instead of the solid -bulb, there is only a loose mass of white powder. If you put the bulb -in a heavy glass vessel full of water and break off the tip of the -tail, it will shatter the vessel into fragments. What is the -explanation?—it is, of course, well known—simply that the -molecules of glass were instantly arrested in their motion of -adjustment as the glass was suddenly chilled by the water, and the -molecular motion of shrinkage was arrested, leaving the individual -molecules under a tremendous strain of position in their endeavor to -reach their true places. They are rigidly fixed in this position of -unstable equilibrium, one balancing the other; but let a single -molecule be displaced,—a fragment so tiny that the eye can -scarcely see it,—and the molecules, thus thrown out of mutual -support against each other, must now rearrange themselves from the -ruptured rigid mass, and, like a row of stood-up bricks, each of which -thrusts the other forward, with a sudden explosive force the molecules -assume their true position of stable equilibrium, but it is at the cost -of the whole structure. To this same cause we owe the explosive force -of our gunpowder, nitroglycerin, and all explosives; the molecules are -held in unstable equilibrium, and the tension once relieved at a single -point, be it ever so infinitesimal, the molecules of the whole mass -rearrange themselves <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb297" href="#pb297" -name="pb297">297</a>]</span>with explosive energy. Strange that so -harmless a substance as glycerin, by the mere replacement of an atom of -nitrogen gas, should develop the energy of dynamite under a trifling -molecular shock.</p> -<p>So, also, the aqueous and perhaps other vapors of all space, -attenuated though they be, and perhaps by reason of this very tenuity -itself, as shown by the experiments of Professor Crookes with -attenuated gases when acted upon by electricity, are held in the same -state of unstable equilibrium. We know the potency of this instability -from the terrific explosive combination of the gases which combine to -form aqueous vapor. We may again refer to one of the well-known -experiments of Professor Crookes with simple atmospheric air. Enclosed -in a cylindrical glass vessel, the electric spark passed freely; as it -became more rarefied under an air-pump, new phenomena appeared, until, -at a stage of high rarefaction, the molecules of these gases were -driven forward by the electric current with such energy as first to -raise the temperature of the opposite side of the cylinder to a red -heat, then to melt, and finally to perforate the glass. The explanation -is that the movements of closely aggregated molecules mutually -interfere with each other; as they gain elbow-room by being reduced in -number, they act with more directness, and consequently with more -force: it is the difference between men fighting in a crowded room and -out in an open field. It is possible that these molecular tensions of -space, by the ready unlocking <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb298" -href="#pb298" name="pb298">298</a>]</span>of the forces with which they -are charged, may even aid in the rotation of the planets by acting upon -their electrospheres in their drift through space, as charged -thunder-clouds react upon each other, or the molecules of atmospheric -air, in moderately high vacua, under electrical excitement, act upon -the walls of the containing vessel, as in the experiments of Professor -Crookes and others. The riddles of nature are like those of the -sphinx,—they have more than one meaning.</p> -<p>The tensions of the aggregated molecules of space are thus -counterbalanced only so long as all space is equally occupied and a -state of perfect quiescence exists in its every part. A molecular -disturbance in one part is immediately communicated to adjacent parts, -and finally to all. With the first movement, gravity asserts itself, -for gravity exists and must exist in all parts, and must actively -manifest itself whenever the perfect mutual balance of space is -disturbed and a center of energy developed, and co-ordinately with the -action of gravity begins that of electricity. Movements among the -molecules are converted into movement of mass; centripetal motion -begets condensation, this begets sensible heat and vortical movement; -then come the phenomena of electrical generation by moving contact with -the gases of space, then repulsion and disassociation of the elements -of the aqueous vapors, combination of simple into compound elements; -and, the balance once disturbed, the state of unstable equilibrium is -forever destroyed, and all space henceforth must exhibit constant -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb299" href="#pb299" name= -"pb299">299</a>]</span>change. There are whole segments of space -absolutely blank, so far as visible systems are concerned, which seem -to have been exhausted, for the present æons at least, to supply -material for the vast adjacent galaxies which extend along their -borders; see illustrations in Proctor’s “Essays on -Astronomy,” article “Distribution of the -Nebulæ.”</p> -<p>It need not be supposed that such stage of perfect and universal -quiescence ever existed in fact; it is like the Nirvana of the Buddhist -philosophers,—a subjective and not an objective condition. We can -have no knowledge of the existence, even, of material things, save from -their phenomena, the manifestation of interchanging forces, upon which -rests our threefold basis of knowledge, perception, cognition, and -comparison. We know nothing of matter, except as affected by internal -or external force, nor of force itself, except as it acts in one mode -or another upon matter. All beyond this is, for us, without form and -void.</p> -<p>Progressive change has always, doubtless, been the universal law of -creation, and the great ocean of space is, and ever has been, and ever -will be the highway through which perpetually plough the great caravels -which bear the fortunes of creative energy, laden with life and light -and heat, in their eternal progression. The creative impulse once -given, if it, too, was not primeval in the eternal past, must have gone -on from development to development, like the transmission of life, from -age to age and from realm to realm. “The mills of the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb300" href="#pb300" name= -"pb300">300</a>]</span>gods grind slowly;” in these vast areas -time is absolutely nothing; the processes we see are but as the dip of -a swallow’s wing compared with an inconceivable futurity; but all -our energies, and all the energies of planets and suns and systems and -galaxies, and of whatever other and wider created forms may stretch -onward to infinity, came forth from the ocean of space, and to this -ocean all these energies continue to return again in ceaseless -circuit.</p> -<p>Can we indicate any relationship of periodicity for the genesis of -solar systems from space? There is a remarkable example of a somewhat -similar periodicity in organic life for the rupture of tensions, so -common that its analogous character and perfect regularity are scarcely -even thought of. Among the highest species of mammalia we find that, in -a state of health, whether resident of the heights of the Andes, the -deserts of Africa, the jungles of India, or the most densely populated -centers of London; among rich or poor, high or low, idle or -industrious, virtuous or vicious, ancient or modern, civilized or -barbarous, black, white, red, or yellow, the ovum of the mature female -rises to the surface of the ovary, and at intervals, almost uniform, of -twenty-eight days, organic excitement ensues, the enclosing vesicle is -ruptured, and the ovum escapes. The remarkable feature is not that -these processes continuously succeed each other; but that under such -diverse conditions and opposite circumstances, and with two separate -ovaries operating at the same time, simultaneously <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb301" href="#pb301" name="pb301">301</a>]</span>or -successively, this almost miraculous interval of no more and no less -than twenty-eight days between the successive ruptures of tension and -their attendant phenomena, should constantly persist. For its ultimate -cause we must look back to the <i>vis a tergo</i> to which we have -already alluded; and there may be, and doubtless is, a similarly acting -remote cause which regulates the periodical development of solar -systems or of galaxies, periods of intense activity, followed by -intervals of exhaustion and recuperation, and again succeeded by -another period of activity, and so on perpetually, for space is -perpetual, infinite, and inexhaustible.</p> -<p>It will be observed that the processes above roughly sketched are -somewhat similar to those observed in the formation of so-called -water-spouts, which usually terminate in dissipation in the atmosphere, -or else in terrific thunder-storms, but which occasionally reach a -sufficient energy of rotation to spin their central nuclei down -towards, or even to, the surface of the sea, or, in desert regions, to -that of the ground. There is no analogy with the theoretical and -“assumed” primal mass of attenuated plasma of the nebular -theory, or with its slow initial rotation, with the successive casting -off of rings of nebulous matter. It may sometimes happen, however, that -the repulsive electrical energy of the central nucleus may throw off -its external envelopes with sufficient force to drive them entirely -beyond the effective limit of its attractive forces, as occurs in the -formation of embryonic comets as <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb302" -href="#pb302" name="pb302">302</a>]</span>above described; in such case -the nebula will be a variable one, with successively repeated -aggregations and successive outbursts, periodical like the active -stages of volcanoes; and, even when the nucleus has already presented a -continuous solar spectrum, its energies may be thus expended, or more -gradually, and finally dissipated like the electricity of a highly -charged Leyden jar exposed to a moist atmosphere.</p> -<p>As a bottle of strongly effervescing liquid may blow itself empty, -when suddenly opened, by the mutually repellent energy of its contained -molecules, so if such a phenomenon were manifested in a radial -direction from a central point, the repelled spray would show itself as -a nebulous ring with a hollow center. An example of this sort is shown -in the multiple-tailed “Catherine-wheel” nebula (Fig. 4 of -a previous illustration). If such an annular nebula should become -ruptured into two portions by internal repulsion, the electrical -polarity of the smaller fragment would be reversed, and the two arcs -would separately coalesce and consolidate into a sun and a single -planet, forming a solar system like that of Algol, which has been -already described. Otherwise, the nebula would probably retrograde and -disappear, by diffusion, into space again. We may expect to find -abortive efforts of nature here, as we so constantly find them -elsewhere, not merely in inorganic matter, but even among the processes -of life.</p> -<p>In Professor Proctor’s article (“Essays on -Astronomy”) on the square-shouldered aspect of Saturn, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb303" href="#pb303" name= -"pb303">303</a>]</span>he mentions a hitherto unexplained circumstance -of the earth’s atmosphere—the curious fact that the -barometrical pressure of the earth’s atmosphere is somewhat -higher between the poles and the equator than immediately over the -latter, as might be supposed to be the case. This is a phenomenon of -mutual repulsion similar to those manifested in the operations above -described. The rotation of the earth on its axis forces the terrestrial -atmosphere, by its centrifugal motion, in undue proportion, around the -equatorial belt, causing the same sort of atmospheric thinning at the -poles which we see in the solar photosphere at its corresponding parts. -At the same time the highly electrified atmosphere, by its mutually -repellent action, tends to force this swollen equatorial ring backward -toward the poles. The resultant of these two repulsions is an area of -maximum density part way between the poles and the equator. It is -probable that this self-repellent equatorial swell may play some part -in the sun’s atmosphere, in extending, and also in limiting, the -areas of eruptive sun-spots outward from his equator.</p> -<p>While the nebulæ are more distant than many of the discrete -stars revealed to us by the telescope, there is no reason to suppose -that they are more distant than the star-clouds into which are merged -the separate stars of the Milky Way, or the star-clusters seen in other -portions of the sky. We know, in fact, that this is not so, for our -telescopes show brilliant stars in very many cases which are components -of the nebulæ themselves; and the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb304" href="#pb304" name="pb304">304</a>]</span>fact that the -nebulæ can be seen as having visible form, and not as mere points -of light, is itself conclusive as to their relative distances. Hence we -need not be surprised to learn that these forming spirals will result -each in the production of a single solar system, and not a galaxy of -suns, as was once supposed. Were such the case it would be impossible -for us to observe the structure of the nebulæ at all, as their -distances would be far too vast. Of the forms of the gaseous -nebulæ Guillemin asks, “Is the spiral the original form of -those gaseous matters, the condensation of which may give, or has -given, birth to each individual of this gigantic association?” -The same author says of these apparently regularly formed nebulæ, -“It is impossible not to recognize in them so many -systems.” Many of the spiral nebulæ were formerly supposed -to be globular aggregations of nebulous matter only, and their spiral -character came as a great surprise with the use of more powerful -telescopes; and many—nay, most—of these apparently globular -nebulæ have totally changed their appearance when viewed with -instruments of higher power, while the spirals have become more and -more pronounced in character with every increase of telescopic vision. -Of one of such apparently globular nebulæ Guillemin says, -“The center is like a large globular nebula with a very marked -condensation, whence radiate branches arranged in the form of spirals. -In several points of these branches other centers of condensation are -noticed. Sir John Herschel had classed this among the nebulæ of -rounded, globular form, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb305" href= -"#pb305" name="pb305">305</a>]</span><i>doubtless because the central -nebulosity was the only one revealed by his telescope</i>.” The -formation of the sub-centers in this nebula (which is between the Great -Bear and Boötes) should be particularly noted in connection with -the coalescence of planets as above described. In a note to -Guillemin’s work, Professor Lockyer says, “The proper -motion of nebulæ has not yet been inquired into, because -everybody, looking upon them as irresolvable star-clusters, thought -them infinitely remote. Now, however, that we know they are <i>not</i> -clusters of stars, properly so called, it is possible that they may be -much nearer to us than we imagine.”</p> -<p>In connection with the double-sun spiral nebula shown in the -preceding illustration, Guillemin says, “We have noticed -nebulæ accompanied by systems of double or multiple stars, placed -in a manner so symmetrical in the midst of the nebulosity that it is -impossible to doubt the existence of a real connection between the -stars and the nebulæ.” And Flammarion says of these -apparently globular nebulæ, when under the observation of more -powerful telescopes, “In the place where pale and whitish clouds -gave out a calm and uniform light, the giant eye of the telescope has -discerned <i>alternately dark and luminous -regions</i>,”—that is to say, they reveal the operation of -the opposite forces of attraction and repulsion, and are spiral. While -gaseous nebulæ may be of any conceivable form, the direction and -operation of the forces which will determine their character as solar -systems must be similar, just as with the forms of organic <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb306" href="#pb306" name= -"pb306">306</a>]</span>life, and the only nebulæ which reveal a -distinct systematic development in harmony with a working solar system -are the spiral. There is no difficulty whatever in tracing such a -nebula through all its formative stages, as we have done, and we can, -in fact, see painted on the background of the sky every step of the -shifting tableau through which such forms must pass.</p> -<p>By the nebular hypothesis the whole course of development, of -necessity, is rigidly forward to its culmination; but by employing the -analogies presented to us in other operations of nature, we can readily -account for variations, haltings, ineffectual efforts, uncompleted -processes, and even reversals and redistributions into other secondary -sources of energy. They equally comprise the agencies for the -production of a single solar system or of a myriad, just as we see the -vortical water-spouts or sand-storms either single, double, or -multiple; they are flexible, as are all the processes of nature, and -require no violent assumption of a prior physical basis known to us -“ne’er before on sea or shore.” They also account for -the deviation from the normal of the orbits of Neptune and Mercury, for -the formation of the asteroids and Saturn’s rings, for the -different eccentricities and inclinations of the orbits, for the -forward axial rotation of the planets and their satellites, and even -for their perturbations and abnormalities; they furnish a basis for -Bode’s empirical law, for the distribution of the planets in -size, for the origin of comets and meteor streams, for Kepler’s -laws, for the equal and permanent relation <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb307" href="#pb307" name="pb307">307</a>]</span>of -eccentricities and inclinations, and for the fixed axial position of -the moon with reference to the earth; they account for the free oxygen -in the planetary and free hydrogen in the solar atmosphere, they employ -the variation of volume of the sun as a regulator instead of an -independent generator of light and heat, and they are in entire -conformity with the established principles which govern the electrical -generation of active forces, their transmission to the sun, their -transformation into light and heat, and their return to the regions of -space, where they continue to act with potential energy to all -eternity, as they must do if space itself is eternal; and we surely -know that, if anything whatever is eternal, space must be so. This -great ocean—the home, the domain, the workshop of creative -energy—is the last retreat of the human intellect; here it may -find rest, and here alone. While solar systems may afford in their -circling planets a possible dominion for finite life, and in their suns -their daily bread; in the infinite and all-embracing realms of space, -filled with the potentialities of all created forms, thrilled with the -impulses of all creative force, is to be found the unfailing source of -all, the dominion of the eternal architect, before whom nature bends -the obedient knee, waits to hear his mighty voice, or swiftly runs to -do his royal bidding. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb308" href= -"#pb308" name="pb308">308</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch14" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e333">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIV.</h2> -<h2 class="main">THE MOSAIC COSMOGONY.</h2> -<div class="epigraph"> -<p class="first">“One generation passeth away, and another -generation cometh: but the earth abideth for -ever.”—<i><a class="biblink xd26e45" title= -"Link to cited location in Bible" href= -"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Eccl%201:4&version=NRSV">Bible.</a></i></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Thus, as we have seen, through countless future ages -will the sun, with his incandescent envelope of hydrogen, and the -planets, with their life-sustaining atmospheres of oxygen, fulfil their -appointed times and courses. But if we could conceive that all -atmospheres, solar and planetary, were suddenly blotted out and forever -annihilated, so that these great orbs thenceforth rolled along as they -do now, but only as black globes in an ocean of space of Stygian -darkness, new atmospheres would at once begin to be formed, and these -would soon again surround the sun and planets, precisely like those -which now exist.</p> -<p>Sweeping along in darkness, the force of gravity would gather around -each of these bodies vast accumulations of aqueous vapor and other -gases condensed from the attenuated matter of surrounding space. The -planets, by their axial rotations, would again generate from these -regions, newly occupied as the system drifted along through space, -electrical energy of enormous quantity and potential. Earth would again -hear the mighty mandate, “Let there be light,” and from her -poles to her <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb309" href="#pb309" name= -"pb309">309</a>]</span>equator the skies would blaze with brush-light -auroras. Suddenly, with a mighty leap, the pent-up currents would flash -across to their opposite electric pole, the auroras would gradually die -away, and instantly the molecules of hydrogen would begin to sift out -at the solar and those of oxygen at the planetary terminals. The -electrical currents driving their furious pathway through the rapidly -gathering hydrogen envelope, the sun would first begin to faintly -flicker with hazy, nebulous light; the light would gather intensity, -and soon flash and glow with energy; the solar nucleus within would -become intensely heated and liquefied or partially volatilized, and -again the solar streams of incandescent heat and light would radiate -forth on every side; the commingled gases, oxygen and nitrogen, would -once more surround each planetary globe, and we should have a new solar -envelope just as we now see it, and new planetary atmospheres like our -own; and then, and not till then, would the opposing generative forces -permanently counterbalance each other and electrolytic decomposition -become practically stationary, except to compensate for the slight -variations constantly liable to occur in the complicated running of the -mechanism. So the mutilated crustacean re-grows his lost claws, and so -our own gaping wounds are healed by the great <i>vis medicatrix -naturæ</i>. The most stable of all things is mutually balanced -instability; perhaps there is no other form of stability.</p> -<p>The “Nebular Hypothesis” of Laplace concerns -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb310" href="#pb310" name= -"pb310">310</a>]</span>itself only with the aggregate matter of which -our solar system is composed, and the force of gravity, including -cohesion, ignoring the action of the equally powerful force of -repulsion. But there is another nebular hypothesis much older than that -of Laplace and far more scientific, for it utilizes both the force of -gravity and cohesion and the radiant force of repulsion in the -generation of our solar system. We refer to what is known as the Mosaic -cosmogony. Whatever the origin of this magnificent narrative may have -been, whether written down by Moses originally, or by him derived from -the sacred learning of Egypt, with which he was fully acquainted, or by -the Egyptian scribes drawn from Ethiopia, and still further back from -the sacred traditions of India, it bears internal evidence, when -properly rendered from the Hebrew record, of a knowledge of these -stupendous phenomena (which no human eye could ever have beheld) which -is most remarkable. The commonly accepted versions do not clearly bring -out the full meaning of the original,—indeed, it would have been -impossible for the earlier translators to have done so,—but when -critically and etymologically rendered, very surprising coincidences -with the succession of events as they must actually have occurred, and -the principles involved in the successive stages of creation, will be -found in nearly every part of the record.</p> -<p>This record is embodied in the first chapter and first three verses -of the second chapter of Genesis. The Hebrew was long believed to be an -original, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb311" href="#pb311" name= -"pb311">311</a>]</span>if not an inspired, language, but it is now well -known to have been a derivative or root language, made up much like the -English, and, like it, having the meanings of its words primarily -determined by those of the root-stems from which they have been formed. -The roots of these Hebrew words are to be found among the languages of -many older peoples, and nearly all of them have now been traced to -their immediate origin. Another source of error is in the so-called -Masoretic pointing, which was not introduced for a thousand years after -the time of Moses, and which has often changed the signification of the -older words, and even the form of the words themselves; but by critical -researches the roots and their combinations have been isolated, so that -we are now able to possess a much mere accurate knowledge of the Mosaic -record than was possible in former times, for, of course, no original -copies have come down to us. It is not a reconstruction of the record -which has been made, but a careful editing by means of the derivation -and true signification of the words used, and by careful comparison -among the most ancient versions accessible to modern research. The -English version, while imperfect in its rendering of this ancient -narrative, is not to be considered by any means a false translation, -but it largely errs in failing to give the full radical meaning of the -words employed in the original.</p> -<p>As an illustration of this indefiniteness of rendering in the -ordinary English version let us consider the opening sentences of the -narrative: “In <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb312" href="#pb312" -name="pb312">312</a>]</span>the beginning God created the heaven and -the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was -upon the face of the deep.”</p> -<p>In the “beginning” of what? Does it mean the beginning -of our own solar system? or of all systems? or of all space? or of -Jehovah (for He has not yet been mentioned or described)? or of the -Aleim themselves,—that is, did the work begin as soon as the -forces began? and did the latter originate spontaneously, or otherwise? -What “God” is meant? Is it Jehovah, or Aleim, or some other -God not yet mentioned or described? If we will take every name in the -Bible which is translated God (and it may be any of these according to -the English rendering), we will have legion. We shall even find that -the same word which is translated “God” was applied by -Jehovah on one occasion to Moses. “Created”? What is meant -by this word? Was the creating a creation out of nothing? out of -something pre-existing? or something coexisting elsewhere? Was the -creation a direct or an indirect one? by the use of the forces of -nature, or by overriding the forces of nature? Was it a physical -creation by an inconceivable action of mere thought, or will? and if -so, was this thought, or will, God himself, or one of his attributes or -powers only? “The heaven”? What heaven? Was it that to -which the virtuous are supposed to go after death? or was it some more -physical heaven? Was <i>the</i> heaven the atmospheric heaven, the -interplanetary heaven, the heaven of interstellar space, or that more -extended heaven which lies <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb313" href= -"#pb313" name="pb313">313</a>]</span>beyond our knowledge? Was -<i>the</i> heaven one of these which He created, or did He create all -the different heavens of all the solar systems and nebulæ at the -same time? “Without form”? Was the earth without any form -at all? or merely without its present form? or without some particular -form not mentioned? If the earth was a physical structure it must have -had <i>some</i> form; what was it? “And void”? Was the -earth void like a soap-bubble? or void like a ray of light? or a -vacuum? If it was empty, what was it that was empty? How could the -heaven and earth be void after they had been brought into existence? -“Darkness was upon the face of the deep”? What deep? Was it -the sea not yet created? or the earth, which is anything but a -“deep”? was it the atmosphere? or all space? If the latter, -did all other systems of space wait for their light on ours? or did we -wait on theirs? are there no new systems now forming, and none to be -formed hereafter? If all space is meant, where was its outside, or its -face? and what occupied the intervening regions? was it a physical face -or the face of a vacuum? Were these statements to be accepted by faith -or reason? If the former, was it a faith which could only have come -from the experience of after-ages? or was it based on the <i>ipse -dixit</i> of Moses? What was the basis of faith when the record was -first written? was it from generally accepted tradition or by -revelation? Is the record anonymous or does it reveal the name of its -author? If to be endorsed by knowledge and reason, why should not the -narrative be strictly <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb314" href= -"#pb314" name="pb314">314</a>]</span>and accurately translated, even at -the expense of conciseness and elegance of diction, in order that the -exact force of every word shall be fully felt and recognized? If the -record is from divine revelation, it is still more essential to know -precisely what was revealed; otherwise we are no better than idolaters; -we are worse, in fact, for we have changed and falsified the landmarks -of religion, and bear false witness against God Himself. We must not -interpret Genesis by records made long subsequently; it must speak for -itself or not at all.</p> -<p>When construed in accordance with the exact definition of the words -themselves quite a new and strange light is thrown upon the history of -the events thus recorded. The great importance of a strict construction -of the translation and fidelity to the original is emphasized by the -fact that the same word was never used in this record to express a -different sense in different parts, nor were two different words ever -used in different places to express the same meaning. It is, therefore, -necessary to give every word of the original its exact fulness and -force. The basis of the following critical translation is to be found -in “Mankind: their Origin and Destiny” (Longmans & Co., -London, 1872), but a careful comparison has been made with other -accepted authorities, and the root-meanings of the separate words have -been carefully traced out, so that many necessary changes will be found -to have been made in order to bring out the precise sense of the -original. There is no actual literal, critical, etymological, and -scientific <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb315" href="#pb315" name= -"pb315">315</a>]</span>rendering embraced in a single translation known -to us, and which is complete in itself; but that which follows will be -found, it is believed, to give every word its particular etymological -shade of meaning, and to employ the same word in the same place, for -the same purpose, and with the same signification as it was understood -to have, in its original form, when first recorded. The specific -root-meanings of the most important words used are further explained in -detail in a separate section below.</p> -<p>The use of <span class="sc">Aleim</span>, “the powerful -Forces,” in the plural, followed by the verb in the singular, is -a Hebraism, and indicates the collective character of the forces as -specially energized, sent forth, and directed by Jeove (Jeova or -Jehovah is the Chaldaic form of the word, the original Hebrew being -Jeove), who does not appear by name in this narrative, though, as we -shall see, specially delegated power from some higher source is that -characteristic which is most emphasized throughout the record. These -forces are personified, as is usual in ancient records (and, indeed, in -modern thought), but they are in reality the “powers of -God.” The author of the work above referred to says, “The -idea of Moses was that there was a Supreme God … and that He -only acts by means of his agents called <span class="sc">Aleim</span>, -the Gods, in the plural and indefinite number, or embassadors, or -voices.” The ancient belief in the unity of all forces in one -creative individuality is also most clearly shown in some of the oldest -Vedaic hymns <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb316" href="#pb316" name= -"pb316">316</a>]</span>of India (see Max Müller, “The -Veda”). “Self (Atman) is the Lord of all things, Self is -the King of all things. As all the spokes of a wheel are contained in -the nave and the circumference, all things are contained in this Self; -all selves are contained in this Self. Brahman (Force) itself is but -Self.”</p> -<p>Of the religion of the ancient Egyptians (see “Evolution and -Christianity,” by J. F. York) it is said, “The chief -theological characteristic of this first of all known civilized -religions is the doctrine of the Divine Unity. As M. de Rougé -says, ‘One idea predominates, that of a single and primeval God; -everywhere and always it is one substance, self-existent, and an -unapproachable God.’ ” The Egyptian cosmogony, as the -fragments have come down to us (see Professor Arnold Guyot, -“Creation”), is as follows:</p> -<p>1. The <i>original gaseous form, and the darkness of matter</i>.</p> -<p>2. The successive transformations.</p> -<p>3. Light, as the first step in this development.</p> -<p>4. The separation of the waters below from the waters above the -expanse.</p> -<p>5. Periods of development of indefinite length.</p> -<p>6. The sun, moon, and earth organized last.</p> -<p>The word <span class="sc">Mlactou</span>, which occurs several times -repeated in the summing up of this narrative, explains the character of -<span class="sc">Aleim</span> most fully, as specially energized and -directed agencies or forces. This word never has any other meaning. -Even when applied to a king it was not a king as a <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb317" href="#pb317" name= -"pb317">317</a>]</span>monarch, but as the specially directed agent of -God. <a class="biblink xd26e45" title="Link to cited location in Bible" -href= -"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1sam%2028:17&version=NRSV"> -I. Samuel xxviii. 17</a>, “The Lord hath sent the kingdom out of -thine hand; … because thou obeydst not the voice of the -Lord.” When, in <a class="biblink xd26e45" title= -"Link to cited location in Bible" href= -"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ex%2013:21&version=NRSV"> -Exodus xiii. 21</a> it is said that “Jeove went before them by -day in a pillar of a cloud,” this is explained, in chapter xiv. -verse 19, to mean that this pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night -was Mlac, a messenger, or agent. It is translated “angel” -in the English version, but it was not a personal angel; it was a -specially energized and directed force. In the earliest times it was -not the God of fire, or of force, or of justice which men feared, but -fire, or force, or justice; the anthropomorphic conception came later -with the generalization of all fire, all force, or all justice. We say -now that a malefactor fears the law; what he really fears, however, is -punishment. In this record we are dealing with the primordial forces of -God,—gravity, electricity, attraction, repulsion, cohesion, vital -force, etc., etc., but acting with special energy for a predetermined -result. Of these forces Dr. McCosh says, in his work on Christianity -and Positivism, “One God, with his infinitely varied -perfections,—his power, his knowledge, his wisdom, his love, his -mercy; we should see that one Power blowing in the breeze, smiling in -the sunshine, sparkling in the stars, quickening us as we bound along -in the felt enjoyment of health, efflorescing in every form and hue of -beauty, and showering down daily gifts upon us. The profoundest minds -in our day, and in every day, have been fond of regarding <i>this -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb318" href="#pb318" name= -"pb318">318</a>]</span>force</i>, not as something independent of God, -but as the <i>very power of God acting in all action</i>; so that in -him we live, and move, and have our being.” In more rugged and -virile form this was precisely the old Mosaic philosophy, the -philosophy of the arcana of the Egyptian temples, and of the Vedaic age -of the Aryans of India. Where was the radiant center of this unfailing -search-light which has poured its broad belt of dazzling brightness -down to our day from those old, prehistoric ages?</p> -<p>So De Jouvencel, in his “Genesis according to Science,” -says, “We should not place the works of nature on one side and -nature on the other. Nature is a work and not a person.”</p> -<p>The word which in the English version is translated -“rested,” in the concluding verses of the narrative, does -not mean <i>rested from fatigue</i>, but rested as a pendulum rests -when it ceases to vibrate. Had the word been rendered “came to a -state of rest,” it would have been far more accurate and true to -the sense of the original. What is meant is that these pent-up forces -had operated, under the guidance of Jeove, to rupture a state of -unstable equilibrium in the attenuated matter of space, just as similar -forces are now said to gather energy to produce a volcanic eruption of -the earth’s crust, preceded by earthquakes and other vast -disturbances radiating from the center of rupture of these tensions -between the molecules of matter, accompanied by explosive expansion and -all the phenomena of disorganization and repulsion, and succeeded by -condensation, development, harmony, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb319" href="#pb319" name="pb319">319</a>]</span>and final quiescence -of these specially energized and self-opposing forces in a newly formed -state of molecular equilibrium. To quote from Professor Guyot, -“God rests as the creator of the visible universe. <i>The forces -of nature are now in that admirable equilibrium</i> which we now -behold, and which is necessary to our existence.” In “The -Unity of Nature” the Duke of Argyle says, “We strain our -imaginations to conceive the processes of Creation, whilst in reality -they are around us daily.”</p> -<p>The words which conclude the third verse of chapter ii. are also -imperfectly rendered in our English version, and this defect has led to -a popular misconception almost universal. They are construed to mean -“created—and made,” as though marking a broad class -distinction between the <span class="corr" id="xd26e2465" title= -"Source: dif-ent">different</span> processes before described. From -this the inference has been drawn that while, for the more subordinate -features, the word rendered “made” indicated that these -were stages in the process of creation merely involving the use of -coexisting materials, in the grander features of the work it was -supposed that there had been a creation <i>ab initio</i>,—that -is, <i>out of nothing</i>. Whole libraries have been written on this -theme; but the words used bear no such meaning; on the contrary, they -signify the exact opposite. There is, however, a broad distinction -between the interpretation of the two words; but it is that the word -which is to be rendered “fashioned like the work of a -sculptor” is narrower and not broader in significance than the -simple word “made;” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb320" -href="#pb320" name="pb320">320</a>]</span>so that the former is -included in, but is not generically distinct from, the latter. The word -<span class="sc">Bra</span> means that these portions of creation were -fashioned with the care and artistic skill of a sculptor, as -contradistinguished from turning out the productions in mass; this -distinction does not relate to the origin, but to the workmanship. -However interstellar or primordial space was formed, or when, if it -ever was formed, there is nothing in this record which excludes a -pre-existent space substantially like that which now is. What we see in -the sky, among the nebulæ, are later developments of like solar -systems, in like manner, from the midst of the substance of the same -illimitable and eternal space.</p> -<p>But biology has an interest in this account of creation equally as -great as has cosmology. The word <span class="sc">Bra</span> is first -applied to the formation of the individualized substance of the heavens -and the earth. They were fashioned or carved out like a sculpture from -something on which the forces could operate. There was, of course, -<i>creation</i> involved, but it was a mental, not a physical process. -When a sculptor has completed his clay figure he has brought forth a -<i>great creation</i>, perhaps, and the “creation” is still -his own, though the figure be cast in bronze by hired workmen in the -foundry, who execute the sculptor’s will at two dollars a day, it -may be, each. Beyond this mental element there is no more -<i>creation</i>, in its widest sense, than when a boy -“creates” a new point on his pencil by guiding his hand and -knife to sharpen it. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb321" href="#pb321" -name="pb321">321</a>]</span></p> -<p>When the “diffused light” came, it is not said that it -was “fashioned like the work of a sculptor,” or that it was -even “made;” but that it “came into existence.” -“Let there be light, and there was light,” as the English -version has it. But when the radiant energy of the sun came to be -formed, on the fourth day, it did not “come into -existence,” nor was it “fashioned like the work of a -sculptor;” it was “made.” The reason is that it was -not a development from the preceding “diffused light,” but -a new kind of light, made mechanically by the electrolysis of aqueous -vapor around the sun’s body, forming a hydrogen envelope, and by -driving the furious torrents of electricity from the planets through -this atmosphere, while the auroral, “diffused light” of the -earth was gradually dying away during the process. Hence there was no -room for the word <span class="sc">Bra</span>, or for the word -<span class="sc">Iei</span> (came into existence) here; the word to be -used was <span class="sc">Osh</span>. And when life was first -introduced,—vegetable life, the primal life,—the word used -is not <span class="sc">Bra</span>; this life was not -“fashioned” or developed from other life. But when animal -life was afterwards introduced, the word used is <span class= -"sc">Bra</span>; it was a refashioning. What was this life fashioned -out of? It was not “made;” it did not “begin to -exist;” it was developed. In this manner the earth was finally -filled with animal life. Then came the introduction of the human race. -Here we again have the word <span class="sc">Bra</span>, thrice -repeated; but when this introduction of mankind was first projected, -and before it was executed, it <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb322" -href="#pb322" name="pb322">322</a>]</span>was in these words, “We -will <i>make</i> [the root <span class="sc">Osh</span>] mankind;” -or, in the English version, “Let us <i>make</i> man.” There -seems here to have been a gradual ascent of living organisms by -development, almost precisely in accordance with the most recent -teachings of science. Two essentially different <i>kinds</i> of light -were successively produced, independently of each other; the earlier -kind “came into being,” and the later “was -made.” The substance or entity of the heavens and of the earth, -generically, “was fashioned.” Three successive -introductions of organic life not essentially different from each other -occurred; the first is described thus: “Let the earth bring -forth; … and the earth brought forth,” in the English -version; or “There shall be made to grow; … and there was -caused to arise suddenly out of the ground … vegetation,” -as more accurately rendered. The second form of organic life, in order -of time, the animal, was “fashioned.” The third form, -mankind, was also “fashioned,” and this was done long -subsequently to the introduction of the second.</p> -<p>If the word <span class="sc">Bra</span> had any signification of -<i>original creation</i> it would have been applied to the first -creation of life, for it was far more wonderful and original that there -should be vegetable life which grew and developed, which brought forth -flowers and then fruit, which formed germinative seeds, and from these -successively and continuously reproduced its multifarious species, than -that <i>animal</i> life should have been introduced long afterwards -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb323" href="#pb323" name= -"pb323">323</a>]</span>to repeat these same things which vegetation had -been, in all its forms, from the lowest to the highest, already doing -for untold ages,—from the third period of the earth’s long -history to the fifth; and more especially still when we consider that -vegetable life and animal life, in their lowest forms, have no positive -line of division between them.</p> -<p>And if <span class="sc">Osh</span>, which is applied to the genesis -of solar light, be capable of the signification of <i>original -creation</i>, then this word should have been applied to the generation -of the “diffused light” of the second day, for the genesis -of light is far more wonderful and original than the subsequent -production of sunlight, after the forming earth had existed for two -whole formative periods, from the second to the fourth, under the -constant illumination of this universally diffused auroral light. If, -on the other hand, the words applied to the first generation of light -and the first generation of life be held to mark an <i>original -creation</i>, then these words are never applied in this whole -narrative to the genesis of the <i>entity</i> of the heavens, or the -earth, or the sun and moon, or to animal life, or the life of man.</p> -<p>The radiant light and heat of the sun were not made until the fourth -day, while the introduction of vegetable life dates from the long -antecedent third day of creation. Prior to the development of the -sun’s thermal light there could have been, as we have already -shown, no free oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere; and it is a -remarkable circumstance <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb324" href= -"#pb324" name="pb324">324</a>]</span>that vegetation, which is the only -form of organic life which could have existed and propagated its -species in an atmosphere composed of carbonic, nitrogenous, and aqueous -vapors, devoid of oxygen, is that particular form of life which has -been selected for this purpose, and its advent placed prior to the -making of the sun. It would have been far more reasonable (previous to -our present knowledge of these things) to have placed the formation of -the sun in advance of the introduction of life; it is surprising that -this was not done, unless we give to these “ancients” a -knowledge of the principles of natural science far beyond anything -hitherto attributed to them.</p> -<p>In the same connection there is described a stage preparatory to and -leading up to the simultaneous development of the sun’s light and -heat, and the sifting out of hydrogen around the solar core, and of -oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere, which is equally remarkable. The -“separation of the waters” described in verses 6 and 7 has -never been fully rendered into English, or even understood in the -original, as the words seemed meaningless in their literal sense until -correctly interpreted by the facts set forth in the present work.</p> -<p>We must first note that the separation of the waters of space to two -opposite foci, with an intervening space of attenuated matter, and -their condensation there into two entirely different bodies, was the -work of the second day, while the formation of the terrestrial -rain-clouds and seas, as connected together, was a work of the third -day, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb325" href="#pb325" name= -"pb325">325</a>]</span>was not accomplished until then, which was long -afterwards. These entirely different operations—different in -time, place, character, and circumstance—have always been -confounded with each other; but one is in reality systemic and the -other merely local.</p> -<p>In verse 6 there was decreed an expanse or <i>thinning</i> (an -attenuated region) in the <i>center</i> of the waters, and a separation -was made by the formation of two “spots” (verse 7), one -under the expanse and the other above the expanse; the expanse was -space, interplanetary space. Professor Arnold Guyot, in his book on -Creation, says, “It is to be regretted that the English version -has translated the Hebrew word <i>expanse</i> by the word -<i>firmament</i>…. The difficulties they [the commentators] have -created for themselves arose … from depriving it of its -cosmogonic character and belittling it by reducing the great phenomena -there described to a simple modification of the terrestrial -atmosphere …. They forget that this thin covering of -clouds is but a temporary and ever-changing one, and that the clouds -are <i>in</i> that heaven rather than above it …. They -forget that this is not the true heavens in which are spread the sun -and moon and stars …. This grand day, so dwarfed and -misunderstood, is the one in which are described the generations of the -heavens, announced by Moses, which otherwise find no place in the -narrative of the creative week.”</p> -<p>The two foci of waters were the solar and terrestrial; around these -bodies were gathered by the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb326" href= -"#pb326" name="pb326">326</a>]</span>attraction of gravity, and there -condensed, the aqueous vapors from the attenuated intervening matter of -space; the earth by its rotation generated the enormous electrical -currents which still continue; when these made their mighty leap across -to the sun, the diffused auroral light around the earth gradually -disappeared, hydrogen and oxygen began to be evolved at the opposite -poles—the sun and the earth—from the condensed envelopes of -aqueous vapor which surrounded them, the sun’s hydrogen -atmosphere was pierced, as in the pail-of-water experiment described in -an earlier chapter of the present work, by the planetary electric -currents, the sun became incandescent, and <i>pari passu</i> the earth -became fitted, by the development of oxygen, for the abode of animal -life. As taking part in this great mechanical transformation, the sun -was said to have been “made;” it did not “come into -being.”</p> -<p>Just prior to the introduction of vegetable life—during the -same creative epoch, in fact, and for the support of which life it was -necessary—the waters under the expanse were condensed into -rain-clouds and seas, and there is a curious reference (verse 9) to the -appearance of the earth’s dryness “as produced by the -action of an internal fire;” the gradual cooling of the earth by -the radiation of its internal heat of condensation into space would -account for this appearance, and, in connection with the diffused -auroral light throughout the whole sky, would doubtless have sufficed -for the support of vegetable life. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb327" -href="#pb327" name="pb327">327</a>]</span></p> -<p>In verse 16 the fixed stars (the suns of other systems) are referred -to, but in a parenthetical statement—almost deprecatory, in -fact—that “the dim and almost extinct lights” the -same forces created also, but when they were created is not stated in -the record. The occasion for this incidental remark is to be found in -the preceding statement that the two new luminaries, the sun and moon, -were the two “superior bodies in size of the starry -lights.” Having mentioned the stars in this comparison, the -author feels called upon to add that the latter also had been similarly -created,—that is, that they were not original existences, and of -course they are not, but they were not created at that epoch, and are -not said to have been.</p> -<p>In chapter ii. verse 4, which opens the second narrative (quite a -different history, by the way), Jeove appears Himself, joined with the -Aleim, and henceforth this personal connection is maintained; the -English version translates this composite word “The Lord -God,” which means the Master God; the correct reading is, -however, the “God of gods,” or what we call the “God -of the forces of nature,” or the “God -omnipotent.”</p> -<p>In the whole Mosaic cosmogony there is nothing which can even -suggest a gradually closing nebulous mass; the element of rotation is -absent (and it would not have been understood by the people even if -presented); but, with this exception, the processes of development are -substantially in accord with what must really have taken place, and in -the order described. But it is, as before stated, absolutely -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb328" href="#pb328" name= -"pb328">328</a>]</span>essential to understand the root-meanings of all -the more important words used in the original. A superficial -translation is not only meaningless, but misleading; whereas, when -accurately understood, the record is one of the most remarkable ever -presented to human intelligence. The words used were selected -deliberately for their specific shades of meaning, and, unless these -are properly rendered, to the uninformed the narrative will present a -simple succession of startling phenomena, while to the educated student -each of these changes carries within its verbal index its origin, its -mode, and the knowledge of the forces at work. To the one it is a -dramatic spectacle performed on the stage in front; to the other it is -the same work as seen behind the curtain, with all the intermoving -mechanism (the author’s manuscript the sole guide), the interplay -of complicated forces, the triumphant successes, the rapt attention, -and even the sudden applause extorted at each wondrous climax from the -skilled actors themselves, who are at the same time unceasingly engaged -in working out the mighty drama of creation. One might readily believe -that the original author of this record was thoroughly acquainted with -the processes involved in the development of a solar system like our -own from the diffused primordial matter of space, substantially as we -have endeavored, in the present work, to deduce them from the most -recent investigations and discoveries of science.</p> -<p>Of the watery vapors condensed above the expanse of space many of -the ancient writers had a <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb329" href= -"#pb329" name="pb329">329</a>]</span>far more correct knowledge than -had those who translated these chapters from the original into the -various modern languages. In the Psalms we read, “Praise him, -… ye waters that be above the heavens;” in the Song of the -Three Holy Children, “O all ye waters that be above the -heavens.” Theophilus speaks of the “visible sky as having -<i>drawn to itself</i> a portion of the waters of chaos at the time of -the creation.<span class="corr" id="xd26e2610" title= -"Not in source">”</span> Saint Augustine says that the firmament -has been formed “<i>between</i> the upper and the lower -waters,” and quotes <a class="biblink xd26e45" title= -"Link to cited location in Bible" href= -"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gn%201:6-7&version=NRSV"> -Genesis i. 6 and 7</a>, as his authority.</p> -<p>Thousands of years ago, as far back as the days of the Pythagoreans, -and even long before, mankind was acquainted with the mariner’s -compass, telescopic tubes, and glass lenses; they knew that the moon -receives her light by reflection from the sun, of the presence of -mountains and valleys on the lunar surface, that her day and night are -each a fortnight in length, that there were other planets known to the -Egyptians besides the seven known to the Greeks (the Brahmans reckoned -fifteen of them), that the sun is the center of our planetary system, -that the earth and the other planets revolve around it, that the earth -is round and rotates on its own axis daily, that weight is a principal -element in the maintenance of these rotations, that the fixed stars are -suns, and that the Milky Way appears white from the number of stars -which it contains. Kircher quotes from an ancient Syrian author the -philosophy of the sidereal system, dividing it into many layers or -spheres attached to orbits, each presided <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb330" href="#pb330" name="pb330">330</a>]</span>over by a spirit. In -the eighth sphere are placed the fixed stars, “still higher two -other layers of stars not less luminous, and of different sizes, the -nebulæ and the small stars of the Milky Way, and the whole is -surrounded by the celestial waters, which spread over the whole -firmament, and which compose the great sea of light and the boundless -ocean.” The sources of all this wondrous knowledge can be traced -back through Chaldea, Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and, through the colony -of Meroë, to India.</p> -<p>ROOT-MEANINGS OF THE PRINCIPAL WORDS USED IN THE MOSAIC NARRATIVE OF -CREATION.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Aleim</span> (“corruptly called Elohim by the -modern Jews, but always Aleim in the synagogue copies”) means the -Strong Forces (or, by subsequent impersonation, subaltern gods), -operating to carry out the purposes and execute the plans of Jeove. -<span class="sc">Al</span>, the root, signifies <i>Strong</i>, -<i>strength</i>, <i>a ram</i>; <span class="sc">Al-e</span> means -<i>Strong</i> in a personal sense; <span class="sc">Aleim</span> -(plural) means the Forces, the Strong-ones, the Powers, and in Egyptian -mythology, the subordinate, or executive, gods, the demi-urgi. -<a class="biblink xd26e45" title="Link to cited location in Bible" -href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ex%207:1&version=NRSV"> -Exodus vii. 1</a>, “And the Lord [Jeove] said unto Moses, See I -have made thee a god [Aleim] to Pharaoh; thou shalt speak all that I -command thee.”</p> -<p><span class="sc">Bra</span>, <i>carved</i>, <i>cut</i>, <i>fashioned -like the work of a sculptor</i>, <i>gave a new shape to</i>, <i>formed -from unformed material</i>. From <span class="sc">Br</span>, <i>a -knife</i>; <span class="sc">br-i</span>, <i>to carve</i>, <i>to -cut</i>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Brashit</span>, <i>in the commencement</i> or -beginning <i>of individualized existence</i> (with the initial -preposition <span class="sc">b-</span>). <span class="sc">B</span> -signifies <i>in</i>; <span class="sc">it</span> (which is related to -<span class="sc">at</span>) signifies <i>individualized existence</i>; -<span class="sc">rash</span>, a <i>principle</i> or <i>beginning</i>, -or a <i>commencement</i>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">At</span>, connected with the Chaldaic, signifies -<i>substance</i>, <i>essence</i>, or <i>individuality</i>, “the -thing itself” (Latin, <i>ens</i>); it is correctly translated -“individualized substance.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb331" href="#pb331" name="pb331">331</a>]</span></p> -<p><span class="sc">Eshmim</span>, the combination of the preposition -<span class="sc">e</span> with the substantive <span class= -"sc">shmim</span>, the word signifying <i>of the visible heavens</i>, -or the planisphere.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Artz</span>, the earth in a state of aridity, or as -a generalized expression for the earth; <span class="sc">ar</span> -signifies the <i>earth</i>, and the termination <span class= -"sc">tz</span> intensifies the signification of <i>drought</i>, -<i>whiteness</i>, <i>aridity</i>; in contrast with this is <span class= -"sc">adme</span>, <i>red earth</i>, or <i>productive earth</i> or -<i>soil</i>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">U-</span> is a conjunction, signifying <i>and</i> -or <i>then</i>, in the sense of succession of time, something like our -phrase “and then.”</p> -<p><span class="sc">Teou</span> does not mean “without -form,” nor does <span class="sc">ubeou</span> mean “and -void,” as rendered in our English version, at least not in the -ordinary sense of these words. “<span class="sc">Teou</span> -refers to extinct life, or to existence <i>shut up as in a tomb and in -darkness</i>, while <span class="sc">u-beou</span> refers to <i>life -which is about reappearing</i>, but still hidden in the egg or the -ovary, and waiting for the word which shall cause the dawn of creation -to shine upon it.” These words are more properly rendered -“tomb-like darkness and undeveloped.”</p> -<p><span class="sc">Eshc</span> means <i>darkness</i>; not merely an -intense darkness, but what may be denominated a “thick -darkness;” it is an <i>enshrouding <span class="corr" id= -"xd26e2835" title="Source: darknesss">darkness</span></i> which -<i>compresses</i> and <i>hinders</i>. It is precisely such a darkness -as would be produced by the interstratified cloud-layers between the -convolutions of a forming spiral nebula, or the cloud-strata -surrounding the earth before electrolytic decomposition of the aqueous -vapors had ensued. With the advent of the sun, in the narrative, this -darkness and the term which expresses it disappear.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Teou-m</span> is the word above explained, with the -termination <span class="sc">-m</span>, expressing the idea of -<i>arrested</i>, <i>doubtful</i>, <i>indefinite</i>, as applied to all -existence; the word “undifferentiated nature” properly -interprets its vagueness and general character of an abyss of being, in -the etymological sense of “nature” as the totality of -things at that time born or produced.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Rove</span> means <i>breath</i>, in the sense of an -expanding, liberating, or developing spirit; its literal meaning is -“the breath, the spirit which dilates and frees.”</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mrepht</span>, <i>brooded with incubating love</i>; -<span class="sc">reph</span> is composed <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb332" href="#pb332" name="pb332">332</a>]</span>of <span class= -"sc">re</span>, “to be full of good-will, to be agreeable,” -and <span class="sc">eph</span>, “to cover, to protect, to -incubate, to brood.”</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mim</span>, <i>the seeds of all beings</i>, <i>the -waters</i>. It is said, “the choice of this letter <span class= -"sc">m</span>, to signify water [the alphabetical Egyptian letter -<span class="sc">m</span> is represented by the two undulatory lines -which in the hieroglyphics represent water], is connected with the -Egyptian ideas of the cause of the generation of living beings.” -<a class="biblink xd26e45" title="Link to cited location in Bible" -href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nm%2024:7&version=NRSV"> -Numbers xxiv. 7</a>, “He shall pour the waters out of his -buckets, and the seed [<span class="sc">zro</span>] in the waters -[<span class="sc">b-mim</span>].” The latter word is plural in -form, but both singular and plural in sense.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Aour</span>, <i>diffused light</i>; a light -resembling the dawn, but quite distinct from the light of the sun. The -latter was not established until the fourth day, and its advent is -characterized by a new word, <span class="sc">leair</span>, “to -cause light to <i>move</i> above the earth.”</p> -<p><span class="sc">Joum</span> is <i>day</i>, generically, and -<span class="sc">lile</span> <i>night</i>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Rqiô</span>, <i>the expanse</i>; <span class= -"sc">atrqiô</span>, <i>the individualized substance of the -expanse</i>. Space, in the opinion of the Egyptians, “not being a -vacuum, but a material substance, Moses could say, and was even -compelled to say, ‘the substance of space, that which constitutes -it.’ ”</p> -<p><span class="sc">Osh</span>, made. This word first occurs in verse -7, and is there applied to the <i>making</i> a separation between the -waters or aqueous vapors condensed around the earth and those condensed -around some similar spot “above, as regards the individuality of -the expanse,”—to wit, the solar core or nucleus,—to -which, attracted by gravity from the attenuated vapors of the space -between, is due the subsequent establishment of the solar light and -heat, as in an electrical arc light, and the presence of oxygen in the -terrestrial atmosphere. These processes, involving the constitution of -our atmosphere and of the sun’s photosphere and chromosphere, -were not completed until two subsequent cosmical periods had elapsed, -from the third to the fifth. The word <span class="sc">osh</span>, in -its different combinations and inflections, is also used in verse 11, -where it signifies “making,” as applied to fruit; -“yielding” fruit, in verse 12; “they made,” as -applied to the sun and moon, in verse 16; “made,” as -applied to the entity of <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb333" href= -"#pb333" name="pb333">333</a>]</span>quadrupeds and higher animals -generally, in verse 25; “we will make,” as applied to man, -verse 26; “had made,” as applied to “every entity of -creation,” verse 31; “had made,” as applied to the -specially directed work as <span class="sc">mlactou</span>, chapter ii. -verse 2; and finally, in the general summing up in verse 3 of the -second chapter, as an element in a compound substantive phrase -“according to the making-act,” or “in accordance with -the making of creation.”</p> -<p>“<span class="sc">Oshout</span>,” it is said, -“signifies a manual operation, carried on according to a -previously conceived idea, or model.”</p> -<p>We find a similar use of the substantive infinitive with a preceding -preposition in verse 21, chapter iii. “<span class= -"sc">Ctnout</span> is derived from <span class="sc">tne</span>, a -consoling word. <span class="sc">Tnout</span>, the infinitive of the -conjugation Piel, adds to the word the act of causing to be done, and -of doing with care.”</p> -<p>A similar construction, <span class="sc">lraout</span>, is employed -in chapter ii. verse 19, translated in the English version, “and -brought them unto Adam <i>to see</i> what …”; more -literally, “as regards the act of seeing,” or according to -a vision, or show. That is, they were brought and presented to his -sight.</p> -<p>The object in writing these two words, <span class="sc">bra</span> -and <span class="sc">l-osh-out</span>, together at the very end of the -narrative was to conclusively establish the fact, beyond all possible -doubt, that the whole work of creation was an orderly and harmonious -progression.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mlactou</span>, which word is used twice in verse 2 -and once in verse 3 of the second chapter, and not previously, is also -introduced for specific emphasis. It means that the whole preceding -work of creation was, in its nature, “the work of Mlac,” a -messenger, or a specially energized and directed agency, sent to fulfil -the appointed work of Jeove. Its purpose was to forever prevent the -belief that the work of creation was due to mere natural forces, on the -one hand, operating by chance; and, on the other, that these forces -were independent gods carrying out their own purposes, and of their own -will. It was set up as a double barrier against rationalism on the one -side and polytheism on the other.</p> -<p>It may be incidentally added that the popular belief that -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb334" href="#pb334" name= -"pb334">334</a>]</span>“Adam was created out of the dust of the -earth” is not in accordance with the original record. In the -second narrative, chapter ii. verse 7, the word <span class= -"sc">ophr</span> is rendered “dust” in our English version, -but it does not signify ordinary terrestrial dust at all; “its -radical meaning is to volatilize a substance, to sublimate it.” -The true signification of the word used is analogous to a -“material essence.” The same word is used in <a class= -"biblink xd26e45" title="Link to cited location in Bible" href= -"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nm%2023:10&version=NRSV"> -Numbers xxiii. 10</a> as a synonym for “seed;” it is said -that “the Septuagint version translates <span class= -"sc">ophr</span> by <i>sperma</i>.”</p> -<p>The formation, described in the third chapter, of the female human -being out of one of the ribs of Adam, excised for that purpose (which -is a matter of almost universal popular belief), is not, in reality, -what is stated in the original. In verse 21 of chapter ii. the words -are rendered in our version, “And he took one of his ribs.” -What is really said, however, is “And he brought out another one -from his sides.” So the similar expression in verse 22 in reality -signifies, “caused to be made according to womankind the -individualized substance of his side.”</p> -<p>The word translated “<i>of his ribs</i>” is precisely -the same as is subsequently used by the same writer (<a class= -"biblink xd26e45" title="Link to cited location in Bible" href= -"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ex%2037:27&version=NRSV">Exodus -xxxvii. 27</a>) to designate the location of the supporting rings upon -an altar of incense, and is there rendered, “by the two corners -of it, upon the two sides.”</p> -<p>The defective translation is due to imperfect knowledge, at that -time, of the processes of organic development. The true signification -is that given in the “Institutes of Manu”: “Having -divided his own sub-sistence, the Mighty Power became half male and -half female.”</p> -<p>The words rendered “help meet” in verses 18 and 20 have -a far higher meaning; “I will make him a help meet” should -be translated, “I will cause to be made for him an overseeing -help as a guide, an instructor, a revealer.” And in verse 20 of -chapter iii., “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve,” -the latter word is not translated; the correct rendering is, “And -Adam called the symbolic name of his wife the female serpent-wise -revealer, she who explains, points out things, who <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb335" href="#pb335" name= -"pb335">335</a>]</span>instructs,” for that is what the true -root-meaning of Eve signifies. The concluding words of this verse, -“because she was the mother of all living,” are obviously -mistranslated, for not only was she not a mother at all, but she did -not even conceive, as stated in the next chapter, until she had left -the garden finally. The true signification is, “because she was -the mother of all [spiritual, see verse 22, as contradistinguished from -animal and vegetable] life.”</p> -<p>The female human being, the word translated woman, has the generic -root-signification of “flame,” while, prior to Eve, that of -the Adamic man is the “red earth.” As the male was formed -from a material earthly essence, the female was created one remove -further from the gross and material in the direction of the spiritual; -and her powers were distinctively subjective, those of intuition, while -those of the male were objective, those derived from instruction. Even -in the final curse (so called) the man turns back to the earth to earn -his subsistence, while the woman turns forward to the instruction of -the future men and women, the children; for the words, “In sorrow -shalt thou bring forth children,” have left one word of the -original untranslated, and by supplying this the sense is entirely -changed, “and conceiving, and bringing forth, in sorrow shalt -thou bring up, care for, and train children.” In those countries -childbirth was never attended with much pain or sorrow.</p> -<p>The obvious effect of the whole inspired or traditionary second -narrative is to clearly differentiate the contrasted faculties of the -two sexes, and the root-meanings of the words employed, whether Moses -himself perceived it or not, are a testimonial of the highest possible -character for woman, instead of being, as rendered in the ordinary -versions, a mark of inferiority, or even of degradation. In the garden -scene, when she partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, she did -not do it hastily or from mere temptation; it is said that “she -considered it attentively;” the same word being used as was -employed in the first narrative to mark the intense interest and almost -superhuman character of the consideration by the Aleim of the work, as -its successive stages <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb336" href= -"#pb336" name="pb336">336</a>]</span>appeared, which they were -delegated to perform, and which Jeove himself directed. The prize, to -her, far outweighed the penalty, and the aspiring sibyl dared to lift -the innermost veil in the adytum of the temple, and grasp the lofty -truths which made her as one of the Aleim. So fell Prometheus.</p> -<p>And then, no sooner had the flame-crowned seer won her precious -prize, than, woman-like, she turned and laid it before her husband, and -he, the innocent one, “did eat.”</p> -<p>The serpent was not a mere snake, be it understood; it was the -Egyptian Typhon, the dark Spirit of doubt, the questioner, the tempter, -the eternal <span class="sc">if</span>, the why, whence, what, and -whither?</p> -<p>It was her insatiable aspiration to reach the highest possible -limits of human knowledge which gave strength to her daring, and not a -childish fancy for an apple. All this, of course, is lost in the -translation. It is as though the national standard of a mighty people -had been disinterred from the remains of past ages, which had been -borne aloft at the head of mighty armies for centuries, and for which -thousands had gloriously died in battle in defence of a sacred cause, -and which now, its past history untraced, has been catalogued as a -brass bird of some sort mounted on a stick.</p> -<p>It is to be regretted that there is no plain, popular work by a -thoroughly capable scholar, without theological or anti-theological -bias, which treats of the origin, form, root-derivation, usage, -accurate signification, and construction of the comparatively few words -employed in the ancient narratives which compose the first half-dozen -chapters of Genesis, and, we may add, the book of Job; something like -those inestimable works which deal with the ancient cosmogonic -literature of Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, India, China, Phœnicia, -and Central America. Nothing of this sort is to be found, at all events -in a form accessible to the general reader, and such a work, in small -compass, would be of the highest importance to popular instructors, to -students, and to the public as well, for it would throw a flood of -light on these extremely valuable but, hitherto, so illy-comprehended -records. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb337" href="#pb337" name= -"pb337">337</a>]</span></p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">THE MOSAIC NARRATIVE OF CREATION.</p> -<p>1. <span class="sc">Aleim</span>, the Forces, fashioned like the -work of a sculptor, in the commencement of individualized existence, -the individualized substance of the heavens and the individualized -substance of the earth.</p> -<p>2. And the earth was in tomb-like darkness and undeveloped, and -there was compressive hindering darkness on the surface of -undifferentiated nature. And the dilating and liberating Spirit of the -Forces hovered with incubating love on the surface of the seeds of all -beings, the waters.</p> -<p>3. Then Aleim said, There shall be a diffused light; and a diffused -light was.</p> -<p>4. And Aleim regarded with attention the individualized substance of -the diffused light, because good. And Aleim caused a separation to be -made between the diffused light and between the compressive hindering -darkness.</p> -<p>5. Then Aleim exclaimed for the diffused light, <span class= -"sc">Day!</span> and for the compressive hindering darkness exclaimed, -<span class="sc">Night!</span> And there was a transition from light to -darkness, and then there was a renewal of light; <span class="sc">First -Day</span>.</p> -<p>6. Then Aleim said, There shall be an expansion obtained by a -thinning in the center of the waters, and there was that which caused a -separation to be made by occupying a spot, the waters according to the -waters.</p> -<p>7. And Aleim made the individualized substance of the expanse, and -caused a separation to exist by the occupation of the spot, of the -waters which are under as regards the expanse of space, and by the -occupation of the spot, of the waters which are above as regards the -expanse of space; and it was so.</p> -<p>8. Then Aleim exclaimed for the expanse of space, <span class= -"sc">The Heavens!</span> and there was a transition from light to -darkness, and then there was a renewal of light; <span class= -"sc">Second Day</span>.</p> -<p>9. And Aleim said, The waters which are underneath the heavens will -tend directly, in order to meet in it, towards a single spot fixed upon -for their meeting; and of dryness produced by the action of an internal -fire the appearance shall be made; and it was so. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb338" href="#pb338" name="pb338">338</a>]</span></p> -<p>10. Then Aleim exclaimed for the dryness, <span class= -"sc">Earth!</span> and for the spot fixed upon for the meeting of the -waters exclaimed, <span class="sc">Seas!</span> Then Aleim looked -attentively at it, because good.</p> -<p>11. And Aleim said, There shall be made to grow from the earth a -dwarf vegetation which can be trodden under foot, a maturing plant -causing to be sowed around it a seed, the strong and woody substance of -fruit making fruit after his kind whose seed is in itself above the -earth; and it was so.</p> -<p>12. And there was caused to arise suddenly and full of strength a -dwarf vegetation, a maturing plant sowing around it seed after his -kind; and the woody substance yielding fruit whose seed is in itself -after his kind. Then Aleim considered it, because good.</p> -<p>13. And there was a transition from light to darkness, and then -there was a renewal of light; <span class="sc">Third Day</span>.</p> -<p>14. Then Aleim said, There shall be starry-lights in the expanse of -space of the heavens to separate between the duration of the day and -between the duration of the night; and they shall be for signs, and for -seasons, and for the days which make the year, and for the repetitions -of years.</p> -<p>15. And they shall be for luminous bodies in the expanse of space of -the heavens to cause light to move above the earth; and it was so.</p> -<p>16. And Aleim made a double individualized substance, the superior -in size and excellence of the starry-lights, the individualized -substance which was the greater of the luminous bodies to represent the -rule of the day, and the lesser luminous body to represent the rule of -the night.</p> -<p>Of the dim and almost extinct lights [the stars] they made the -individualized substance also.</p> -<p>17. And Aleim established these individualized substances in the -expanse of space of the heavens to make light move above the earth.</p> -<p>18. And to be representatives of dominion during the day and during -the night, and to separate between the continuance of diffused light -and between the continuance of compressive <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb339" href="#pb339" name= -"pb339">339</a>]</span>hindering darkness; then Aleim looked -attentively at it, because good.</p> -<p>19. And there was a transition from light to darkness, and then -there was a renewal of light; <span class="sc">Fourth Day</span>.</p> -<p>20. Then Aleim said, The waters shall bring forth a swarm of -swarming creatures having living breath; and that which flies, the -birds, shall be made to fly with strength and fleetness above the earth -in the space extended of the heavens.</p> -<p>21. And Aleim fashioned like the work of a sculptor the -individualized substance of those which are superior in size of the -gigantic reptiles and every individualized substance having living -breath, that moveth, which they had produced, swarming from the waters, -according to their kind; and every individualized substance of flying -thing with wings, after his kind. Then Aleim looked attentively at it, -because good.</p> -<p>22. And Aleim blessed these individualities by saying, propagate -your species and multiply yourselves, and fill the individualized -substance of the waters in the seas; and as for the flying thing, it -shall multiply itself on the earth.</p> -<p>23. And there was a transition from light to darkness, and then -there was a renewal of light; <span class="sc">Fifth Day</span>.</p> -<p>24. Then Aleim said, From the earth shall be brought forth the -living breath according to its kind, the quadruped, and the being which -moveth about, and the terrestrial animal according to its kind; and it -was so.</p> -<p>25. And Aleim made the individualized substance of the animal of the -earth according to his kind, and the individualized substance of the -quadruped according to his kind, and every individualized substance -that moveth about of red earth according to his kind. Then Aleim -regarded it, because good.</p> -<p>26. Then Aleim said, We will make mankind of a like order of -intellect with ourselves, and they shall extend their dominion over the -fish of the sea, and over the bird of the heavens, and over the -quadruped, and over all of the earth, and over all the moving beings -that move about over the earth.</p> -<p>27. And Aleim fashioned like the work of a sculptor the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb340" href="#pb340" name= -"pb340">340</a>]</span>individualized substance of mankind in the -exactness of a shadow cast upon a wall; on this shadow Aleim carved the -individuality; male and female they fashioned the individualized -substance.</p> -<p>28. Then Aleim blessed the individualized substance. And Aleim said -unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the individualized -substance of the earth, and subdue it, and extend your dominion over -the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all -life of the being which moveth about over the earth.</p> -<p>29. And Aleim said, Behold I have given for you every useful -plant-substance yielding seed, yielding seed which there is over the -surface of all the earth, and every individualized substance of tree -which has in it fruit pertaining to a tree yielding seed, yielding seed -for you, it shall be for food.</p> -<p>30. And for all animal life of the earth, and for everything that -flies in the heavens, and for every being that moveth over the surface -of the earth which has in it living breath, every individualized -substance which is a green maturing plant shall be for food. And it was -so.</p> -<p>31. Then Aleim looked at every individualized substance which they -had made, and behold it was as good as possible. And there was a -transition from light to darkness, and then there was a renewal of -light; <span class="sc">Sixth Day</span>.</p> -<p>(Chapter ii.) 1. Then the finishing was made of the heavens, and of -the earth, and of all the orderly arrangement.</p> -<p>2. And Aleim [the Forces] finished on the seventh day the divinely -appointed and directed work which they had performed; and they came -again to a state of rest on the seventh day from all the appointed work -which they had done.</p> -<p>3. Then Aleim blessed the individualized substance of the seventh -day and sanctified it, because in it they returned to their primitive -condition from all the divinely appointed and directed work which the -Forces had fashioned like the work of a sculptor, in accordance with -the making of creation.</p> -</blockquote> -<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb341" href="#pb341" name= -"pb341">341</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch15" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e343">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XV.</h2> -<h2 class="main">CONCLUSION. THE HARMONY OF NATURE’S LAWS AND -OPERATIONS.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">We have passed before us the different orders of -celestial phenomena; we have called down the denizens of the starry -skies and placed them on the witness stand, and we have interrogated -them in the light of the evidence which they have given before; we have -compared their different statements, and have found that in their -testimony they all finally agree. Instead of confusion, we find order; -instead of complexity, simplicity; instead of discord, harmony; and -through all we see the orderly progress of nature with uniform step, -from stage to stage, higher and higher, until at last she stands -triumphant, the handmaid of creative power, in the very center of the -arch of the universe. We have taken the simplest operations which we -find in progress around us, and have extended them to larger -operations, constantly keeping in view their relevancy and the facts -which form their sole support. Mere speculation has been excluded, and -theory has found its every step based on an established fact. In this -way we may hope to make place for further investigation in this field -by abler minds, and that the conclusions of science may then become so -well <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb342" href="#pb342" name= -"pb342">342</a>]</span>understood and so firmly established that to go -back to the “dead-and-dying” theories of solar energies -will be like going back to Ptolemy and Tycho for our astronomy.</p> -<p>We have considered the hypothesis which bases the energy of our sun -upon his inherent heat, upon combustion, upon the accretion of meteoric -streams, and upon his slow and gradual condensation of volume; and have -found that all these hypotheses, singly or combined, fail to account -for his energy through the vistas of the past, during which we know he -must have shone as he now shines, and fail to account for more than a -slow but inevitable decline, in the relatively near future, into -eternal darkness and death. We have found that all these theories are -alike, in that they recognize the sun itself as the only source of his -energy, that his enormous emission of light and heat is almost entirely -wasted in empty space, and that this will go on with the same frightful -waste until he has squandered his whole patrimony and ends his -melancholy career in the poor-house or the dungeon. We have, however, -seen that even this will not save the wretched client, for he has -already spent far more than he ever could have received originally by -inheritance, and far more than he could have gained by gifts pitched in -in bulk—like the poor colored brother’s -potatoes—through the window.</p> -<p>We have therefore gone over the case anew, and have learned that -enormous electrical currents are constantly passing between the earth -and the sun, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb343" href="#pb343" name= -"pb343">343</a>]</span>with practically no resistance, and this -irrespective of any hypothesis, actual or possible; and these facts -have solved at the outset one of the greatest conceivable -difficulties,—to wit, that of the transmission through space of -such essential currents. Turning our attention to the more recent -advances in electricity and the arts of electrical construction, we -have found that induction machines, as contradistinguished from the -older friction machines, operate in a manner strongly suggestive of the -rotation of a planet through space, and we learn that the electrical -potential of the air overhead increases constantly by an enormous -multiplying number as we ascend, proving great electrical action in the -regions immediately surrounding the earth, and which we have called the -terrestrial electrosphere. We have also found that sun-spots and solar -storms and other disturbances are at once reflected in our -earth-currents, and are followed immediately by great electrical -disturbances here and by extensive auroral displays at night. -Experiment shows that similar auroral displays may be produced with an -electrical machine by interruption of the current leading to its -principal condenser, thus demonstrating that the currents are -<i>from</i> the earth to the sun, and not the converse. We have also -found that while the solar atmosphere is largely composed of hydrogen -gas, that of the earth and other planets is largely composed of oxygen, -and that these gases, the constituents of water, are separately -disengaged at the opposite electrical poles by the electrolytic action -of a powerful <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb344" href="#pb344" name= -"pb344">344</a>]</span>current of electricity applied to the -decomposition of aqueous vapors, in accordance with the established -electrical law that any fluid which will transmit a current may be -decomposed by it; hence we learn that our interplanetary space contains -attenuated aqueous vapors, which we have also learned to be true from -other sources. As our other planets, as well as the earth, are found to -be surrounded with an atmosphere of dilute oxygen, and with aqueous -vapors suspended in it, we know that their action upon the sun must be -similar to that of the earth, and that the congeries of planets thus -unite in their supply of electricity to the sun in constant and -enormous currents. Examining now the effects of passing powerful -electrical currents through a compressed envelope of hydrogen gas -surrounding a conductor, we find that great heat ensues, that the -hydrogen becomes highly incandescent, and that the metallic nucleus -within is raised to an extremely high temperature, and we also observe -the same effects when the current is transmitted through the separated -carbons of an electrical arc light. We have thus accounted for the -constant supply of the energy which, transformed into light and heat, -as in the last-mentioned experiments, the sun pours forth perpetually -into space. We have also learned that electrical induction machines -derive their electrical currents from the surrounding air, and also -that no electricity can be generated in, or transmitted through, a -vacuum, and hence we learn that the planets, by the rotation of their -electrospheres in contact with <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb345" -href="#pb345" name="pb345">345</a>]</span>the attenuated vapors of -space, generate these powerful electrical currents with which the sun -is supplied, and that the sun merely restores to the ocean from which, -in another form, it was abstracted the light and heat which he emits, -and that, instead of all being wasted except that which falls upon the -planets, in fact that is the only part which actually, in one sense at -least, is wasted: all the rest is deposited in bank, but that is -“spent.” The important generalization is thus arrived at, -that the true source of solar energy is to be found in the attenuated -vapors of space, and that the mode is that of the generation of -electricity by the rotating planetary electrospheres, its transference -through the aqueous vapors of interplanetary space to the sun, its -passage under resistance through the compressed hydrogen envelope, its -transformation there into light and heat, and its final emission or -backpouring into space again. The molecular motions which give rise to -light and heat in their passage through the vast distances of space are -finally retarded by and disappear as radiated energy in the restoration -or increase of the intermolecular tension of the vapors of space, and -these processes continue, and must continue, to all eternity, if the -sun exists and his planets continue to revolve in orderly circuit -around him. If there be any permanent degradation of energy, it must be -with reference to the total volume of infinite, or at least indefinite, -space, and not with reference to the relatively minute spark of fire -which we call the sun. We have also learned that the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb346" href="#pb346" name= -"pb346">346</a>]</span>moon’s electrosphere is repelled by that -of its neighbor, the earth, and that whatever vapor and atmosphere it -may have can exist only on its opposite side; and we have also learned -that, by reason of the moon’s peculiar axial rotation with -reference to the earth, any other arrangement of the lunar moisture and -air, even if such were possible, would have absolutely prohibited all -life on that subordinate planet at any stage of its existence whatever. -We have applied the above principles to the fixed stars, and have -learned that, by the same law, the resplendent star itself is proof -conclusive that it, too, must have planets rotating around it, and that -these planets must have an oxygen atmosphere and clouds of aqueous -vapor like our own. We have interpreted the double and multiple stars, -and, by an extension of the same law, explained their frequently -contrasted or complementary colors. The new stars which blaze up in -sudden conflagration and then die out have no secrets when this new -light is turned upon them; they, too, are but the faithful followers of -the law; and the temporary and variable stars likewise fall into their -appropriate categories and obediently move on with the procession. The -comets,—the banner-bearers of the sidereal hosts,—which -from the earliest ages have defied science to read their cabalistic -legend, find it now “writ large” and in plain English. Even -the meteorites, the cosmical dust, the unorganized <i>débris</i> -of space, are found to be amenable to the same law. When we turn in -wider gaze to spy out the fantastic nebulæ on the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb347" href="#pb347" name="pb347">347</a>]</span>very -outer fringe of visible things, after we have separated out the -star-clusters and organized galaxies of suns, we apply our touchstone -to the irresolvable gaseous nebulæ, and lo! their mystery -dissolves at a touch. We have even been able to picture the processes -of the creation of solar systems and whole galaxies of suns in which -the same law finds scope, and by its infinite and harmonious extension -we learn that nature moves with a comprehensive plan, and is uniform in -her infinite variety and eternal in her ceaseless activity. We have -been told that—</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“The poem of the universe</p> -<p class="line xd26e3205">No rhythm has nor rhyme;</p> -<p class="line">Some god recites the wondrous song,</p> -<p class="line xd26e3205">A stanza at a time.”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">But it is all a mistake; the loftiest strains which -ever inspired the soul of Mozart or of Beethoven had not the ineffable -harmony, nor the sweetest songs of the greatest poets the perfect -rhyme, ever repeated and ever varied, of the universe. Its orderly -progress is like the onward movement of a mighty army, and there is but -one grand commander, “but one God,” and Nature, that -showeth forth his handiwork, “is his prophet.” We have -found that the “course of nature,” the eternally youthful -mother, is the same, whether in spinning a tendril in the garden, in -weaving a whirlwind in the atmosphere, or in elaborating from the -universal vapors of primordial space a solar system or a galaxy. And it -is not a convulsive, spasmodic <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb348" -href="#pb348" name="pb348">348</a>]</span>nature that we find; we do -not love to associate great explosions, cataclysms, the destruction of -worlds, or the extinction of suns with our ideas of nature. These seem -not to be of nature. The nature we love is the gentle mother, uniform -in her operations, kindly in her ways, beneficent in her results; the -nature of the rain, the sunshine, seed-time and harvest and the -sprouting seed again; ever patient, ever responsive, but in all as firm -and steadfast as the foundations of eternity itself. So we have found -her. We have assumed nothing; we have observed and endeavored to deduce -from observation her systematic plan, for this is the voice of her law, -“the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.” To quote the -words of Matthew Arnold, from out the darkness of the past we seem to -hear her say,—</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">“Will ye claim for your great ones the gift</p> -<p class="line">To have rendered the gleam of my skies?</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">Race after race, man after man,</p> -<p class="line">Have thought that my secret was theirs,</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">—They are dust, they are changed, they are -gone!</p> -<p class="line">I remain.”</p> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb349" href="#pb349" name= -"pb349">349</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="back"> -<div id="biblioindex" class="div1 index"><span class= -"pagenum">[<a href="#xd26e352">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">REFERENCE INDEX OF AUTHORITIES CITED.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Appleton’s Cyclopædia, pp. <a href="#pb21" -class="pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>, -<a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>, <a href="#pb52" class= -"pageref">52</a>, <a href="#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>, <a href= -"#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>, <a href="#pb131" class= -"pageref">131</a>, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>, <a href= -"#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>, <a href="#pb155" class= -"pageref">155</a>, <a href="#pb156" class="pageref">156</a>, <a href= -"#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>, <a href="#pb162" class= -"pageref">162</a>, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>, <a href= -"#pb181" class="pageref">181</a>, <a href="#pb188" class= -"pageref">188</a>, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>, <a href= -"#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb262" class= -"pageref">262</a>, <a href="#pb264" class="pageref">264</a>, <a href= -"#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>, <a href="#pb270" class= -"pageref">270</a>, <a href="#pb294" class="pageref">294</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Argyle</span>, <a href="#pb319" class= -"pageref">319</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Arnold</span> (Matthew), <a href="#pb348" class= -"pageref">348</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Augustine</span> (Saint), <a href="#pb329" class= -"pageref">329</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Ayrton</span>, <a href="#pb77" class= -"pageref">77</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Ball</span>, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>, -<a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>, <a href="#pb34" class= -"pageref">34</a>, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>, <a href= -"#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>, -<a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>, <a href="#pb51" class= -"pageref">51</a>, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>, <a href= -"#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>, -<a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>, <a href="#pb79" class= -"pageref">79</a>, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>, <a href= -"#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>, <a href="#pb139" class= -"pageref">139</a>, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>, <a href= -"#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>, <a href="#pb170" class= -"pageref">170</a>, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>, <a href= -"#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>, <a href="#pb207" class= -"pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>, <a href= -"#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>, <a href="#pb241" class= -"pageref">241</a>, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>, <a href= -"#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>, <a href="#pb256" class= -"pageref">256</a>, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>, <a href= -"#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>, <a href="#pb272" class= -"pageref">272</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Beethoven</span>, <a href="#pb347" class= -"pageref">347</a>.</p> -<p>Bible, <a href="#pb308" class="pageref">308</a>, <a href="#pb327" -class="pageref">327</a>, <a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>, -<a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>, <a href="#pb332" class= -"pageref">332</a>, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>, <a href= -"#pb334" class="pageref">334</a>, <a href="#pb337" class= -"pageref">337</a>–340.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Bode</span>, <a href="#pb287" class= -"pageref">287</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Brahe</span> (Tycho), <a href="#pb179" class= -"pageref">179</a>, <a href="#pb342" class="pageref">342</a>.</p> -<p>British Association, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Buffon</span>, <a href="#pb21" class= -"pageref">21</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Byron</span>, <a href="#pb152" class= -"pageref">152</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Carrington</span>, <a href="#pb59" class= -"pageref">59</a>, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Clark</span>, <a href="#pb258" class= -"pageref">258</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Copernicus</span>, <a href="#pb80" class= -"pageref">80</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Crookes</span>, <a href="#pb232" class= -"pageref">232</a>, <a href="#pb297" class="pageref">297</a>, <a href= -"#pb298" class="pageref">298</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Crowell</span>, <a href="#pb28" class= -"pageref">28</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">D’Arrest</span>, <a href="#pb257" class= -"pageref">257</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Darwin</span> (Charles), <a href="#pb28" class= -"pageref">28</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Dewar</span>, <a href="#pb213" class= -"pageref">213</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Draper</span> (Dr.), <a href="#pb4" class= -"pageref">4</a>, <a href="#pb7" class="pageref">7</a>, <a href="#pb214" -class="pageref">214</a>, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Dulong</span>, <a href="#pb215" class= -"pageref">215</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Dunkin</span> (Prof.), <a href="#pb133" class= -"pageref">133</a>, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>, <a href= -"#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>.</p> -<p>Egyptian cosmogony, <a href="#pb316" class="pageref">316</a>.</p> -<p>“Electrical Review,” <a href="#pb85" class= -"pageref">85</a>.</p> -<p>“Electricity in the Service of Man,” <a href="#pb70" -class="pageref">70</a>, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>, -<a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>, <a href="#pb83" class= -"pageref">83</a>, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>, <a href= -"#pb92" class="pageref">91</a>–94, <a href="#pb95" class= -"pageref">95</a>, <a href="#pb105" class="pageref">105</a>, <a href= -"#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>, <a href="#pb176" class= -"pageref">176</a>, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>, <a href= -"#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Emerson</span>, <a href="#pb248" class= -"pageref">248</a>.</p> -<p>English version of Bible, <a href="#pb311" class= -"pageref">311</a>.</p> -<p>Ethiopic sources, <a href="#pb316" class="pageref">316</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Faraday</span>, <a href="#pb123" class= -"pageref">123</a>, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>, <a href= -"#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Ferguson</span>, <a href="#pb132" class= -"pageref">132</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Flammarion</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>, <a href= -"#p263" class="pageref">263</a>, <a href="#pb305" class= -"pageref">305</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Fleming</span> (Prof. J. A.), <a href="#pb83" -class="pageref">83</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Flight</span> (Dr.), <a href="#pb232" class= -"pageref">232</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Fontanelle</span>, <a href="#pb24" class= -"pageref">24</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Foster</span> (Prof.), <a href="#pb78" class= -"pageref">78</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Fownes</span>, <a href="#pb215" class= -"pageref">215</a>, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Fraunhofer</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>, <a href= -"#pb153" class="pageref">153</a>. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb350" -href="#pb350" name="pb350">350</a>]</span></p> -<p><span class="sc">Gathmann</span> (Prof.), <a href="#pb135" class= -"pageref">135</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Geike</span>, <a href="#pb28" class= -"pageref">28</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Goethe</span>, <a href="#pb145" class= -"pageref">145</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Groombridge</span>, <a href="#pb63" class= -"pageref">63</a>, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>, <a href= -"#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Guillemin</span>, <a href="#pb273" class= -"pageref">273</a>, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>, <a href= -"#pb304" class="pageref">304</a>, <a href="#pb305" class= -"pageref">305</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Guyot</span> (Prof. Arnold), <a href="#pb316" -class="pageref">316</a>, <a href="#pb319" class="pageref">319</a>, -<a href="#pb325" class="pageref">325</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Hale</span> (George E.), <a href="#pb58" class= -"pageref">58</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Hamilton</span>, <a href="#p124" class= -"pageref">124</a>, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Hausen</span>, <a href="#pb122" class= -"pageref">122</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Helmholtz</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>, <a href= -"#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>, -<a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>, <a href="#pb140" class= -"pageref">140</a>, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Herschel</span> (Alexander), <a href="#pb140" -class="pageref">140</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Herschel</span> (Sir John), <a href="#pb229" class= -"pageref">229</a>, <a href="#pb304" class="pageref">304</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Herschel</span> (Sir William), <a href="#pb9" -class="pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>, <a href= -"#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>, -<a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>, <a href="#pb199" class= -"pageref">199</a>, <a href="#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>, <a href= -"#pb257" class="pageref">257</a>, <a href="#pb258" class= -"pageref">258</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Hertz</span>, <a href="#pb79" class= -"pageref">79</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Hind</span>, <a href="#pb257" class= -"pageref">257</a>, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Hodgson</span>, <a href="#pb75" class= -"pageref">75</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Holtz</span>, <a href="#pb94" class= -"pageref">94</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Huggins</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>, <a href= -"#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>, <a href="#pb79" class="pageref">79</a>, -<a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>, <a href="#pb158" class= -"pageref">158</a>, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>, <a href= -"#pb181" class="pageref">181</a>, <a href="#pb205" class= -"pageref">205</a>, <a href="#pb212" class="pageref">212</a>, <a href= -"#pb213" class="pageref">213</a>, <a href="#pb214" class= -"pageref">214</a>, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>, <a href= -"#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>, <a href="#pb235" class= -"pageref">235</a>, <a href="#pb254" class="pageref">254</a>, <a href= -"#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>, <a href="#pb258" class= -"pageref">258</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Huygens</span>, <a href="#pb265" class= -"pageref">265</a>.</p> -<p>Indian sources, <a href="#pb316" class="pageref">316</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Janssen</span>, <a href="#pb49" class= -"pageref">49</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Jouvencel</span> (De), <a href="#pb318" class= -"pageref">318</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Kant</span>, <a href="#pb35" class= -"pageref">35</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Kelvin</span> (Lord), <a href="#pb38" class= -"pageref">38</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Kepler</span>, <a href="#pb80" class= -"pageref">80</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Kircher</span>, <a href="#pb329" class= -"pageref">329</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Kirchhoff</span>, <a href="#pb53" class= -"pageref">53</a>, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Langley</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb29" class="pageref">29</a>, <a href= -"#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>, -<a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>, <a href="#pb113" class= -"pageref">113</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Laplace</span>, <a href="#pb35" class= -"pageref">35</a>, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>, <a href= -"#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>, <a href="#pb278" class= -"pageref">278</a>, <a href="#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>, <a href= -"#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>, <a href="#pb309" class= -"pageref">309</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Liveing</span> (Prof.), <a href="#pb213" class= -"pageref">213</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Lockyer</span>, <a href="#pb49" class= -"pageref">49</a>, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>, <a href= -"#pb305" class="pageref">305</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Loomis</span>, <a href="#pb108" class= -"pageref">108</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Lyell</span> (Sir Charles), <a href="#pb28" class= -"pageref">28</a>.</p> -<p>“Mankind: their Origin and Destiny,” <a href="#pb314" -class="pageref">314</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">McCosh</span> (Dr.), <a href="#pb317" class= -"pageref">317</a>, <a href="#pb318" class="pageref">318</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">McGee</span>, <a href="#pb28" class= -"pageref">28</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mann</span>, <a href="#pb334" class= -"pageref">334</a>.</p> -<p>Masoretic pointing, <a href="#pb311" class="pageref">311</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mayer</span>, <a href="#pb21" class= -"pageref">21</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Melconi</span>, <a href="#pb149" class= -"pageref">149</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Miller</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb26" class="pageref">26</a>, <a href= -"#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>, <a href="#pb158" class= -"pageref">158</a>, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>, <a href= -"#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>, <a href="#pb248" class= -"pageref">248</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mosaic narrative</span>, <a href="#pb310" class= -"pageref">310</a>, <a href="#pb337" class= -"pageref">337</a>–340.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Moses</span>, <a href="#pb313" class= -"pageref">313</a>, <a href="#pb315" class="pageref">315</a>, <a href= -"#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>, <a href="#pb332" class= -"pageref">332</a>, <a href="#pb334" class="pageref">334</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mott</span> (A.), <a href="#pb39" class= -"pageref">39</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Mozart</span>, <a href="#pb347" class= -"pageref">347</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Myer</span> (Gen. A.), <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>, <a href= -"#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Newcomb</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb34" class="pageref">34</a>, <a href= -"#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Newton</span>, <a href="#pb21" class= -"pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>, <a href= -"#pb228" class="pageref">228</a>, <a href="#pb241" class= -"pageref">241</a>, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Nichol</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>, <a href= -"#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>, <a href="#pb188" class= -"pageref">188</a>, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>, <a href= -"#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>, <a href="#p263" class= -"pageref">263</a>, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>, <a href= -"#pb278" class="pageref">278</a>, <a href="#pb279" class= -"pageref">279</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Perry</span>, <a href="#pb77" class= -"pageref">77</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Petit</span>, <a href="#pb215" class= -"pageref">215</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Pickering</span> (Prof.), <a href="#pb258" class= -"pageref">258</a>.</p> -<p>“Popular Science Monthly,” <a href="#pb57" class= -"pageref">57</a>, <a href="#pb113" class="pageref">113</a>. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb351" href="#pb351" name= -"pb351">351</a>]</span></p> -<p><span class="sc">Proctor</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb24" class="pageref">24</a>, <a href= -"#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>, -<a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>, <a href="#pb37" class= -"pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>, <a href= -"#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>, -<a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>, <a href="#pb75" class= -"pageref">75</a>, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>, <a href= -"#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>, -<a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>, <a href="#pb108" class= -"pageref">108</a>, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>, <a href= -"#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>, <a href="#pb156" class= -"pageref">156</a>, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>, <a href= -"#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>, <a href="#pb166" class= -"pageref">166</a>, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>, <a href= -"#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>, <a href="#pb184" class= -"pageref">184</a>, <a href="#pb191" class="pageref">191</a>, <a href= -"#pb199" class="pageref">199</a>, <a href="#pb200" class= -"pageref">200</a>, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>, <a href= -"#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>, <a href="#pb206" class= -"pageref">206</a>, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, <a href= -"#pb212" class="pageref">212</a>, <a href="#pb220" class= -"pageref">220</a>, <a href="#pb224" class="pageref">224</a>, <a href= -"#pb231" class="pageref">231</a>, <a href="#pb232" class= -"pageref">232</a>, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>, <a href= -"#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>, <a href="#pb253" class= -"pageref">253</a>, <a href="#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>, <a href= -"#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>, <a href="#pb299" class= -"pageref">299</a>, <a href="#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Ptolemy</span>, <a href="#pb342" class= -"pageref">342</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Pythagoras</span>, <a href="#pb329" class= -"pageref">329</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Rawlinson</span> (Prof. George), <a href="#pb359" -class="pageref">359</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Rosse</span> (Lord), <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb188" class="pageref">188</a>, <a href= -"#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>, <a href="#pb261" class= -"pageref">261</a>, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>, <a href= -"#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Rougé</span> (M. de), <a href="#pb316" -class="pageref">316</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Rowland</span> (Prof.), <a href="#pb61" class= -"pageref">61</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Rupert</span> (Prince), <a href="#pb295" class= -"pageref">295</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Salisbury</span> (Lord), <a href="#pb38" class= -"pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Schiaparelli</span>, <a href="#pb200" class= -"pageref">200</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Schmidt</span> (Dr.), <a href="#pb258" class= -"pageref">258</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Schröter</span>, <a href="#pb134" class= -"pageref">134</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Schuster</span> (Dr.), <a href="#pb79" class= -"pageref">79</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Secchi</span>, <a href="#pb156" class= -"pageref">156</a>, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Seebeck</span>, <a href="#pb149" class= -"pageref">149</a>.</p> -<p>Septuagint, <a href="#pb334" class="pageref">334</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Siemens</span>, <a href="#pb21" class= -"pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>, <a href= -"#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb53" class= -"pageref">53</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Smyth</span> (Admiral), <a href="#pb163" class= -"pageref">163</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Spencer</span> (Herbert), <a href="#pb270" class= -"pageref">270</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Stewart</span> (Balfour), <a href="#pb7" class= -"pageref">7</a>, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>, <a href= -"#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>, <a href="#pb142" class= -"pageref">142</a>, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>, <a href= -"#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>, <a href="#pb152" class= -"pageref">152</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Struve</span> (O.), <a href="#pb257" class= -"pageref">257</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Tait</span>, <a href="#pb38" class= -"pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Tennyson</span>, <a href="#pb198" class= -"pageref">198</a>, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Theophilus</span>, <a href="#pb329" class= -"pageref">329</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Thomson</span> (Sir William), <a href="#pb25" -class="pageref">25</a>, <a href="#pb26" class="pageref">26</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Toepler</span>, <a href="#pb95" class= -"pageref">95</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Tyndall</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb104" class="pageref">104</a>, <a href= -"#pb123" class="pageref">123</a>, <a href="#pb146" class= -"pageref">146</a>, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>, <a href= -"#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>, <a href="#pb227" class= -"pageref">227</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Upham</span>, <a href="#pb28" class= -"pageref">28</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Urbanitsky</span>, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Vogel</span>, <a href="#pb170" class= -"pageref">170</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Voss</span>, <a href="#pb94" class= -"pageref">94</a>, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>, <a href= -"#pb290" class="pageref">290</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Waterston</span>, <a href="#pb21" class= -"pageref">21</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Weldon</span> (Charles), <a href="#pb347" class= -"pageref">347</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Wilson</span>, <a href="#pb123" class= -"pageref">123</a>, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Wimshurst</span>, <a href="#pb94" class= -"pageref">94</a>, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Wolcott</span> (Prof. C. D.), <a href="#pb28" -class="pageref">28</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Wolf</span>, <a href="#pb107" class= -"pageref">107</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Wright</span> (Arthur W.), <a href="#pb52" class= -"pageref">52</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">York</span> (J. F.), <a href="#pb316" class= -"pageref">316</a>.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Young</span> (Prof. Charles A.), <a href="#pb9" -class="pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb353" href="#pb353" name= -"pb353">353</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="index" class="div1 index"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd26e360">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">CLASSIFIED INDEX OF SUBJECT-MATTER.</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"><b>ASTRONOMY.</b><br> -Largely an empirical science, hitherto, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>.<br> -New light on the phenomena of, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>, -<a href="#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>, <a href="#pb341" class= -"pageref">341</a>.<br> -Review of subject-matter of the present work, <a href="#pb341" class= -"pageref">341</a>–348.<br> -Speculative, excluded, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>.<br> -Interpretation of the mysteries of, <a href="#pb348" class= -"pageref">348</a>.</p> -<p><b>ATMOSPHERE.</b><br> -Atmosphere of sun composed principally of free hydrogen, <a href= -"#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>, <a href="#pb61" class= -"pageref">61</a>.<br> -Free oxygen the characteristic element in earth’s atmosphere, -<a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>.<br> -Mott’s theory to account for absence of hydrogen in earth’s -atmosphere untenable, <a href="#pb39" class= -"pageref">39</a>–44.<br> -No theory, hitherto, has accounted for the solar hydrogen, <a href= -"#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>.<br> -Aqueous vapors in planetary atmospheres, whence derived, <a href= -"#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>, <a href="#pb62" class= -"pageref">62</a>.<br> -Aqueous vapors diffused through interplanetary space, <a href="#pb46" -class="pageref">46</a>, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>.<br> -Aqueous vapors diffused through interstellar space, <a href="#pb65" -class="pageref">65</a>.<br> -Composition of the terrestrial atmosphere, <a href="#pb47" class= -"pageref">47</a>.<br> -Composition of the solar atmosphere, <a href="#pb48" class= -"pageref">48</a>.<br> -Composition of the planetary atmospheres, <a href="#pb62" class= -"pageref">62</a>.<br> -Aqueous vapors around the sun, <a href="#pb62" class= -"pageref">62</a>.<br> -Two grand categories of heavenly bodies, one with atmospheres -characterized by free hydrogen and the other with atmospheres -characterized by free oxygen, <a href="#pb62" class= -"pageref">62</a>.<br> -Atmospheres, either electrically positive or negative, of hydrogen or -oxygen, universal for all the bodies of space, <a href="#pb65" class= -"pageref">65</a>.<br> -Solar and cometic bodies have atmospheres of the hydrogen class, highly -heated; planetary atmospheres are of the oxygen class, and are cool, -<a href="#pb66" class="pageref">66</a>.<br> -Solar and planetary atmospheres are mutually correlated, and produced -by disassociation of the elements of aqueous vapors, <a href="#pb67" -class="pageref">67</a>.<br> -“No sun no planets: no planets no sun,” <a href="#pb69" -class="pageref">69</a>.<br> -Rapid increase of electrical potential as we ascend through the -earth’s atmosphere, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>.<br> -Its significance, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>, <a href= -"#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>.<br> -Sun-spots, terrestrial electricity and magnetism, and auroras, -connected with one another, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>.<br> -A material medium, besides the luminiferous ether, exists between earth -and sun, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>.<br> -The medium consists of attenuated aqueous vapors commingled with other -vaporized elements, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>.<br> -The processes of formation of solar and planetary atmospheres from -these vapors, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>, <a href="#pb308" -class="pageref">308</a>.<br> -Incandescence of solar and cool state of planetary atmospheres -explained, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>–85. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb354" href="#pb354" name= -"pb354">354</a>]</span><br> -Contraction and expansion of sun’s semi-vaporous condensed -nucleus a self-compensating mechanism for the regulation of his light -and heat, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>, <a href="#pb106" -class="pageref">106</a>.<br> -Identity of atmospheric aurora and electrical brush-light discharge, -<a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>, <a href="#p091-1" class= -"pageref">91</a>.<br> -Rotating electrosphere of the earth, <a href="#pb96" class= -"pageref">96</a>.<br> -Dimensions of, <a href="#pb96" class="pageref">96</a>.<br> -Resistance of atmosphere considered, <a href="#pb97" class= -"pageref">97</a>, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>.<br> -Principles concerned in the generation and maintenance of atmospheres, -<a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>–106.<br> -Currents in space; their influence on planetary and solar -electrospheres, <a href="#pb106" class="pageref">106</a>–107.<br> -No visible atmosphere on the moon, <a href="#pb122" class= -"pageref">122</a>.<br> -Atmosphere and aqueous vapors must exist on the moon’s surface, -but can exist only on opposite side, <a href="#pb123" class= -"pageref">123</a>.<br> -Lunar atmosphere and axial rotation considered with reference to -“Argument of Design,” <a href="#pb122" class= -"pageref">122</a>–128.<br> -Habitability of the other planets, <a href="#pb128" class= -"pageref">128</a>–136.<br> -Atmosphere of Mars analyzed and computed, <a href="#pb130" class= -"pageref">130</a>–132.<br> -Atmospheres of Jupiter, Neptune, the moon, etc., <a href="#pb132" -class="pageref">132</a>.<br> -Method of computing the atmosphere of any known planet, <a href= -"#pb131" class="pageref">131</a>–134.<br> -Estimation of oxygen in different planetary atmospheres, <a href= -"#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>.<br> -A slight libration of the moon’s atmosphere around its margin -produced by counteractive angular effect of solar attraction and -repulsion of the earth’s electrosphere, and its result, <a href= -"#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>–136.<br> -Vegetation said to have been observed on lunar surface at margin of -this libration, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>–135.<br> -Aqueous vapors of space considered with reference to thermal light of -the sun, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>.<br> -Spectroscopic analysis of atmospheres of the stars, <a href="#pb156" -class="pageref">156</a>–161.<br> -Interpretation of complementary colors of double stars, <a href= -"#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>.<br> -Mutual repulsion of similarly electrified atmospheres, <a href="#p124" -class="pageref">124</a>, <a href="#pb166" class= -"pageref">166</a>–167.<br> -Variability of regularly variable stars produced by dynamic action of -their planets, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>.<br> -Atmospheres of temporary stars, “suns in flames,” <a href= -"#pb195" class="pageref">195</a>.<br> -Effect upon planetary atmospheres of our system should our sun become -such a “new star,” <a href="#pb196" class= -"pageref">196</a>–198.<br> -Atmospheres of comets, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>, -<a href="#pb212" class="pageref">212</a>.<br> -Atmospheric repulsion of sun and comet, <a href="#pb210" class= -"pageref">210</a>.<br> -Atmospheric attraction between planets and comets, <a href="#pb211" -class="pageref">211</a>.<br> -Cyanogen as an element of cometic atmospheres, <a href="#pb216" class= -"pageref">216</a>, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>.<br> -Decomposition of cyanogen into non-toxic substances by contact of a -comet with a planetary atmosphere, <a href="#pb218" class= -"pageref">218</a>–219.<br> -Temperature of cometic atmosphere, <a href="#pb218" class= -"pageref">218</a>.<br> -Repulsion of cometic atmosphere by the sun’s electrosphere, -<a href="#pb231" class="pageref">231</a>, <a href="#pb235" class= -"pageref">235</a>.<br> -Development of planetary atmospheres during coalescence of ruptured -convolutions of a spiral nebula into spheres, <a href="#pb291" class= -"pageref">291</a>.<br> -The attenuated vapors of space, <a href="#pb297" class= -"pageref">297</a>–298.<br> -The square-shouldered aspect of Saturn’s atmosphere, first -noticed by Herschel, explained, <a href="#pb302" class= -"pageref">302</a>.<br> -(See also Fig. <a href="#pb4" class="pageref">4</a>, page <a href= -"#p124" class="pageref">124</a>.)<br> -Barometric pressure of earth’s atmosphere highest in the -temperate zones; its interpretation, <a href="#pb303" class= -"pageref">303</a>.<br> -Application of same principle to sun-spots, <a href="#pb303" class= -"pageref">303</a>. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb355" href="#pb355" -name="pb355">355</a>]</span><br> -Should present atmospheres be conceived to be obliterated, new -planetary and solar atmospheres would be generated precisely similar to -those which now exist, <a href="#pb308" class= -"pageref">308</a>–309.<br> -Solar light and heat would again be re-established, <a href="#pb309" -class="pageref">309</a>.<br> -Atmospheres in their characteristic elements all due to electrolytic -decomposition, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>, <a href= -"#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>.</p> -<p><b>BIOLOGY.</b><br> -Compared with astronomy, <a href="#pb10" class="pageref">10</a>.<br> -Splendid advances in, during past few years, <a href="#pb15" class= -"pageref">15</a>.<br> -Laws of, as related to those of astronomy, <a href="#pb247" class= -"pageref">247</a>.<br> -Mosaic cosmogony as related to, <a href="#pb320" class= -"pageref">320</a>.<br> -Order of succession in the introduction of life, according to the -Mosaic narrative. (See latter title in Index.)</p> -<p><b>CHEMISTRY.</b><br> -Hydrogen of solar photosphere and chromosphere, <a href="#pb39" class= -"pageref">39</a>.<br> -Oxygen in earth’s atmosphere, <a href="#pb45" class= -"pageref">45</a>–47.<br> -Chemical elements in the sun, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>, -<a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>.<br> -Absence of free oxygen in the sun, <a href="#pb47" class= -"pageref">47</a>, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>.<br> -Absence of free oxygen in comets, <a href="#pb62" class= -"pageref">62</a>.<br> -Elements found in comets, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>, -<a href="#pb212" class="pageref">212</a>, <a href="#pb218" class= -"pageref">218</a>.<br> -Olefiant gas in comets, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, -<a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>.<br> -Hydrogen, carbon, sodium, and cyanogen, <a href="#pb213" class= -"pageref">213</a>, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>.<br> -Carbon and hydrogen compared, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>, -<a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>, <a href="#pb260" class= -"pageref">260</a>.<br> -Reactions of cyanogen, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>.<br> -Decomposition of cyanogen by contact of comets with a planetary -atmosphere, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>, <a href="#pb219" -class="pageref">219</a>.<br> -Gases occluded in meteorites, <a href="#pb232" class= -"pageref">232</a>.<br> -Laws of crystallization, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>.<br> -Chemistry of gaseous nebulæ, <a href="#pb254" class= -"pageref">254</a>–262.<br> -Nitrogen, hydrogen, and (most probably) oxygen in all gaseous -<span class="corr" id="xd26e5479" title= -"Source: nebulae">nebulæ</span>, <a href="#pb254" class= -"pageref">254</a>.<br> -Possibly a more elemental condition of gases in nebulæ, <a href= -"#pb259" class="pageref">259</a>.<br> -Ammonium a hypothetical inorganic radical, <a href="#pb259" class= -"pageref">259</a>.<br> -Bright-line spectrum of gaseous nebulæ, <a href="#pb267" class= -"pageref">267</a>.<br> -Chemical changes during progression of spiral nebulæ, <a href= -"#pb287" class="pageref">287</a>–292.<br> -Oxidation of terrestrial mass during coalescence, <a href="#pb292" -class="pageref">292</a>.<br> -Phenomena of nature, <a href="#pb299" class="pageref">299</a>, <a href= -"#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>.</p> -<p><b>COMET.</b><br> -Some of the phenomena of, can only be accounted for by electricity, -<a href="#pb7" class="pageref">7</a>.<br> -Hydrogen and nitrogen in comets, but no oxygen, <a href="#pb62" class= -"pageref">62</a>.<br> -Description of the phenomena of comets, <a href="#pb200" class= -"pageref">200</a>, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>, <a href= -"#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>.<br> -Trains of meteors follow track of comets, <a href="#pb203" class= -"pageref">203</a>–204, <a href="#pb206" class= -"pageref">206</a>–207, <a href="#pb232" class= -"pageref">232</a>.<br> -Formation of envelopes and tails, <a href="#pb205" class= -"pageref">205</a>, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>.<br> -Olefiant gas in comet and meteorite, <a href="#pb207" class= -"pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>.<br> -Electrical repulsion of comets’ tails, <a href="#pb208" class= -"pageref">208</a>, <a href="#pb225" class= -"pageref">225</a>–231.<br> -Mass and tenuity of comets, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>, -<a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>.<br> -Opposite electrical polarity of comets and planets, and similar -polarity of sun and comets, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>, -<a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>, <a href="#pb236" class= -"pageref">236</a>. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb356" href="#pb356" -name="pb356">356</a>]</span><br> -Spectra of comets, <a href="#pb213" class="pageref">213</a>.<br> -Hydrogen compounds in comets, <a href="#pb213" class= -"pageref">213</a>.<br> -Temperature of cometic nucleus, <a href="#pb218" class= -"pageref">218</a>.<br> -Reversal of polarity of comet by contact with a planetary -electrosphere, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>–234.<br> -Comets most frequently without tails, <a href="#pb222" class= -"pageref">222</a>, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>.<br> -Interpretation of the phenomena of comets, <a href="#pb235" class= -"pageref">235</a>.<br> -Repulsion of comets’ tails illustrating phenomena of gaseous -nebulæ, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>.<br> -Many comets transcend that of Newton in dimensions of their tails, -<a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>.<br> -Origin of comets by excessive repulsion from the nebular matter of a -forming solar system, <a href="#pb289" class="pageref">289</a>.<br> -Phenomena of comets in accordance with universal laws governing -celestial bodies, <a href="#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>.</p> -<p><b>COSMOLOGY.</b><br> -According to previously accepted views the visible order of creation -must result in a final failure, <a href="#pb18" class= -"pageref">18</a>.<br> -Possible termination of present cycle of terrestrial life and possible -renewal, <a href="#pb198" class="pageref">198</a>.<br> -Solar systems not necessarily individual creations, <a href="#pb165" -class="pageref">165</a>.<br> -The word “creation” as rendered in our version of the -Bible, <a href="#pb320" class="pageref">320</a>.<br> -Mosaic narrative (see this title in Index), <a href="#pb337" class= -"pageref">337</a>–340.<br> -Mosaic cosmogony does not exclude prior material space, <a href= -"#pb320" class="pageref">320</a>.<br> -Original creation out of nothing forms no part of the Mosaic or of -other primitive cosmologies, <a href="#pb320" class="pageref">320</a>, -<a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>, <a href="#pb330" class= -"pageref">330</a>.<br> -Nebular hypothesis not in accordance with Mosaic account of creation, -<a href="#pb327" class="pageref">327</a>.<br> -Knowledge of cosmology among the ancients, <a href="#pb328" class= -"pageref">328</a>, <a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>.<br> -Ancient Egyptian cosmogony, <a href="#pb316" class= -"pageref">316</a>.<br> -Ancient Syriac cosmology, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>.<br> -Second Mosaic narrative (the garden of Eden), <a href="#pb334" class= -"pageref">334</a>–336.<br> -Literal translation of the Mosaic record of the creation, <a href= -"#pb337" class="pageref">337</a>–340.<br> -Review of the system of cosmology embraced in the present work, -<a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>–348.<br> -The harmony of nature’s operations, <a href="#pb341" class= -"pageref">341</a>.<br> -Universal cataclysms contrary to nature, <a href="#pb347" class= -"pageref">347</a>, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>.</p> -<p><b>ELECTRICITY.</b><br> -Electrical connection between earth and sun, <a href="#pb7" class= -"pageref">7</a>.<br> -Mere currents can play no part in the grander operations of nature, -<a href="#pb8" class="pageref">8</a>.<br> -Repulsion by the sun of the solar corona, <a href="#pb55" class= -"pageref">55</a>, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>.<br> -Electricity, the universal source of repulsion, compared with gravity -and affinity, the universal sources of attraction, <a href="#pb70" -class="pageref">70</a>.<br> -Electricity considered with reference to solar energy, <a href="#pb70" -class="pageref">70</a>, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>.<br> -Electrolysis, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>.<br> -Laws of electricity, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>.<br> -Currents constantly passing between earth and sun, <a href="#pb75" -class="pageref">75</a>.<br> -The same considered in detail, <a href="#pb75" class= -"pageref">75</a>–76, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>, -<a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>.<br> -Velocity of these currents equal to that of light, <a href="#pb77" -class="pageref">77</a>.<br> -Cannot pass through vacua, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb357" href="#pb357" name= -"pb357">357</a>]</span><br> -Heating effect of electrolyzing current, <a href="#pb83" class= -"pageref">83</a>, <a href="#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>.<br> -Arc lamp, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>–84.<br> -Intense heat produced by current under water, operating through a -hydrogen envelope surrounding a conductor, <a href="#pb85" class= -"pageref">85</a>.<br> -Electrical induction machines described, <a href="#pb88" class= -"pageref">88</a>–95, <a href="#pb344" class= -"pageref">344</a>.<br> -Their resemblance to rotating planetary electrospheres, <a href="#pb96" -class="pageref">96</a>, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>.<br> -Mutual repulsion of similar electrospheres, <a href="#pb123" class= -"pageref">123</a>–125.<br> -Analogy of reflex nervous system with electrical circuit, <a href= -"#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>.<br> -Phenomena of variable stars due to more or less concentrated electric -currents from their encircling planets, <a href="#pb175" class= -"pageref">175</a>.<br> -Variation in constitution of, and currents in space affect the -planetary generation of electricity, <a href="#pb188" class= -"pageref">188</a>–192.<br> -Electricity between adjacent solar systems, <a href="#pb194" class= -"pageref">194</a>.<br> -Electrical repulsion of the tails of comets, <a href="#pb211" class= -"pageref">211</a>, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>.<br> -Electricity as an element in development of nebulæ, <a href= -"#pb284" class="pageref">284</a>–286.<br> -Electrical repulsion operates to drive off the matter of future comets -from condensing nebulæ, <a href="#pb289" class= -"pageref">289</a>.</p> -<p><b>HYPOTHESIS.</b> (<b>See Theory.</b>)<br> -No adequate hypothesis, hitherto, to account for continuance of solar -energy in the past, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>.<br> -General statement of Laplace’s nebular hypothesis, <a href= -"#pb12" class="pageref">12</a>.<br> -The nebular hypothesis has not been proved, <a href="#pb35" class= -"pageref">35</a>, <a href="#pb270" class= -"pageref">270</a>–278.<br> -What it requires for its basis, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>, -<a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>–276.<br> -Correct basis for hypothesis of solar energy, <a href="#pb141" class= -"pageref">141</a>–144, <a href="#pb286" class= -"pageref">286</a>.<br> -Nebular hypothesis considered in detail, <a href="#pb268" class= -"pageref">268</a>–278.<br> -Contrast of nebular hypothesis with the present work, <a href="#pb306" -class="pageref">306</a>.<br> -The Mosaic cosmogony, <a href="#pb308" class="pageref">308</a>.<br> -Nebular hypothesis deals only with aggregations, <a href="#pb309" -class="pageref">309</a>–310.<br> -The cosmogony of Genesis more scientific, <a href="#pb310" class= -"pageref">310</a>.<br> -Origin of Mosaic narrative, <a href="#pb310" class="pageref">310</a>, -<a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>–330.<br> -Egyptian cosmogony, <a href="#pb316" class="pageref">316</a>.<br> -Different hypotheses reviewed, <a href="#pb342" class= -"pageref">342</a>.<br> -All prior theories insufficient to account for the facts, <a href= -"#pb342" class="pageref">342</a>.</p> -<p><b>LAW, NATURAL.</b><br> -Some general law must control astronomical phenomena, <a href="#pb7" -class="pageref">7</a>.<br> -But few fixed, controlling laws in nature, <a href="#pb14" class= -"pageref">14</a>.<br> -Natural laws eternal in their operation, <a href="#pb18" class= -"pageref">18</a>.<br> -Supremacy of natural laws, <a href="#pb100" class= -"pageref">100</a>.<br> -Gravitation cannot control star-drift in space, <a href="#pb64" class= -"pageref">64</a>.<br> -Universality and harmony, but not identity in the results of the -operation of these laws, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>.<br> -“A more wonderful law of harmony than those of Copernicus, -Kepler, and Newton,” <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>.<br> -Indefinite approaches often prelude great discoveries, <a href="#pb80" -class="pageref">80</a>.<br> -Laws of repulsion and attraction, <a href="#p124" class= -"pageref">124</a>–127.<br> -Harmony among all the solar systems, <a href="#pb145" class= -"pageref">145</a>, <a href="#pb153" class="pageref">153</a>.<br> -Sphere of effective control under gravity, <a href="#pb241" class= -"pageref">241</a>.<br> -Universality of gravitation has been doubted, <a href="#pb241" class= -"pageref">241</a>–242.<br> -Demonstration that gravity cannot control universally, <a href="#pb243" -class="pageref">243</a>–245.<br> -Proportionate and aggregate attractions between systems, <a href= -"#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>.<br> -Stars traverse space without reference to law of gravity, <a href= -"#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb358" -href="#pb358" name="pb358">358</a>]</span><br> -A higher law of movement indicated, <a href="#pb247" class= -"pageref">247</a>, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>.<br> -Comparison with the natural laws of biology, <a href="#pb247" class= -"pageref">247</a>.<br> -Laws operate constantly, but only manifest change at intervals, -<a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>, <a href="#pb283" class= -"pageref">283</a>.<br> -The drift of stars through space, <a href="#pb249" class= -"pageref">249</a>.<br> -Interdependence between all created systems, <a href="#pb250" class= -"pageref">250</a>–252.<br> -Astrology: its abandoned beliefs considered, <a href="#pb261" class= -"pageref">261</a>.<br> -Attraction and repulsion naturally correlated, <a href="#pb280" class= -"pageref">280</a>.<br> -Bode’s empirical law interpreted by development of the solar -system from a spiral nebula, <a href="#pb287" class= -"pageref">287</a>.<br> -Arrest of moon’s axial rotation, <a href="#pb293" class= -"pageref">293</a>.<br> -Laws of Laplace, etc., <a href="#pb294" class="pageref">294</a>.<br> -Laws of movement in the development of solar systems, <a href="#pb298" -class="pageref">298</a>.<br> -Basis of human knowledge, <a href="#pb299" class="pageref">299</a>.<br> -Interpretation of the laws of nature, <a href="#pb306" class= -"pageref">306</a>–307.<br> -Operation of same laws which produced our solar and planetary -atmospheres would reproduce similar ones if these were destroyed, -<a href="#pb308" class="pageref">308</a>.<br> -Universality of natural laws, <a href="#pb347" class="pageref">347</a>, -<a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>.</p> -<p><b>MOSAIC NARRATIVE.</b><br> -Moses fully acquainted, by initiation into the priesthood, with the -sacred knowledge of the Egyptians (the Hebrews were not), <a href= -"#pb310" class="pageref">310</a>.<br> -The Mosaic record more scientific than the Nebular hypothesis, <a href= -"#pb310" class="pageref">310</a>.<br> -Improperly rendered from the original in our version, <a href="#pb310" -class="pageref">310</a>.<br> -Full and correct translation not then possible, <a href="#pb310" class= -"pageref">310</a>.<br> -Hebrew a root-language, and not original or inspired, <a href="#pb311" -class="pageref">311</a>.<br> -Indefiniteness of translation in our version illustrated, <a href= -"#pb311" class="pageref">311</a>–312.<br> -Importance of accurate rendering of the words of the original, <a href= -"#pb313" class="pageref">313</a>–314.<br> -Cannot be interpreted by writings made long subsequently, <a href= -"#pb313" class="pageref">313</a>.<br> -Correct basis of a true rendering, <a href="#pb314" class= -"pageref">314</a>.<br> -Use of the important words of the original, <a href="#pb315" class= -"pageref">315</a>.<br> -Jehovah not directly mentioned in the narrative; the work was performed -by specially energized natural forces operating under guidance of a -higher power, <a href="#pb315" class="pageref">315</a>–316.<br> -Ancient Egyptians believed in one supreme God, <a href="#pb315" class= -"pageref">315</a>.<br> -Also the Aryans of prehistoric times, <a href="#pb316" class= -"pageref">316</a>.<br> -The cosmogony of the Egyptians, <a href="#pb316" class= -"pageref">316</a>.<br> -Dr. McCosh on the delegated forces of God, <a href="#pb317" class= -"pageref">317</a>–318.<br> -The word which is translated “rested,” <a href="#pb318" -class="pageref">318</a>, <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>.<br> -Analogy of volcanic action with work of creation, <a href="#pb318" -class="pageref">318</a>.<br> -Professor Guyot on the meaning of “God rested;” the forces -of nature came to a state of equilibrium, <a href="#pb319" class= -"pageref">319</a>.<br> -Duke of Argyle on the processes of creation around us daily, <a href= -"#pb319" class="pageref">319</a>.<br> -The words “created” and “made,” in verse -<a href="#pb3" class="pageref">3</a>, chapter ii, not properly -rendered; popular misconception based on this imperfect rendering, -<a href="#pb319" class="pageref">319</a>.<br> -Signification of the words Bra, Osh, and Iei, <a href="#pb320" class= -"pageref">320</a>–323.<br> -Separation of waters to two opposite foci, with attenuated space -between, <a href="#pb324" class="pageref">324</a>, <a href="#pb325" -class="pageref">325</a>, <a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>.<br> -The above separation hitherto misunderstood, <a href="#pb325" class= -"pageref">325</a>.<br> -Better known to the ancients, <a href="#pb328" class="pageref">328</a>, -<a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>.<br> -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb359" href="#pb359" name= -"pb359">359</a>]</span>Song of the Three Holy Children, the Psalms, -Theophilus, and St.<br> -Augustine, on the separation, <a href="#pb329" class= -"pageref">329</a>.<br> -Introduction of vegetable life prior to appearance of free oxygen in -earth’s atmosphere, <a href="#pb323" class= -"pageref">323</a>–326.<br> -Jeove as contradistinguished from Aleim, <a href="#pb327" class= -"pageref">327</a>.<br> -Mosaic cosmogony based on prior attenuated matter of space, <a href= -"#pb327" class="pageref">327</a>.<br> -Astronomical knowledge of ancient peoples, <a href="#pb329" class= -"pageref">329</a>.<br> -Table of root-meanings of words used in the narrative, <a href="#pb330" -class="pageref">330</a>–333.<br> -Some portions of the second narrative examined, <a href="#pb333" class= -"pageref">333</a>–336.</p> -<p><span class="sc">Note.</span>—The second narrative bears the -unmistakable impress of its sacred Egyptian derivation; the temptation -is pictorially represented on the walls of the temple of Medinet-Abou, -at Thebes, which dates from the eighteenth dynasty, while Moses was -contemporary with the nineteenth. Joseph entered Egypt during the -Hyksos period preceding the eighteenth. (Rawlinson, “Ancient -Egypt.” See also his “Ancient Religions,” for -Egyptian monotheism, last three pages of chapter i.)</p> -<p><br> -Popular need of a more accurate translation of the earlier Scriptures, -<a href="#pb336" class="pageref">336</a>.<br> -The narrative of creation literally translated, <a href="#pb337" class= -"pageref">337</a>–340.<br> -Order of the successive introductions of life, according to the Mosaic -record: 1, land plants; 2, marine vegetation (necessary for sustenance -of 3); 3, lower forms of marine life; 4, reptiles; 5, birds (between -reptiles and the mammalia); 6, mammals; 7, mankind, male and then -female, <a href="#pb338" class="pageref">338</a>, <a href="#pb339" -class="pageref">339</a>.</p> -<p><b>NEBULA</b> (<b>Gaseous</b>).<br> -Hydrogen and nitrogen in, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>, -<a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>.<br> -Elongated nebula in Sobieski’s Crown, <a href="#pb189" class= -"pageref">189</a>.<br> -Gaseous nebulæ affected by currents in space, <a href="#pb189" -class="pageref">189</a>.<br> -Oxygen in gaseous nebulæ, <a href="#pb216" class= -"pageref">216</a>.<br> -Distribution of nebulæ in space, <a href="#pb237" class= -"pageref">237</a>–238, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>, -<a href="#pb264" class="pageref">264</a>.<br> -Herschel’s arrangement of, in progressive series, <a href= -"#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>.<br> -Great composite nebula in Orion, <a href="#pb240" class= -"pageref">240</a>, <a href="#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>.<br> -Gaseous nebulæ described, <a href="#pb253" class= -"pageref">253</a>.<br> -Spectroscopic analysis of, <a href="#pb254" class= -"pageref">254</a>–258.<br> -Changes in form of gaseous nebulæ, <a href="#pb256" class= -"pageref">256</a>–258.<br> -Reversion of a small planetary nebula, <a href="#pb258" class= -"pageref">258</a>.<br> -Progressive changes in nebulæ, <a href="#pb258" class= -"pageref">258</a>–259, <a href="#pb267" class= -"pageref">267</a>.<br> -Analysis of drawings of gaseous nebulæ of Lord Rosse, <a href= -"#pb261" class="pageref">261</a>–262, <a href="#pb265" class= -"pageref">265</a>.<br> -Typical forms of non-systemic nebulæ, <a href="#p263" class= -"pageref">263</a>.<br> -Crab nebula, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>, <a href="#pb285" -class="pageref">285</a>.<br> -Number of gaseous nebulæ already recognized, <a href="#pb265" -class="pageref">265</a>.<br> -Spiral figure a characteristic, <a href="#pb265" class= -"pageref">265</a>, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>.<br> -All spectra of gaseous nebulæ show bright lines, <a href="#pb267" -class="pageref">267</a>.<br> -Development into solar systems, <a href="#pb267" class= -"pageref">267</a>, <a href="#pb283" class="pageref">283</a>.<br> -Spiral nebula in Canes Venatici, <a href="#pb273" class= -"pageref">273</a>.<br> -Series of spiral nebulæ illustrating progressive advances, -<a href="#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>.<br> -Types of development, frontispiece and legend beneath.<br> -Comparison of spiral nebula with a jet of water, <a href="#pb285" -class="pageref">285</a>.<br> -Comparison with tail of a comet under rotation, <a href="#pb285" class= -"pageref">285</a>.<br> -Development in accordance with general astronomical laws, <a href= -"#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb360" -href="#pb360" name="pb360">360</a>]</span><br> -Convolutions of spiral nebula pyriform, <a href="#pb293" class= -"pageref">293</a>.<br> -Origin of nebulæ from the matter of space, <a href="#pb295" -class="pageref">295</a>.<br> -Production of planetary nebulæ by mutual repulsion, <a href= -"#pb301" class="pageref">301</a>–302.<br> -Distances of gaseous nebulæ hitherto overestimated, <a href= -"#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>, <a href="#pb304" class= -"pageref">304</a>.<br> -Each spiral nebula develops into a single solar system, <a href= -"#pb304" class="pageref">304</a>.<br> -Spiral character of many apparently globular nebulæ revealed by -telescopes of adequate power, <a href="#pb304" class= -"pageref">304</a>–305.</p> -<p><b>PLANET.</b><br> -Those of our own system resemble each other, <a href="#pb45" class= -"pageref">45</a>, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>.<br> -Jupiter’s body covered with clouds and invisible to us, <a href= -"#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>. Saturn, Venus, Mars, <a href="#pb45" -class="pageref">45</a>.<br> -Surface of Mars clearly marked, rarely concealed by vapors, <a href= -"#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>–46.<br> -The planets of our own solar system the only ones visible to us, -<a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>.<br> -Every self-luminous star must have planets rotating around it, <a href= -"#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>.<br> -Some solar systems may have a single planet, <a href="#pb67" class= -"pageref">67</a>, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>, <a href= -"#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>.<br> -How planets generate electricity from space, <a href="#pb88" class= -"pageref">88</a>–89.<br> -No visible atmosphere or aqueous vapor on moon, <a href="#pb122" class= -"pageref">122</a>–136.<br> -Center of gravity of moon apparently displaced, <a href="#pb122" class= -"pageref">122</a>.<br> -The atmosphere of Mars, its constitution, <a href="#pb130" class= -"pageref">130</a>–132.<br> -Planets belonging to solar systems with double suns, <a href="#pb167" -class="pageref">167</a>–168.<br> -Angular positions of planets regulate solar energy, <a href="#pb176" -class="pageref">176</a>.<br> -Due to inclination of solar axis, <a href="#pb119" class= -"pageref">119</a>–122.<br> -Formation of planets from the convolutions of spiral nebulæ, -<a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>, <a href="#pb289" class= -"pageref">289</a>, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>.<br> -Abnormalities of planets in our system accounted for, <a href="#pb286" -class="pageref">286</a>–287, <a href="#pb294" class= -"pageref">294</a>.<br> -Formation of planetary satellites and Saturn’s rings, <a href= -"#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>–293.<br> -Formation of belt of asteroids, <a href="#pb294" class= -"pageref">294</a>.</p> -<p><b>SOLAR ENERGY.</b><br> -Our first investigations directed to phenomena of our own solar system, -<a href="#pb8" class="pageref">8</a>.<br> -Successively extended to other bodies of space, <a href="#pb8" class= -"pageref">8</a>.<br> -Simple uniformly acting laws which control, <a href="#pb9" class= -"pageref">9</a>.<br> -Different theories of, hitherto in vogue, <a href="#pb17" class= -"pageref">17</a>, <a href="#pb34" class="pageref">34</a>.<br> -Gradual degradation of, according to former theories, <a href="#pb18" -class="pageref">18</a>.<br> -Primary error due to attributing solar energy to an original supply in -the sun, <a href="#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>.<br> -In truth, it is derived from the rotation of the surrounding planets, -<a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>.<br> -Produced by electrical currents from planetary electrospheres, <a href= -"#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>–86.<br> -Experiment with hydrogen envelope in a pail of water, <a href="#pb85" -class="pageref">85</a>, <a href="#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>.<br> -Its production and permanent maintenance, <a href="#pb86" class= -"pageref">86</a>, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>, <a href= -"#pb195" class="pageref">195</a>.<br> -Its mode of distribution, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>, -<a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>.<br> -The apparent waste not real, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>, -<a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>.<br> -Correct statement of the mode of production and distribution of all -solar energy, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>–145, -<a href="#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>–346.<br> -Discussion of the light and heat of, <a href="#pb147" class= -"pageref">147</a>–152.<br> -Due to planetary energy; evidence from the variable stars, <a href= -"#pb175" class="pageref">175</a>, <a href="#pb346" class= -"pageref">346</a>.<br> -Great heat-wave of 1892, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>.<br> -Illustration of solar energy, analogous to water-wheel, <a href= -"#pb251" class="pageref">251</a>.<br> -True final source of solar energy, <a href="#pb252" class= -"pageref">252</a>, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>.<br> -Nebular hypothesis with relation to, <a href="#pb268" class= -"pageref">268</a>–274. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb361" href= -"#pb361" name="pb361">361</a>]</span><br> -Difficulties of nebular hypothesis, <a href="#pb274" class= -"pageref">274</a>–278.<br> -Spiral nebulæ incompatible with nebular hypothesis of, <a href= -"#pb273" class="pageref">273</a>–278.<br> -Splitting up of gaseous nebulæ by internal repulsion, <a href= -"#pb289" class="pageref">289</a>.</p> -<p><b>SOLAR SYSTEM.</b><br> -Belief, hitherto, in its early termination in eternal darkness, -<a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>.<br> -Constitution of our, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>.<br> -Drifting through space, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>.<br> -Suns and planets mutually correlated, <a href="#pb69" class= -"pageref">69</a>.<br> -Electrical connection between sun and planets, <a href="#pb79" class= -"pageref">79</a>.<br> -Only 1/232000000 part of sun’s energy received by our planets, -<a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>.<br> -Solar system of variable star Mira, <a href="#pb177" class= -"pageref">177</a>.<br> -Operation of solar systems perpetual, <a href="#pb198" class= -"pageref">198</a>.<br> -No operative solar system could be built up from meteorites, <a href= -"#pb199" class="pageref">199</a>.<br> -Views expressed in this work contrasted with former theories, <a href= -"#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>–251.<br> -Development of a solar system from a spiral nebula, <a href="#pb279" -class="pageref">279</a>.<br> -Genesis of solar systems from the primordial elements of space, -<a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>.<br> -Phenomena of the development of solar systems, <a href="#pb283" class= -"pageref">283</a>.<br> -Mode of development of a centripetal planetary solar system from a -centrifugal spiral nebula, <a href="#pb286" class= -"pageref">286</a>.<br> -Mode of formation of the asteroids, <a href="#pb288" class= -"pageref">288</a>.<br> -Of comets, <a href="#pb289" class="pageref">289</a>.<br> -Disruptive force of repulsion in a gaseous nebula, <a href="#pb289" -class="pageref">289</a>.<br> -Rupture of convolutions preparatory to formation of planets, <a href= -"#pb290" class="pageref">290</a>.<br> -Reversal of electrical polarity of ruptured convolutions, <a href= -"#pb290" class="pageref">290</a>.<br> -Coalescence into separate planets, <a href="#pb290" class= -"pageref">290</a>–292.<br> -Periodicity in the development of solar systems, <a href="#pb300" -class="pageref">300</a>.<br> -Origin of single planet solar systems, <a href="#pb171" class= -"pageref">171</a>, <a href="#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>.</p> -<p><b>SPACE.</b><br> -Estimated temperature of, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>.<br> -Currents in, <a href="#pb106" class="pageref">106</a>, <a href="#pb187" -class="pageref">187</a>–189.<br> -Distribution of stars in space, <a href="#pb187" class= -"pageref">187</a>.<br> -Universal connection between all bodies of space, <a href="#pb250" -class="pageref">250</a>.<br> -So-called “empty space,” <a href="#pb295" class= -"pageref">295</a>.<br> -Tensions in space, <a href="#pb295" class="pageref">295</a>.<br> -Illustration from Prince Rupert’s drops, <a href="#pb295" class= -"pageref">295</a>–296.<br> -Constitution of space, <a href="#pb297" class="pageref">297</a>.<br> -Unstable equilibrium, <a href="#pb297" class= -"pageref">297</a>–298.<br> -Apparently blank areas of space, <a href="#pb299" class= -"pageref">299</a>.<br> -Our present space eternal, <a href="#pb299" class= -"pageref">299</a>.<br> -The attenuated vapors of space the source of all created things, -<a href="#pb299" class="pageref">299</a>–300.<br> -The domain and workshop of the Infinite, <a href="#pb307" class= -"pageref">307</a>.<br> -The last refuge of the human intellect, <a href="#pb307" class= -"pageref">307</a>.</p> -<p><b>SPECTROSCOPE.</b><br> -Absorption bands and bright-line spectrum, <a href="#pb155" class= -"pageref">155</a>.<br> -Spectroscope as used in investigation of nebulæ, <a href="#pb253" -class="pageref">253</a>.<br> -Applied to great nebula in Orion, <a href="#pb256" class= -"pageref">256</a>.<br> -Bright-line spectra in all gaseous nebulæ, <a href="#pb267" -class="pageref">267</a>.<br> -(See Chemistry, Star, Sun.) <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb362" href= -"#pb362" name="pb362">362</a>]</span></p> -<p><b>STAR.</b><br> -Distances of stars in space, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>, -<a href="#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>, <a href="#pb248" class= -"pageref">248</a>.<br> -Our sun a variable star, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>, -<a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>.<br> -Classification by their spectra, <a href="#pb156" class= -"pageref">156</a>–158.<br> -Betelgeuse, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>, <a href="#pb161" -class="pageref">161</a>.<br> -Double stars, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>.<br> -Double and multiple stars of complementary colors, <a href="#pb162" -class="pageref">162</a>–164, <a href="#pb176" class= -"pageref">176</a>, <a href="#pb305" class="pageref">305</a>.<br> -Origin of double stars, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>, -<a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>, <a href="#pb305" class= -"pageref">305</a>.<br> -Mizar, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>.<br> -Interpretation of phenomena of double stars, <a href="#pb168" class= -"pageref">168</a>.<br> -Variable stars, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>.<br> -Regularly variable stars, <a href="#pb169" class="pageref">169</a>.<br> -Algol, <a href="#pb169" class="pageref">169</a>–173, <a href= -"#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>.<br> -Planetary system of Mira, <a href="#pb177" class="pageref">177</a>.<br> -Delta Cephei, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>.<br> -Variability due to variable dynamic energy of planets, <a href="#pb119" -class="pageref">119</a>–122, <a href="#pb175" class= -"pageref">175</a>.<br> -Phenomena of temporary stars, <a href="#pb180" class= -"pageref">180</a>–182.<br> -Insufficiency of previous explanations of, <a href="#pb183" class= -"pageref">183</a>–186.<br> -True causes of, <a href="#pb187" class="pageref">187</a>–196.<br> -Temporary stars usually appear in certain parts of the heavens only, -<a href="#pb192" class="pageref">192</a>.<br> -Star-clusters, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>.<br> -Limits and structure of the Milky Way, <a href="#pb244" class= -"pageref">244</a>.<br> -How stars travel through space, <a href="#pb249" class= -"pageref">249</a>.<br> -Common brotherhood of all stars, <a href="#pb250" class= -"pageref">250</a>.<br> -Correct principles of interpretation and explanation of the phenomena -of the stars, <a href="#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>.</p> -<p><b>SUN.</b><br> -Hitherto accepted belief that his energies are dying out, <a href= -"#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>.<br> -Chemical elements in the sun, <a href="#pb47" class= -"pageref">47</a>.<br> -Constitution and structure of the sun, <a href="#pb48" class= -"pageref">48</a>, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>.<br> -Prominences, faculæ, sun-spots, chromosphere, photosphere, -corona, long streamers, solar nucleus, <a href="#pb48" class= -"pageref">48</a>–56.<br> -Sun-spots travel more rapidly across the solar face in proportion to -their distance from his equator, <a href="#pb54" class= -"pageref">54</a>, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>.<br> -General Myer on sun’s corona, <a href="#pb56" class= -"pageref">56</a>.<br> -Sun-spots described, <a href="#pb56" class= -"pageref">56</a>–59.<br> -Every sun must have planets to enable it to give out light and heat, -<a href="#pb66" class="pageref">66</a>.<br> -Sun-spots and terrestrial electricity and magnetism, <a href="#pb75" -class="pageref">75</a>–76, <a href="#pb303" class= -"pageref">303</a>.<br> -Eleven-year period of sun-spots, <a href="#pb75" class= -"pageref">75</a>.<br> -Operative artificial sun; electrical experiment, <a href="#pb86" class= -"pageref">86</a>–87.<br> -Sun’s gaseous or partially gaseous body a self-compensating -mechanism to distribute and equalize his energies, <a href="#pb88" -class="pageref">88</a>, <a href="#pb106" class="pageref">106</a>, -<a href="#pb199" class="pageref">199</a>.<br> -Sun-spots considered with reference to angular positions of the -planets, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>, <a href="#pb119" -class="pageref">119</a>–122, <a href="#pb155" class= -"pageref">155</a>–156.<br> -Origin and development of sun-spots, <a href="#pb107" class= -"pageref">107</a>–122.<br> -Our sun a variable star, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>.<br> -Repulsion of sun’s long streamers, <a href="#pb166" class= -"pageref">166</a>, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>.<br> -Cycles of life on the planets might be produced by successive increases -and diminutions of sun’s radiant energy, <a href="#pb197" class= -"pageref">197</a>.<br> -Repulsion of the tails of comets by solar electrosphere, <a href= -"#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>.<br> -Idea of a universal central sun untenable, <a href="#pb241" class= -"pageref">241</a>.<br> -Importance to mankind of a correct knowledge of the sun, <a href= -"#pb251" class="pageref">251</a>. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb363" -href="#pb363" name="pb363">363</a>]</span></p> -<p><b>THEORY.</b> (<b>See Hypothesis.</b>)<br> -Various previous theories to account for solar heat and light, <a href= -"#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>.<br> -1, sun now giving out the heat imparted at its creation, <a href= -"#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>.<br> -2, that its volume is being consumed by combustion;<br> -3, that its light and heat consist of currents of electricity;<br> -4, that comets are the aliment of the sun;<br> -5, that the supply is due to accretion by meteoric streams;<br> -6, that it is due to molecular condensation from contraction of the -sun’s gaseous body;<br> -7, Dr. Siemens’s theory of disassociation of gases in space by -sunlight and heat, centripetal suction at the solar poles, and -recombination and centrifugal emission around the sun’s equator, -<a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>–22.<br> -The above theories separately considered, <a href="#pb23" class= -"pageref">23</a>–38.<br> -Not sufficient, one or all, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>.<br> -All fail, also, to account for the solar hydrogen, <a href="#pb39" -class="pageref">39</a>.</p> -<p><b>UNIVERSE.</b><br> -Harmony throughout the universe, <a href="#pb68" class= -"pageref">68</a>, <a href="#pb153" class="pageref">153</a>, <a href= -"#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>.<br> -Classification of bodies which occupy the, <a href="#pb153" class= -"pageref">153</a>.<br> -Star-drift through space, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="transcribernote"> -<h2 class="main">Colophon</h2> -<h3 class="main">Availability</h3> -<p class="first">This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no -cost and with almost no 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You may copy it, give -it away or re-use it under the terms of the <a class="seclink xd26e45" -title="External link" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/license" rel= -"license">Project Gutenberg License</a> included with this eBook or -online at <a class="seclink xd26e45" title="External link" href= -"https://www.gutenberg.org/" rel="home">www.gutenberg.org</a>.</p> -<p>This eBook is produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team -at <a class="exlink xd26e45" title="External link" href= -"http://www.pgdp.net/">www.pgdp.net</a>.</p> -<p>Scans of this book are available from the Internet Archive (First -edition: <a class="seclink xd26e45" title="External link" href= -"https://archive.org/details/sourcemodeofsola00heysrich">1</a> (used as -source), <a class="seclink xd26e45" title="External link" href= -"https://archive.org/details/sourceandmodeso00heysgoog">2</a>, -<a class="seclink xd26e45" title="External link" href= -"https://archive.org/details/sourceandmodeso01heysgoog">3</a>; Second -Edition: <a class="seclink xd26e45" title="External link" href= -"https://archive.org/details/solarenergyitss00heysgoog">1</a>, -<a class="seclink xd26e45" title="External link" href= -"https://archive.org/details/cu31924012302893">2</a>).</p> -<h3 class="main">Metadata</h3> -<table class="colophonMetadata"> -<tr> -<td><b>Title:</b></td> -<td>The source and mode of solar energy throughout the universe</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Author:</b></td> -<td>Isaac Winter Heysinger (1842–)</td> -<td><a href="https://viaf.org/viaf/45945089/" class= -"seclink">Info</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Language:</b></td> -<td>English</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Original publication date:</b></td> -<td>1895</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Keywords:</b></td> -<td>Bible and science.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td></td> -<td>Cosmogony.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td></td> -<td>Solar system.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Library of Congress:</b></td> -<td><a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/06010665" class= -"seclink">06010665</a></td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>OCLC/WorldCat:</b></td> -<td><a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/457959009" class= -"seclink">457959009</a></td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Open Library (Book):</b></td> -<td><a href="https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7203384M" class= -"seclink">OL7203384M</a></td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Open Library (Work):</b></td> -<td><a href="https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15264899W" class= -"seclink">OL15264899W</a></td> -<td></td> -</tr> -</table> -<h3 class="main">Revision History</h3> -<ul> -<li>2017-12-31 Started.</li> -</ul> -<h3 class="main">External References</h3> -<p>This Project Gutenberg eBook contains external references. These -links may not work for you.</p> -<h3 class="main">Corrections</h3> -<p>The following corrections have been applied to the text:</p> -<table class="correctiontable" summary= -"Overview of corrections applied to the text."> -<tr> -<th>Page</th> -<th>Source</th> -<th>Correction</th> -<th>Edit distance</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e866">60</a>, -<a class="pageref" href="#xd26e869">60</a>, <a class="pageref" href= -"#xd26e1564">168</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd26e1567">168</a>, -<a class="pageref" href="#xd26e1570">168</a>, <a class="pageref" href= -"#xd26e1573">168</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">:</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">;</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e1887">223</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">[<i>Not in source</i>]</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">’</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e1933">228</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">amosphere</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">atmosphere</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e2253">289</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">prob-bly</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">probably</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e2264">291</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">curents</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">currents</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e2465">319</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">dif-ent</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">different</td> -<td class="bottom">3</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e2610">329</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">[<i>Not in source</i>]</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">”</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e2835">331</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">darknesss</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">darkness</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd26e5479">355</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">nebulae</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">nebulæ</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Source and Mode of Solar Energy -Throughout the Universe, by Isaac Winter Heysinger - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOURCE AND MODE OF SOLAR ENERGY *** - -***** This file should be named 56302-h.htm or 56302-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/3/0/56302/ - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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