,page ii ,illustration3 ,,the ,,constellations ,,of ,,orion ,,and ,,taurus4 ,,notes4--,star a in ,taurus is red1 has eight metals2 moves east 7page #bbg74 ,at o above tip of right horn is the ,crab ,nebula 7page #bai74 ,in ,orion1 a is variable1 has five metals2 recedes #bb miles per second4 b1 d1 e1 x1 r1 etc41 are double stars1 the component parts of various colors and magnitudes 7page #bab1 note74 l and i are triple2 s1 octuple2 th1 multiple1 surrounded by a fine ,nebula 7page #bah74 ,page iii ,,recreations ,,in ,,astronomy ,,with ,,directions ,,for ,,practical ,,experiments ,,and ,,telescopic ,,work ,,by ,,henry ,,white ,,warren1 ,d4,d4 ,,author ,,of ,,sights ,,and ,,insights2 ,,or1 ,,knowledge ,,by ,,travel1 ,,etc4 ,,with ,,eighty-,,three ,,illustrations ,,and ,,maps ,,of ,,stars ,page v ,greek3 ,,taei ,,psuchaei ,,taei ,,agapaetaei ,,astrapousaei ,,kai ,,isaggedoi ,page vii ,,preface4 ,all sciences are making an advance1 but ,astronomy is moving at the double-quick4 ,since the principles of this science were settled by ,copernicus1 four hundred years ago1 it has never had to beat a retreat4 ,it is rewritten not to correct material errors1 but to incorporate new discoveries4 ,once ,astronomy treated mostly of tides1 seasons1 and telescopic aspects of the planets2 now these are only primary matters4 ,once it considered stars as mere fixed points of light2 now it studies them as suns1 determines their age1 size1 color1 movements1 chemical constitution1 and the revolution of their planets4 ,once it considered space as empty2 now it knows that every cubic inch of it quivers with greater intensity of force than that which is visible in ,niagara4 ,every inch of surface that can be conceived of between suns is more wave-tossed than the ocean in a storm4 ,the invention of the telescope constituted one era in ,astronomy2 its perfection in our day1 another2 and the discoveries of the spectroscope a third--no less important than either of the others4 ,while nearly all men are prevented from practical experimentation in these high realms of knowledge1 few ,page viii have so little leisure as to be debarred from intelligently enjoying the results of the investigations of others4 ,this book has been written not only to reveal some of the highest achievements of the human mind1 but also to let the heavens declare the glory of the ,divine ,mind4 ,in the author's judgment1 there is no gulf that separates science and religion1 nor any conflict where they stand together4 ,and it is fervently hoped that anyone who comes to a better knowledge of ,god's works through reading this book1 may thereby come to a more intimate knowledge of the ,worker4 ,i take great pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to ,j4 ,m4 ,van ,vleck1 ,,ll4,d41 of the ,u4,s4 ,nautical ,almanac staff1 and ,professor of ,astronomy at the ,wesleyan ,university1 for inspecting some of the more important chapters2 to ,dr4 ,s4 ,s4 ,white1 of ,philadelphia1 for telescopic advantages2 to ,professor ,henry ,draper1 for furnishing1 in advance of publication1 a photograph of the sun's corona in #ahgh2 and to the excellent work on ,popular ,astronomy1 by ,professor ,simon ,newcomb1 ,,ll4,d41 ,professor ,u4 ,s4 ,naval ,observatory1 for some of the most recent information1 and for the use of the unequalled engravings of ,jupiter1 ,saturn1 and the great nebula of ,orion4 ,page ix ,,contents4 ,,chap4 ,i4 ,,creative ,,processes ,,ii4 ,,creative ,,progress ,constitution of ,light ,chemistry of ,suns revealed by ,light ,creative ,force of ,light ,,iii4 ,,astronomical ,,instruments ,the ,telescope ,the ,reflecting ,telescope ,the ,spectroscope ,,iv4 ,,celestial ,,measurements ,celestial ,movements ,how to ,measure ,v4 ,,the ,,sun ,what the ,sun does for us ,,vi4 ,,the ,,planets1 ,,as ,,seen ,,from ,,space ,the ,outlook from the ,earth ,,vii4 ,,shooting-,,stars1 ,,meteors1 ,,and ,,comets ,aerolites ,comets ,famous ,comets ,of what do ,comets consist8 ,will ,comets strike the ,earth8 ,,viii4 ,,the ,,planets ,,as ,,individuals ,vulcan ,mercury ,venus ,the ,earth ,the ,aurora ,borealis ,page x ,the ,delicate ,balance of ,forces ,tides ,the ,moon ,telescopic ,appearance ,eclipses ,mars ,satellites of ,mars ,asteroids ,jupiter ,satellites of ,jupiter ,saturn ,rings of ,saturn ,satellites of ,saturn ,uranus ,neptune ,,ix4 ,,the ,,nebular ,,hypothesis4 ,x4 ,,the ,,stellar ,,system ,the ,open ,page of the ,heavens ,equatorial ,constellations ,characteristics of the ,stars ,number ,double and ,multiple ,stars ,colored ,stars ,clusters of ,stars ,nebul ,variable ,stars ,temporary1 ,new1 and ,lost ,stars ,movements of ,stars ,,xi4 ,,the ,,worlds ,,and ,,the ,,word ,,xii4 ,,the ,,ultimate ,,force ,,summary ,,of ,,latest ,,discoveries ,,and ,,conclusions ,,some ,,elements ,,of ,,the ,,solar ,,system ,,explanation ,,of ,,astronomical ,,symbols ,signs of the ,zodiac ,other ,abbreviations ,used in the ,almanac ,greek ,alphabet ,used ,indicating the ,stars ,,chautauqua ,,outline ,,for ,,students ,,glossary ,,of ,,astronomical ,,terms ,,and ,,index ,page xi ,,illustrations ,,fig4 ,the ,constellations of ,orion and ,taurus #a4 ,an ,orbit resulting from ,attraction and ,projection #b4 ,the ,moon's ,orbit about the ,earth #c4 ,changes of ,orbit by ,mutual ,attraction #d4 ,velocity of ,light measured by ,jupiter's ,satellites #e4 ,velocity of ,light measured by ,fizeau's ,toothed ,wheel #f4 ,white ,light resolved into ,colors #g4 ,showing amount of ,light received by ,different ,planets #h4 ,measuring ,intensities of ,lights #i4 ,reflection and ,diffusion of ,light #aj4 ,manifold ,reflections #aa4 ,refraction by ,water #ab4 ,atmospherical ,reflection #ac4 ,refracting ,telescope #ad4 ,reflecting ,telescope #ae4 ,the ,cambridge ,equatorial ,refractor #af4 ,the new ,reflecting ,telescope at ,paris #ag4 ,spectroscope1 with ,battery of ,prisms #ah4 ,spectra of ,glowing ,hydrogen and of the ,sun #ai4 ,illustrating ,arcs and ,angles #bj4 ,measuring ,objects by observing ,angles #ba4 ,mural ,circle #bb4 ,scale to measure ,hundredths of an ,inch #bc4 ,spider-lines to determine ,star ,transits #bd4 ,illustrating ,triangulation ,page xii #be4 ,measuring ,distance to an ,inaccessible ,object #bf4 ,measuring ,elevation of an ,inaccessible ,object #bg4 ,illustrating ,parallax #bh4 ,illustrating ,stellar ,parallax #bi4 ,mode of ,ascertaining ,longitude #cj4 ,relative ,size of ,sun1 as seen from ,different ,planets #ca4 ,zodiacal ,light #cb4 ,corona of the ,sun in #aheh--;,brazil #cc4 ,corona of the ,sun in #ahgh--;,colorado #cd4 ,solar ,prominences of ,flaming ,hydrogen #ce4 ,changes in ,solar ,cavities during ,rotation #cf4 ,solar ,spot #cg4 ,holding ,telescope to see the ,sun-spots #ch4 ,orbits and ,comparative ,sizes of the ,planets #ci4 ,orbit of ,earth1 illustrating ,seasons #dj4 ,inclination of ,planes of ,planetary ,orbits #da4 ,inclination of ,orbits of ,earth and ,venus #db4 ,showing the ,sun's ,movement among the ,stars #dc4 ,passage of the ,sun by ,star ,regulus #dd4 ,apparent ,path of ,jupiter among the ,stars #de4 ,illustrating ,position of ,planets #df4 ,apparent ,movements of an ,inferior ,planet #dg4 ,apparent ,movements of a ,superior ,planet #dg;a4 ,a ,swarm of ,meteors meeting the ,earth #dh4 ,explosion of a ,bolide #di4 ,flight of ,bolides #ej4 ,the ,santa ,rosa ,aerolite #ea4 ,orbit of ,november ,meteors and the ,comet of #ahff #eb4 ,aspects of ,remarkable ,comets #ec4 ,phases and ,apparent ,dimensions of ,venus #ed4 ,the ,earth and ,moon in ,space #ee4 ,aurora as ,waving ,curtains #ef4 ,tide resulting from ,centrifugal ,motion #eg4 ,lunar ,landscape ,page xiii #eh4 ,telescopic ,view of the ,moon #ei4 ,illumination of ,lunar ,craters and ,peaks #fj4 ,lunar ,crater ,copernicus #fa4 ,eclipses3 ,shadows of ,earth and ,moon #fb4 ,apparent ,sizes of ,mars1 seen from the ,earth #fc4 ,jupiter #fd4 ,various ,positions of ,jupiter's ,satellites #fe4 ,view of ,saturn and his ,rings #ff4 ,perturbations of ,uranus #fg4 ,map3 ,circumpolar ,constellations #fh4 ,map of ,constellations on the ,meridian in ,december #fi4 ,map of ,constellations on the ,meridian in ,january #gj4 ,map of ,constellations on the ,meridian in ,april #ga4 ,map of ,constellations on the ,meridian in ,june #gb4 ,map of ,constellations on the ,meridian in ,september #gc4 ,map of ,constellations on the ,meridian in ,november #gd4 ,southern ,circumpolar ,constellations #ge4 ,aspects of ,double ,stars #gf4 ,sprayed ,star ,cluster below ae in ,hercules #gg4 ,globular ,star ,cluster in the ,centaur #gh4 ,great ,nebula about th ,orionis #gi4 ,the ,crab ,nebula above z ,tauri #hj4 ,the ,ring ,nebula in ,lyra #ha4 ,showing ,place of ,ring ,nebula #hb4 ,the ,horizontal ,pendulum ,,colored ,,plate ,,representing ,,various ,,specta ,,maps ,,to ,,find ,,the ,,stars ,page #a ,i4 ,,creative ,,processes4 ,in the beginning ,god created the heaven and the earth4 ,and the earth was without form1 and void2 and darkness was upon the face of the deep4--,genesis i4 #a1 #b4 ,page #b ,not to the domes1 where crumbling arch and column ,attest the feebleness of mortal hand1 ,but to that fane1 most catholic and solemn1 ,which ,god hath planned1-- ,to that cathedral1 boundless as our wonder1 ,whose quenchless lamps the sun and stars supply2 ,its choir the winds and waves1 its organ thunder1 ,its dome the sky4 ,h4 ,w4 ,,longfellow4 ,the heavens are a point from the pen of ,his perfection2 ,the world is a rose-bud from the bower of ,his beauty2 ,the sun is a spark from the light of ,his wisdom2 ,and the sky a bubble on the sea of ,his power4 ,,sir ,w4 ,,jones4 ,page #c ,,recreations ,,in ,,astronomy4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i4 ,,creative ,,processes4 ,during all the ages there has been one bright and glittering page of loftiest wisdom unrolled before the eye of man4 ,that this page may be read in every part1 man's whole world turns him before it4 ,this motion apparently changes the eternally stable stars into a moving panorama1 but it is only so in appearance4 ,the sky is a vast1 immovable dial-plate of that clock whose pendulum ticks ages instead of seconds1 and whose time is eternity4 ,the moon moves among the illuminated figures1 traversing the dial quickly1 like a second-hand1 once a month4 ,the sun1 like a minute-hand1 goes over the dial once a year4 ,various planets stand for hour-hands1 moving over the dial in various periods reaching up to one hundred and sixty-four years2 while the earth1 like a ship of exploration1 sails the infinite azure1 bearing the observers to different points where they may investigate the infinite problems of this mighty machinery4 ,this dial not only shows present movements1 but it keeps the history of uncounted ages past ready to be ,page #d read backward in proper order2 and it has glorious volumes of prophecy1 revealing the far-off future to any man who is able to look thereon1 break the seals1 and read the record4 ,glowing stars are the alphabet of this lofty page4 ,they combine to form words4 ,meteors1 rainbows1 auroras1 shifting groups of stars1 make pictures vast and significant as the armies1 angels1 and falling stars in the ,revelation of ,st4 ,john--changing and progressive pictures of infinite wisdom and power4 ,men have not yet advanced as far as those who saw the pictures ,john describes1 and hence the panorama is not understood4 ,that continuous speech that day after day uttereth is not heard2 the knowledge that night after night showeth is not seen2 and the invisible things of ,god from the creation of the world1 even his eternal power and ,godhead1 clearly discoverable from things that are made1 are not apprehended4 ,the greatest triumphs of men's minds have been in astronomy--and ever must be4 ,we have not learned its alphabet yet4 ,we read only easy lessons1 with as many mistakes as happy guesses4 ,but in time we shall know all the letters1 become familiar with the combinations1 be apt at their interpretation1 and will read with facility the lessons of wisdom and power that are written on the earth1 blazoned in the skies1 and pictured by the flowers below and the rainbows above4 ,in order to know how worlds move and develop1 we must create them2 we must go back to their beginning1 give their endowment of forces1 and study the laws of their unfolding4 ,this we can easily do by that faculty wherein man is likest his ,father1 a creative imagination4 ,god creates and embodies2 we create1 but ,page #e it remains in thought only4 ,but the creation is as bright1 strong1 clear1 enduring1 and real1 as if it were embodied4 ,every one of us would make worlds enough to crush us1 if we could embody as well as create4 ,our ambition would outrun our wisdom4 ,let us come into the high and ecstatic frame of mind which ,shakspeare calls frenzy1 in the exigencies of his verse1 when ,the poet's eye1 in a fine frenzy rolling1 ,doth glance from heaven to earth1 from earth to heaven2 ,and1 as imagination bodies forth ,the forms of things unknown1 the poet's pen ,turns them to shapes1 and gives to airy nothing ,a local habitation and a name4 ,in the supremacy of our creative imagination let us make empty space1 in order that we may therein build up a new universe4 ,let us wave the wand of our power1 so that all created things disappear4 ,there is no world under our feet1 no radiant clouds1 no blazing sun1 no silver moon1 nor twinkling stars4 ,we look up1 there is no light2 down1 through immeasurable abysses1 there is no form2 all about1 and there is no sound or sign of being--nothing save utter silence1 utter darkness4 ,it cannot be endured4 ,creation is a necessity of mind--even of the ,divine mind4 ,we will now1 by imagination1 create a monster world1 every atom of which shall be dowered with the single power of attraction4 ,every particle shall reach out its friendly hand1 and there shall be a drawing together of every particle in existence4 ,the laws governing this attraction shall be two4 ,when these particles are associated together1 the attraction shall be in proportion to the mass4 ,a given mass will pull twice ,page #f as much as one of half the size1 because there is twice as much to pull4 ,and a given mass will be pulled twice as much as one half as large1 because there is twice as much to be pulled4 ,a man who weighed one hundred and fifty pounds on the earth might weigh a ton and a half on a body as large as the sun4 ,that shall be one law of attraction2 and the other shall be that masses attract inversely as the square of distances between them4 ,absence shall affect friendships that have a material basis4 ,if a body like the earth pulls a man one hundred and fifty pounds at the surface1 or four thousand miles from the centre1 it will pull the same man one-fourth as much at twice the distance1 one-sixteenth as much at four times the distance4 ,that is1 he will weigh by a spring balance thirty-seven and a half pounds at eight thousand miles from the centre1 and nine pounds six ounces at sixteen thousand miles from the centre1 and he will weigh or be pulled by the earth #a_/bd of a pound at the distance of the moon4 ,but the moon would be large enough and near enough to pull twenty-four pounds on the same man1 so the earth could not draw him away4 ,thus the two laws of attraction of gravitation are--#a1 ,gravity is proportioned to the quantity of matter2 and #b1 ,the force of gravity varies inversely as the square of the distance from the centre of the attracting body4 ,the original form of matter is gas4 ,almost as ,i write comes the announcement that ,mr4 ,lockyer has proved that all the so-called primary elements of matter are only so many different sized molecules of one original substance--hydrogen4 ,whether that is true or not1 let us now create all the hydrogen we can ,page #g imagine1 either in differently sized masses or in combination with other substances4 ,there it is6 ,we cannot measure its bulk2 we cannot fly around it in any recordable eons of time4 ,it has boundaries1 to be sure1 for we are finite1 but we cannot measure them4 ,let it alone1 now2 leave it to itself4 ,what follows8 ,it is dowered simply with attraction4 ,the vast mass begins to shrink1 the outer portions are drawn inward4 ,they rush and swirl in vast cyclones1 thousands of miles in extent4 ,the centre grows compact1 heat is evolved by impact1 as will be explained in ,chapter ,,ii4 ,dull red light begins to look like coming dawn4 ,centuries go by2 contraction goes on2 light blazes in insufferable brightness2 tornadoes1 whirlpools1 and tempests scarcely signify anything as applied to such tumultuous tossing4 ,there hangs the only world in existence2 it hangs in empty space4 ,it has no tendency to rise2 none to fall2 none to move at all in any direction4 ,it seethes and1 flames1 and holds itself together by attractive power1 and that is all the force with which we have endowed it4 ,leave it there alone1 and withdraw millions of miles into space3 it looks smaller and smaller4 ,we lose sight of those distinctive spires of flame1 those terrible movements4 ,it only gives an even effulgence1 a steady unflickering light4 ,turn one quarter round4 ,still we see our world1 but it is at one side4 ,now in front1 in the utter darkness1 suddenly create another world of the same size1 and at the same distance from you4 ,there they stand--two huge1 lone bodies1 in empty space4 ,but we created them dowered with attraction4 ,each instantly feels the drawing influence of the other4 ,they are mutually attractive1 and begin to ,page #h move toward each other4 ,they hasten along an undeviating straight line4 ,their speed quickens at every mile4 ,the attraction increases every moment4 ,they fly swift as thought4 ,they dash their flaming1 seething foreheads together4 ,and now we have one world again4 ,it is twice as large as before1 that is all the difference4 ,there is no variety1 neither any motion2 just simple flame1 and nothing to be warmed thereby4 ,are our creative powers exhausted by this effort8 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #a4--,orbit ,a ,d1 resulting from attraction1 ,a ,c1 and projectile force1 ,a ,b4 ,no1 we will create another world1 and add another power to it that shall keep them apart4 ,that power shall be what is called the force of inertia1 which is literally no power at all2 it is an inability to originate or change motion4 ,if a body is at rest1 inertia is that quality by which it will forever remain so1 unless acted upon by some force from without2 and if a body is in motion1 it will continue on at the same speed1 in a straight line1 forever1 unless it is quickened1 retarded1 or turned from its path by some other force4 ,suppose our newly created sun is #hfj1jjj miles in diameter4 ,go away #ib1ejj1jjj miles and create an earth eight thousand miles in diameter4 ,it instantly feels the attractive power of the sun drawing it to itself sixty-eight ,page #i miles a second4 ,now1 just as it starts1 give this earth a push in a line at right angles with line of fall to the sun1 that shall send it one hundred and eighty-nine miles a second4 ,it obeys both forces4 ,the result is that the world moves constantly forward at the same speed by its inertia from that first push1 and attraction momentarily draws it from its straight line1 so that the new world circles round the other to the starting-point4 ,continuing under the operation of both forces1 the worlds can never come together or fly apart4 ,they circle about each other as long as these forces endure2 for the first world does not stand still and the second do all the going2 both revolve around the centre of gravity common to both4 ,in case the worlds are equal in mass1 they will both take the same orbit around a central stationary point1 midway between the two4 ,in case their mass be as one to eighty-one1 as in the case of the earth and the moon1 the centre of gravity around which both turn will be #a_/ha of the distance from the earth's centre to the moon's centre4 ,this brings the central point around which both worlds swing just inside the surface of the earth4 ,it is like an apple attached by a string1 and swung around the hand2 the hand moves a little1 the apple very much4 ,thus the problem of two revolving bodies is readily comprehended4 ,the two bodies lie in easy beds1 and swing obedient to constant forces4 ,when another body1 however1 is introduced1 with its varying attraction1 first on one and then on the other1 complications are introduced that only the most masterly minds can follow4 ,introduce a dozen or a million bodies1 and complications arise that only ,omniscience can unravel4 ,page #aj ,illustration3 ,fig4 #b4 ,let the hand swing an apple by an elastic cord4 ,when the apple falls toward the earth it feels another force besides that derived from the hand1 which greatly lengthens the elastic cord4 ,to tear it away from the earth's attraction1 and make it rise1 requires additional force1 and hence the string is lengthened2 but when it passes over the hand the earth attracts it downward1 and the string is very much shortened3 so the moon1 held by an elastic cord1 swings around the earth4 ,from its extreme distance from the earth1 at ,a1 ,fig4 #b1 it rushes with increasing speed nearly a quarter of a million of miles toward the sun1 feeling its attraction increase with every mile until it reaches ,b2 then it is retarded in its speed1 by the same attraction1 as it climbs back its quarter of a million of miles away from the sun1 in defiance of its power1 to ,c4 ,all the while the invisible elastic force of the earth is unweariedly maintained2 and though the moon's distances vary over a range of #ca1cee miles1 the moon is always in a determinable place4 ,a simple revolution of one world about another in a circular orbit would be a problem of easy solution4 ,it would always be at the same distance from its centre1 and going with the same velocity4 ,but there are over sixty causes that interfere with such a simple orbit in the case of the moon1 all of which causes and their disturbances must be considered in calculating such a simple matter as an eclipse1 or predicting the moon's place as the sailors guide4 ,one of the most puzzling of the irregularities ,page #aa of our night-wandering orb has just been explained by ,professor ,hansen1 of ,gotha1 as a curious result of the attraction of ,venus4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #c4--;,changes of orbit by mutual attraction4 ,take a single instance of the perturbations of ,jupiter and ,saturn which can be rendered evident4 ,the times of orbital revolution of ,saturn and ,jupiter are nearly as five to two4 ,suppose the orbits of the planets to be1 as in ,fig4 #c1 both ellipses1 but not necessarily equally distant in all parts4 ,the planets are as near as possible at #a1 #a4 ,drawn toward each other by mutual attraction1 ,jupiter's orbit bends outward1 and ,saturn's becomes more nearly straight1 as shown by the dotted lines4 ,a partial correction of this difficulty immediately follows4 ,as ,jupiter moves on ahead of ,saturn it is held back--retarded in its orbit by that body2 and ,saturn is hastened in its orbit by the attraction of ,jupiter4 ,now greater speed means a straighter orbit4 ,a rifle-ball flies nearer in a straight line than a thrown stone4 ,a greater velocity given to a whirled ball pulls the elastic cord far enough to give the ball a larger orbit4 ,hence1 being hastened1 ,saturn stretches out nearer its proper orbit1 and1 retarded1 ,jupiter approaches the smaller curve that is its true orbit4 ,but if they were always to meet at this point1 as they would if ,jupiter made two revolutions to ,saturn's one1 it would be disastrous4 ,in reality1 when ,saturn has gone around two-thirds of its orbit to #b1 ,jupiter will have gone once and two-thirds around and overtaken ,page #ab ,saturn2 and they will be near again1 be drawn together1 hastened1 and retarded1 as before2 their next conjunction would be at #c1 #c1 etc4 ,now1 if they always made their conjunction at points equally distant1 or at thirds of their orbits1 it would cause a series of increasing deviations2 for ,jupiter would be constantly swelling his orbit at three points1 and ,saturn increasingly contracting his orbit at the same points4 ,disaster would be easily foretold4 ,but as their times of orbital revolutions are not exactly in the ratio of five and two1 their points of conjunction slowly travel around the orbit1 till1 in a period of nine hundred years1 the starting-point is again reached1 and the perturbations have mutually corrected one another4 ,for example1 the total attractive effect of one planet on the other for #dej years is to quicken its speed4 ,the effect for the next #dej years is to retard4 ,the place of ,saturn1 when all the retardations have accumulated for #dej years1 is one degree behind what it is computed if they are not considered2 and #dej years later it will be one degree before its computed place--a perturbation of two degrees4 ,when a bullet is a little heavier or ragged on one side1 it will constantly swerve in that direction4 ,the spiral groove in the rifle1 of one turn in forty-five feet1 turns the disturbing weight or raggedness from side to side--makes one error correct another1 and so the ball flies straight to the bull's-eye4 ,so the place of ,jupiter and ,saturn1 though further complicated by four moons in the case of ,jupiter1 and eight in the case of ,saturn1 and also by perturbations caused by other planets1 can be calculated with exceeding nicety4 ,the difficulties would be greatly increased if the orbits ,page #ac of ,saturn and ,jupiter1 instead of being #djj1jjj1jjj miles apart1 were interlaced4 ,yet there are the orbits of one hundred and ninety-two asteroids so interlaced that1 if they were made of wire1 no one could be lifted without raising the whole net-work of them4 ,nevertheless1 all these swift chariots of the sky race along the course of their intermingling tracks as securely as if they were each guided by an intelligent mind4 ,they are guided by an intelligent mind and an almighty arm4 ,still more complicated is the question of the mutual attractions of all the planets4 ,lagrange has been able to show1 by a mathematical genius that seems little short of omniscience in his single department of knowledge1 that there is a discovered system of oscillations1 affecting the entire planetary system1 the periods of which are immensely long4 ,the number of these oscillations is equal to that of all the planets1 and their periods range from #ej1jjj to #b1jjj1jjj years1 ,looking into the open page of the starry heavens we see double stars1 the constituent parts of which must revolve around a centre common to them both1 or rush to a common ruin4 ,eagerly we look to see if they revolve1 and beholding them in the very act1 we conclude1 not groundlessly1 that the same great law of gravitation holds good in distant stellar spaces1 and that there the same sufficient mind plans1 and the same sufficient power directs and controls all movements in harmony and security4 ,when we come to the perturbations caused by the mutual attractions of the sun1 nine planets1 twenty moons1 one hundred and ninety-two asteroids1 millions ,page #ad of comets1 and innumerable meteoric bodies swarming in space1 and when we add to all these1 that belong to one solar system1 the attractions of all the systems of the other suns that sparkle on a brilliant winter night1 we are compelled to say1 ,as high as the heavens are above the earth1 so high above our thoughts and ways must be the thoughts and ways of ,him who comprehends and directs them all4 ,page #ae ,,ii4 ,,creative ,,progress4 ,and ,god said1 ,let there be light1 and there was light4--,genesis i41 #c4 ,god is light4--#a ,john1 i4 #e4 ,page #af ,hail6 holy light1 offspring of ,heaven first born1 ,or of the eternal1 co-eternal beam1 ,may ,i express thee unblamed8 since ,god is light1 ,and never but in unapproached light ,dwelt from eternity1 dwelt then in thee1 ,bright effluence of bright essence increate4 ,,milton4 ,a million torches lighted by ,thy hand ,wander unwearied through the blue abyss3 ,they own ,thy power1 accomplish ,thy command1 ,all gay with life1 all eloquent with bliss4 ,what shall we call them8 ,piles of crystal light-- ,a glorious company of golden streams-- ,lamps of celestial ether burning bright-- ,suns lighting systems with their joyous beams8 ,but ',thou to these art as the noon to night4 ,,derzhavin1 trans4 by ,,bowring4 ,page #ag ,,ii4 ,,creative ,,progress4 ,worlds would be very imperfect and useless when simply endowed with attraction and inertia1 if no time were allowed for these forces to work out their legitimate results4 ,we want something more than swirling seas of attracted gases1 something more than compacted rocks4 ,we look for soil1 verdure1 a paradise of beauty1 animal life1 and immortal minds4 ,let us go on with the process4 ,light is the child of force1 and the child1 like its father1 is full of power4 ,we dowered our created world with but a single quality--a force of attraction4 ,it not only had attraction for its own material substance1 but sent out an all-pervasive attraction into space4 ,by the force of condensation it flamed like a sun1 and not only lighted its own substance1 but it filled all space with the luminous outgoings of its power4 ,a world may be limited1 but its influence cannot2 its body may have bounds1 but its soul is infinite4 ,everywhere is its manifestation as real1 power as effective1 presence as actual1 as at the central point4 ,he that studies ponderable bodies alone is not studying the universe1 only its skeleton4 ,skeletons are somewhat interesting in themselves1 but far more so when covered with flesh1 flushed with beauty1 and inspired with soul4 ,the universe ,page #ah has bones1 flesh1 beauty1 soul1 and all is one4 ,it can be understood only by a study of all its parts1 and by tracing effect to cause4 ,but how can condensation cause light8 ,power cannot be quiet4 ,the mighty locomotive trembles with its own energy4 ,a smitten piece of iron has all its infinitesimal atoms set in vehement commotion2 they surge back and forth among themselves1 like the waves of a storm-blown lake4 ,heat is a mode of motion4 ,a heated body commences a vigorous vibration among its particles1 and communicates these vibrations to the surrounding air and ether4 ,when these vibrations reach #cif1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj per second1 the human eye1 fitted to be affected by that number1 discerns the emitted undulations1 and the object seems to glow with a dull red light2 becoming hotter1 the vibrations increase in rapidity4 ,when they reach #gfe1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj per second the color becomes violet1 and the eye can observe them no farther4 ,between these numbers are those of different rapidities1 which affect the eye--as orange1 yellow1 green1 blue1 indigo1 in an almost infinite number of shades--according to the sensitiveness of the eye4 ,we now see how our dark immensity of attractive atoms can become luminous4 ,a force of compression results in vibrations within1 communicated to the ether1 discerned by the eye4 ,illustrations are numerous4 ,if we suddenly push a piston into a cylinder of brass1 the force produces heat enough to set fire to an inflammable substance within4 ,strike a half-inch cube of iron a moderate blow and it becomes warm2 a sufficient blow1 and its vibrations become quick enough to be seen--it is red-hot4 ,attach a thermometer to an extended ,page #ai arm of a whirling wheel2 drive it against the air five hundred feet per second1 the mercury rises #af4 ,the earth goes #ih1jjj feet per second1 or one thousand miles a minute4 ,if it come to an aerolite or mass of metallic rock1 or even a cloudlet of gas1 standing still in space1 its contact with our air evolves #fjj1jjj of heat4 ,and when the meteor comes toward the world twenty-six miles a second1 the heat would become proportionally greater if the meteor could abide it1 and not be consumed in fervent heat4 ,it vanishes almost as soon as seen4 ,if there were meteoric masses enough lying in our path1 our sky would blaze with myriads of flashes of light4 ,enough have been seen to enable a person to read by them at night4 ,if a sufficient number were present1 we should miss their individual flashes as they blend their separate fires in one sea of insufferable glory4 ,the sun is #a1cjj1jjj times as large as our planet2 its attraction proportionally greater2 the aerolites more numerous2 and hence an infinite hail of stones1 small masses and little worlds1 makes ceaseless trails of light1 whose individuality is lost in one dazzling sea of glory4 ,on the #ast day of ,september1 #ahei1 two astronomers1 independently of each other1 saw a sudden brightening on the surface of the sun4 ,probably two large meteoric masses were travelling side by side at two or three hundred miles per second1 and striking the sun's atmosphere1 suddenly blazed into light bright enough to be seen on the intolerable light of the photosphere as a background4 ,the earth responded to this new cause of brilliance and heat in the sun4 ,vivid auroras appeared1 not only at the north and south poles1 but even where such spectacles are seldom seen4 ,the electro-magnetic ,page #bj disturbances were more distinctly marked4 ,in many places the telegraphic wires struck work4 ,in ,washington and ,philadelphia the electric signalmen received severe electric shocks2 at a station in ,norway the telegraphic apparatus was set fire to2 and at ,boston a flame of fire followed the pen of ,bain's electric telegraph4 ,there is the best of reason for believing that a continuous succession of such bodies might have gone far toward rendering the earth uncomfortable as a place of residence4 ,of course1 the same result of heat and light would follow from compression1 if a body had the power of contraction in itself4 ,we endowed every particle of our gas1 myriads of miles in extent1 with an attraction for every other particle4 ,it immediately compressed itself into a light-giving body1 which flamed out through the interstellar spaces1 flushing all the celestial regions with exuberant light4 ,but heat exerts a repellent force among particles1 and soon an equilibrium is reached1 for there comes a time when the contracting body can contract no farther4 ,but heat and light radiate away into cold space1 then contraction goes on evolving more light1 and so the suns flame on through the millions of years unquenched4 ,it is estimated that the contraction of our sun1 from filling immensity of space to its present size1 could not afford heat enough to last more than #ah1jjj1jjj years1 and that its contraction from its present density 7that of a swamp7 to such rock as that of which our earth is composed1 could supply heat enough for #ag1jjj1jjj years longer4 ,but the far-seeing mind of man knows a time must come when the present force of attraction ,page #ba shall have produced all the heat it can1 and a new force of attraction must be added1 or the sun itself will become cold as a cinder1 dead as a burned-out char4 ,since light and heat are the product of such enormous cosmic forces1 they must partake of their nature1 and be force4 ,so they are4 ,the sun has long arms1 and they are full of unconquerable strength ninety-two millions1 or any other number of millions1 of miles away4 ,all this light and heat comes through space that is #bjj below zero1 through utter darkness1 and appears only on the earth4 ,so the gas is darkness in the underground pipes1 but light at the burner4 ,so the electric power is unfelt by the cable in the bosom of the deep1 but is expressive of thought and feeling at the end4 ,having found the cause of light1 we will commence a study of its qualities and powers4 ,light is the astronomer's necessity4 ,when the sublime word was uttered1 ,let there be light6 the study of astronomy was made possible4 ,man can gather but little of it with his eye2 so he takes a lens twenty-six inches in diameter1 and bends all the light that passes through it to a focus1 then magnifies the image and takes it into his eye4 ,or he takes a mirror1 six feet in diameter1 so hollowed in the middle as to reflect all the rays falling upon it to one point1 and makes this larger eye fill his own with light4 ,by this larger light-gathering he discerns things for which the light falling on his pupil one-fifth of an inch in diameter would not be sufficient4 ,we never have seen any sun or stars2 we have only seen the light that left them fifty minutes or years ago1 more or less4 ,light is the arial sprite that carries our measuring-rods across the infinite ,page #bb spaces2 light spreads out the history of that far-off beginning2 brings us the measure of stars a thousand times brighter than our sun2 takes up into itself evidences of the very constitutional elements of the far-off suns1 and spreads them at our feet4 ,it is of such capacity that the ,divine nature1 looking for an expression of its own omnipotence1 omniscience1 and power of revelation1 was content to say1 ,god is ,light4 ,we shall need all our delicacy of analysis and measurement when we seek to determine the activities of matter so fine and near to spirit as light4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #d4--,velocity of ,light measured by ,eclipses of ,jupiter's ,moons4 ,we first seek the velocity of light4 ,in ,fig4 #d the earth is #ib1ejj1jjj miles from the sun at ,e2 ,jupiter is #dhj1jjj1jjj miles from the sun at ,j4 ,it has four moons3 the inner one goes around the central body in forty-two hours1 and is eclipsed at every revolution4 ,the light that went out from the sun to ,m ceases to be reflected back to the earth by the intervention of the planet ,jupiter4 ,we know to a second when these eclipses take place1 and they can be seen with a small telescope4 ,but when the earth is on the opposite side of the sun ,page #bc from ,jupiter1 at ,e'1 these eclipses at ,j' take place sixteen and a half minutes too late4 ,what is the reason8 ,is the celestial chronometry getting deranged8 ,no1 indeed2 these great worlds swing never an inch out of place1 nor a second out of time4 ,by going to the other side of the sun the earth is #ahd1jjj1jjj miles farther from ,jupiter1 and the light that brings the intelligence of that eclipse consumes the extra time in going over the extra distance4 ,divide one by the other and we get the velocity1 #ahe1jjj miles per second4 ,that is probably correct to within a thousand miles4 ,methods of measurement by the toothed wheel of ,fizeau confirm this result4 ,suppose the wheel1 ,fig4 #e1 to have one thousand teeth1 making five revolutions to the second4 ,five thousand flashes of light each second will dart out4 ,let each flash travel nine miles to a mirror and return4 ,if it goes that distance in #a_/ajjjj of a second1 or at the rate of #ahj1jjj miles a second1 the next tooth will have arrived before the eye1 and each returning ray be cut off4 ,hasten the revolutions a little1 and the next notch will then admit the ray1 on its return1 that went out of each previous notch3 the eighteen miles having been traversed meanwhile4 ,the method of measuring by means of a revolving mirror1 used by ,faucault1 is held to be even more accurate4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #e4--,measuring the ,velocity of ,light4 ,when we take instantaneous photographs by the exposure ,page #bd of the sensitive plate #a_/bjjjj part of a second1 a stream of light nine miles long dashes in upon the plate in that very brief period of time4 ,the highest velocity we can give a rifle-ball is #bjjj feet a second1 the next second it is only #aejj feet1 and soon it comes to rest4 ,we cannot compact force enough behind a bit of lead to keep it flying4 ,but light flies unweariedly and without diminution of speed4 ,when it has come from the sun in eight minutes1 ,alpha ,centauri in three years1 ,polaris in forty-five years1 other stars in one thousand1 its wings are in nowise fatigued1 nor is the rapidity of its flight slackened in the least4 ,it is not the transactions of to-day that we read in the heavens1 but it is history1 some of it older than the time of ,adam4 ,those stars may have been smitten out of existence decades of centuries ago1 but their poured-out light is yet flooding the heavens4 ,it goes both ways at once in the same place1 without interference4 ,we see the light reflected from the new moon to the earth2 reflected back from the house-tops1 fields1 and waters of earth1 to the moon again1 and from the moon to us once more--three times in opposite directions1 in the same place1 without interference1 and thus we see the old moon in the arms of the new4 ,constitution of ,light4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #f4--,white ,light resolved into ,colors4 ,light was once supposed to be corpuscular1 or consisting of transmitted particles4 ,it is now known to be the result of undulations in ether4 ,reference has been made to the minuteness of these undulations4 ,their velocity is equally wonderful4 ,put a prism of glass into a ray of light coming into a dark room1 and it is ,page #be instantly turned out of its course1 some parts more and some less1 according to the number of vibrations1 and appears as the seven colors on different parts of the screen4 ,fig4 #f shows the arrangement of colors1 and the number of millions of millions of vibrations per second of each4 ,but the different divisions we call colors are not colors in themselves at all1 but simply a different number of vibrations4 ,color is all in the eye4 ,violet has in different places from #gaf to #gfe1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj of vibrations per second2 red has1 in different places1 from #cif to #dgj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj vibrations per second4 ,none of these in any sense are color1 but affect the eye differently1 and we call these different effects color4 ,they are simply various velocities of vibration4 ,an object1 like one kind of stripe in our flag1 which absorbs all kinds of vibrations except those between #cif and #dgj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1 and reflects those1 appears red to us4 ,the field for the stars absorbs and destroys all but those vibrations numbering about #fec1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj of ,page #be vibrations per second4 ,a color is a constant creation4 ,light makes momentary color in the flag4 ,drake might have written1 in the continuous present as well as in the past1 ,freedom mingles with its gorgeous dyes ,the milky baldrick of the skies1 ,and stripes its pore celestial white ,with streakings of the morning light4 ,every little pansy1 tender as fancy1 pearled with evanescent dew1 fresh as a new creation of sunbeams1 has power to suppress in one part of its petals all vibrations we call red1 in another those we call yellow1 and purple1 and reflect each of these in other parts of the same tender petal4 ,pansies are for thoughts1 even more thoughts than poor ,ophelia knew4 ,an evening cloud that is dense enough to absorb all the faster and weaker vibrations1 leaving only the stronger to come through1 will be said to be red2 because the vibrations that produce the impression we have so named are the only ones that have vigor enough to get through4 ,it is like an army charging upon a fortress4 ,under the deadly fire and fearful obstructions six-sevenths go down1 but one-seventh comes through with the glory of victory upon its face4 ,light comes in undulations to the eye1 as tones of sound to the ear4 ,must not light also sing8 ,the lowest tone we can hear is made by #af4e vibrations of air per second2 the highest1 so shrill and fine that nothing lives 'twixt it and silence1 is made by #ch1jjj vibrations per second4 ,between these extremes lie eleven octaves2 ,c of the ,g clef having #beh-g_/h vibrations to the second1 and its octave above #eag-a_/b4 ,not that sound vibrations cease ,page #bg at #ch1jjj1 but our organs are not fitted to hear beyond those limitations4 ,if our ears were delicate enough1 we could hear even up to the almost infinite vibrations of light4 ,in one of those semi-inspirations we find in ,shakspeare's works1 he says-- ,there's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest1 ,but in his motion like an angel sings1 ,still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim4 ,such harmony is in immortal souls2 ,but1 whilst this muddy vesture of decay ,doth grossly close it in1 we cannot hear it4 ,and that older poetry which is always highest truth says1 ,the morning stars sing together4 ,we misconstrued another passage which we could not understand1 and did not dare translate as it was written1 till science crept up to a perception of the truth that had been standing there for ages1 waiting a mind that could take it in4 ,now we read as it is written--,thou makest the out-goings of the morning and evening to sing4 ,were our senses fine enough1 we could hear the separate keynote of every individual star4 ,stars differ in glory and in power1 and so in the volume and pitch of their song4 ,were our hearing sensitive enough1 we could hear not only the separate key-notes but the infinite swelling harmony of these myriad stars of the sky1 as they pour their mighty tide of united anthems in the ear of ,god3 ,in reason's ear they all rejoice1 ,and utter forth a glorious voice4 ,forever singing1 as they shine1 ,the hand that made us is divine4 ,this music is not monotonous4 ,stars draw near each other1 and make a light that is unapproachable by mortals2 ,page #bh then the music swells beyond our ability to endure4 ,they recede far away1 making a light so dim that the music dies away1 so near to silence that only spirits can perceive it4 ,no wonder ,god rejoices in his works4 ,they pour into his ear one ceaseless tide of rapturous song4 ,our senses are limited--we have only five1 but there is room for many more4 ,some time we shall be taken out of this muddy vesture of decay1 no longer see the universe through crevices of our prison-house1 but shall range through wider fields1 explore deeper mysteries1 and discover new worlds1 hints of which have never yet been blown across the wide ,atlantic that rolls between them and men abiding in the flesh4 ,chemistry of ,suns revealed by ,light4 ,when we examine the assemblage of colors spread from the white ray of sunlight1 we do not find red simple red1 yellow yellow1 etc41 but there is a vast number of fine microscopic lines of various lengths1 parallel--here near together1 there far apart1 always the same number and the same relative distance1 when the same light and prism are used4 ,what new alphabets to new realms of knowledge are these6 ,remember1 that what we call colors are only various numbers of vibrations of ether4 ,remember1 that every little group in the infinite variety of these vibrations may be affected differently from every other group4 ,one number of these is bent by the prism to where we see what we call the violet1 another number to the place we call red4 ,all of the vibrations are destroyed when they strike a surface we call black4 ,a part of them are destroyed when ,page #bi they strike a substance we call colored4 ,the rest are reflected1 and give the impression of color4 ,in one place on the flag of our nation all vibrations are destroyed except the red2 in another1 all but the blue4 ,perhaps on that other gorgeous flag1 not of our country but of our sun1 the flag we call the solar spectrum1 all vibrations are destroyed where these dark lines appear4 ,perhaps this effect is not produced by the surface upon which the rays fall1 but by some specific substance in the sun4 ,this is just the truth4 ,light passing through vapor of sodium has the vibrations that would fall on two narrow lines in the yellow utterly destroyed1 leaving two black spaces4 ,light passing through vapor of burning iron has some four hundred numbers or kinds of vibrations destroyed1 leaving that number of black lines2 but if the salt or iron be glowing gas1 in the source of the light itself the same lines are bright instead of dark4 ,thus we have brought to our doors a readable record of the very substances composing every world hot enough to shine by its own light4 ,thus1 while our flag means all we have of liberty1 free as the winds that kiss it1 and bright as the stars that shine in it1 the flag of the sun means all that it is in constituent elements1 all that it is in condition4 ,we find in our sun many substances known to exist in the earth1 and some that we had not discovered when the sun wrote their names1 or rather made their mark1 in the spectrum4 ,thus1 also1 we find that ,betelguese and ,algol are without any perceivable indications of hydrogen1 and ,sirius has it in abundance4 ,what a sense of acquaintanceship it gives us to look up and recognize ,page #cj the stars whose very substance we know6 ,if we were transported thither1 or beyond1 we should not be altogether strangers in an unknown realm4 ,but the stars differ in their constituent elements2 every ray that flashes from them bears in its very being proofs of what they are4 ,hence the eye of ,omniscience1 seeing a ray of light anywhere in the universe1 though gone from its source a thousand years1 would be able to tell from what orb it originally came4 ,creative ,force of ,light4 ,just above the color vibrations of the unbraided sunbeam1 above the violet1 which is the highest number our eyes can detect1 is a chemical force2 it works the changes on the glass plate in photography2 it transfigures the dark1 cold soil into woody fibre1 green leaf1 downy rose petals1 luscious fruit1 and far pervasive odor2 it flushes the wide acres of the prairie with grass and flowers1 fills the valleys with trees1 and covers the hills with corn1 a single blade of which all the power of man could not make4 ,this power is also fit and able to survive4 ,the engineer ,stephenson once asked ,dr4 ,buckland1 ,what is the power that drives that train8 pointing to one thundering by4 ,well1 ,i suppose it is one of your big engines4 ,but what drives the engine8 ,oh1 very likely a canny ,newcastle driver4 ,no1 sir1 said the engineer1 it is sunshine4 ,the doctor was too dull to take it in4 ,let us see if we can trace such an evident effect to that distant cause4 ,ages ago the warm sunshine1 falling on the scarcely lifted hills of ,pennsylvania1 caused the reedy vegetation to grow along the banks of ,page #ca shallow seas1 accumulated vast amounts of this vegetation1 sunk it beneath the sea1 roofed it over with sand1 compacted the sand into rock1 and changed this vegetable matter--the products of the sunshine--into coal2 and when it was ready1 lifted it once more1 all garnered for the use of men1 roofed over with mighty mountains4 ,we mine the coal1 bring out the heat1 raise the steam1 drive the train1 so that in the ultimate analyses it is sunshine that drives the train4 ,these great beds of coal are nothing but condensed sunshine--the sun's great force1 through ages gone1 preserved for our use to-day4 ,and it is so full of force that a piece of coal that will weigh three pounds 7as big as a large pair of fists7 has as much power in it as the average man puts into a day's work4 ,three tons of coal will pump as much water or shovel as much sand as the average man will pump or shovel in a lifetime2 so that if a man proposes to do nothing but work with his muscles1 he had better dig three tons of coal and set that to do his work and then die1 because his work will be better done1 and without any cost for the maintenance of the doer4 ,come down below the color vibrations1 and we shall find that those which are too infrequent to be visible1 manifest as heat4 ,naturally there will be as many different kinds of heat as tints of color1 because there is as great a range of numbers of vibration4 ,it is our privilege to sift them apart and sort them over1 and find what kinds are best adapted to our various uses4 ,take an electric lamp1 giving a strong beam of light and heat1 and with a plano-convex lens gather it into a single beam and direct it upon a thermometer1 twenty feet away1 that is made of glass and filled with air4 ,the ,page #cb expansion or contraction of this air will indicate the varying amounts of heat4 ,watch your air-thermometer1 on which the beam of heat is pouring1 for the result4 ,there is none4 ,and yet there is a strong current of heat there4 ,put another kind of test of heat beyond it and it appears2 coat the air-thermometer with a bit of black cloth1 and that will absorb heat and reveal it4 ,but why not at first8 ,because the glass lens stops all the heat that can affect glass4 ,the twenty feet of air absorbs all the heat that affects air1 and no kind of heat is left to affect an instrument made of glass and air2 but there are kinds of heat enough to affect instruments made of other things4 ,a very strong current of heat may be sent right through the heart of a block of ice without melting the ice at all or cooling off the heat in the least4 ,it is done in this way3 ,send the beam of heat through water in a glass trough1 and this absorbs all the heat that can affect water or ice1 getting itself hot1 and leaving all other kinds of heat to go through the ice beyond2 and appropriate tests show that as much heat comes out on the other side as goes in on this side1 and it does not melt the ice at all4 ,gunpowder may be exploded by heat sent through ice4 ,dr4 ,kane1 years ago1 made this experiment4 ,he was coming down from the north1 and fell in with some ,esquimaux1 whom he was anxious to conciliate4 ,he said to the old wizard of the tribe1 ,i am a wizard2 ,i can bring the sun down out of the heavens with a piece of ice4 ,that was a good1 deal to say in a country where there was so little sun4 ,so1 he writes1 ,i took my hatchet1 chipped a small piece of ice into the form of a double-convex lens1 ,page #cc smoothed it with my warm hands1 held it up to the sun1 and1 as the old man was blind1 ,i kindly burned a blister on the back of his hand to show him ,i could do it4 ,these are simple illustrations of the various kinds of heat4 ,the best furnace or stove ever invented consumes fifteen times as much fuel to produce a given amount of heat as the furnace in our bodies consumes to produce a similar amount4 ,we lay in our supplies of carbon at the breakfast1 dinner1 and supper table1 and keep ourselves warm by economically burning it with the oxygen we breathe4 ,heat associated with light has very different qualities from that which is not4 ,sunlight melts ice in the middle1 bottom1 and top at once4 ,ice in the spring-time is honey-combed throughout4 ,a piece of ice set in the summer sunshine crumbles into separate crystals4 ,dark heat only melts the surface4 ,nearly all the heat of the sun passes through glass without hinderance2 but take heat from white-hot platinum and only seventy-six per cent4 of it goes through glass1 twenty-four per cent4 being so constituted that it cannot pass with facility4 ,of heat from copper at #geb only six per cent4 can go through glass1 the other ninety-four per cent4 being absorbed by it4 ,the heat of the sun beam goes through glass without ,page #cd any hinderance whatever4 ,it streams into the room as freely as if there were no glass there4 ,but what if the furnace or stove heat went through glass with equal facility8 ,we might as well try to heat our rooms with the window-panes all out1 and the blast of winter sweeping through them4 ,the heat of the sun1 by its intense vibrations1 comes to the earth dowered with a power which pierces the miles of our atmosphere1 but if our air were as pervious to the heat of the earth1 this heat would flyaway every night1 and our temperature would go down to #bjj below zero4 ,this heat comes with the light1 and then1 dissociated from it1 the number of its vibrations lessened1 it is robbed of its power to get away1 and remains to work its beneficent ends for our good4 ,worlds that are so distant as to receive only #a_/ajjj of the heat we enjoy1 may have atmospheres that retain it all4 ,indeed it is probable that ,mars1 that receives but one-quarter as much heat as the earth1 has a temperature as high as ours4 ,the poet drew on his imagination when he wrote3 ,who there inhabit must have other powers1 ,juices1 and veins1 and sense and life than ours2 ,one moment's cold like theirs would pierce the bone1 ,freeze the heart's-blood1 and turn us all to stone4 ,the power that journeys along the celestial spaces in the flashing sunshine is beyond our comprehension4 ,it accomplishes with ease what man strives in vain to do with all his strength4 ,at ,west ,point there are some links of a chain that was stretched across the river to prevent ,british ships from ascending2 these links were made of two-and-a-quarter-inch iron4 ,a powerful locomotive might tug in vain at one of them and not stretch it the thousandth part of an inch4 ,but the heat of a single gas-burner1 that glows with the preserved sunlight of other ages1 when suitably applied to the link1 stretches it with ease2 such enormous power has a little heat4 ,there is a certain iron bridge across the ,thames at ,london1 resting on arches4 ,the warm sunshine1 acting ,page #ce upon the iron1 stations its particles farther and farther apart4 ,since the bottom cannot give way the arches must rise in the middle4 ,as they become longer they lift the whole bridge1 and all the thundering locomotives and miles of goods-trains cannot bring that bridge down again until the power of the sunshine has been withdrawn4 ,there is ,bunker ,hill ,monument1 thirty-two feet square at the base1 with an elevation of two hundred and twenty feet4 ,the sunshine of every summer's day takes hold of that mighty pile of granite with its arial fingers1 lengthens the side affected1 and bends the whole great mass as easily as one would bend a whipstock4 ,a few years ago we hung a plummet from the top of this monument to the bottom4 ,at #i ,a4,m4 it began to move toward the west2 at noon it swung round toward the north2 in the afternoon it went east of where it first was1 and in the night it settled back to its original place4 ,the sunshine says to the sea1 held in the grasp of gravitation1 ,rise from your bed6 ,let millions of tons of water fly on the wings of the viewless air1 hundreds of miles to the distant mountains1 and pour there those millions of tons that shall refresh a whole continent1 and shall gather in rivers fitted to bear the commerce and the navies of nations4 ,gravitation says1 ,i will hold every particle of this ocean as near the centre of the earth as ,i can4 ,sunshine speaks with its word of power1 and says1 ,up and away6 ,and in the wreathing mists of morning these myriads of tons rise in the air1 flyaway hundreds of miles1 and supply all the ,niagaras1 ,mississippis and ,amazons of earth4 ,the sun says to the earth1 wrapped in the mantle of winter1 ,page #cf ,bloom again2 and the snows melt1 the ice retires1 and vegetation breaks forth1 birds sing1 and spring is about us4 ,thus it is evident that every force is constitutionally arranged to be overcome by a higher1 and all by the highest4 ,gravitation of earth naturally and legitimately yields to the power of the sun's heat1 and then the waters fly into the clouds4 ,it as naturally and legitimately yields to the power of mind1 and the waters of the ,red ,sea are divided and stand upright as an heap4 ,water naturally bursts into flame when a bit of potassium is thrown into it1 and as naturally when ,elijah calls the right kind of fire from above4 ,what seems a miracle1 and in contravention of law1 is only the constitutional exercise of higher force over forces organized to be swayed4 ,if law were perfectly rigid1 there could be but one force2 but many grades exist from cohesion to mind and spirit4 ,the highest forces are meant to have victory1 and thus give the highest order and perfectness4 ,across the astronomic spaces reach all these powers1 making creation a perpetual process rather than a single act4 ,it almost seems as if light1 in its varied capacities1 were the embodiment of ,god's creative power2 as if1 having said1 ,let there be light1 he need do nothing else1 but allow it to carry forward the creative processes to the end of time4 ,it was ,newton1 one of the earliest and most acute investigators in this study of light1 who said1 ,i seem to have wandered on the shore of ,truth's great ocean1 and to have gathered a few pebbles more beautiful than common2 but the vast ocean itself rolls before me undiscovered and unexplored4 ,page #cg ,,experiments ,,with ,,light4 ,a light set in a room is seen from every place2 hence light streams in every possible direction4 ,if put in the centre of a hollow sphere1 every point of the surface will be equally illumined4 ,if put in a sphere of twice the diameter1 the same light will fall on all the larger surface4 ,the surfaces of spheres are as the squares of their diameters2 hence1 in the larger sphere the surface is illumined only one-quarter as much as the smaller4 ,the same is true of large and small rooms4 ,in ,fig4 #g it is apparent that the light that falls on the first square is spread1 at twice the distance1 over the second square1 which is four times as large1 and at three times the distance over nine times the surface4 ,the varying amount of light received by each planet is also shown in fractions above each world1 the amount received by the earth being #a4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #g4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #h4--,measuring ,intensities of ,light4 ,the intensity of light is easily measured4 ,let two lights of different brightness1 as in ,fig4 #h1 cast shadows on the same screen4 ,arrange them as to distance so that both shadows shall be equally dark4 ,let them fall side by side1 and study them carefully4 ,measure the respective distances4 ,suppose one is twenty inches1 the other forty4 ,light varies as the square ,page #ch of the distance3 the square of #bj is #djj1 of #dj is #afjj4 ,divide #afjj by #djj1 and the result is that one light is four times as bright as the other4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #i4--,reflection and ,diffusion of ,light4 ,light can be handled1 directed1 and bent1 as well as iron bars4 ,darken a room and admit a beam of sunlight through a shutter1 or a ray of lamp-light through the key-hole4 ,if there is dust in the room it will be observed that light goes in straight lines4 ,because of this men are able to arrange houses and trees in rows1 the hunter aims his rifle correctly1 and the astronomer projects straight lines to infinity4 ,take a hand-mirror1 or better1 a piece of glass coated on one side with black varnish1 and you can send your ray anywhere4 ,by using two mirrors1 or having an assistant and using several1 you can cause a ray of light to turn as many corners as you please4 ,i once saw ,mr4 ,tyndall send a ray into a glass jar filled with smoke 7,fig4 #i74 ,admitting a slender ray through a small hole in a card over the mouth1 one ray appeared2 removing the cover1 the whole jar was luminous2 as the smoke disappeared in spots cavities of darkness appeared4 ,turn the same ray into a tumbler of water1 ,page #ci it becomes faintly visible2 stir into it a teaspoonful of milk1 then turn in the ray of sunlight1 and it glows like a lamp1 illuminating the whole room4 ,these experiments show how the straight rays of the sun are diffused in every direction over the earth4 ,set a small light near one edge of a mirror2 then1 by putting the eye near the opposite edge1 you see almost as many flames as you please from the multiplied reflections4 ,how can this be accounted for8 ,into your beam of sunlight1 admitted through a half-inch hole1 put the mirror at an oblique angle2 you can arrange it so as to throw half a dozen bright spots on the opposite wall4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #aj4--,manifold ,reflections4 ,in ,fig4 #aj the sunbeam enters at ,a1 and1 striking the mirror m at a1 is partly reflected to #a on the wall1 and partly enters the glass1 passes through to the silvered back at ,b1 and is totally reflected to b1 where it again divides1 some of it going to the wall at #b1 and the rest1 continuing to make the same reflections and divisions1 causes spots #c1 #d1 #e1 etc4 ,the brightest spot is at ,no4#b1 because the silvered glass at ,b is the best reflector and has the most light4 ,when the discovery of the moons of ,mars was announced in #ahgg1 it was also widely published that they could be seen by a mirror4 ,of course this is impossible4 ,the point of light mistaken for the moon in this secondary reflection was caused by holding the mirror in an oblique position4 ,take a small piece of mirror1 say an inch in surface1 and putting under it three little pellets of wax1 putty1 or clay1 set it on the wrist1 with one of the pellets on the pulse4 ,hold the mirror steadily in the beam of light1 and the frequency and prominence of each pulse-beat will be indicated by the tossing spot of light on the wall4 ,if the operator becomes excited the fact will be evident to all observers4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #aa4 ,place a coin in a basin 7,fig4 #aa71 and set it so that the rim will conceal the coin from the eye4 ,pour in water1 and the coin will ,page #dj appear to rise into sight4 ,when light passes from a medium of one density to a medium of another1 its direction is changed4 ,thus a stick in water seems bent4 ,ships below the horizon are sometimes seen above1 because of the different density of the layers of air4 ,thus light coming from the interstellar spaces1 and entering our atmosphere1 is bent down more and more by its increasing density4 ,the effect is greatest when the sun or star is near the horizon1 none at all in the zenith4 ,this brings the object into view before it is risen4 ,allowance for this displacement is made in all delicate astronomical observations4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ab4--;,atmospherical ,refraction4 ,notice on the floor the shadow of the window-frames4 ,the glass of almost every window is so bent as to turn the sunlight aside enough to obliterate some of the shadows or increase their thickness4 ,,decomposition ,,of ,,light4 ,admit the sunbeam through a slit one inch long and one-twentieth of an inch wide4 ,pass it through a prism4 ,either purchase one or make it of three plain pieces of glass one and a half inch wide by six inches long1 fastened together in triangular shape--fasten the edges with hot wax and fill it with water2 then on a screen or wall you will have the colors of the rainbow1 not merely seven but seventy1 if your eyes are sharp enough4 ,take a bit of red paper that matches the red color of the spectrum4 ,move it along the line of colors toward the violet4 ,in the orange it is dark1 in the yellow darker1 in the green and all beyond1 black4 ,that is because there are no more red rays to be reflected by it4 ,so a green object is true to its color only in the green rays1 and black elsewhere4 ,all these colors may be recombined by a second prism into white light4 ,page #da ,,iii4 ,,astronomical ,,instruments4 ,the eyes of the ,lord are in every place4--,proverbs xv4 #c4 ,page #db ,man1 having one kind of an eye given him by his ,maker1 proceeds to construct two other kinds4 ,he makes one that magnifies invisible objects thousands of times1 so that a dull razor-edge appears as thick as three fingers1 until the amazing beauty of color and form in infinitesimal objects is entrancingly apparent1 and he knows that ,god's care of least things is infinite4 ,then he makes the other kind four or six feet in diameter1 and penetrates the immensities of space thousands of times beyond where his natural eye can pierce1 until he sees that ,god's immensities of worlds are infinite also4--,,bishop ,,foster4 ,page #dc ,,iii4 ,,the ,,telescope4 ,frequent allusion has been made in the previous chapter to discovered results4 ,it is necessary to understand more clearly the process by which such results have been obtained4 ,some astronomical instruments are of the simplest character1 some most delicate and complex4 ,when a man smokes a piece of glass1 in order to see an eclipse of the sun1 he makes a simple instrument4 ,ferguson1 lying on his back and slipping beads on a string at a certain distance above his eye1 measured the relative distances of the stars4 ,the use of more complex instruments commenced when ,galileo applied the telescope to the heavens4 ,he cannot be said to have invented the telescope1 but he certainly constructed his own without a pattern1 and used it to good purpose4 ,it consists of a lens1 ,o ,b 7,fig4 #ac71 which acts as a multiple prism to bend all the rays to one point at ,r4 ,place the eye there1 and it receives as much light as if it were as large as the lens ,o ,b4 ,the rays1 however1 are convergent1 and the point difficult to ,page #dd find4 ,hence there is placed at ,r a concave lens1 passing through which the rays emerge in parallel lines1 and are received by the eye4 ,opera-glasses are made upon precisely this principle to-day1 because they can be made conveniently short4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ac4--,refracting ,telescope4 ,if1 instead of a concave lens at ,r1 converting the converging rays into parallel ones1 we place a convex or magnifying lens1 the minute image is enlarged as much as an object seems diminished when the telescope is reversed4 ,this is the grand principle of the refracting telescope4 ,difficulties innumerable arise as we attempt to enlarge the instruments4 ,these have been overcome1 one after another1 until it is now felt that the best modern telescope1 with an object lens of twenty-six inches1 has fully reached the limit of optical power4 ,the ,reflecting ,telescope4 ,this is the only kind of instrument differing radically from the refracting one already described4 ,it receives the light in a concave mirror1 ,m 7,fig4 #ad71 which reflects it to the focus ,f1 producing the same result as the lens of the refracting telescope4 ,here a mirror may be placed obliquely1 reflecting the image at right angles to the eye1 outside the tube1 in which case it is called the ,newtonian telescope2 or a mirror at ,r may be placed perpendicularly1 and send the rays through ,page #de an opening in the mirror at ,m4 ,this form is called the ,gregorian telescope4 ,or the mirror ,m may be slightly inclined to the coming rays1 so as to bring the point ,f entirely outside the tube1 in which case it is called the ,herschelian telescope4 ,in either case the image may be magnified1 as in the refracting telescope4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ad4--,reflecting ,telescope4 ,reflecting telescopes are made of all sizes1 up to the ,cyclopean eye of the one constructed by ,lord ,rosse1 which is six feet in diameter4 ,the form of instrument to be preferred depends on the use to which it is to be put4 ,the loss of light in passing through glass lenses is about two-tenths4 ,the loss by reflection is often one-half4 ,in view of this peculiarity and many others1 it is held that a twenty-six-inch refractor is fully equal to any six-foot reflector4 ,the mounting of large telescopes demands the highest engineering ability4 ,the whole instrument1 with its vast weight of a twenty-six-inch glass lens1 with its accompanying tube and appurtenances1 must be pointed as nicely as a rifle1 and held as steadily as the axis of the globe4 ,to give it the required steadiness1 the foundation on which it is placed is sunk deep in the earth1 far from rail or other roads1 and no part of the observatory is allowed to touch this support4 ,when a star is once found1 the earth swiftly rotates the telescope away from it1 and it passes out of the field4 ,to avoid this1 clock-work is so arranged that the great telescope follows the star by the hour1 if required4 ,it will take a star at its eastern rising1 and hold it constantly in view while it climbs to the meridian and sinks in the west 7,fig4 #ae74 ,the reflector demands still more difficult engineering4 ,that of ,lord ,rosse has a metallic mirror ,page #df weighing six tons1 a tube forty feet long1 which1 with its appurtenances1 weighs seven tons more4 ,it moves between two walls only #aj east and west4 ,the new ,paris reflector 7,fig4 #af7 has a much wider range of movement4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ae4--;,cambridge ,equatorial4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #af4--,new ,paris ,reflector4 ,the ,spectroscope4 ,a spectrum is a collection of the colors which are dispersed by a prism from any given light4 ,if it is sunlight1 it is a solar spectrum2 if the source of light is a ,page #di star1 candle1 glowing metal1 or gas1 it is the spectrum of a star1 candle1 glowing metal1 or gas4 ,an instrument to see these spectra is called a spectroscope4 ,considering the infinite variety of light1 and its easy modification and absorption1 we should expect an immense number of spectra4 ,a mere prism disperses the light so imperfectly that different orders of vibrations1 perceived as colors1 are mingled4 ,no eye can tell where one commences or ends4 ,such a spectrum is said to be impure4 ,what we want is that each point in the spectrum should be made of rays of the same number of vibrations4 ,as we can let only a small beam of light pass through the prism1 in studying celestial objects with a telescope and spectroscope we must1 in every instance1 contract the aperture of the instrument until we get only a small beam of light4 ,in order to have the colors thoroughly dispersed1 the best instruments pass the beam of light through a series of prisms called a battery1 each one spreading farther the colors which the previous ones had spread4 ,in ,fig4 #ag the ray is seen entering through the telescope ,a1 which renders the rays parallel1 and passing ,page #ej through the prisms out to telescope ,b1 where the spectrum can be examined on the retina of the eye for a screen4 ,in order to still farther disperse the rays1 some batteries receive the ray from the last prism at ,o upon an oblique mirror1 send it up a little to another1 which delivers it again to the prism to make its journey back again through them all1 and come out to be examined just above where it entered the first prism4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ag4--,spectroscope1 with ,battery of ,prisms4 ,attached to the examining telescope is a diamond-ruled scale of glass1 enabling us to fix the position of any line with great exactness4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ah4--,spectra of glowing ,hydrogen and the ,sun4 ,in ,fig4 #ah is seen1 in the lower part1 a spectrum of the sun1 with about a score of its thousands of lines made evident4 ,in the upper part is seen the spectrum of bright lines given by glowing hydrogen gas4 ,these lines are given by no other known gas2 they are its autograph4 ,it is readily observed that they precisely correspond with certain dark lines in the solar spectrum4 ,hence we easily know that a glowing gas gives the same bright lines that it absorbs from the light of another source passing through it--that is1 glowing gas gives out the same rays of light that it absorbs when it is not glowing4 ,the subject becomes clearer by a study of the chromolithic plate4 ,no4 #a represents the solar spectrum1 with a few of its lines on an accurately graduated scale4 ,page #ea ,no4#c shows the bright line of glowing sodium1 and1 corresponding to a dark line in the solar spectrum1 shows the presence of salt in that body4 ,no4 #b shows that potassium has some violet rays1 but not all2 and there being no dark line to correspond in the solar spectrum1 we infer its absence from the sun4 ,no4#f shows the numerous lines and bands of barium--several red1 orange1 yellow1 and four are very bright green ones4 ,the lines given by any volatilized substances are always in the same place on the scale4 ,a patient study of these signs of substances reveals1 richer results than a study of the cuniform characters engraved on ,assyrian slabs2 for one is the handwriting of men1 the other the handwriting of ,god4 ,one of the most difficult and delicate problems solved by the spectroscope is the approach or departure of a light-giving body in the line of sight4 ,stand before a locomotive a mile away1 you cannot tell whether it approaches or recedes1 yet it will dash by in a minute4 ,how can the movements of the stars be comprehended when they are at such an immeasurable distance8 ,it can best be illustrated by music4 ,the note ,c of the ,g clef is made by two hundred and fifty-seven vibrations of air per second4 ,twice as many vibrations per second would give us the note ,c an octave above4 ,sound travels at the rate of three hundred and sixty-four yards per second4 ,if the source of these two hundred and fifty-seven vibrations could approach us at three hundred and sixty-four yards per second1 it is obvious that twice as many waves would be put into a given space1 and we should hear the upper ,c when only waves enough were made for the lower ,c4 ,the same ,page #eb result would appear if we carried our ear toward the sound fast enough to take up twice as many valves as though we stood still4 ,this is apparent to every observer in a railway train4 ,the whistle of an approaching locomotive gives one tone2 it passes1 and we instantly detect another4 ,let two trains1 running at a speed of thirty-six yards a second1 approach each other4 ,let the whistle of one sound the note ,e1 three hundred and twenty-three vibrations per second4 ,it will be heard on the other as the note ,g1 three hundred and eighty-eight vibrations per second2 for the speed of each train crowds the vibrations into one-tenth less room1 adding #cb vibrations per second1 making three hundred and eighty-eight in all4 ,the trains pass4 ,the vibrations are put into one-tenth more space by the whistle making them1 and the other train allows only nine-tenths of what there are to overtake the ear4 ,each subtracts #cb vibrations from three hundred and twenty-three1 leaving only two hundred and fifty-eight1 which is the note ,c4 ,yet the note ,e was constantly uttered4 ,illustration3 #a4 ,solar ,spectrum4 #b4 ,spectrum of ,potassium4 #c4 ,spectrum of ,sodium4 #d4 ,spectrum of ,strontium4 #e4 ,spectrum of ,calcium4 #f4 ,spectrum of ,barium4 ,if a source of light approach or depart1 it will have a similar effect on the light waves4 ,how shall we detect it8 ,if a star approach us1 it puts a greater number of waves into an inch1 and shortens their length4 ,if it recedes1 it increases the length of the wave--puts a less number into an inch4 ,if a body giving only the number of vibrations we call green were to approach sufficiently fast1 it would crowd in vibrations enough to appear what we call blue1 indigo1 or even violet1 according to its speed4 ,if it receded sufficiently fast1 it would leave behind it only vibrations enough to fill up ,page #ec the space with what we call yellow1 orange1 or red1 according to its speed2 yet it would be green1 and green only1 all the time4 ,but how detect the change8 ,if red waves are shortened they become orange in color2 and from below the red other rays1 too far apart to be seen by the eye1 being shortened1 become visible as red1 and we cannot know that anything has taken place4 ,so1 if a star recedes fast enough1 violet vibrations being lengthened become indigo2 and from above the violet other rays1 too short to be seen1 become lengthened into visible violet1 and we can detect no movement of the colors4 ,the dark lines of the spectrum are the cutting out of rays of definite wave-lengths4 ,if the color spectrum moves away1 they move with it1 and away from their proper place in the ordinary spectrum4 ,if1 then1 we find them toward the red end1 the star is receding2 if toward the violet end1 it is approaching4 ,turn the instrument on the centre of the sun4 ,the dark lines take their appropriate place1 and are recognized on the ruled scale4 ,turn it on one edge1 that is approaching us one and a quarter miles a second by the revolution of the sun on its axis1 the spectral lines move toward the violet end2 turn the spectroscope toward the other edge of the sun1 it is receding from us one and a quarter miles a second by reason of the axial revolution1 and the spectral lines move toward the red end4 ,turn it near the spots1 and it reveals the mighty up-rush in one place and the down-rush in another of one hundred miles a second4 ,we speak of it as an easy matter1 but it is a problem of the greatest delicacy1 almost defying the mind of man to read the movements of matter4 ,it should be recognized that ,professor ,young1 of ,page #ed ,princeton1 is the most successful operator in this recent realm of science4 ,he already proposes to correct the former estimate of the sun's axial revolutions1 derived from observing its spots1 by the surer process of observing accelerated and retarded light4 ,within a very few years this wonderful instrument1 the spectroscope1 has made amazing discoveries4 ,in chemistry it reveals substances never known before2 in analysis it is delicate to the detection of the millionth of a grain4 ,it is the most deft handmaid of chemistry1 the arts1 of medical science1 and astronomy4 ,it tells the chemical constitution of the sun1 the movements taking place1 the nature of comets1 and nebul4 ,by the spectroscope we know that the atmospheres of ,venus and ,mars are like our own2 that those of ,jupiter and ,saturn are very unlike2 it tells us which stars approach and which recede1 and just how one star differeth from another in glory and substance4 ,in the near future we shall have the brilliant and diversely colored flowers of the sky as well classified into orders and species as are the flowers of the earth4 ,page #ee ,,iv4 ,,celestial ,,measurements4 ,who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand1 and meted out heaven with the span8 ,mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth1 and my right hand hath spanned the heavens4--,isa4 xl4 #ab2 xlviii4 #ac4 ,page #ef ,go to yon tower1 where busy science plies ,her vast antenn1 feeling thro' the skies2 ,that little vernier1 on whose slender lines ,the midnight taper trembles as it shines1 ,a silent index1 tracks the planets' march ,in all their wanderings thro' the ethereal arch1 ,tells through the mist where dazzled ,mercury burns1 ,and marks the spot where ,uranus returns4 ,so1 till by wrong or negligence effaced1 ,the living index which thy ,maker traced ,repeats the line each starry virtue draws ,through the wide circuit of creation's laws2 ,still tracks unchanged the everlasting ray ,where the dark shadows of temptation stray2 ,but1 once defaced1 forgets the orbs of light1 ,and leaves thee wandering o'er the expanse of night4 ,,oliver ,,wendell ,,holmes4 ,page #eg ,,iv4 ,,celestial ,,measurements4 ,we know that astronomy has what are called practical uses4 ,if a ship had been driven by ,euroclydon ten times fourteen days and nights without sun or star appearing1 a moment's glance into the heavens from the heaving deck1 by a very slightly educated sailor1 would tell within one hundred yards where he was1 and determine the distance and way to the nearest port4 ,we know that1 in all final and exact surveying1 positions must be fixed by the stars4 ,earth's landmarks are uncertain and easily removed2 those which we get from the heavens are stable and exact4 ,in #ahgh the ,united ,states steam-ship ,enterprise was sent to survey the ,amazon4 ,every night a star party went ashore to fix the exact latitude and longitude by observations of the stars4 ,our real landmarks are not the pillars we rear1 but the stars millions of miles away4 ,all our standards of time are taken from the stars2 every railway train runs by their time to avoid collision2 by them all factories start and stop4 ,indeed1 we are ruled by the stars even more than the old astrologers imagined4 ,man's finest mechanism1 highest thought1 and broadest exercise of the creative faculty have been inspired by astronomy4 ,no other instruments approximate in delicacy those which explore the heavens2 no other ,page #eh system of thought can draw such vast and certain conclusions from its premises4 ,too low they build who build beneath the stars2 we should lay our foundations in the skies1 and then build upward4 ,we have been placed on the outside of this earth1 instead of the inside1 in order that we may look abroad4 ,we are carried about1 through unappreciable distance1 at the inconceivable velocity of one thousand miles a minute1 to give us different points of vision4 ,the earth1 on its softly-spinning axle1 never jars enough to unnest a bird or wake a child2 hence the foundations of our observatories are firm1 and our measurements exact4 ,whoever studies astronomy1 under proper guidance and in the right spirit1 grows in thought and feeling1 and becomes more appreciative of the ,creator4 ,celestial ,movements4 ,let it not be supposed that a mastery of mathematics and a finished education are necessary to understand the results of astronomical research4 ,it took at first the highest power of mind to make the discoveries that are now laid at the feet of the lowliest4 ,it took sublime faith1 courage1 and the results of ages of experience in navigation1 to enable ,columbus to discover that path to the ,new ,world which now any little boat can follow4 ,ages of experience and genius are stored up in a locomotive1 but quite an unlettered man can drive it4 ,it is the work of genius to render difficult matters plain1 abstruse thoughts clear4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ai4 ,a brief explanation of a few terms will make the principles of world inspection easily understood4 ,imagine a perfect circle thirty feet in diameter--that is1 create ,page #ei one 7,fig4 #ai74 ,draw through it a diameter horizontally1 another perpendicularly4 ,the angles made by the intersecting lines are each said to be ninety degrees1 marked thus 4 ,the arc of a circle included between any two of the lines is also #ij4 ,every circle1 great or small1 is divided into these #cfj4 ,if the sun rose in the east and came to the zenith at noon1 it would have passed #ij4 ,when it set in the west it would have traversed half the circle1 or #ahj4 ,in ,fig4 #bj the angle of the lines measured on the graduated arc is #aj4 ,the mountain is #aj high1 the world #aj in diameter1 the comet moves #aj a day1 the stars are #aj apart4 ,the height of the mountain1 the diameter of the world1 the velocity of the comet1 and the distance between the stars1 depend on the distance of each from the point of sight4 ,every degree is divided into #fj minutes 7marked '71 and every minute into #fj seconds 7marked 74 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bj4--;,illustration of ,angles4 ,imagine yourself inside a perfect sphere one hundred feet in diameter1 with the interior surface above1 around1 and below studded with fixed bright points like stars4 ,the familiar constellations of night might be blazoned there in due proportion4 ,if this star-sprent sphere were made to revolve once in twenty-four hours1 all the stars would successively ,page #fj pass in review4 ,how easily we could measure distances between stars1 from a certain fixed meridian1 or the equator6 ,how easily we could tell when any particular star would culminate6 ,it is as easy to take all these measurements when our earthly observatory is steadily revolved within the sphere of circumambient stars4 ,stars can be mapped as readily as the streets of a great city4 ,looking down on it in the night1 one could trace the lines of lighted streets1 and judge something of its extent and regularity4 ,but the few lamps of evening would suggest little of the greatness of the public buildings1 the magnificent enterprise and commerce of its citizens1 or the intelligence of its scholars4 ,looking up to the lamps of the celestial city1 one can judge something of its extent and regularity2 but they suggest little of the magnificence of the many mansions4 ,stars are reckoned as so many degrees1 minutes1 and seconds from each other1 from the zenith1 or from a given meridian1 or from the equator4 ,thus the stars called the ,pointers1 in the ,great ,bear1 are #e apart2 the nearest one is #bi from the ,pole ,star1 which is #ci #ef' #bi above the horizon at ,philadelphia4 ,in going to ,england you creep up toward the north end of the earth1 till the ,pole ,star is #ed high4 ,it stays near its place among the stars continually1 ,of whose true-fixed and resting quality ,there is no fellow in the firmament4 ,how to ,measure4 ,suppose a telescope1 fixed to a mural circle1 to revolve on an axis1 as in ,fig4 #ba2 point it horizontally at a star2 ,page #fa turn it up perpendicular to another star4 ,of course the two stars are #ij apart1 and the graduated scale1 which is attached to the outer edge of the circle1 shows a revolution of a quarter circle1 or #ij1 ,but a perfect accuracy of measurement must be sought2 for to mistake the breadth of a hair1 seen at the distance of one hundred and twenty-five feet1 would cause an error of #c1jjj1jjj miles at the distance of the sun1 and immensely more at the distance of the stars4 ,the correction of an inaccuracy of no greater magnitude than that has reduced our estimate of the distance of our sun #c1jjj1jjj miles4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ba4--,mural ,circle4 ,consider the nicety of the work4 ,suppose the graduated scale to be thirty feet in circumference4 ,divided into #cfj1 each would be one inch long4 ,divide each degree into #fj'1 each one is #a_/fj of an inch long4 ,it takes good eyesight to discern it4 ,but each minute must be ,page #fb divided into #fj1 and these must not only be noted1 but even tenths and hundredths of seconds must be discerned4 ,of course they are not seen by the naked eye2 some mechanical contrivance must be called in to assist4 ,a watch loses two minutes a week1 and hence is unreliable4 ,it is taken to a watch-maker that every single second may be quickened #a_/bjafj part of itself4 ,now #a_/bjjjj part of a second would be a small interval of time to measure1 but it must be under control4 ,if the temperature of a summer morning rises ten or twenty degrees we scarcely notice it2 but the magnetic tastimeter measures #a_/ejjj of a degree4 ,come to earthly matters4 ,in #ahgd1 after nearly twenty-eight years' work1 the ,state of ,massachusetts opened a tunnel nearly five miles long through the ,hoosac ,mountains4 ,in the early part of the work the engineers sunk a shaft near the middle #ajbh feet deep4 ,then the question to be settled was where to go so as to meet the approaching excavations from the east and west4 ,a compass could not be relied on under a mountain4 ,the line must be mechanically fixed4 ,a little divergence at the starting-point would become so great1 miles away1 that the excavations might pass each other without meeting2 the grade must also rise toward the central shaft1 and fall in working away from it2 but the lines were fixed with such infinitesimal accuracy that1 when the one going west from the eastern portal and the one going east from the shaft met in the heart of the mountain1 the western line was only one-eighth of an inch too high1 and three-sixteenths of an inch too far north4 ,to reach this perfect result they had to triangulate from the eastern portal to distant ,page #fc mountain peaks1 and thence down the valley to the central shaft1 and thus fix the direction of the proposed line across the mouth of the shaft4 ,plumb-lines were then dropped one thousand and twenty-eight feet1 and thus the line at the bottom was fixed4 ,three attempts were made--in #ahfg1 #ahgj1 and #ahgb--to fix the exact time-distance between ,greenwich and ,washington4 ,these three separate efforts do not differ one-tenth of a second4 ,such demonstrable results on earth greatly increase our confidence in similar measurements in the skies4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bb4 ,a scale is frequently affixed to a pocket-rule1 by which we can easily measure one-hundredth of an inch 7,fig4 #bb74 ,the upper and lower line is divided into tenths of an inch4 ,observe the slanting line at the right hand4 ,it leans from the perpendicular one-tenth of an inch1 as shown by noticing where it reaches the top line4 ,when it reaches the second horizontal line it has left the perpendicular one-tenth of that tenth--that is1 one-hundredth4 ,the intersection marks #ii_/ajj of an inch from one end1 and one-hundredth from the other4 ,when division-lines1 on measures of great nicety1 get too fine to be read by the eye1 we use the microscope4 ,by its means we are able to count #aab1jjj lines ruled on a glass plate within an inch4 ,the smallest object that can be seen by a keen eye makes an angle of #dj1 but by putting six microscopes on the scale of the telescope on the mural circle1 we are able to reach an exactness of #j4a1 or #a_/cfjj of an inch4 ,this instrument is used to measure the declination of stars1 or angular ,page #fd distance north or south of the equator4 ,thus a star's place in two directions is exactly fixed4 ,when the telescope is mounted on two pillars instead of the face of a wall1 it is called a transit instrument4 ,this is used to determine the time of transit of a star over the meridian1 and if the transit instrument is provided with a graduated circle it can also be used for the same purposes as the mural circle4 ,man's capacity to measure exactly is indicated in his ascertainment of the length of waves of light4 ,it is easy to measure the three hundred feet distance between the crests of storm-waves in the wide ,atlantic2 easy to measure the different wave-lengths of the different tones of musical sounds4 ,so men measure the lengths of the undulations of light4 ,the shortest is of the violet light1 #aed4hd ten-millionths of an inch4 ,by the horizontal pendulum ,professor ,root has made #a_/cfjjjjjj of an inch apparent4 ,the next elements of accuracy must be perfect time and perfect notation of time4 ,as has been said1 we get our time from the stars4 ,thus the infinite and heavenly dominates the finite and earthly4 ,clocks are set to the invariable sidereal time4 ,sidereal noon is when we have turned ourselves under the point where the sun crosses the equator in ,march1 called the vernal equinox4 ,sidereal clocks are figured to indicate twenty-four hours in a day3 they tick exact seconds4 ,to map stars we wish to know the exact second when they cross the meridian1 or the north and south line in the celestial dome above us4 ,the telescope 7,fig4 #ba1 p4 #fa7 swings exactly north and south4 ,in its focus a set of fine threads of spider-lines is placed 7,fig4 #bc74 ,the telescope is set just high enough1 so that by the rolling over of the earth ,page #fe the star will come into the field just above the horizontal thread4 ,the observer notes the exact second and tenth of a second when the star reaches each vertical thread in the instrument1 adds together the times and divides by five to get the average1 and the exact time is reached4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bc4--,transit of a ,star noted4 ,but man is not reliable enough to observe and record with sufficient accuracy4 ,some1 in their excitement1 anticipate its positive passage1 and some cannot get their slow mental machinery in motion till after it has made the transit4 ,moreover1 men fall into a habit of estimating some numbers of tenths of a second oftener than others4 ,it will be found that a given observer will say three tenths or seven tenths oftener than four or eight4 ,he is falling into ruts1 and not trustworthy4 ,general ,o4 ,m4 ,mitchel1 who had been director of the ,cincinnati ,observatory1 once told one of his staff-officers that he was late at an appointment4 ,only a few minutes1 said the officer1 apologetically4 ,sir1 said the general1 where ,i have been accustomed to work1 hundredths of a second are too important to be neglected4 ,and it is to the rare genius of this astronomer1 and to others1 that we owe the mechanical accuracy that we now attain4 ,the clock is made to mark its seconds on paper wrapped around a revolving cylinder4 ,under the observer's fingers is an electric key4 ,this he can touch at the instant of the transit of the star ,page #ff over each wire1 and thus put his observation on the same line between the seconds dotted by the clock4 ,of course these distances can be measured to minute fractional parts of a second4 ,but it has been found that it takes an appreciable time for every observer to get a thing into his head and out of his finger-ends1 and it takes some observers longer than others4 ,a dozen men1 seeing an electric spark1 are liable to bring down their recording marks in a dozen different places on the revolving paper4 ,hence the time that it takes for each man to get a thing into his head and out of his fingers is ascertained4 ,this time is called his personal equation1 and is subtracted from all of his observations in order to get at the true time2 so willing are men to be exact about material matters4 ,can it be thought that moral and spiritual matters have no precision8 ,thus distances east or west from any given star or meridian are secured2 those north and south from the equator or the zenith are as easily fixed1 and thus we make such accurate maps of the heavens that any movements in the far-off stars--so far that it may take centuries to render the swiftest movements appreciable--may at length be recognized and accounted for4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bd4 ,we now come to a little study of the modes of measuring distances4 ,create a perfect square 7,fig4 #bd72 draw a diagonal line4 ,the square angles are #ij1 the divided angles give two of #de each4 ,now the base ,a ,b is equal to the perpendicular ,a ,c4 ,now any point--,c1 where a perpendicular1 ,a ,c1 and a diagonal1 ,b ,c1 meet--will be ,page #fg as far from ,a as ,b is4 ,it makes no difference if a river flows between ,a and ,c1 and we cannot go over it2 we can measure its distance as easily as if we could4 ,set a table four feet by eight out-doors 7,fig4 #be72 so arrange it that1 looking along one end1 the line of sight just strikes a tree the other side of the river4 ,go to the other end1 and1 looking toward the tree1 you find the line of sight to the tree falls an inch from the end of the table on the farther side4 ,the lines1 therefore1 approach each other one inch in every four feet1 and will come together at a tree three hundred and eighty-four feet away4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #be4--,measuring ,distances4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bf4--,measuring ,elevations4 ,the next process is to measure the height or magnitude of objects at an ascertained distance4 ,put two pins in a stick half an inch apart 7,fig4 #bf74 ,hold it up two feet from the eye1 and let the upper pin fall in line with your eye and the top of a distant church steeple1 and the lower pin in line with the bottom of the church and your eye4 ,if the church is three-fourths of a mile away1 it must be eighty-two feet high2 if a mile away1 it must be one hundred and ten feet high4 ,for if two lines spread ,page #fh one-half an inch going two feet1 in going four feet they will spread an inch1 and in going a mile1 or five thousand two hundred and eighty feet1 they will spread out one-fourth as many inches1 viz41 thirteen hundred and twenty--that is1 one hundred and ten feet4 ,of course these are not exact methods of measurement1 and would not be correct to a hair at one hundred and twenty-five feet1 but they perfectly illustrate the true methods of measurement4 ,imagine a base line ten inches long4 ,at each end erect a perpendicular line4 ,if they are carried to infinity they will never meet3 will be forever ten inches apart4 ,but at the distance of a foot from the base line incline one line toward the other #fc_/ajjjjjjj of an inch1 and the lines will come together at a distance of three hundred miles4 ,that new angle differs from the former right angle almost infinitesimally1 but it may be measured4 ,its value is about three-tenths of a second4 ,if we lengthen the base line from ten inches to all the miles we can command1 of course the point of meeting will be proportionally more distant4 ,the angle made by the lines where they come together will be obviously the same as the angle of divergence from a right angle at this end4 ,that angle is called the parallax of any body1 and is the angle that would be made by two lines coming from that body to the two ends of any conventional base1 as the semi-diameter of the earth4 ,that that angle would vary according to the various distances is easily seen by ,fig4 #bg4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bg4 ,let ,o ,p be the base4 ,this would subtend a greater angle seen from star ,a than from star ,b4 ,let ,b be far enough away1 and ,o ,p would become invisible1 and ,b ,page #fi would have no parallax for that base4 ,thus the moon has a parallax of #eg with the semi-equatorial diameter of the earth for a base4 ,and the sun has a parallax #h4he on the same base4 ,it is not necessary to confine ourselves to right angles in these measurements1 for the same principles hold true in any angles4 ,now1 suppose two observers on the equator should look at the moon at the same instant4 ,one is on the top of ,cotopaxi1 on the west coast of ,south ,america1 and one on the west coast of ,africa4 ,they are #ij apart--half the earth's diameter between them4 ,the one on ,cotopaxi sees it exactly overhead1 at an angle of #ij with the earth's diameter4 ,the one on the coast of ,africa sees its angle with the same line to be #hi #ei' #c--that is1 its parallax is #eg4 ,try the same experiment on the sun farther away1 as is seen in ,fig4 #bg1 and its smaller parallax is found to be only #h4he4 ,it is not necessary for two observers to actually station themselves at two distant parts of the earth in order to determine a parallax4 ,if an observer could go from one end of the base-line to the other1 he could determine both angles4 ,every observer is actually carried along through space by two motions3 one is that of the earth's revolution of one thousand miles an hour around the axis2 and the other is the movement of the earth around the sun of one thousand miles in a minute4 ,hence we can have the diameter not only of ,page #gj the earth 7eight thousand miles7 for a base-line1 but the diameter of the earth's orbit 7#ahd1jjj1jjj miles71 or any part of it1 for such a base4 ,two observers at the ends of the earth's diameter1 looking at a star at the same instant1 would find that it made the same angle at both ends2 it has no parallax on so short a base4 ,we must seek a longer one4 ,observe a certain star on the #bast of ,march2 then let us traverse the realms of space for six months1 at one thousand miles a minute4 ,we come round in our orbit to a point opposite where we were six months ago1 with #ahd1jjj1jjj of miles between the points4 ,now1 with this for a base-line1 measure the angles of the same stars3 it is the same angle4 ,sitting in my study here1 ,i glance out of the window and discern separate bricks1 in houses five hundred feet away1 with my unaided eye2 they subtend a discernible angle4 ,but one thousand feet away ,i cannot distinguish individual bricks2 their width1 being only two inches1 does not subtend an angle apprehensible to my vision4 ,so at these distant stars the earth's enormous orbit1 if lying like a blazing ring in space1 with the world set on its edge like a pearl1 and the sun blazing like a diamond in the centre1 would all shrink to a mere point4 ,not quite to a point from the nearest stars1 or we should never be able to measure the distance of any of them4 ,professor ,airy says that our orbit1 seen from the nearest star1 would be the same as a circle six-tenths of an inch in diameter seen at the distance of a mile3 it would all be hidden by a thread one-twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter1 held six hundred and fifty feet from the eye4 ,if a straight line could be drawn from a star1 ,sirius in the east to the star ,vega in the west1 touching our ,page #ga earth's orbit on one side1 as ,t ,r ,a 7,fig4 #bh71 and a line were to be drawn six months later from the same stars1 touching our earth's orbit on the other side1 as ,r ,b ,t1 such a line would not diverge sufficiently from a straight line for us to detect its divergence4 ,numerous vain attempts had been made1 up to the year #ahce1 to detect and measure the angle of parallax by which we could rescue some one or more of the stars from the inconceivable depths of space1 and ascertain their distance from us4 ,we are ever impelled to triumph over what is declared to be unconquerable4 ,there are peaks in the ,alps no man has ever climbed4 ,they are assaulted every year by men zealous of more worlds to conquer4 ,so these greater heights of the heavens have been assaulted1 till some ambitious spirits have outsoared even imagination by the certainties of mathematics4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bh4 ,it is obvious that if one star were three times as far from us as another1 the nearer one would seem to be displaced by our movement in our orbit three times as much as the other2 so1 by comparing one star with another1 we reach a ground of judgment4 ,the ascertainment of longitude at sea by means of the moon affords a good illustration4 ,along the track where the moon sails1 nine bright stars1 four planets1 and the sun have been selected4 ,the nautical almanacs give the distance of the moon from these successive stars every hour in the night for three years in advance4 ,the sailor can measure the distance at any time by his sextant4 ,looking from the world at ,d 7,fig4 #bi71 the distance of the moon and ,page #gb star is ,a ,e1 which is given in the almanac4 ,looking from ,c1 the distance is only ,b ,e1 which enables even the uneducated sailor to find the distance1 ,c ,d1 on the earth1 or his distance from ,greenwich4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bi4--,mode of ,ascertaining ,longitude4 ,so1 by comparisons of the near and far stars1 the approximate distance of a few of them has been determined4 ,the nearest one is the brightest star in the ,centaur1 never visible in our northern latitudes1 which has a parallax of about one second4 ,the next nearest is ,no4 #fa in the ,swan1 or #fa ,cygni1 having a parallax of #j4cd4 ,approximate measurements have been made on ,sirius1 ,capella1 the ,pole ,star1 etc41 about eighteen in all4 ,the distances are immense3 only the swiftest agents can traverse them4 ,if our earth were suddenly to dissolve its allegiance to the king of day1 and attempt a flight to the ,north ,star1 and should maintain its flight of one thousand miles a minute1 it would flyaway toward ,polaris for thousands upon thousands of years1 till a million years had passed away1 before it reached that northern dome of the distant sky1 and gave its new allegiance to another sun4 ,the sun it had left behind it would gradually diminish till it was small as ,arcturus1 then small as could be discerned by the naked eye1 until at last it would finally fade out in utter darkness long before the new sun was reached4 ,light can traverse the distance around our earth eight times in one second4 ,it comes in eight minutes from the sun1 but it takes three and a quarter years to come from ,alpha ,page #gc ,centauri1 seven and a quarter years from #fa ,cygni1 and forty-five years from the ,polar ,star4 ,sometimes it happens that men steer along a lee shore1 dependent for direction on ,polaris1 that light-house in the sky4 ,sometimes it has happened that men have traversed great swamps by night when that star was the light-housse of freedom4 ,in either case the exigency of life and liberty was provided for forty-five years before by a ,providence that is divine4 ,we do not attempt to name in miles these enormous distances2 we must seek another yard-stick4 ,our astronomical unit and standard of measurement is the distance of the earth from the sun--#ib1ejj1jjj miles4 ,this is the golden reed with which we measure the celestial city4 ,thus1 by laying down our astronomical unit #bbf1jjj times1 we measure to ,alpha ,centauri1 more than twenty millions of millions of miles4 ,doubtless other suns are as far from ,alpha ,centauri and each other as that is from ours4 ,stars are not near or far according to their brightness4 #fa ,cygni is a telescopic star1 while ,sirius1 the brightest star in the heavens1 is twice as far away from us4 ,one star differs from another star in intrinsic glory4 ,the highest testimonies to the accuracy of these celestial observations are found in the perfect predictions of eclipses1 transits of planets over the sun1 occultation of stars by the moon1 and those statements of the ,nautical ,almanac that enable the sailor to know exactly where he is on the pathless ocean by the telling of the stars3 ,on the trackless ocean this book is the mariner's trusted friend and counsellor2 daily and nightly its revelations bring safety to ships in all parts of the ,page #gd world4 ,it is something more than a mere book2 it is an ever-present manifestation of the order and harmony of the universe4 ,another example of this wonderful accuracy is found in tracing the asteroids4 ,within #bjj1jjj1jjj or #cjj1jjj1jjj miles from the sun1 the one hundred and ninety-two minute bodies that have been already discovered move in paths very nearly the same--indeed two of them traverse the same orbit1 being one hundred and eighty degrees apart2--they look alike1 yet the eye of man in a few observations so determines the curve of each orbit1 that one is never mistaken for another4 ,but astronomy has higher uses than fixing time1 establishing landmarks1 and guiding the sailor4 ,it greatly quickens and enlarges thought1 excites a desire to know1 leads to the utmost exactness1 and ministers to adoration and love of the ,maker of the innumerable suns4 ,page #ge ,v4 ,,the ,,sun4 ,and ,god made two great lights2 the greater light to rule the day1 and the lesser light to rule the night3 he made the stars also4--,gen4 i4 #af4 ,page #gf ,it is perceived that the sun of the world1 with all its essence1 which is heat and light1 flows into every tree1 and into every shrub and flower1 and into every stone1 mean as well as precious2 and that every object takes its portion from this common influx1 and that the sun does not divide its light and heat1 and dispense a part to this and a part to that4 ,it is similar with the sun of heaven1 from which the ,divine love proceeds as heat1 and the ,divine wisdom as light2 these two flow into human minds1 as the heat and light of the sun of the world into bodies1 and vivify them according to the quality of the minds1 each of which takes from the common influx as much as is necessary4--,,swedenborg4 ,page #gg ,v4 ,,the ,,sun4 ,suppose we had stood on the dome of ,boston ,statehouse ,november #ith1 #ahgb1 on the night of the great conflagration1 and seen the fire break out2 seen the engines dash through the streets1 tracking their path by their sparks2 seen the fire encompass a whole block1 leap the streets on every side1 surge like the billows of a storm-swept sea2 seen great masses of inflammable gas rise like dark clouds from an explosion1 then take fire in the air1 and1 cut off from the fire below1 float like argosies of flame in space4 ,suppose we had felt the wind that came surging from all points of the compass to fan that conflagration till it was light enough a mile away to see to read the finest print1 hot enough to decompose the torrents of water that were dashed on it1 making new fuel to feed the flame4 ,suppose we had seen this spreading fire seize on the whole city1 extend to its environs1 and1 feeding itself on the very soil1 lick up ,worcester with its tongues of flame--,albany1 ,new ,york1 ,chicago1 ,st4 ,louis1 ,cincinnati--and crossing the plains swifter than a prairie fire1 making each peak of the ,rocky ,mountains hold up aloft a separate torch of flame1 and the ,sierras whiter with heat than they ever were with snow1 the waters of the ,pacific resolve into their constituent elements of oxygen and hydrogen1 and ,page #gh burn with unquenchable fire6 ,we withdraw into the air1 and see below a world on fire4 ,all the prisoned powers have burst into intensest activity4 ,quiet breezes have become furious tempests4 ,look around this flaming globe--on fire above1 below1 around--there is nothing but fire4 ,let it roll beneath us till ,boston comes round again4 ,no ember has yet cooled1 no spire of flame has shortened1 no surging cloud has been quieted4 ,not only are the mountains still in flame1 but other ranges burst up out of the seething sea4 ,there is no place of rest1 no place not tossing with raging flame6 ,yet all this is only a feeble figure of the great burning sun4 ,it is but the merest hint1 a million times too insignificant4 ,the sun appears small and quiet to us because we are so far away4 ,seen from the various planets1 the relative size of the sun appears as in ,fig4 #cj4 ,looked for from some of the stars about us1 the sun could not be seen at all4 ,indeed1 seen from the earth1 it is not always the same size1 because the distance is not always the same4 ,if we represent the size of the sun by one thousand on the #bc;d of ,september or #bast of ,march1 it would be represented by nine hundred and sixty-seven on the #ast of ,july1 and by one thousand and thirty-four on the #ast of ,january4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cj4--,relative ,size of ,sun as seen from ,different ,planets4 ,we sometimes speak of the sun as having a diameter of #hfj1jjj miles4 ,we mean that that is the extent of the body as soon by the eye4 ,but that is a small part of its real diameter4 ,so we say the earth has an equatorial diameter of #gibe-a_/b miles1 and a polar one of #ghii4 ,but the air is as much a part of the earth as the rocks are4 ,the electric currents are as much a part of the ,page #gi earth as the ores and mountains they traverse4 ,what the diameter of the earth is1 including these1 no man can tell4 ,we used to say the air extended forty-five miles1 but we now know that it reaches vastly farther4 ,so of the sun1 we might almost say that its diameter is infinite1 for its light and heat reach beyond our measurement4 ,its living1 throbbing heart sends out pulsations1 keeping all space full of its tides of living light4 ,page #hj ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ca4--,zodiacal ,light4 ,we might say with evident truth that the far-off planets are a part of the sun1 since the space they traverse is filled with the power of that controlling king2 not only with light1 but also with gravitating power4 ,but come to more ponderable matters4 ,if we look ,page #ha into our western sky soon after sunset1 on a clear1 moonless night in ,march or ,april1 we shall see a dim1 soft light1 somewhat like the milky-way1 often reaching1 well defined1 to the ,pleiades4 ,it is wedge-shaped1 inclined to the south1 and the smallest star can easily be seen through it4 ,mairan and ,cassini affirm that they have seen sudden sparkles and movements of light in it4 ,all our best tests show the spectrum of this light to be continuous1 and therefore reflected2 which indicates that it is a ring of small masses of meteoric matter surrounding the sun1 revolving with it and reflecting its light4 ,one bit of stone as large as the end of one's thumb1 in a cubic mile1 would be enough to reflect what light we see looking through millions of miles of it4 ,perhaps an eye sufficiently keen and far away would see the sun surrounded by a luminous disk1 as ,saturn is with his rings4 ,as it extends beyond the earth's orbit1 if this be measured as a part of the sun1 its diameter would be about #bjj1jjj1jjj miles4 ,come closer4 ,when the sun is covered by the disk of the moon at the instant of total eclipse1 observers are startled by strange swaying luminous banners1 ghostly and weird1 shooting in changeful play about the central darkness 7,fig4 #cb74 ,these form the corona4 ,men have usually been too much moved to describe them1 and have always been incapable of drawing them in the short minute or two of their continuance4 ,but in #ahgh men travelled eight thousand miles1 coming and returning1 in order that they might note the three minutes of total eclipse in ,colorado4 ,each man had his work assigned to him1 and he was drilled to attend to that and nothing else4 ,improved instruments were put into his ,page #hb hands1 so that the sun was made to do his own drawing and give his own picture at consecutive instants4 ,fig4 #cc is a copy of a photograph of the corona of #ahgh1 by ,mr4 ,henry ,draper4 ,it showed much less changeability that year than common1 it being very near the time of least sun-spot4 ,the previous picture was taken near the time of maximum sun-spot4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cb4--,the ,corona in #aheh1 ,brazil4 ,it was then settled that the corona consists of reflected light1 sent to us from dust particles or meteoroids swirling in the vast seas1 giving new densities and ,page #hc rarities1 and hence this changeful light4 ,whether they are there by constant projection1 and fall again to the sun1 or are held by electric influence1 or by force of orbital revolution1 we do not know4 ,that the corona cannot be in any sense an atmosphere of any continuous gas1 is seen from the fact that the comet of #ahdc1 passing within #ic1jjj miles of the body of the sun1 was not burned out of existence as a comet1 nor in any perceptible degree retarded in its motion4 ,if the sun's diameter is to include the corona1 it will be from #a1bfj1jjj to #a1dfj1jjj miles4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cc4--,the ,corolla in #ahgh1 ,colorado4 ,page #hd ,come closer still4 ,at the instant of the totality of the eclipse red flames of most fantastic shape play along the edge of the moon's disk4 ,they can be seen at any time by the use of a proper telescope with a spectroscope attached4 ,i have seen them with great distinctness and brilliancy with the excellent eleven-inch telescope of the ,wesleyan ,university4 ,a description of their appearance is best given in the language of ,professor ,young1 of ,princeton ,college1 who has made these flames the object of most successful study4 ,on ,september #gth1 #ahga1 he was observing a large hydrogen cloud by the sun's edge4 ,this cloud was about #ajj1jjj miles long1 and its upper side was some #ej1jjj miles above the sun's surface1 the lower side some #ae1jjj miles4 ,the whole had the appearance of being supported on pillars of fire1 these seeming pillars being in reality hydrogen jets brighter and more active than the substance of the cloud4 ,at half-past twelve1 when ,professor ,young chanced to be called away from his observatory1 there were no indications of any approaching change1 except that one of the connecting stems of the southern extremity of the cloud had grown considerably brighter and more curiously bent to one side2 and near the base of another1 at the northern end1 a little brilliant lump had developed itself1 shaped much like a summer thunderhead4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cd4--,solar ,prominences of ,flaming ,hydrogen4 ,but when ,professor ,young returned1 about half an hour later1 he found that a very wonderful change had taken place1 and that a very remarkable process was actually in progress4 ,the whole thing had been literally blown to shreds1 he says1 by some inconceivable uprush from beneath4 ,in place of the quiet cloud ,i had ,page #hg left1 the air--if ,i may use the expression--was filled with the flying dbris1 a mass of detached vertical fusi-form fragments1 each from ten to thirty seconds 7i4 e41 from four thousand five hundred to thirteen thousand five hundred miles7 long1 by two or three seconds 7nine hundred to thirteen hundred and fifty miles7 wide--brighter1 and closer together where the pillars had formerly stood1 and rapidly ascending4 ,when ,i looked1 some of them had already reached a height of nearly four minutes 7#ajj1jjj miles72 and while ,i watched them they arose with a motion almost perceptible to the eye1 until1 in ten minutes1 the uppermost were more than #bjj1jjj miles above the solar surface4 ,this was ascertained by careful measurements1 the mean of three closely accordant determinations giving #baj1jjj miles as the extreme altitude attained4 ,i am particular in the statement1 because1 so far as ,i know1 chromatospheric matter 7red hydrogen in this case7 has never before been observed at any altitude exceeding five minutes1 or #ace1jjj miles4 ,the velocity of ascent1 also--one hundred and sixty-seven miles per second--is considerably greater than anything hitherto recorded4 99 99 99 ,as the filaments arose1 they gradually faded away like a dissolving cloud1 and at a quarter past one only a few filmy wisps1 with some brighter streamers low down near the chromatosphere1 remained to mark the place4 ,but in the mean while the little 'thunder-head' before alluded to had grown and developed wonderfully into a mass of rolling and ever-changing flame1 to speak according to appearances4 ,first1 it was crowded down1 as it were1 along the solar surface2 later1 it arose almost pyramidally #ej1jjj miles in height2 then ,page #hh its summit was drawn down into long filaments and threads1 which were most curiously rolled backward and forward1 like the volutes of an ,ionic capital1 and finally faded away1 and by half-past two had vanished like the other4 ,the whole phenomenon suggested most forcibly the idea of an explosion under the great prominence1 acting mainly upward1 but also in all directions outward2 and then1 after an interval1 followed by a corresponding in-rush4 ,no language can convey nor mind conceive an idea of the fierce commotion we here contemplate4 ,if we call these movements hurricanes1 we must remember that what we use as a figure moves but one hundred miles an hour1 while these move one hundred miles a second4 ,such storms of fire on earth1 coming down upon us from the north1 would1 in thirty seconds after they had crossed the ,st4 ,lawrence1 be in the ,gulf of ,mexico1 carrying with them the whole surface of the continent in a mass not simply of ruins but of glowing vapor1 in which the vapors arising from the dissolution of the materials composing the cities of ,boston1 ,new ,york1 and ,chicago would be mixed in a single indistinguishable cloud4 ,in the presence of these evident visions of an actual body in furious flame1 we need hesitate no longer in accepting as true the words of ,st4 ,peter of the time in which the atmospheric heavens shall pass away with a great noise1 and the elements shall melt with fervent heat2 the earth also1 and the works that are therein1 shall be burned up4 ,this region of discontinuous flame below the corona is called the chromosphere4 ,hydrogen is the principal material of its upper part2 iron1 magnesium1 and other ,page #hi metals1 some of them as yet unknown on earth1 but having a record in the spectrum1 in the denser parts below4 ,if these fierce fires are a part of the ,sun1 as they assuredly are1 its diameter would be from #a1jfj1jjj to #a1bfj1jjj miles4 ,let us approach even nearer4 ,we see a clearly recognized even disk1 of equal dimensions in every direction4 ,this is the photosphere4 ,we here reach some definitely measurable data for estimating its visible size4 ,we already know its distance4 ,its disk subtends an angle of #cb' #ab4f1 or a little more than half a degree4 ,three hundred and sixty such suns1 laid side by side1 would span the celestial arch from east to west with a half circle of light4 ,two lines drawn from our earth at the angle mentioned would be #hfj1jjj miles apart at the distance of #ib1ejj1jjj miles4 ,this1 then1 is the diameter of the visible and measurable part of the sun4 ,it would require one hundred and eight globes like the earth in a line to measure the sun's diameter1 and three hundred and thirty-nine1 to be strung like the beads of a necklace1 to encircle his waist4 ,the sun has a volume equal to #a1bde1jjj earths1 but being only one-quarter as dense1 it has a mass of only #cbf1hjj earths4 ,it has seven hundred times the mass of all the planets1 asteroids1 and satellites put together4 ,thus it is able to control them all by its greater power of attraction4 ,concerning the condition of the surface of the sun many opinions are held4 ,that it is hot beyond all estimate is indubitable4 ,whether solid or gaseous we are not sure4 ,opinions differ3 some incline to the first theory1 others to the second2 some deem the sun composed of solid particles1 floating in gas so condensed ,page #ij by pressure and attraction as to shine like a solid4 ,it has no sensible changes of general level1 but has prodigious activity in spots4 ,these spots have been the objects of earnest and almost hourly study on the part of such men as ,secchi1 ,lockyer1 ,faye1 ,young1 and others1 for years4 ,but it is a long way off to study an object4 ,no telescope brings it nearer than #bjj1jjj miles4 ,theory after theory has been advanced1 each one satisfactory in some points1 none in all4 ,the facts about the spots are these3 ,they are most abundant on the two sides of the equator4 ,they are gregarious1 depressed below the surface1 of vast extent1 black in the centre1 usually surrounded by a region of partial darkness1 beyond which is excessive light4 ,they have motion of their own over the surface--motion rotating about an axis1 upward and downward about the edges4 ,they change their apparent shape as the sun carries them across its disk by axial revolution1 being narrow as they present their edges to us1 and rounder as we look perpendicularly into them 7,fig4 #ce74 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ce4--;,change in ,spots as rotated across the ,disk1 showing ,cavities4 ,these spots are also very variable in number1 sometimes there being none for nearly two hundred days1 and again whole years during which the sun is never without them4 ,the period from minimum to maximum ,page #ia of spots is about eleven years4 ,we might look for them again and again in vain this year 7#ahgh74 ,they will be most numerous in #ahhb and #ahic4 ,the cause of this periodicity was inferred to be the near approach of the enormous planet ,jupiter1 causing disturbance by its attraction4 ,but the periods do not correspond1 and the cause is the result of some law of solar action to us as yet unknown4 ,these spots may be seen with almost any telescope1 the eye being protected by deeply colored glasses4 ,until within one hundred years they were supposed to be islands of scori floating in the sea of molten matter4 ,but they were depressed below the surface1 and showed a notch when on the edge4 ,wilson originated and ,herschel developed the theory that the sun's real body was dark1 cool1 and habitable1 and that the photosphere was a luminous stratum at a distance from the real body1 with openings showing the dark spots below4 ,such a sun would have cooled off in a week1 but would previously have annihilated all life below4 ,the solar spots being most abundant on the two sides of the equator1 indicates their cyclonic character2 the centre of a cyclone is rarefied1 and therefore colder1 and cold on the sun is darkness4 ,m4 ,faye says3 ,like our cyclones1 they are descending1 as ,i have proved by a special study of these terrestrial phenomena4 ,they carry down into the depths of the solar mass the cooler materials of the upper layers1 formed principally of hydrogen1 and thus produce in their centre a decided extinction of light and heat as long as the gyratory movement continues4 ,finally1 the hydrogen set free at the base of the whirlpool becomes reheated at this ,page #ib great depth1 and rises up tumultuously around the whirlpool1 forming irregular jets1 which appear above the chromosphere4 ,these jets constitute the protuberances4 ,the whirlpools of the sun1 like those on the earth1 are of all dimensions1 from the scarcely visible pores to the enormous spots which we see from time to time4 ,they have1 like those of the earth1 a marked tendency1 first to increase and then to break up1 and thus form a row of spots extending along the same parallel4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cf4--,solar spot1 by ,langley4 ,a spot of #bj1jjj miles diameter is quite small2 there was one #ad1haf miles across1 visible to the naked eye for a week in #ahdc4 ,this particular sun-spot somewhat ,page #ic helped the ,millerites4 ,on the day of the eclipse1 in #aheh1 a spot over #ajg1jjj miles in extent was clearly seen4 ,in such vast tempests1 if there were ships built as large as the whole earth1 they would be tossed like autumn leaves in an ocean storm4 ,the revolution of the sun carries a spot across its face in about fourteen days4 ,after a lapse of as much more time1 they often reappear on the other side1 changed but recognizable4 ,they often break ont or disappear under the eye of the observer4 ,they divide like a piece of ice dropped on a frozen pond1 the pieces sliding off in every direction1 or combine like separate floes driven together into a pack4 ,sometimes a spot will last for more than two hundred days1 recognizable through six or eight revolutions4 ,sometimes a spot will last only half an hour4 ,the velocities indicated by these movements are incredible4 ,an up-rush and down-rush at the sides has been measured of twenty miles a second2 a side-rush or whirl1 of one hundred and twenty miles a second4 ,these tempests rage from a few days to half a year1 traversing regions so wide that our ,indian ,ocean1 the realm of storms1 is too small to be used for comparison2 then1 as they cease1 the advancing sides of the spots approach each other at the rate of #bj1jjj miles an hour2 they strike together1 and the rising spray of fire leaps thousands of miles into space4 ,it falls again into the incandescent surge1 rolls over mountains as the sea over pebbles1 and all this for eon after eon without sign of exhaustion or diminution4 ,all these swift succeeding ,himalayas of fire1 where one hundred worlds could be buried1 do not usually prevent the sun's appearing to our far-off eyes as a perfect sphere4 ,page #id ,what the ,sun does for us4 ,to what end does this enormous power1 this central source of power1 exist8 ,that it could keep all these gigantic forces within itself could not be expected4 ,it is in a system where every atom is made to affect every other atom1 and every world to influence every other4 ,the ,author of all lives only to do good1 to send rain on the just and unjust1 to cause his sun to rise on the evil and the good1 and to give his spirit1 like a perpetually widening river1 to every man to profit withal4 ,the sun reaches his unrelaxing hand of gravitation to every other world at every instant4 ,the tendency of every world is to fly off in a straight line4 ,this tendency must be momentarily curbed1 and the planet held in its true curve about the sun4 ,these giant worlds must be perfectly handled4 ,their speed1 amounting to seventy times as fast as that of a rifle-ball1 must be managed4 ,each and every world may be said to be lifted momentarily and swung perpetually at arm's-length by the power of the sun4 ,the sun warms us4 ,it would convey but a small idea of the truth to state how many hundreds of millions of cubic miles of ice could be hailed at the sun every second without affecting its heat2 but1 if any one has any curiosity to know1 it is #bhg1bjj1jjj cubic miles of ice per second4 ,we journey through space which has a temperature of #bjj below zero2 but we live1 as it were1 in a conservatory1 in the midst of perpetual winter4 ,we are roofed over by the air that treasures the heat1 floored under by strata both absorptive and retentive of heat1 ,page #ie and between the earth and air violets grow and grains ripen4 ,the sun has a strange chemical power4 ,it kisses the cold earth1 and it blushes with flowers and matures the fruit and grain4 ,we are feeble creatures1 and the sun gives us force4 ,by it the light winds move one-eighth of a mile an hour1 the storm fifty miles1 the hurricane one hundred4 ,the force is as the square of the velocity4 ,it is by means of the sun that the merchant's white-sailed ships are blown safely home4 ,so the sun carries off the miasma of the marsh1 the pollution of cities1 and then sends the winds to wash and cleanse themselves in the sea-spray4 ,the water-falls of the earth turn machinery1 and make ,lowells and ,manchesters possible1 because the sun lifted all that water to the hills4 ,intermingled with these currents of air are the currents of electric power1 all derived from the sun4 ,these have shown their swiftness and willingness to serve man4 ,the sun's constant force displayed on the earth is equal to #edc1jjj1jjj1jjj engines of #djj-;horse power each1 working day and night2 and yet the earth receives only #a_/baejjjjjjjj part of the whole force of the sun4 ,besides all this1 the sun1 with provident care1 has made and given to us coal4 ,this omnipotent worker has stored away in past ages an inexhaustible reservoir of his power which man may easily mine and direct1 thus releasing himself from absorbing toil4 ,,experiments4 ,any one may see the spots on the sun who has a spy-glass4 ,darken the room and put the glass through an opening toward the sun1 as shown in ,fig4 #cg4 ,the eye-piece should be drawn out about half an inch beyond ,page #if its usual focusing for distant objects4 ,the farther it is drawn1 the nearer must we hold the screen for a perfect image4 ,by holding a paper near the eye-piece1 the proper direction of the instrument may be discovered without injury to the eyes4 ,by this means the sun can be studied from day to day1 and its spots or the transits of ,mercury and ,venus shown to any number of spectators4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cg4--;,holding ,telescope to see the ,sun's ,spots4 ,first covering the eyes with very dark or smoked glasses1 erect a disk of pasteboard four inches in diameter between you and the sun2 close one eye2 stand near it1 and the whole sun is obscured4 ,withdraw from it till the sun's rays just shoot over the edge of the disk on every side4 ,measure the distance from the eye to the disk4 ,you will be able to determine the distance of the sun by the rule of three3 thus1 as four inches is to #hfj1jjj miles1 so is distance from eye to disk to distance from disk to the sun4 ,take such measurements at sunrise1 noon1 and sunset1 and see the apparently differing sizes due to refraction4 ,page #ig ,,vi4 ,,the ,,planets1 ,,as ,,seen ,,from ,,space4 ,he hangeth the earth upon nothing4--,job xxvi4 #g4 ,page #ih ,let a power be delegated to a finite spirit equal to the projection of the most ponderous planet in its orbit1 and1 from an exhaustless magazine1 let this spirit select his grand central orb4 ,let him with puissant arm locate it in space1 and1 obedient to his mandate1 there let it remain forever fixed4 ,he proceeds to select his planetary globes1 which he is now required to marshal in their appropriate order of distance from the sun4 ,heed well this distribution2 for should a single globe be misplaced1 the divine harmony is destroyed forever4 ,let us admit that finite intelligence may at length determine the order of combination2 the mighty host is arrayed in order4 ,these worlds1 like fiery coursers1 stand waiting the command to fly4 ,but1 mighty spirit1 heed well the grand step1 ponder well the direction in which thou wilt launch each wailing world2 weigh well the mighty impulse soon to be given1 for out of the myriads of directions1 and the myriads of impulsive forces1 there comes but a single combination that will secure the perpetuity of your complex scheme4 ,in vain does the bewildered finite spirit attempt to fathom this mighty depth4 ,in vain does it seek to resolve the stupendous problem4 ,it turns away1 and while endued with omnipotent power1 exclaims1 ',give to me infinite wisdom1 or relieve me from the impossible task6'-#j4 ,m4 ,,mitchel1 ,,ll4 ,d4 ,page #ii ,,vi4 ,,the ,,planets1 ,,as ,,seen ,,from ,,space ,if we were to go out into space a few millions of miles from either pole of the sun1 and were endowed with wonderful keenness of vision1 we should perceive certain facts1 viz3 ,that space is frightfully dark except when we look directly at some luminous body4 ,there is no air to bend the light out of its course1 no clouds or other objects to reflect it in a thousand directions4 ,every star is a brilliant point1 even in perpetual sunshine4 ,the cold is frightful beyond the endurance of our bodies4 ,there is no sound of voice in the absence of air1 and conversation by means of vocal organs being impossible1 it must be carried on by means of mind communication4 ,we see below an unrevolving point on the sun that marks its pole4 ,ranged round in order are the various planets1 each with its axis pointing in very nearly the same direction4 ,all planets1 except possibly ,venus1 and all moons except those of ,uranus and ,neptune1 present their equators to the sun4 ,the direction of orbital and axial revolution seen from above the ,north ,pole would be opposite to that of the hands of a watch4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ch4--,orbits and ,comparative ,sizes of the ,planets4 ,the speed of this orbital revolution must be proportioned to the distance from the sun4 ,the attraction of the sun varies inversely as the square of the distance4 ,page #ajj ,it holds a planet with a certain power2 one twice as far off1 with one-fourth that power4 ,this attraction must be counterbalanced by centrifugal force2 great force from great speed when attraction is great1 and small from less ,page #aja speed when attractive power is diminished by distance4 ,hence ,mercury must go #bi4e miles per second--seventy times as fast as a rifle-ball that goes two-fifths of a mile in a second--or be drawn into the sun2 while ,neptune1 seventy-five times as far off1 and hence attracted only #a_/efbf as much1 must be slowed down to #c4d miles a second to prevent its flying away from the feebler attraction of the sun4 ,the orbital velocity of the various planets in miles per second is as follows3 ,mercury #bi4ee ,jupiter #h4jf ,venus #ba4fa ,saturn #e4ie ,earth #ah4ch ,uranus #d4bj ,mars #ad4ii ,neptune #c4cf ,hence1 while the earth makes one revolution in its year1 ,mercury has made over four revolutions1 or passed through four years2 the slower ,neptune has made only #a_/afd of one revolution4 ,the time of axial revolution which determines the length of the day varies with different planets4 ,the periods of the four planets nearest the sun vary only half an hour from that of the earth1 while the enormous bodies of ,jupiter and ,saturn revolve in ten and ten and a quarter hours respectively4 ,this high rate of speed1 and its resultant1 centrifugal force1 has aided in preventing these bodies from becoming as dense as they would otherwise be--,jupiter being only #j4bd as dense as the earth1 and ,saturn only #j4ac4 ,this extremely rapid revolution produces a great flattening at the poles4 ,if ,jupiter should rotate four times more rapidly than it does1 it could not be held together compactly4 ,as it is1 the polar diameter is five thousand miles less than the equatorial3 the difference in diameters produced by the ,page #ajb same cause on the earth1 owing to the slower motion and smaller mass1 being only twenty-six miles4 ,the effect of this will be more specifically treated hereafter4 ,the difference in the size of the planets is very noticeable4 ,if we represent the sun by a gilded globe two feet in diameter1 we must represent ,vulcan and ,mercury by mustard-seeds2 ,venus1 by a pea2 ,earth1 by another2 ,mars1 by one-half the size2 ,asteroids1 by the motes in a sunbeam2 ,jupiter1 by a small-sized orange2 ,saturn1 by a smaller one2 ,uranus1 by a cherry2 and ,neptune1 by one a little larger4 ,apply the principle that attraction is in proportion to the mass1 and a man who weighs one hundred and fifty pounds on the earth weighs three hundred and ninety-six on ,jupiter1 and only fifty-eight on ,mars2 while on the ,asteroids he could play with bowlders for marbles1 hurl hills like ,milton's angels1 leap into the fifth-story windows with ease1 tumble over precipices without harm1 and go around the little worlds in seven jumps4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ci4--,orbit of ,earth1 showing ,parallelism of ,axis and ,seasons4 ,the seasons of a planet are caused by the inclination of its axis to the plane of its orbit4 ,in ,fig4 #ci the rotating earth is seen at ,a1 with its northern pole turning in constant sunlight1 and its southern pole in constant darkness2 everywhere south of the equator is more darkness than day1 and hence winter4 ,passing on to ,b1 the world is seen illuminated equally on each side of the equator4 ,every place has its twelve hours' darkness and light at each revolution4 ,but at ,c--the axis of the earth always preserving the same direction--the northern pole is shrouded in continual gloom4 ,every place ,page #aje north of the equator gets more darkness than light1 and hence winter4 ,the varying inclination of the axes of the different planets gives a wonderful variety to their seasons4 ,the sun is always nearly over the equator of ,jupiter1 and every place has nearly its five hours day and five hours night4 ,the seasons of ,earth1 ,mars1 and ,saturn are so much alike1 except in length1 that no comment is necessary4 ,the ice-fields at either pole of ,mars are observed to enlarge and contract1 according as it is winter or summer there4 ,saturn's seasons are each seven and a half years long4 ,the alternate darkness and light at the poles is fifteen years long4 ,but the seasons of ,venus present the greatest anomaly1 if its assigned inclination of axis 7#ge7 can be relied on as correct1 which is doubtful4 ,its tropic zone extends nearly to the pole1 and at the same time the winter at the other pole reaches the equator4 ,the short period of this planet causes it to present the south pole to the sun only one hundred and twelve days after it has been scorching the one at the north4 ,this gives two winters1 springs1 summers1 and autumns to the equator in two hundred and twenty-five days4 ,if each whirling world should leave behind it a trail of light to mark its orbit1 and our perceptions of form were sufficiently acute1 we should see that these curves of light are not exact circles1 but a little flattened into an ellipse1 with the sun always in one of the foci4 ,hence each planet is nearer to the sun at one part of its orbit than another2 that point is called the perihelion1 and the farthest point aphelion4 ,this eccentricity of orbit1 or distance of the sun from the centre1 is very small4 ,page #ajf ,in the case of ,venus it is only 4#jjg of the whole1 and in no instance is it more than 4#b1 viz41 that of ,mercury4 ,this makes the sun appear twice as large1 bright1 and hot as seen and felt on ,mercury at its perihelion than at its aphelion4 ,the earth is #c1bcf1jjj miles nearer to the sun in our winter than summer4 ,hence the summer in the southern hemisphere is more intolerable than in the northern4 ,but this eccentricity is steadily diminishing at a uniform rate1 by reason of the perturbing influence of the other planets4 ,in the case of some other planets it is steadily increasing1 and1 if it were to go on a sufficient time1 might cause frightful extremes of temperature2 but ,lalande has shown that there are limits at which it is said1 ,thus far shalt thou go1 and no farther4 ,then a compensative diminution will follow4 ,conceive a large globe1 to represent the sun1 floating in a round pond4 ,the axis will be inclined #g-a_/b to the surface of the water1 one side of the equator be #g-a_/b below the surface1 and the other side the same distance above4 ,let the half-submerged earth sail around the sun in an appropriate orbit4 ,the surface of the water will be the plane of the orbit1 and the water that reaches out to the shore1 where the stars would be set1 will be the plane of the ecliptic4 ,it is the plane of the earth's orbit extended to the stars4 ,the orbits of all the planets do not lie in the same plane1 but are differently inclined to the plane of the ecliptic1 or the plane of the earth's orbit4 ,going out from the sun's equator1 so as to see all the orbits of the planets on the edge1 we should see them inclined to that of the earth1 as in ,fig4 #dj4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dj4--;,inclination of the ,planes of ,orbits4 ,if the earth1 and ,saturn1 and ,pallas were lying in ,page #ajg the same direction from the sun1 and the outer bodies were to start in a direct line for the sun1 they would not collide with the earth on their way2 but ,saturn would pass #d1jjj1jjj and ,pallas #ej1jjj1jjj miles over our heads4 ,from this same cause we do not see ,venus and ,mercury make a transit across the disk of the sun at every revolution4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #da4--;,inclination of ,orbits of ,venus and ,earth4 ,nodal ,line1 ,d ,b4 ,fig4 #da shows a view of the orbits of the earth and ,venus seen not from the edge but from a position somewhat above4 ,the point ,e1 where ,venus crosses the plane of the earth's orbit1 is called the ascending node4 ,if the earth were at ,b when ,venus is at ,e1 ,venus would be seen on the disk of the sun1 making a transit4 ,the same would be true if the earth were at ,d1 and ,venus at the descending node ,f4 ,this general view of the flying spheres is full of interest4 ,page #ajh ,while quivering themselves with thunderous noises1 all is silent about them2 earthquakes may be struggling on their surfaces1 but there is no hint of contention in the quiet of space4 ,they are too distant from one another to exchange signals1 except1 perhaps1 the fleet of asteroids that sail the azure between ,mars and ,jupiter4 ,some of these come near together1 continuing to fill each other's sky for days with brightness1 then one gradually draws ahead4 ,they have all phases for each other--crescent1 half1 full1 and gibbous4 ,these hundreds of bodies fill the realm where they are with inexhaustible variety4 ,beyond are vast spaces--cold1 dark1 void of matter1 but full of power4 ,occasionally a little spark of light looms up rapidly into a world so huge that a thousand of our earths could not occupy its vast bulk4 ,it swings its four or eight moons with perfect skill and infinite strength2 but they go by and leave the silence unbroken1 the darkness unlighted for years4 ,nevertheless1 every part of space is full of power4 ,nowhere in its wide orbit can a world find a place2 at no time in its eons of flight can it find an instant when the sun does not hold it in safety and life4 ,the ,outlook from the ,earth4 ,if we come in from our wanderings in space and take an outlook from the earth1 we shall observe certain movements1 easily interpreted now that we know the system1 but nearly inexplicable to men who naturally supposed that the earth was the largest1 most stable1 and central body in the universe4 ,we see1 first of all1 sun1 moon1 and stars rise in the east1 mount the heavens1 and set in the west4 ,as ,i ,page #aji revolve in my pivoted study-chair1 and see all sides of the room--library1 maps1 photographs1 telescope1 and windows--,i have no suspicion that it is the room that whirls2 but looking out of a car-window in a depot at another car1 one cannot tell which is moving1 whether it be his car or the other4 ,in regard to the world1 we have come to feel its whirl4 ,we have noticed the pyramids of ,egypt lifted to hide the sun2 the mountains of ,hymettus hurled down1 so as to disclose the moon that was behind them to the watchers on the ,acropolis2 and the mighty mountains of ,moab removed to reveal the stars of the east4 ,train the telescope on any star2 it must be moved frequently1 or the world will roll the instrument away from the object4 ,suspend a cannon-ball by a fine wire at the equator2 set it vibrating north and south1 and it swings all day in precisely the same direction4 ,but suspend it directly over the north pole1 and set it swinging toward ,washington2 in six hours after it is swinging toward ,rome1 in ,italy2 in twelve hours1 toward ,siam1 in ,asia2 in nineteen hours1 toward the ,sandwich ,islands2 and in twenty-four1 toward ,washington again1 not because it has changed the plane of its vibration1 but because the earth has whirled beneath it1 and the torsion of the wire has not been sufficient to compel the plane of the original direction to change with the turning of the earth4 ,the law of inertia keeps it moving in the same direction4 ,the same experimental proof of revolution is shown in a proportional degree at any point between the pole and the equator4 ,but the watchers on the ,acropolis do not get turned over so as to see the moon at the same time every night4 ,page #aaj ,we turn down our eastern horizon1 but we do not find fair ,luna at the same moment we did the night before4 ,we are obliged to roll on for some thirty to fifty minutes longer before we find the moon4 ,it must be going in the same direction1 and it takes us longer to get round to it than if if it were always in the same spot2 so we notice a star near the moon one night--it is #ac west of the moon the next night4 ,the moon is going around the earth from west to east1 and if it goes #ac in one day1 it will take a little more than twenty-seven days to go the entire circle of #cfj4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #db4--,showing the ,sun's ,movement among the ,stars4 ,page #aaa ,in our outlook we soon observe that we do not by our revolution come to see the same stars rise at the same hour every night4 ,orion and the ,pleiades1 our familiar friends in the winter heavens1 are gone from the summer sky4 ,have they fled1 or are we turned from them8 ,this is easily understood from ,fig4 #db4 ,when the observer on the earth at ,a looks into the midnight sky he sees the stars at ,e2 but as the earth passes on to ,b1 he sees those stars at ,e three minutes sooner every night2 and at midnight the stars at ,f are over his head4 ,thus in a year1 by going around the sun1 we have every star of the celestial dome in our midnight sky4 ,we see also how the sun appears among the successive constellations4 ,when we are at ,a1 we see the sun among the stars at ,g2 but as we move toward ,b1 the sun appears to move toward ,h4 ,if we had observed the sun rise on the #bjth of ,august1 #ahgf1 we should have seen it rise a little before ,regulus1 and a little south of it1 in such a relation as circle #a is to the star in ,fig4 #dc4 ,by sunset the earth had moved enough to make the sun appear to be at circle #b1 and by the next morning at circle #c1 at which time ,regulus would rise before the sun4 ,thus the earth's motion seems to make the sun traverse a regular circle among the stars once a year3 but it is not the sun that moves4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dc4 ,there are certain stars that have such irregular1 uncertain1 vagarious ways that they were called vagabonds1 or planets1 by the early astronomers4 ,here is the path of ,jupiter in the year #ahff 7,fig4 #dd74 ,these bodies go forward for awhile1 then stop1 start aside1 then retrograde1 ,page #aab and go on again4 ,some are never seen far from the sun1 and others in all parts of the ecliptic4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dd4 ,first see them as they stand to-day1 as in ,fig4 #de4 ,the observer stands on the earth at ,a4 ,it has rolled over so far that he cannot see the sun2 it has set4 ,but ,venus is still in sight2 ,jupiter is #de behind ,venus1 and ,saturn is seen #ij farther east4 ,when ,a has rolled a little farther1 if he is awake1 he will see ,mars before he sees the sun2 or1 in common language1 ,venus will set after1 and ,mars rise before the sun4 ,all these bodies at near and far distances seem set in the starry dome1 as the different stars seem in ,fig4 #db1 p4 #aaj4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #de4 ,showing ,position of ,planets4 ,the mysterious movements of advance and retreat are rendered intelligible by ,fig4 #df4 ,the planet ,mercury is at ,a1 and1 seen from the earth1 ,b is located at a1 ,page #aac on the background of the stars it seems to be among4 ,it remains apparently stationary at a for some time1 because approaching the earth in nearly a straight line4 ,passing ,d to ,c1 it appears to retrograde among the stars to c2 remains apparently stationary for some time1 then1 in passing from ,c to ,e and ,a1 appears to pass back among the stars to a4 ,the progress of the earth1 meanwhile1 although it greatly retards the apparent motion from ,a to ,c1 greatly hastens it from ,c to ,a4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #df4--;,apparent ,movements of an ,inferior ,planet4 ,it is also apparent that ,mercury and ,venus1 seen from the earth1 can never appear far from the sun4 ,they must be just behind the sun as evening stars1 or just before it as heralds of the morning4 ,venus is never more than #dg from the sun1 and ,mercury never more than #cj2 indeed1 it keeps so near the sun that very few people have ever seen the brilliant sparkler4 ,observe how much larger the planet appears near the earth in conjunction at ,d than in opposition at ,e4 ,observe also what phases it must present1 and how transits sometimes take place4 ,page #aad ,the movement of a superior planet1 one whose orbit is exterior to the earth1 is clear from ,fig4 #dg4 ,when the earth is at ,a and ,mars at ,b1 it will appear among the stars at ,c4 ,when the earth is at ,d1 ,mars having moved more slowly to ,e1 will have retrograded to ,f4 ,it remains there while the earth passes on1 in a line nearly straight1 from ,mars to ,g2 then1 as the earth begins to curve around the sun1 ,mars will appear to retraverse the distance from ,f to ,c1 and beyond4 ,the farther the superior planet is from the earth the less will be the retrograde movement4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dg4--;,illustrating ,movements of a ,superior ,planet4 ,the reader should draw the orbits in proportion1 and1 remembering the relative speed of each planet1 note the movement of each in different parts of their orbits4 ,to account for these most simple movements1 the earlier astronomers invented the most complex and impossible machinery4 ,they thought the earth the centre1 and that the sun1 moon1 and stars were carried about it1 as stoves around a person to warm him4 ,they thought these strange movements of the planets were accomplished by mounting them on subsidiary eccentric wheels in the revolving crystal sphere4 ,all that was ,page #aae needed to give them a right conception was a sinking of their world and themselves to an appropriate proportion1 and an enlargement of their vision1 to take in from an exalted stand-point a view of the simplicity of the perfect plan4 ,,experiments4 ,fix a rod1 or tube1 or telescope pointing at a star in the cast or west1 and the earth's revolution will be apparent in a moment1 turning the tube away from the star4 ,point it at stars about the north pole1 and those on one side will be found going in an opposite direction from those on the other1 and very much slower than those about the equator4 ,anyone can try the pendulum experiment who has access to some lofty place from which to suspend the ball4 ,it was tried in ,bunker ,hill ,monument a few years ago1 and is to be tried in ,paris1 in the summer of #ahgi1 with a seven-hundred-pound pendulum and a suspending wire seventy yards long4 ,the advance and retrograde movements of planets can be illustrated by two persons walking around a centre and noticing the place where the person appears projected on the wall beyond4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,procession ,,of ,,stars ,,and ,,souls4 ,i stood upon the open casement1 ,and looked upon the night1 ,and saw the westward-going stars ,pass slowly out of sight4 ,slowly the bright procession ,went down the gleaming arch1 ,and my soul discerned the music ,of the long triumphal march2 ,till the great celestial army1 ,stretching far beyond the poles1 ,became the eternal symbol ,of the mighty march of souls4 ,page #aaf ,onward1 forever onward1 ,red ,mars led on his clan2 ,and the moon1 like a maild maiden1 ,was riding in the van4 ,and some were bright in beauty1 ,and some were faint and small1 ,but these might be1 in their great heights1 ,the noblest of them all4 ,downward1 forever downward1 ,behind earth's dusky shore1 ,they passed into the unknown night-- ,they passed1 and were no more4 ,no more6 ,oh1 say not so6 ,and downward is not just2 ,for the sight is weak and the sense is dim ,that looks through heated dust4 ,the stars and the maild moon1 ,though they seem to fall and die1 ,still sweep in their embattled lines ,an endless reach of sky4 ,and though the hills of ,death ,may hide the bright array1 ,the marshalled brotherhood of souls ,still keeps its onward way4 ,upward1 forever upward1 ,i see their march sublime1 ,and hear the glorious music ,of the conquerors of ,time4 ,and long let me remember ,that the palest fainting one ,may to diviner vision be ,a bright and blazing sun4 ,,thomas ,,buchanan ,,read4 ,page #aag ,,vii4 ,,shooting-,,stars1 ,,meteors1 ,,and ,,comets4 ,the ,lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto ,azekah1 and they died4--,joshua x4 ,,ii4 ,page #aah ,illustration3 ,a ,,swarm ,,of ,,meteors ,,meeting ,,the ,,earth4 ,their orbits are all parallel4 ,those coming in direct line to the eye appear as stars1 having no motion4 ,those on one side of this line are seen in foreshortened perspective4 ,those furthest from the centre1 other things being equal1 appear longest4 ,the centre1 called the radiant point1 of these ,november meteors is situated in ,leo2 that of the ,august meteors in ,perseus4 ,over fifty such radiant points have been discovered4 ,over #cj1jjj meteors have been visible in an hour4 ,page #aai ,,vii4 ,,shooting-,,stars1 ,,meteors1 ,,and ,,comets4 ,before particularly considering the larger aggregations of matter called planets or worlds as individuals1 it is best to investigate a part of the solar system consisting of smaller collections of matter scattered everywhere through space4 ,they are of various densities1 from a cloudlet of rarest gas to solid rock2 of various sizes1 from a grain's weight to little worlds2 of various relations to each other1 from independent individuality to related streams millions of miles long4 ,when they become visible they are called shooting-stars1 which are evanescent star-points darting through the upper air1 leaving for an instant a brilliant train2 meteors1 sudden lights1 having a discernible diameter1 passing over a large extent of country1 often exploding with violence 7,fig4 #dh71 and throwing down upon the earth aerolites2 and comets1 vast extents of ghostly light1 that come we know not whence and go we know not whither4 ,all these forms of matter are governed by the same laws as the worlds1 and are an integral part of the solar system--a part of the unity of the universe4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dh4--;,explosion of a ,bolide4 ,everyone has seen the so-called shooting-stars4 ,they break out with a sudden brilliancy1 shoot a few degrees with quiet speed1 and are gone before we can say1 ,see there6 ,the cause of their appearance1 the ,page #abj conversion of force into heat by their contact with our atmosphere1 has been already explained4 ,other facts remain to be studied4 ,they are found to appear about seventy-three miles above the earth1 and to disappear about twenty miles nearer the surface4 ,their average velocity1 thirty-five1 sometimes rises to one hundred miles a second4 ,they exhibit different colors1 according to their different chemical substances1 which are consumed4 ,the number of them to be seen on different nights is exceedingly variable2 sometimes not more ,page #aba than five or six an hour1 and sometimes so many that a man cannot count those appearing in a small section of sky4 ,this variability is found to be periodic4 ,there are everywhere in space little meteoric masses of matter1 from the weight of a grain to a ton1 and from the density of gas to rock4 ,the earth meets #g1ejj1jjj little bodies every day--there is collision--the little meteoroid gives out its lightning sign of extinction1 and1 consumed in fervent heat1 drops to the earth as gas or dust4 ,if we add the number light enough to be seen by a telescope1 they cannot be less than #djj1jjj1jjj a day4 ,everywhere we go1 in a space as large as that occupied by the earth and its atmosphere1 there must be at least #ac1jjj bodies--one in #bj1jjj1jjj cubic miles--large enough to make a light visible to the naked eye1 and forty times that number capable of revealing themselves to telescopic vision4 ,professor ,peirce is about to publish1 as the startling result of his investigations1 that the heat which the earth receives directly from meteors is the same in amount which it receives from the sun by radiation1 and that the sun receives five-sixths of its heat from the meteors that fall upon it4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #di4--;,bolides4 ,page #aba ,in #aghc ,dr4 ,schmidt was fortunate enough to have a telescopic view of a system of bodies which had turned into meteors4 ,these were two larger bodies followed by several smaller ones1 going in parallel lines till they were extinguished4 ,they probably had been revolving about each other as worlds and satellites before entering our atmosphere4 ,it is more than probable that the earth has many such bodies1 too small to be visible1 revolving around it as moons4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ej4--,santa ,rosa ,aerolite4 ,aerolites4 ,sometimes the bodies are large enough to bear the heat1 and the unconsumed centre comes to the earth4 ,page #abc ,their velocity has been lessened by the resisting air1 and the excessive heat diminished4 ,still1 if found soon after their descent1 they are too hot to be handled4 ,these are called aerolites or air-stones4 ,there was a fall in ,iowa1 in ,february1 #ahge1 from which fragments amounting to five hundred pounds weight were secured4 ,on the evening of ,december #bast1 #ahgf1 a meteor of unusual size and brilliancy passed over the states of ,kansas1 ,missouri1 ,illinois1 ,indiana1 and ,ohio4 ,it was first seen in the western part of ,kansas1 at an altitude of about sixty miles4 ,in crossing the ,state of ,missouri it began to explode1 and this breaking up continued while passing ,illinois1 ,indiana1 and ,ohio1 till it consisted of a large flock of brilliant balls chasing each other across the sky1 the number being variously estimated at from twenty to one hundred4 ,it was accompanied by terrific explosions1 and was seen along a path of not less than a thousand miles4 ,when first seen in ,kansas1 it is said to have appeared as large as the full moon1 and with a train from twenty-five to one hundred feet long4 ,another1 very similar in appearance and behavior1 passed over a part of the same course in ,february1 #ahgi4 ,at ,laigle1 ,france1 on ,april #bfth1 #ahjc1 about one o'clock in the day1 from two to three thousand fell4 ,the largest did not exceed seventeen pounds weight4 ,one fell in ,weston1 ,connecticut1 in #ahjg1 weighing two hundred pounds4 ,a very destructive shower is mentioned in the book of ,joshua1 chap4 x4 ver4 #aa4 ,these bodies are not evenly distributed through space4 ,in some places they are gathered into systems which circle round the sun in orbits as certain as those of the ,page #abd planets4 ,the chain of asteroids is an illustration of meteoric bodies on a large scale4 ,they are hundreds in number--meteors are millions4 ,they have their region of travel1 and the sun holds them and the giant ,jupiter by the same power4 ,the ,power that cares for a world cares for a sparrow4 ,if their orbit so lies that a planet passes through it1 and the planet and the meteors are at the point of intersection at the same time1 there must be collisions1 and the lightning signs of extinction proportioned to the number of little bodies in a given space4 ,it is demonstrated that the earth encounters more than one hundred such systems of meteoric bodies in a single year4 ,it passes through one on the #ajth of ,august1 another on the #aath of ,november4 ,in a certain part of the first there is an agglomeration of bodies sufficient to become visible as it approaches the sun1 and this is known as the comet of #ahfb2 in the second is a similar agglomeration1 known as ,temple's comet4 ,it is repeating the same thing to say that meteoroids follow in the train of the comets4 ,the probable orbit of the ,november meteors and the comet of #ahff is an exceedingly elongated ellipse1 embracing the orbit of the earth at one end and a portion of the orbit of ,uranus at the other 7,fig4 #ea74 ,that of the ,august meteors and the comet of #ahfb embraces the orbit of the earth at one end1 and thirty per cent4 of the other end is beyond the orbit of ,neptune4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ea4--,orbit of the ,november ,meteors and the ,comet or #ahff4 ,in ,january1 #ahdf1 ,biela's comet was observed to be divided4 ,at its next return1 in #aheb1 the parts were #a1ejj1jjj miles apart4 ,they could not be found on their periodic returns in #ahei1 #ahfe1 and #ahgb2 but it ,page #abe should have crossed the earth's orbit early in ,september1 #ahgb4 ,the earth itself would arrive at the point of crossing two or three months later4 ,if the law of revolution held1 we might still expect to find some of the trailing meteoroids of the comet not gone by on our arrival4 ,it was shown that the point of the earth that would strike them would be toward a certain place in the constellation of ,andromeda1 if the remains of the diluted comet were still there4 ,the prediction was verified in every respect4 ,at the appointed time1 place1 ,page #abf and direction1 the streaming lights were in our sky4 ,that these little bodies belonged to the original comet none can doubt4 ,by the perturbations of planetary attraction1 or by different original velocities1 a comet may be lengthened into an invisible stream1 or an invisible stream agglomerated till it is visible as a comet4 ,comets4 ,comets will be most easily understood by the foregoing considerations4 ,they are often treated as if they were no part of the solar system2 but they are under the control of the same laws1 and owe their existence1 motion1 and continuance to the same causes as ,jupiter and the rest of the planets4 ,they are really planets of wider wandering1 greater ellipticity1 and less density4 ,they have periodic times less than the earth1 and fifty times as great as ,neptune4 ,they are little clouds of gas or meteoric matter1 or both1 darting into the solar system from every side1 at every angle with the plane of the ecliptic1 becoming luminous with reflected light1 passing the sun1 and returning again to outer darkness4 ,sometimes they have no tail1 having a nucleus surrounded by nebulosity like a dim sun with zodiacal light2 sometimes one tail1 sometimes half a dozen4 ,these follow the comet to perihelion1 and precede it afterward 7,fig4 #eb74 ,the orbits of some comets are enormously elongated2 one end may lie inside the earth's orbit1 and the other end be as far beyond ,neptune as that is from the sun4 ,of course only a small part of such a curve can be studied by us3 the comet is visible only when near the sun4 ,the same curve around the sun may be an orbit that will bring it back again1 ,page #abg or one that will carry it off into infinite space1 never to return4 ,one rate of speed on the curve indicates an elliptical orbit that returns2 a greater rate of speed indicates that it will take a parabolic orbit1 which never returns4 ,the exact rate of speed is exceedingly difficult to determine2 hence it cannot be confidently asserted that any comet ever visible will not return4 ,they may all belong to the solar system2 but some will certainly be gone thousands of years before their fiery forms will greet the watchful eyes of dwellers on the earth4 ,a comet that has an elliptic orbit may have it changed to ,page #abh parabolic by the accelerations of its speed1 by attracting planets2 or a parabolic comet may become elliptic1 and so permanently attracted to the system by the retardations of attracting bodies4 ,a comet of long period may be changed to one of short period by such attraction1 or vice versa4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #eb4--;,aspects of ,remarkable ,comets4 ,the number of comets1 like that of meteor streams1 is exceedingly large4 ,five hundred have been visible to the naked eye since the ,christian era4 ,two hundred have been seen by telescopes invented since their invention4 ,some authorities estimate the number belonging to our solar system by millions2 ,professor ,peirce says more than five thousand millions4 ,famous ,comets4 ,the comet of #afhj is perhaps the one that appeared in ,a4,d4 #dd1 soon after the death of ,julius ,csar1 also in the reign of ,justinian1 ,a4,d4 #eca1 and in #aajf4 ,this is not determined by any recognizable resemblance4 ,it had a tail #gj long2 it was not all arisen when its head reached the meridian4 ,it is possible1 from the shape of its orbit1 that it has a periodic time of nine thousand years1 or that it may have a parabolic orbit1 and never return4 ,observations taken two hundred years ago have not the exactness necessary to determine so delicate a point4 ,on ,august #aith1 #afhb1 ,halley discovered a comet which he soon declared to be one seen by ,kepler in #afjg4 ,looking back still farther1 he found that a comet was seen in #aeca having the same orbit4 ,still farther1 by the same exact period of seventy-five years1 he found that it was the same comet that had disturbed ,page #abi the equanimity of ,pope ,calixtus in #adef4 ,calculations were undertaken as to the result of all the accelerations and retardations by the attractions of all the planets for the next seventy-five years4 ,there was not time to finish all the work2 but a retardation of six hundred and eighteen days was determined1 with a possible error of thirty days4 ,the comet actually came to time within thirty-three days1 on ,march #abth1 #agei4 ,again its return was calculated with more laborious care4 ,it came to time and passed the sun within three days of the predicted time1 on the #afth of ,november1 #ahce4 ,it passed from sight of the most powerful telescopes the following ,may1 and has never since been seen by human eye4 ,but the eye of science sees it as having passed its aphelion beyond the orbit of ,neptune in #ahgc1 and is already hastening back to the warmth and light of the sun4 ,it will be looked for in #aiaa2 and there is good hope of predicting1 long before it is seen1 the time of its perihelion within a day4 ,biela's lost ,comet4--,this was a comet with a periodic time of six years and eight months4 ,it was observed in ,january1 #ahdf1 to have separated into two parts of unequal brightness4 ,the lesser part grew for a month until it equalled the other1 then became smaller and disappeared1 while the other was visible a month longer4 ,at disappearance the parts were #bjj1jjj miles asunder4 ,on its next return1 in #aheb1 the parts were #a1ejj1jjj miles apart2 sometimes one was brighter and sometimes the other2 which was the fragment and which was the main body could not be recognized4 ,they vanished in ,september1 #aheb1 and have never been seen since4 ,three revolutions have been made since that time1 but no ,page #acj trace of it could be discovered4 ,probably the same influence that separated it into parts1 separated the particles till too thin and tenuous to be seen4 ,there is ground for believing that the earth passed through a part of it1 as before stated under the head of meteors4 ,the ,great ,comet of #ahdc passed nearer the sun than any known body4 ,it almost grazed the sun4 ,if it ever returns1 it will be in ,a4,d4 #bcgc4 ,donati's ,comet of #aheh4--,this was one of the most magnificent of modern times4 ,during the first three months it showed no tail1 but from ,august to ,october it had developed one forty degrees in length4 ,its period is about two thousand years4 ,every reader remembers the comet of the summer of #ahge4 ,encke's ,comet4--,this comet has become famous for its supposed confirmation of the theory that space was filled with a substance infinitely tenuous1 which resisted the passage of this gaseous body in an appreciable degree1 and in long ages would so retard the motion of all the planets that gravitation would draw them all one by one into the sun4 ,we must not be misled by the term retardation to suppose it means behind time1 for a retarded body is before time4 ,if its velocity is diminished1 the attraction of the sun causes it to take a smaller orbit1 and smaller orbits mean increased speed--hence the supposed retardation would shorten its periodic time4 ,this comet was thought to be retarded two and a half hours at each revolution4 ,if it was1 it would not prove the existence of the resisting medium4 ,other causes1 unknown to us1 might account for it4 ,subsequent and more exact calculations fail to find any retardations in at least two revolutions between #ahfe and ,page #aca #ahga4 ,indications point to a retardation of one and a half hours both before and since4 ,but such discrepancy of result proves nothing concerning a resisting medium1 but rather is an argument against its existence4 ,besides1 ,faye's comet1 in four revolutions of seven years each1 shows no sign of retardation4 ,the truth may be this1 that a kind of atmosphere exists around the sun1 perhaps revealed by the zodiacal light1 that reaches beyond where ,encke's comet dips inside the orbit of ,mercury1 and thus retards this body1 but does not reach beyond the orbit of ,mars1 where ,faye's comet wheels and withdraws4 ,of what do ,comets consist8 ,the unsolved problems pertaining to comets are very numerous and exceedingly delicate4 ,whence come they8 ,why did they not contract to centres of nebul8 ,are there regions where attractions are balanced1 and matter is left to contract on itself1 till the movements of suns and planets adds or diminishes attractive force on one side1 and so allows them to be drawn slowly toward one planet1 and its sun1 or another8 ,there is ground for thinking that the comet of #ahff and its train of meteors1 visible to us in ,november1 was thus drawn into our system by the planet ,uranus4 ,indeed1 ,leverrier has conjecturally fixed upon the date of ,a4,d4 #abh as the time when it occurred2 but another and closer observation of its next return1 in #ahii1 will be needed to give confirmation to the opinion4 ,our sun's authority extends at least half-way to the nearest fixed star1 one hundred thousand times farther than the orbit of the earth4 ,meteoric and cometary matter lying ,page #acb there1 in a spherical shell about the solar system1 balanced between the attraction of different suns1 finally feels the power that determines its destiny toward our sun4 ,it would take #afg1jjj1jjj years to come thence to our system4 ,the conditions of matter with which we are acquainted do not cover all the ground presented by these mysterious visitors4 ,we know a gas sixteen times as light as air1 but hydrogen is vastly too heavy and dense2 for we see the faintest star through thousands of miles of cometary matter2 we know that water may become cloudy vapor1 but a little of it obscures the vision4 ,into what more ethereal1 and we might almost say spiritual1 forms matter may be changed we cannot tell4 ,but if we conceive comets to be only gas1 it would expand indefinitely in the realms of space1 where there is no force of compression but its own4 ,we might say that comets are composed of small separate masses of matter1 hundreds of miles apart2 and1 looking through thousands of miles of them1 we see light enough reflected from them all to seem continuous4 ,doubtless that is sometimes the case4 ,but the spectroscope shows another state of things3 it reveals in some of these comets an incandescent gas--usually some of the combinations of carbon4 ,the conclusion1 then1 naturally is that there are both gas and small masses of matter1 each with an orbit of its own nearly parallel to those of all the others1 and that they afford some attraction to hold the mass of intermingled and confluent gas together4 ,our best judgment1 then1 is that the nucleus is composed of separate bodies1 or matter in a liquid condition1 capable of being vaporized by the heat of the sun1 and driven off1 ,page #acc as steam from a locomotive1 into a tail4 ,indications of this are found in the fact that tails grow smaller at successive returns1 as the matter capable of such vaporization becomes condensed4 ,in some instances1 as in that of the comet of #ahdc1 the head was diminished by the manufacture of a tail4 ,on the other hand1 ,professor ,peirce showed that the nucleus of the comets of #afhj1 #ahdc1 and #aheh must have had a tenacity equal to steel1 to prevent being pulled apart by the tidal forces caused by its terrible perihelion sweep around the sun4 ,it is likely that there are great varieties of condition in different comets1 and in the same comet at times4 ,we see them but a few days out of the possible millions of their periodic time2 we see them only close to the sun1 under the spur of its tremendous attraction and terrible heat4 ,this gives us ample knowledge of the path of their orbit and time of their revolution1 but little ground for judgment of their condition1 when they slowly round the uttermost cape of their far-voyaging1 in the terrible cold and darkness1 to commence their homeward flight4 ,the unsolved problems are not all in the distant sun and more distant stars1 but one of them is carried by us1 sometimes near1 sometimes far off2 but our acquaintance with the possible forms and conditions of matter is too limited to enable us to master the difficulties4 ,will ,comets strike the ,earth8 ,very likely1 since one or two have done so within a recent period4 ,what will be the effect8 ,that depends on circumstances4 ,there is good reason to suppose we passed through the tail of a comet in #ahfa1 and the only ,page #acd observable effect was a peculiar phosphorescent mist4 ,if the comet were composed of small meteoric masses a brilliant shower would be the result4 ,but if we fairly encountered a nucleus of any considerable mass and solidity1 the result would be far more serious4 ,the mass of ,donati's comet has been estimated by ,m4 ,faye to be #a_/bjjjj of that of the earth4 ,if this amount of matter were dense as water1 it would make a globe five hundred miles in diameter2 and if as dense as ,professor ,peirce proved the nucleus of this comet to be1 its impact with the earth would develop heat enough to melt and vaporize the hardest rocks4 ,happily there is little fear of this3 as ,professor ,newcomb says1 ,so small is the earth in comparison with celestial space1 that if one were to shut his eyes and fire at random in the air1 the chance of bringing down a bird would be better than that of a comet of any kind striking the earth4 ,besides1 we are not living under a government of chance1 but under that of an ,almighty ,father1 who upholdeth all things by the word of his power2 and no world can come to ruin till he sees that it is best4 ,page #ace ,,viii4 ,,the ,,planets ,,as ,,individuals4 ,through faith we understand that the worlds plural were framed by the word of ,god1 so that things which were seen were not made of things which do appear4--,heb4 xi4 #c4 ,page #acf ,o rich and various man6 ,thou palace of sight and sound1 carrying in thy senses the morning1 and the night1 and the unfathomable galaxy2 in thy brain the geometry of the city of ,god2 in thy heart the power of love1 and the realms of right and wrong4 ,an individual man is a fruit which it costs all the foregoing ages to form and ripen4 ,he is strong1 not to do but to live2 not in his arms1 but in his heart2 not as an agent1 but as a fact4--,,emerson4 ,page #acg ,,vii4 ,,the ,,planets ,,as ,,individuals4 ,how many bodies there may be revolving about the sun we have no means to determine or arithmetic to express4 ,when the new star of the ,american ,republic appeared1 there were but six planets discovered4 ,since then three regions of the solar system have been explored with wonderful success4 ,the outlying realms beyond ,saturn yielded the planet ,uranus in #agha1 and ,neptune in #ahdf4 ,the middle region between ,jupiter and ,mars yielded the little planetoid ,ceres in #ahja1 ,pallas in #ahjb1 and one hundred and ninety others since4 ,the inner region between ,mercury and the sun is of necessity full of small meteoric bodies2 the question is1 are there any bodies large enough to be seen8 ,the same great genius of ,leverrier that gave us ,neptune from the observed perturbations of ,uranus1 pointed out perturbations in ,mercury that necessitated either a planet or a group of planetoids between ,mercury and the sun4 ,theoretical astronomers1 aided by the fact that no planet had certainly been seen1 and that all asserted discoveries of one had been by inexperienced observers1 inclined to the belief in a group1 or that the disturbance was caused by the matter reflecting the zodiacal light4 ,when the total eclipse of the sun occurred in #ahgh1 ,page #ach astronomers were determined that the question of the existence of an intra-mercurial planet should be settled4 ,maps of all the stars in the region of the sun were carefully studied1 sections of the sky about the sun were assigned to different observers1 who should attend to nothing but to look for a possible planet4 ,it is now conceded that ,professor ,watson1 of ,ann ,arbor1 actually saw the sought-for body4 ,,vulcan4 ,the god of fire2 its sign ,symbol1 his hammer4 ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #ac1jjj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,orbital ,,revolution1 ,,about #bj ,,days4 ,,mercury4 ,the swift messenger of the gods2 sign ,symbol1 his caduceus4 ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #ce1gej1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 #biib ,,miles4 ,,orbital ,,revolution1 #hg4ig ,,days4 ,,orbital ,,velocity1 #aggc ,,miles ,,per ,,minute4 ,,axial ,,revolution1 #bd;,h4 #e,m4 ,mercury shines with a white light nearly as bright as ,sirius2 is always near the horizon4 ,when nearly between us and the sun1 as at ,d 7,fig4 #df1 p4 #aac71 its illuminated side nearly opposite to us1 we1 looking from ,e1 see only a thin crescent of its light4 ,when it is at its greatest angular distance from the sun1 as ,a or ,c1 we see it illuminated like the half-moon4 ,when it is beyond the sun1 as at ,e1 we see its whole illuminated face like the full-moon4 ,the variation of its apparent size from the varying distance is very striking4 ,at its extreme distance from the earth it subtends an angle of only five seconds2 nearest to us1 an angle of twelve seconds4 ,its distance from the earth varies nearly as one to three1 and its apparent size in the inverse ratio4 ,page #aci ,when ,mercury comes between the earth and the sun1 near the line where the planes of their orbits cut each other by reason of their inclination1 the dark body of ,mercury will be seen on the bright surface of the sun4 ,this is called a transit4 ,if it goes across the centre of the sun it may consume eight hours4 ,it goes #ajj1jjj miles an hour1 and has #hfj1jjj miles of disk to cross4 ,the transit of #ahah occupied seven and a half hours4 ,the transits for the remainder of the century will occur3 ,november #gth #ahha ,november #ajth #ahid ,may #ith #ahia ,november #dth #aija ,,venus4 ,goddess of beauty2 its sign ,symbol1 a mirror4 ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #ff1gej1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 #gffj ,,miles4 ,,orbital ,,velocity1 #abif ,,miles ,,per ,,minute4 ,,axial ,,revolution1 #bc;,h4 #ba,m4 ,,orbital ,,revolution1 #bbd4g ,,days4 ,this brilliant planet is often visible in the daytime4 ,i was once delighted by seeing ,venus looking down1 a little after mid-day through the open space in the dome of the ,pantheon at ,rome4 ,it has never since seemed to me as if the home of all the gods was deserted4 ,phoebus1 ,diana1 ,venus and the rest1 thronged through that open upper door at noon of night or day4 ,arago relates that ,bonaparte1 upon repairing to ,luxemburg when the ,directory was about to give him a fte1 was much surprised at seeing the multitude paying more attention to the heavens above the palace than to him or his brilliant staff4 ,upon inquiry1 he learned that these curious persons were observing with astonishment a star which they supposed to be that of the conqueror of ,italy4 ,the emperor himself was not indifferent when ,page #adj his piercing eye caught the clear lustre of ,venus smiling upon him at mid-day4 ,this unusual brightness occurs when ,venus is about five weeks before or after her inferior conjunction1 and also nearest overhead by being north of the sun4 ,this last circumstance occurs once in eight years1 and came on ,february #afth1 #ahgh4 ,venus may be as near the earth as #bb1jjj1jjj miles1 and as far away as #afj1jjj1jjj4 ,this variation of its distances from the earth is obviously much greater than that of ,mercury1 and its consequent apparent size much more changeable4 ,its greatest and least apparent sizes are as ten and sixty-five 7,fig4 #ec74 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ec4--,phases of ,venus1 and ,varions ,apparent ,dimensions4 ,when ,copernicus announced the true theory of the solar system1 he said that if the inferior planets could be clearly seen they would show phases like the moon4 ,when ,galileo turned the little telescope he had made on ,venus1 he confirmed the prophecy of ,copernicus4 ,desiring to take time for more extended observation1 and still be able to assert the priority of his discovery1 he published the following anagram1 in which his discovery was contained3 ,page #ada ,hc immatura a me jam frustra leguntur o4 y4 7,these unripe things are now vainly gathered by me47 ,he first saw ,venus as gibbous2 a few months revealed it as crescent1 and then he transposed his anagram into3 ,cynthi figuras mulatur mater amorum4 7,the mother of loves imitates the phases of ,cynthia47 ,many things that were once supposed to be known concerning ,venus are not confirmed by later and better observations4 ,venus is surrounded by an atmosphere so dense with clouds that it is conceded that her time of rotation and the inclination of her axis cannot be determined4 ,she revealed one of the grandest secrets of the universe to the first seeker2 showed her highest beauty to her first ardent lover1 and has veiled herself from the prying eyes of later comers4 ,florence has built a kind of shrine for the telescope of ,galileo4 ,by it he discovered the phases of ,venus1 the spots on the sun1 the mountains of the moon1 the satellites of ,jupiter1 and some irregularities of shape in ,saturn1 caused by its rings4 ,galileo subsequently became blind1 but he had used his eyes to the best purpose of any man in his generation4 ,,the ,,earth4 ,its sign ,symbol4 ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #ib1ejj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 ,,polar1 #ghii ,,miles2 ,,equatorial1 #gibe-a_/b ,,miles4 ,,axial ,,revolution1 #bc;,h4 #ef,m4 #d4ji,s42 ,,orbital1 #cfe4hf4 ,,orbital ,,velocity ,,per ,,minute1 #aaeb4h ,,miles4 ,let us lift ourselves up a thousand miles from the earth4 ,we see it as a ball hung upon nothing in empty space4 ,as the drop of falling water gathers itself ,page #adb into a sphere by its own inherent attraction1 so the earth gathers itself into a ball4 ,noticing closely1 we see forms of continents outlined in bright relief1 and oceanic forms in darker surfaces4 ,we see that its axis of revolution is nearly perpendicular to the line of light from the sun4 ,one-half is always dark4 ,the sunrise greets a new thousand miles every hour2 the glories of ,page #adc the sunset follow over an equal space1 #ahj behind4 ,we are glad that the darkness never overtakes the morning4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ed4--;,earth and ,moon in ,space4 ,the ,aurora ,borealis4 ,while east and west are gorgeous with sunrise and sunset1 the north is often more glorious with its aurora borealis4 ,we remember that all worlds have weird and inexplicable appendages4 ,they are not limited to their solid surfaces or their circumambient air4 ,the sun has its fiery flames1 corona1 zodiacal light1 and perhaps a finer kind of atmosphere than we know4 ,the earth is ,page #add not without its inexplicable surroundings4 ,it has not only its gorgeous eastern sunrise1 its glorious western sunset1 high above its surface in the clouds1 but it also has its more glorious northern dawn far above its clouds and air4 ,the realm of this royal splendor is as yet an unconquered world waiting for its ,alexander4 ,there are certain observable facts1 viz41 it prevails mostly near the arctic circle rather than the pole2 it takes on various forms--cloud-like1 arched1 straight2 it streams like banners1 waves like curtains in the wind1 is inconstant2 is either the cause or result of electric disturbance2 it is often from four hundred to six hundred miles above the earth1 while our air cannot be over one hundred miles4 ,it almost seems like a revelation to human eyes of those vast1 changeable1 panoramic pictures by which the inhabitants of heaven are taught4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ee4--,the ,aurora as ,waving ,curtains4 ,investigation has discovered far more mysteries than it has explained4 ,it is possible that the same cause that produces sun-spots produces aurora in all space1 visible in all worlds4 ,if so1 we shall see more abundant auroras at the next maximum of sun-spot1 between #ahhj-hd4 ,the ,delicate ,balance of ,forces4 ,a soap-bubble in the wind could hardly be more flexible in form and sensitive to influence than is the earth4 ,on the morning of ,may #ith1 #ahgf1 the earth's crust at ,peru gave a few great throbs upward1 by the action of expansive gases within4 ,the sea fled1 and returned in great waves as the land rose and fell4 ,then these waves fled away over the great mobile surface1 and in less than five hours they had covered a space equal to half of ,europe4 ,the waves ran out to the ,sandwich ,islands1 six ,page #ade thousand miles1 at the rate of five hundred miles an hour1 and arrived there thirty feet high4 ,they not only sped on in straight radial lines1 but1 having run up the coast to ,california1 were deflected away into the former series of waves1 making the most complex undulations4 ,similar beats of the great heart of the earth have sent its pulses as widely and rapidly on previous occasions4 ,the figure of the earth1 even on the ocean1 is irregular1 in consequence of the greater preponderance of land--and hence greater density--in the northern hemisphere4 ,these irregularities are often very perplexing in making exact geodetic measurements4 ,the tendency of matter to fly from the centre by reason of revolution causes the equatorial diameter to be twenty-six1 miles longer than the polar one4 ,by this force the ,mississippi ,river is enabled to run up a hill nearly three miles high at a very rapid rate4 ,its mouth is that distance farther from the centre of the earth than its source1 when but for this rotation both points would be equally distant4 ,if the water became more dense1 or if the world were to revolve faster1 the oceans would rush to the equator1 burying the tallest mountains and leaving polar regions bare4 ,if the water should become lighter in an infinitesimal degree1 or the world rotate more slowly1 the poles would be submerged and the equator become an arid waste4 ,no balance1 turning to #a_/ajjj of a grain1 is more delicate than the poise of forces on the world4 ,laplace has given us proof that the period of the earth's axial rotation has not changed #a_/ajj of a second of time in two thousand years4 ,page #adf ,tides4 ,but there is an outside influence that is constantly acting upon the earth1 and to which it constantly responds4 ,two hundred and forty thousand miles from the earth is the moon1 having #a_/ha the mass of the world4 ,its attractive influence on the earth causes the movable and nearer portions to hurry away from the more stable and distant1 and heap themselves up on that part of the earth nearest the moon4 ,gravitation is inversely as the square of the distance2 hence the water on the surface of the earth is attracted more than the body of the earth1 some parts of which are eight thousand miles farther off2 hence the water rises on the side next the moon4 ,but the earth1 as a whole1 is nearer the moon than the water on the opposite side1 and being drawn more strongly1 is taken away from the water1 leaving it heaped up also on the side opposite to the moon4 ,a subsidiary cause of tides is found in the revolution of the earth and moon about their common centre of gravity4 ,revolution about an axis through the centre of a sphere enlarges the equator by centrifugal force4 ,revolution about an axis touching the surface of a flexible globe converts it into an egg-shaped body1 with the longer axis perpendicular to the axis of revolution4 ,in ,fig4 #ef the point of revolution is seen at the centre of gravity at ,g2 hence1 in the revolution of earth and moon as one1 a strong centrifugal force is caused at ,d1 and a less one at ,c4 ,this gives greater height to the tides than the attraction of the moon alone could produce4 ,page #adg ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ef4 ,if the earth had no axial revolution1 the attractive point where the tide rises would be carried around the earth once in twenty-seven days by the moon's revolution about the earth4 ,but since the earth revolves on its axis1 it presents a new section to the moon's attraction every hour4 ,if the moon were stationary1 that would bring two high tides in exactly twenty-four hours2 but as the moon goes forward1 we need nearly twenty-five hours for two tides4 ,the attractive influence of the sun also gives us a tide four-tenths as great as that of the moon4 ,when these two influences of the sun and moon combine1 as they do1 in conjunction--when both bodies are on one side of the earth2 or in opposition1 sun and moon being on opposite sides of the earth--we have spring or increased tides4 ,when the moon is in its first or third quarter1 i4 e41 when a line from the moon to the earth makes a right angle with one from the sun to the earth1 these influences antagonize one another1 and we have the neap or low tides4 ,it is easy to see that if1 when the moon was drawing its usual tide1 the sun drew four-tenths of the water in a tide at right angles with it1 the moon's tide must be by so much lower4 ,because of the inertia of the water ,page #adh it does not yield instantly to the moon's influence1 and the crest of the tide is some hours behind the advancing moon4 ,the amount of tide in various places is affected by almost innumerable influences1 as distance of moon at its apogee or perigee2 its position north1 south1 or at the equator2 distance of earth from sun at perihelion and aphelion2 the position of islands2 the trend of continents1 etc4 ,all eastern shores have far greater tides than western4 ,as the earth rolls to the east it leaves the tide-crest under the moon to impinge on eastern shores1 hence the tides of from seventy-five to one hundred feet in the ,bay of ,fundy4 ,lakes and most seas are too small to have perceptible tides4 ,the spring-tides in the ,mediterranean ,sea are only about three inches4 ,this constant ebb and flow of the great sea is a grand provision for its purification4 ,even the wind is sent to the sea to be cleansed4 ,the sea washes every shore1 purifies every cove1 bay1 and river twice every twenty-four hours4 ,all putrescible matter liable to breed a pestilence is carried far from shore and sunk under fathoms of the never-stagnant sea4 ,the distant moon lends its mighty power to carry the burdens of commerce4 ,she takes all the loads that can be floated on her flowing tides1 and cheerfully carries them in opposite directions in successive journeys4 ,it must be conceded that the profoundest study has not mastered the whole philosophy of tides4 ,there are certain facts which are apparent1 but for an explanation of their true theory such men as ,laplace1 ,newton1 and ,airy have labored in vain4 ,there are plenty of other worlds still to conquer4 ,page #aej ,illustration3 ,fig4 #eg4--,lunar ,day4 ,page #aea ,,the ,,moon4 ,new moon1 ,symbol2 first quarter1 ,symbol2 full moon1 ,symbol2 last quarter1 ,symbol4 ,,extreme ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,earth1 #bei1fjj ,,miles2 ,,least1 #bba1jjj ,,miles2 ,,mean1 #bdj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 #bafd4f ,,miles #baec1 ,,lockyer4 ,,revolution ,,about ,,the ,,earth1 #bi-a_/b ,,days4 ,,axial ,,revolution1 ,,same ,,time4 ,when the astronomer ,herschel was observing the southern sky from the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 the most clever hoax was perpetrated that ever was palmed upon a credulous public4 ,some new and wonderful instruments were carefully described as having been used by that astronomer1 whereby he was enabled to bring the moon so close that he could see thereon trees1 houses1 animals1 and men-like human beings4 ,he could even discern their movements1 and gestures that indicated a peaceful race4 ,the extent of the hoax will be perceived when it is stated that no telescope that we are now able to make reveals the moon more clearly than it would appear to the naked eye if it was one hundred or one hundred and fifty miles away4 ,the distance at which a man can be seen by the unaided eye varies according to circumstances of position1 background1 light1 and eye1 but it is much inside of five miles4 ,since1 however1 the moon is our nearest neighbor1 a member of our own family in fact1 it is a most interesting object of study4 ,a glance at its familiar face reveals its unequal illumination4 ,all ages and races have seen a man in the moon4 ,all lovers have sworn by its constancy1 and only part of them have kept their oaths4 ,every twenty-nine or thirty days we see a silver crescent in the west1 and are glad if it comes over the right shoulder--so ,page #aeb much tribute does habit pay to superstition4 ,the next night it is thirteen degrees farther east from the sun4 ,we note the stars it occults1 or passes by1 and leaves behind as it broadens its disk1 till it rises full-orbed in the east when the sun sinks in the west4 ,it is easy to see that the moon goes around the earth from west to east4 ,afterward it rises later and smaller each night1 till at length1 lost from sight1 it rises about the same time as the sun1 and soon becomes the welcome crescent new moon again4 ,the same peculiarities are always evident in the visible face of the moon2 hence we know that it always presents the same side to the earth4 ,obviously it must make just one axial to one orbital revolution4 ,hold any body before you at arm's-length1 revolve it one-quarter around you until exactly overhead4 ,if it has not revolved on an axis between the hands1 another quarter of the surface is visible2 but if in going up it is turned a quarter over1 by the hands holding it steady1 the same side is visible4 ,three causes enable us to see a little more than half the moon's surface3 #a4 ,the speed with which it traverses the ellipse of its orbit is variable4 ,it sometimes gets ahead of us1 sometimes behind1 and we see farther around the front or back part4 #b4 ,the axis is a little inclined to the plane of its orbit1 and its orbit a little inclined to ours2 hence we see a little over its north pole1 and then again over the south pole4 #c4 ,the earth being larger1 its inhabitants see a little more than half-way around a smaller body4 ,these causes combined enable us to see #egf_/ajjj of the moon's surface4 ,our eyes will never see the other side of the moon4 ,if1 now1 being solid1 her axial revolution could ,page #aec be increased enough to make one more revolution in two or three years1 that difference between her axial and orbital revolution would give the future inhabitants of the earth a view of the entire circumference of the moon4 ,yet if the moon were once in a fluid state1 or had oceans on the surface1 the enormous tide caused by the earth would produce friction enough1 as they moved over the surface1 to gradually retard the axial revolution till the two tidal elevations remained fixed toward and opposite the earth1 and then the axial and orbital revolutions would correspond1 as at present4 ,in fact1 we can prove that the form of the moon is protuberant toward the earth4 ,its centre of gravity is thirty-three miles beyond its centre of magnitude1 which is the same in effect as if a mountain of that enormous height rose on the earth side4 ,hence any fluid1 as water or air1 would flow round to the other side4 ,the moon's day1 caused by the sun's light1 is #bi-a_/b times as long as ours4 ,the sun shines unintermittingly for fifteen days1 raising a temperature as fervid as boiling water4 ,then darkness and frightful cold for the same time succeed1 except on that half where the earth acts as a moon4 ,the earth presents the same phases--crescent1 full1 and gibbous--to the moon as the moon does to us1 and for the same causes4 ,lord ,rosse has been enabled1 by his six-foot reflector1 to measure the difference of heat on the moon under the full blaze of its noonday and midnight4 ,he finds it to be no less than five hundred degrees4 ,people not enjoying extremes of temperature should shun a lunar residence4 ,the moon gives us only #a_/fahjjjj as much light as the sun4 ,a sky full of moons would scarcely make daylight4 ,page #aed ,illustration3 ,fig4 #eh4--,view of the ,moon near the ,third ,quarter4 ,from a ,photograph by ,professor ,henry ,draper4 ,there are no indications of air or water on the moon4 ,when it occults a star it instantly shuts off the light and as instantly reveals it again4 ,an atmosphere would gradually diminish and reveal the light1 and by refraction ,page #aee cause the star to be hidden in much less time than the solid body of the moon would need to pass over it4 ,if the moon ever had air and water1 as it probably did1 they are now absorbed in the porous lava of its substance4 ,telescopic ,appearance4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ei4--;,illumination of ,craters and ,peaks4 ,probably no one ever saw the moon by means of a good telescope without a feeling of admiration and awe4 ,except at full-moon1 we can see where the daylight struggles with the dark along the line of the moon's sunrise or sunset4 ,this line is called the terminator4 ,it is broken in the extreme1 because the surface is as rough as possible4 ,in consequence of the small gravitation of the moon1 utter absence of the expansive power of ice shivering the cliffs1 or the levelling power of rains1 precipices can stand in perpendicularity1 mountains shoot up like needles1 and cavities three miles deep remain unfilled4 ,the light of the sun falling on the rough body of the moon1 shown in section 7,fig4 #ei71 illuminates the whole cavity at a1 part of the one at b1 casts a long shadow from the mountain at c1 and touches the tip of the one at d1 which appears to a distant observer as a point of light beyond the terminator1 ,as the moon revolves the conical cavity1 a is illuminated on the forward side only2 the light creeps down the backward side of cavity b to the bottom2 mountain c4 comes directly under the sun and casts no shadow1 and mountain d casts its long shadow over the plain4 ,knowing the time of revolution1 and observing the change of ,page #aef illumination1 we can easily measure the height of mountain and depth of crater4 ,an apple1 with excavations and added prominences1 revolved on its axis toward the light of a candle1 admirably illustrates the crescent light that fills either side of the cavities and the shadows of the mountains on the plain4 ,notice in ,fig4 #eh the crescent forms to the right1 showing cavities in abundance4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fj4--,lunar ,crater ,copernicus1 after ,secchi4 ,the selenography of one side of the moon is much better known to us than the geography of the earth4 ,our maps of the moon are far more perfect than those of the earth2 and the photographs of lunar objects by ,messrs4 ,draper and ,de la ,rue are wonderfully perfect1 ,page #aeg and the drawings of ,padre ,secchi equally so 7,fig4 #fj74 ,the least change recognizable from the earth must be speedily detected4 ,there are frequently reports of discoveries of volcanoes on the moon1 but they prove to be illusions4 ,the moon will probably look the same to observers a thousand years hence as it does to-day4 ,this little orb1 that is only #a_/ha of the mass of the earth1 has twenty-eight mountains that are higher than ,mont ,blanc1 that monarch of mountains1 in ,europe4 ,eclipses4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fa4--;,eclipses2 ,shadows of ,earth and ,moon4 ,it is evident that if the plane of the moon's orbit were to correspond with that of the earth1 as they all lie in the plane of the page 7,fig4 #fa71 the moon must pass between the centres of the earth and sun1 and exactly behind the earth at every revolution4 ,such successive and total darkenings would greatly derange all affairs dependent on light4 ,it is easily avoided4 ,venus does ,page #aeh not cross the disk of the sun at every revolution1 because of the inclination of the plane of its orbit to that of the earth 7see ,fig4 #da1 p4 #ajg74 ,so the plane of the orbit of the moon is inclined to the orbit of the earth #e #h' #ci2 hence the full-moon is often above or below the earth's shadow1 and the earth is below or above the moon's shadow at new moon4 ,it is as if the moon's orbit were pulled up one-quarter of an inch from the page behind the earth1 and depressed as much below it between the earth and the sun4 ,the point where the orbit of the moon penetrates the plane of the ecliptic is called a node4 ,if a new moon occur when the line of intersection of the planes of orbits points to the sun1 the sun must be eclipsed2 if the full-moon occur1 the moon must be eclipsed4 ,in any other position the sun or moon will only be partially hidden1 or no eclipse will occur4 ,if the new moon be near the earth it will completely obscure the sun4 ,a dime covers it if held close to the eye4 ,it may be so far from the earth as to only partially hide the sun2 and1 if it cover the centre1 leave a ring of sunlight on every side4 ,this is called an annular eclipse4 ,two such eclipses will occur this year 7#ahgi74 ,if the full-moon passes near the earth1 or is at perigee1 it finds the cone of shadow cast by the earth larger1 and hence the eclipse is greater2 if it is far from the earth1 or near apogee1 the earth's shadow is smaller1 and the eclipse less1 or is escaped altogether4 ,there is a certain periodicity in eclipses4 ,whenever the sun1 moon1 and earth are in a line1 as in the total eclipse of ,july #bith1 #ahgh1 they will be in the same position after the earth has made about eighteen revolutions1 ,page #aei and the moon two hundred and sixteen--that is1 eighteen years after4 ,this period1 however1 is disregarded by astronomers1 and each eclipse calculated by itself to the accuracy of a second4 ,how terrible is the fear of ignorance and superstition when the sun or moon appear to be in the process of destruction6 how delightful are the joys of knowledge when its prophesies in regard to the heavenly bodies are being fulfilled6 ,,mars4 ,the god or war2 ,its sign ,symbol1 spear and shield4 ,,mean ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #ada1jjj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 #dbaa ,,miles4 ,,revolution1 ,,axial1 #bd;,h4 #cg,m4 #bb4g,s42 ,,orbital1 #fhf4ih ,,days4 ,,velocity ,,per ,,minute1 #hii ,,miles4 ,,satellites1 ,,two4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fb4--;,apparent ,size of ,mars at ,mean and ,extreme ,distances4 ,at intervals1 on an average of two years one month and nineteen days1 we find rising1 as the sun goes down1 the reddest star in the heavens4 ,its brightness is exceedingly variable2 sometimes it scintillates1 and sometimes it shines with a steady light4 ,its marked peculiarities demand a close study4 ,we find it to be ,mars1 the fiery god of war4 ,its orbit is far from circular4 ,at perihelion it is #abh1jjj1jjj miles from the sun1 and at aphelion #aed1jjj1jjj2 hence its mean distance is about #ada1jjj1jjj4 ,so great a change in its distance from the sun easily accounts for the change in its brilliancy4 ,now1 if ,mars and the earth revolved in circular orbits1 the one #ada1jjj1jjj miles from the sun1 and the other #ib1jjj1jjj1 they would approach at conjunction within #di1jjj1jjj miles of each other1 and at opposition be #bcc1jjj1jjj miles apart4 ,but ,mars at perihelion may be only #abh1jjj1jjj miles from the sun1 and earth at ,page #afj aphelion may be #id1jjj1jjj miles from the sun4 ,they are1 then1 but #cd1jjj1jjj miles apart4 ,this favorable opportunity occurs about once in seventy-nine years4 ,at its last occurrence1 in #ahgg1 ,mars introduced to us his two satellites1 that had never before been seen by man4 ,in consequence of this greatly varying distance1 the apparent size of ,mars differs very much 7,fig4 #fb74 ,take a favorable time when the planet is near1 also as near overhead as it ever comes1 so as to have as little atmosphere as possible to penetrate1 and study the planet4 ,the first thing that strikes the observer is a dazzling spot of white near the pole which happens to be toward him1 or at both poles when the planet is so situated that they can be seen4 ,when the north pole is turned toward the sun the size of the spot sensibly diminishes1 and the spot at the south pole enlarges1 and vice versa4 ,clearly they are ice-fields4 ,hence ,mars has water1 and air to carry it1 and heat to melt ice4 ,it is winter at the south pole when ,mars is farthest from the sun2 therefore the ice-fields are larger than at the north pole4 ,it is summer at the south pole when ,mars is nearest the sun4 ,hence its ice-fields grow smaller ,page #afa than those of the north pole in its summer4 ,this carrying of water from pole to pole1 and melting of ice over such large areas1 might give rise to uncomfortable currents in ocean and air2 but very likely an inhabitant of earth might be transported to the surface of ,mars1 and be no more surprised at what he observed there than if he went to some point of the earth to him unknown4 ,day and night would be nearly of the same length2 winter would linger longer in the lap of spring2 summer would be one hundred and eighty-one days long2 but as the seas are more intermingled with the land1 and the divisions of land have less of continental magnitude1 it may be conjectured that ,mars might be a comfortable place of residence to beings like men4 ,perhaps the greatest surprise to the earthly visitor would be to find himself weighing only four-tenths as much as usual1 able to leap twice as high1 and lift considerable bowlders4 ,satellites of ,mars4 ,the night of ,august #aath1 #ahgg1 is famous in modern astronomy4 ,mars has been a special object of study in all ages2 but on that evening ,professor ,hall1 of ,washington1 discovered a satellite of ,mars4 ,on the #afth it was seen again1 and its orbital motion followed4 ,on the following night it was hidden behind the body of the planet when the observation began1 but at the calculated time--at four o'clock in the morning--it emerged1 and established its character as a true moon1 and not a fixed star or asteroid4 ,blessings1 however1 never come singly1 for another object soon emerged which proved to be an inner satellite4 ,this is extraordinarily near ,page #afb the planet--only four thousand miles from the surface--and its revolution is exceedingly rapid4 ,the shortest period hitherto known is that of the inner satellite of ,saturn1 #bb;h4 #cgm4 ,the inner satellite of ,mars makes its revolution in #g;h4 #cim4--a rapidity so much surpassing the axial revolution of the planet itself1 that it rises in the west and sets in the east1 showing all phases of our moon in one night4 ,the outer satellite is #ab1egi miles from ,mars1 and makes its revolution in #cj;h4 #ahm4 ,its diameter is six and a quarter miles2 that of the inner one is seven and a half miles4 ,this can be estimated only by the amount of light given4 ,,asteroids4 ,,already ,,discovered 7#ahgi71 #aib4 ,,distances ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 ,,from #bjj1jjj1jjj ,,to #cae1jjj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameters1 ,,from #bj ,,to #djj ,,miles4 ,,mass ,,of ,,all1 ,,less ,,than ,,one-,,quarter ,,of ,,the ,,earth4 ,the sense of infinite variety among the countless number of celestial orbs has been growing rapidly upon us for half a century1 and doubtless will grow much more in half a century to come4 ,just as we paused in the consideration of planets to consider meteors and comets1 at first thought so different1 so must we now pause to consider a ring of bodies1 some of which are as small in comparison to ,jupiter1 the next planet1 as aerolites are compared to the earth4 ,in #ahjj an association of astronomers1 suspecting that a planet might be found in the great distance between ,mars and ,jupiter1 divided the zodiac into twenty-four parts1 and assigned one part to each astronomer for a thorough search2 but1 before their organization could commence work1 ,piazzi1 an ,italian astronomer of ,palermo1 ,page #afc found in ,taurus a star behaving like a planet4 ,in six weeks it was lost in the rays of the sun4 ,it was rediscovered on its emergence1 and named ,ceres4 ,in ,march1 #ahjb1 a second planet was discovered by ,olbers in the same gap between ,mars and ,jupiter1 and named ,pallas4 ,here was an embarrassment of richness4 ,olbers suggested that an original planet had exploded1 and that more pieces could be found4 ,more were found1 but the theory is exploded into more pieces than a planet could possibly be4 ,up to #ahgi one hundred and ninety-two have been discovered1 with a prospect of more4 ,between #ahga-ge forty-five were discovered1 showing that they are sought for with great skill4 ,in the discovery of these bodies1 our ,american astronomers1 ,professors ,watson and ,peters1 are without peers4 ,between ,mars and ,jupiter is a distance of some #cci1jjj1jjj miles4 ,subtract #ce1jjj1jjj miles next to ,mars and #ej1jjj1jjj miles next to ,jupiter1 and there is left a zone #bed1jjj1jjj miles wide outside of which the asteroids never wander4 ,if any ever did1 the attraction of ,mars or ,jupiter may have prevented their return4 ,since the orbits of ,mars and ,jupiter show no sign of being affected by these bodies for a century past1 it is probable that their number is limited1 or at least that their combined mass does not approximate the size of a planet4 ,professor ,newcomb estimates that if all that are now discovered were put into one planet1 it would not be over four hundred miles in diameter2 and if a thousand more should exist1 of the average size of those discovered since #ahej1 their addition would not increase the diameter to more than five hundred miles4 ,page #afd ,that all these bodies1 which differ from each other in no respect except in brilliancy1 can be noted and fixed so as not to be mistaken one for another1 and instantly recognized though not seen for a dozen years1 is one of the highest exemplifications of the accuracy of astronomical observation4 ,,jupiter4 ,the king of the gods2 sign ,symbol1 the bird of ,jove4 ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 ,,perihelion1 #deg1jjj1jjj ,,miles2 ,,aphelion1 #ejc1jjj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 ,,equatorial1 #hg1ejj ,,miles2 ,,polar1 #hb1ejj ,,miles4 ,,volume1 #acjj ,,earths4 ,,mass1 #bac ,,earths4 ,,axial ,,revolution1 #i;,h4 #ee,m #bj,s4 ,,orbital ,,revolution1 #aa ,,years #cag ,,days4 ,,velocity1 #dhc4f ,,miles ,,per ,,minute4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fc4--;,jupiter as seen by the great ,washington ,telescope4 ,drawn by ,mr4 ,holden4 ,jupiter rightly wears the name of the giant planet4 ,his orbit is more nearly circular than most smaller planets4 ,he could not turn short corners with facility4 ,we know little of his surface4 ,his spots and belts are ,page #afe changeable as clouds1 which they probably are4 ,some spots may be slightly self-luminous1 but not the part of the planet we see4 ,it is covered with an enormous depth of atmosphere4 ,since the markings in the belts move about one hundred miles a day1 the ,jovian tempests are probably not violent4 ,it is1 however1 a singular and unaccountable fact1 as remarked by ,arago1 that its trade-winds move in an opposite direction from ours4 ,jupiter receives only one twenty-seventh as much light and heat from the sun as the earth receives4 ,its lighter density1 being about that of water1 indicates that it still has internal heat of its own4 ,indeed1 it is likely that this planet has not yet cooled so as to have any solid crust1 and if its dense vapors could be deposited on the surface1 its appearance might be more suggestive of the sun than of the earth4 ,satellites of ,jupiter4 ,in one respect ,jupiter seems like a minor sun--he is royally attended by a group of planets3 we call them moons4 ,this system is a favorite object of study to everyone possessing a telescope4 ,indeed1 ,i have known a man who could see these moons with the naked eye1 and give their various positions without mistake4 ,galileo first revealed them to ordinary men4 ,we see their orbits so nearly on the edge that the moons seem to be sliding back and forth across and behind the disk1 and to varying distances on either side4 ,fig4 #fd is the representation of their appearance at successive observations in ,november1 #ahgh4 ,their motion is so swift1 and the means of comparison by one another and the planet so excellent1 that they can be seen to change their places1 ,page #aff be occulted1 emerge from shadow1 and eclipse the planet1 in an hour's watching4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fd4--;a4 ,various ,positions of ,jupiter's ,moons2 b4 ,greatest ,elongation of each ,satellite4 ,,elements ,,of ,,jupiter',s ,,satellites4 ---------------------------------------- --------------------- ,mean ,distance from ,jupiter4 ,sidereal ,period4 ,diameter4 ---------------------------------------- --- ,miles4 ,days ,hrs4 ,min4 ,miles4 ,i4 ,io #bfj1jjj #a #ah #bh #b1ceb ,,ii4 ,europa #dad1jjj #c #ac #dc #b1jii ,,iii4 ,ganymede #ffa1jjj #g #c #ei #c1dcf ,,iv4 ,callisto #a1afb1jjj #af #ah #e #b1ibi ---------------------------------------- --------------------- ,it is seen by the above table that all these moons are larger than ours1 one larger than ,mercury1 and the asteroids are hardly large enough to make respectable moons for them4 ,they differ in color3 ,i4 and ,,ii4 have a bluish tinge2 ,,iii4 a yellow2 and ,,iv4 is red4 ,the amount of light given by these satellites varies in the most sudden and inexplicable manner4 ,perhaps it may be owing to the different distributions of land and water on them4 ,the mass of all of them is 4#jjjaga of ,jupiter4 ,page #afg ,if the ,jovian system were the only one in existence1 it would be a surprising object of wonder and study4 ,a monster planet1 #he1jjj miles in diameter1 hung on nothing1 revolving its equatorial surface forty-five miles a minute1 holding four other worlds in steady orbits1 some of them at a speed of seven hundred miles a minute1 and the whole system carried through space at five hundred miles a minute4 ,yet the discovery of all this display of power1 skill1 and stability is only reading the easiest syllables of the vast literature of wisdom and power4 ,,saturn4 ,the god or time2 sign ,symbol1 his scythe4 ,,mean ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #hha1jjj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 ,,polar1 #ff1ejj ,,miles2 ,,equatorial1 #gc1cjj ,,miles4 ,,axial ,,revolution1 #aj;,h4 #ad,m4 ,,periodic ,,time1 #bi,t ,,years4 ,,moons1 ,,eight4 ,the human mind has used ,saturn and the two known planets beyond for the last #bjj years as a gymnasium4 ,it has exercised itself in comprehending their enormous distances in order to clear those greater spaces1 to where the stars are set2 it has exercised its ingenuity at interpreting appearances which signify something other than they seem1 in order that it may no longer be deluded by any sunrises into a belief that the heavenly dome goes round the earth4 ,that a wandering point of light should develop into such amazing grandeurs under the telescope1 is as unexpected as that every tiny seed should show peculiar markings and colors under the microscope4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fe4--,view of ,saturn and his ,rings4 ,there are certain things that are easy to determine1 such as size1 density1 periodic time1 velocity1 etc42 but other things are exceedingly difficult to determine4 ,it requires long sight to read when the book is held ,page #afh #hjj1jjj1jjj miles away4 ,only very few1 if more than two1 opportunities have been found to determine the time of ,saturn's rotation4 ,on the evening of ,december #gth1 #ahgj1 ,professor ,hall observed a brilliant white spot suddenly show itself on the body of this planet4 ,it was as if an eruption of white hot matter burst up from the interior4 ,it spread eastward1 and remained bright till ,january1 when it faded4 ,no such opportunity for getting a basis on which to found a calculation of the time of the rotation of ,saturn has occurred since ,sir ,william ,herschel's observations2 and1 very singularly1 the two times deduced wonderfully coincide--that of ,herschel being #aj;h4 #afm41 that of ,mr4 ,hall being #aj;h4 #adm4 ,page #afi ,the density of ,saturn is less than that of water1 and its velocity of rotation so great that centrifugal force antagonizes gravitation to such an extent that bodies weigh on it about the same as on the earth4 ,all the fine fancies of the habitability of this vaporous world1 all the calculations of the number of people that could live on the square miles of the planet and its enormous rings1 are only fancy4 ,nothing could live there with more brains than a fish1 at most4 ,it is a world in formative processes4 ,we cannot hear the voice of the ,creator there1 but we can see matter responsive to the voice1 and moulded by his word4 ,rings of ,saturn4 ,the eye and mind of man have worked out a problem of marvellous difficulty in finding a true solution of the strange appearance of the rings4 ,galileo has the immortal honor of first having seen something peculiar about this planet4 ,he wrote to the ,duke of ,tuscany1 ,when ,i view ,saturn it seems tricorps4 ,the central body seems the largest4 ,the two others1 situated1 the one on the east1 and the other on the west1 seem to touch it4 ,they are like two supporters1 who help old ,saturn on his way1 and always remain at his side4 ,looking a few years later1 the rings having turned from view1 he said1 ,it is possible that some demon mocked me2 and he refused to look any more4 ,huyghens1 in ,march1 #afee1 solved the problem of the triform appearance of ,saturn4 ,he saw them as handles on the two sides4 ,in a year they had disappeared1 and the planet was as round as it seemed to ,galileo in #afab4 ,he did not1 however1 despair2 and in ,october1 ,page #agj #afef1 he was rewarded by seeing them appear again4 ,he wrote of ,saturn1 ,it is girdled by a thin plain ring1 nowhere touching1 inclined to the ecliptic4 ,since that time discoveries have succeeded one another rapidly4 ,we have seen by degrees a ring evolved out of a triform planet1 and the great division of the ring and the irregularities on it brought to light4 ,enceladus1 and coy ,mimas1 faintest of twinklers1 are caught by ,herschel's giant mirrors4 ,and he1 too1 first of men1 realizes the wonderful tenuity of the ring1 along which he saw those satellites travelling like pearls strung on a silver thread4 ,then ,bond comes on the field1 and furnishes evidence to show that we must multiply the number of separate rings we know not how many fold4 ,and here we reach the golden age of ,saturnian discovery1 when ,bond1 with the giant refractor of ,cambridge1 and ,dawes1 with his #f-a_/c-;inch ,munich glass1 first beheld that wonderful dark semi-transparent ring1 which still remains one of the wonders of our system4 ,but the end is not yet3 on the southern surface of the ring1 ere summer fades into autumn1 ,otto ,struve in turn comes upon the field1 detects1 as ,dawes had previously done1 a division even in the dark ring1 and measures it1 while it is invisible to ,lassell's mirror--a proof1 if one were needed1 of the enormous superiority possessed by refractors in such inquiries4 ,then we approach #ahfa1 when the ring plane again passes through the earth1 and ,struve and ,wray observe curious nebulous appearances499 ,footnote 993 ,lockyer4 ,our opportunities for seeing ,saturn vary greatly4 ,as the earth at one part of its orbit presents its south pole ,page #aga to the sun1 then its equator1 then the north pole1 so ,saturn2 and we1 in the direction of the sun1 see the south side of the rings inclined at an angle of #bg2 next the edge of the rings1 like a fine thread of light2 then the north side at a similar inclination4 ,on ,february #gth1 #ahgh1 ,saturn was between ,aquarius and ,pisces1 with the edge of the ring to the sun4 ,in #ahhe1 the planet being in ,taurus1 the south side of the rings will be seen at the greatest advantage4 ,from #ahha till #ahhe all circumstances will combine to give most favorable studies of ,saturn4 ,meanwhile study the picture of it4 ,the outer ring is narrow1 dark1 showing hints of another division1 sometimes more evident than at others1 as if it were in a state of flux4 ,the inner1 or second1 ring is much brighter1 especially on the outer edge1 and shading off to the dusky edge next to the planet4 ,there is no sign of division into a third dusky innermost ring1 as was plainly seen by ,bond4 ,this1 too1 may be in a state of flux4 ,the markings of the planet are delicate1 difficult of detection1 and are not like those stark zebra stripes that are so often represented4 ,the distance between the planet and the second ring seems to be diminished one-half since #afeg1 and this ring has doubled its breadth in the same time4 ,some of this difference may be owing to our greater telescopic power1 enabling us to see the ring closer to the planet2 but in all probability the ring is closing in upon the central body1 and will touch it by ,a4,d4 #baej4 ,thus the whole ring must ultimately fall upon the planet1 instead of making a satellite4 ,we are anxious to learn the nature of such a ring4 ,page #agb ,laplace mathematically demonstrated that it cannot be uniform and solid1 and survive4 ,professor ,peirce showed it could not be fluid1 and continue4 ,then ,professor ,maxwell showed that it must be formed of clouds of satellites too small to be seen individually1 and too near together for the spaces to be discerned1 unless1 perhaps1 we may except the inner dark ring1 where they are not near enough to make it positively luminous4 ,indeed1 there is some evidence that the meteoroids are far enough apart to make the ring partially transparent4 ,we look forward to the opportunities for observation in #ahhb with the brightest hope that these difficult questions will be solved4 ,satellites of ,saturn4 ,the first discovered satellite of ,saturn seen by ,huyghens was in #afee1 and the last by the ,bonds1 father and son1 of ,cambridge1 in #ahdh4 ,these are eight in number1 and are named3 ,distant from ,saturn's centre4 ,i4 ,mimas #aai1gbe miles4 ,,ii4 ,enceladus #aec1fcj ,,iii4 ,tethys #aij1bbe ,,iv4 ,dione #bdc1fgj ,v4 ,rhea #cdj1cbj ,,vi4 ,titan #ghh1iae ,,vii4 ,hyperion #ied1afj ,,viii4 ,japetus #b1bib1gij ,titan can be seen by almost any telescope2 ,i41 ,,ii41 and ,,iii41 only by the most powerful instrument4 ,all except ,japetus revolve nearly in the plane of the ring4 ,like the moons of ,jupiter1 they present remarkable and unaccountable variations of brilliancy4 ,an inspection ,page #agc of the table reveals either an expectation that another moon will be discovered between ,v4 and ,,vi41 and about three more between ,,vii4 and ,,viii41 or that these gaps may be filled with groups of invisible asteroids1 as the gap between ,mars and ,jupiter4 ,this will become more evident by drawing ,saturn1 the rings1 and orbits of the moons all as circles1 on a scale of #aj1jjj miles to the inch4 ,saturn will be in the centre1 #gj1jjj miles in diameter2 then a gap1 decreasing twenty-nine miles a year to the first ring1 of1 say1 #aj1jjj miles2 a dark ring #ijjj miles wide2 next the brightest ring #ah1cjj miles wide2 then a gap of #agej miles2 then the outer ring #aj1jjj miles wide2 then the orbits of the satellites in order4 ,if the scenery of ,jupiter is magnificent1 that of ,saturn must be sublime4 ,if one could exist there1 he might wander from the illuminated side of the rings1 under their magnificent arches1 to the darkened side1 see the swift whirling moons2 one of them presenting ten times the disk of the earth's moon1 and so very near as to enable him to watch the advancing line of light that marks the lunar morning journeying round that orb4 ,,uranus4 ,sign ,symbol2 the initial of ,herschel1 and sign of the world4 ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #a1gga1jjj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 #ca1gjj ,,miles4 ,,axial ,,revolution ,,unknown4 ,,orbital1 #hd ,,years4 ,,velocity ,,per ,,minute1 #beb ,,miles4 ,,moons1 ,,four4 ,uranus was presented to the knowledge of man as an unexpected reward for honest work4 ,it was first mistaken by its discoverer for a comet1 a mere cloud of vapor2 but it proved to be a world1 and extended the ,page #agd boundaries of our solar system1 in the moment of its discovery1 as much as all investigation had done in all previous ages4 ,sir ,william ,herschel was engaged in mapping stars in #agha1 when he first observed its sea-green disk4 ,he proposed to call it ,georgium ,sidus1 in honor of his king2 but there were too many names of the gods in the sky to allow a mortal name to be placed among them4 ,it was therefore called ,uranus1 since1 being the most distant body of our system1 as was supposed1 it might appropriately bear the name of the oldest god4 ,finding anything in ,god's realms of infinite riches ought not to lead men to regard that as final1 but as a promise of more to follow4 ,this planet had been seen five times by ,flamsteed before its character was determined--once nearly a century before--and eight times by ,le ,monnier4 ,these names1 which might easily have been associated with a grand discovery1 are associated with careless observation4 ,eyes were made not only to be kept open1 but to have minds behind them to interpret their visions4 ,herschel thought he discovered six moons belonging to ,uranus1 but subsequent investigation has limited the number to four4 ,two of these are seen with great difficulty by the most powerful telescopes4 ,if the plane of our moon's orbit were tipped up to a greater inclination1 revolving it on the line of nodes as an axis until it was turned #he1 the moon1 still continuing on its orbit in that plane1 would go over the poles instead of about the equator1 and would go back to its old path when the plane was revolved #ahj2 but its revolution would now be from east to west1 or ,page #age retrograde4 ,the plane of the moons of ,uranus has been thus inclined till it has passed #aj beyond the pole1 and the moons' motions are retrograde as regards other known celestial movements4 ,how ,uranus itself revolves is not known4 ,there are more worlds to conquer4 ,,neptune4 ,god of the sea2 sign ,symbol1 his trident4 ,,distance ,,from ,,the ,,sun1 #b1gge1jjj1jjj ,,miles4 ,,diameter1 #cd1ejj ,,miles4 ,,velocity ,,per ,,minute1 #bja4f ,,miles4 ,,axial ,,revolution ,,unknown4 ,,orbital1 #afd4gh ,,years4 ,,one ,,moon4 ,men sought for ,neptune as the heroes sought the golden fleece4 ,the place of ,uranus had been mapped for nearly one hundred years by these accidental observations4 ,on applying the law of universal gravitation1 a slight discrepancy was found between its computed place and its observed place4 ,this discrepancy was exceedingly slight4 ,in #ahcj it was only #bj2 in #ahdj1aij2 in #ahhd1 #b'4 ,two stars that were #b' apart would appear as one to the keenest unaided eye1 but such an error must not exist in astronomy4 ,years of work were given to its correction4 ,mr4 ,john ,c4 ,adams1 of ,cambridge1 ,england1 finding that the attraction of a planet exterior to ,uranus would account for its irregularities1 computed the place of such a hypothetical body with singular exactness in ,october1 #ahda2 but neither he nor the royal astronomer ,airy looked for it4 ,another opportunity for immortality was heedlessly neglected4 ,meanwhile1 ,m4 ,leverrier1 of ,paris1 was working at the same problem4 ,in the summer of #ahdf ,leverrier announced the place of the exterior planet4 ,the conclusion was in striking coincidence with that of ,mr4 ,page #agf ,clark4 ,mr4 ,challis commenced to search for the planet near the indicated place1 and actually saw and mapped the star ,august #dth1 #ahdf1 but did not recognize its planetary character4 ,dr4 ,galle1 of ,berlin1 on the #bc;d of ,september1 #ahdf1 found an object with a planetary disk not plotted on the map of stars4 ,it was the sought-for world4 ,it would seem easy to find a world seventy-six times as large as the earth1 and easy to recognize it when seen4 ,the fact that it could be discovered only by such care conveys an overwhelming idea of the distance where it moves4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ff4--,perturbation of ,uranus4 ,the effect of these perturbations by an exterior planet is understood from ,fig4 #ff4 ,uranus and ,neptune were in conjunction1 as shown1 in #ahbb4 ,but in #ahbj it had been found that ,uranus was too far from the sun1 and too much accelerated4 ,since #ahjj1 ,neptune1 in his orbit from ,f to ,e1 had been hastening ,uranus in his orbit ,d from ,c to ,b1 and also drawing it farther from the sun4 ,after #ahbb1 ,neptune1 in passing from ,e to ,d1 had been retarding ,uranus in his orbit from ,b to ,a4 ,we have seen it is easy to miss immortality4 ,there is still another instance4 ,lalande saw ,neptune on ,may #hth and #ajth1 #agie1 noted that it had moved a little1 and that the observations did not agree2 but1 supposing the first was wrong1 carelessly missed the glory of once more doubling the bounds of the empire of the sun4 ,page #agg ,it is time to pause and review our knowledge of this system4 ,the first view reveals a moon and earth endowed with a force of inertia going on in space in straight lines2 but an invisible elastic cord of attraction holds them together1 just counterbalancing this tendency to fly apart1 and hence they circle round their centre of gravity4 ,the revolving earth turns every part of its surface to the moon in each twenty-four hours4 ,by an axial revolution in the same time that the moon goes round the earth1 the moon holds the same point of its surface constantly toward the earth4 ,if we were to add one1 two1 four1 eight moons at appropriate distances1 the result would be the same4 ,there is1 however1 another attractive influence--that of the sun4 ,the sun attracts both earth and moon1 but their nearer affection for each other keeps them from going apart4 ,they both1 revolving on their axes and around their centre of gravity1 sweep in a vastly wider curve around the sun4 ,add as many moons as has ,jupiter or ,saturn1 the result is the same--an orderly carrying of worlds through space4 ,there lies the unsupported sun in the centre1 nearer to infinity in all its capacities and intensities of force than our minds can measure1 filling the whole dome to where the stars are set with light1 heat1 and power4 ,it holds five small worlds--,vulcan1 ,mercury1 ,venus1 ,earth1 and ,mars--within a space whose radius it would require a locomotive half a thousand years to traverse4 ,it next holds some indeterminate number of asteroids1 and the great ,jupiter1 equal in volume to #ac1jjj earths4 ,it holds ,saturn1 ,uranus1 and ,neptune1 and all their variously related satellites and rings4 ,the two thoughts that overwhelm us are distance and power4 ,the period of ,page #agh man's whole history is not sufficient for an express train to traverse half the distance to ,neptune4 ,thought wearies and fails in seeking to grasp such distances2 it can scarcely comprehend one million miles1 and here are thousands of them4 ,even the wings of imagination grow weary and droop4 ,when we stand on that outermost of planets1 the very last sentinel of the outposts of the king1 the very sun grown dim and small in the distance1 we have taken only one step of the infinite distance to the stars4 ,they have not changed their relative position--they have not grown brighter by our approach4 ,neptune carries us round a vast circle about the centre of the dome of stars1 but we seem no nearer its sides4 ,in visiting planets1 we have been only visiting next-door neighbors in the streets of a seaport town4 ,we know that there are similar neighbors about ,sirius and ,arcturus1 but a vast sea rolls between4 ,as we said1 we stand with the outermost sentinel2 but into the great void beyond the king of day sends his comets as scouts1 and they fly thousands of years without for one instant missing the steady grasp of the power of the sun4 ,it is nearer almightiness than we are able to think4 ,if we cannot solve the problems of the present existence of worlds1 how little can we expect to fathom the unsoundable depths of their creation and development through ages measureless to man6 ,yet the very difficulty provokes the most ambitious thought4 ,we toil at the problem because it has been hitherto unsolvable4 ,every error we make1 and discover to be such1 helps toward the final solution4 ,every earnest thinker who climbs the shining worlds as steps to a higher thought is trying to solve the problem ,god has given us to do4 ,page #agi ,,ix4 ,,the ,,nebular ,,hypothesis4 ,and the earth was without form1 and void2 and darkness was upon the face of the deep4--,genesis i4 #b4 ,page #ahj ,a dark ,illimitable ocean1 without bound1 ,without dimension1 where length1 breadth1 and height1 ,and time1 and place are lost4--,,milton4 ,it is certain that matter is somehow directed1 controlled1 and arranged2 while no material forces or properties are known to be capable of discharging such functions4--,,lionel ,,beale4 ,the laws of nature do not account for their own origin4--,,john ,,stuart ,,mill4 ,page #aha ,,ix4 ,,the ,,nebular ,,hypothesis4 ,the method by which the solar system came into its present form was sketched in vast outline by ,moses4 ,he gave us the fundamental idea of what is called the nebular hypothesis4 ,swedenborg1 that prodigal dreamer of vagaries1 in #agcd threw out some conjectures of the way in which the outlines were to be filled up2 ,buffon followed him closely in #agdi2 ,kant sought to give it an ideal philosophical completeness2 as he said1 not as the result of observation and computation1 but as evolved out of his own consciousness2 and ,laplace sought to settle it on a mathematical basis4 ,it has been modified greatly by later writers1 and must receive still greater modifications before it can be accepted by the best scientists of to-day4 ,it has been called the grandest generalization of the human mind2 and if it shall finally be so modified as to pass from a tentative hypothesis to an accepted philosophy1 declaring the modes of a divine worker rather than the necessities of blind force1 it will still be worthy of that high distinction4 ,let it be clearly noted that it never proposes to do more than to trace a portion of the mode of working which brought the universe from one stage to another4 ,it only goes back to a definite point1 never to absolute beginning1 nor to nothingness4 ,it takes matter from ,page #ahb the hand of the unseen power behind1 and merely notes the progress of its development4 ,it finds the clay in the hands of an intelligent potter1 and sees it whirl in the process of formation into a vessel4 ,it is not in any sense necessarily atheistic1 any more than it is to affirm that a tree grows by vital processes in the sun and dew1 instead of being arbitrarily and instantly created4 ,the conclusion reached depends on the spirit of the observer4 ,newton could say1 ,this most beautiful system of the sun1 planets1 and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being6 ,still it is well to recognize that some of its most ardent defenders have advocated it as materialistic4 ,and ,laplace said of it to ,napoleon1 ,i have no need of the hypothesis of a god4 ,the materialistic statement of the theory is this3 that matter is at first assumed to exist as an infinite cloud of fire-mist1 dowered with power latent therein to grow of itself into every possibility of world1 flower1 animal1 man1 mind1 and affection1 without any interference or help from without4 ,but it requires far more of the ,divine ,worker than any other theory4 ,he must fill matter with capabilities to take care of itself1 and this would tax the abilities of the ,infinite ,one far more than a constant supervision and occasional interference4 ,instead of making the vase in perfect form1 and coloring it with exquisite beauty by an ever-present skill1 he must endow the clay with power to make itself in perfect form1 adorn itself with delicate beauty1 and create other vases4 ,the nebular hypothesis is briefly this3 ,all the matter composing all the bodies of the sun1 planets1 and satellites once existed in an exceedingly diffused state2 ,page #ahc rarer than any gas with which we are acquainted1 filling a space larger than the orbit of ,neptune4 ,gravitation gradually contracted this matter into a condensing globe of immense extent4 ,some parts would naturally be denser than others1 and in the course of contraction a rotary motion1 it is affirmed1 would be engendered4 ,rotation would flatten the globe somewhat in the line of its axis4 ,contracting still more1 the rarer gases1 aided by centrifugal force1 would be left behind as a ring that would ultimately be separated1 like ,saturn's ring1 from the retreating body4 ,there would naturally be some places in this ring denser than others2 these would gradually absorb all the ring into a planet1 and still revolve about the central mass1 and still rotate on its own axis1 throwing off rings from itself4 ,thus the planet ,neptune would be left behind in the first sun-ring1 to make its one moon2 the planet ,uranus left in the next sun-ring1 to make its four moons from four successive planet-rings2 ,saturn1 with its eight moons and three rings not made into moons1 is left in the third sun-ring2 and so on down to ,vulcan4 ,the outer planets would cool off first1 become inhabitable1 and1 as the sun contracted and they radiated their own heat1 become refrigerated and left behind by the retreating sun4 ,of course the outer planets would move slowly2 but as that portion of the sun which gave them their motion drew in toward the centre1 keeping its absolute speed1 and revolving in the lessening circles of a contracting body1 it would give the faster motion necessary to be imparted to ,earth1 ,mercury1 and ,vulcan4 ,the four great classes of facts confirmatory of this hypothesis are as follows3 #ast4 ,all the planets move ,page #ahd in the same direction1 and nearly in the same plane1 as if thrown off from one equator2 #b;d4 ,the motions of the satellites about their primaries are mostly in the same direction as that of their primaries about the sun2 #c;d4 ,the rotation of most of these bodies on their axes1 and also of the sun1 is in the same direction as the motion of the planets about the sun2 #dth4 ,the orbits of the planets1 excluding asteroids1 and their satellites1 have but a comparatively small eccentricity2 #eth4 ,certain nebul are observable in the heavens which are not yet condensed into solids1 but are still bright gas4 ,the materialistic evolutionist takes up the idea of a universe of material world-stuff without form1 and void1 but so endowed as to develop itself into orderly worlds1 and adds to it this exceeding advance1 that when soil1 sun1 and chemical laws found themselves properly related1 a force in matter1 latent for a million eons in the original cloud1 comes forward1 and dead matter becomes alive in the lowest order of vegetable life2 there takes place1 as ,herbert ,spencer says1 a change from an indefinite1 incoherent homogeneity1 into a definite1 coherent heterogeneity1 through continuous differentiation and integration4 ,the dead becomes alive2 matter passes from unconsciousness to consciousness2 passes up from plant to animal1 from animal to man2 takes on power to think1 reason1 love1 and adore4 ,the theistic evolutionist may think that the same process is gone through1 but that an ever-present and working ,god superintends1 guides1 and occasionally bestows a new endowment of power that successively gives life1 consciousness1 mental1 affectional1 and spiritual capacity4 ,is this world-theory true8 and if so1 is either of the ,page #ahe evolution theories true also8 ,if the first evolution theory is true1 the evolved man will hardly know which to adore most1 the ,being that could so endow matter1 or the matter capable of such endowment4 ,there are some difficulties in the way of the acceptance of the nebular hypothesis that compel many of the most thorough scientists of the day to withhold their assent to its entirety4 ,the latest1 and one of the most competent writers on the subject1 ,professor ,newcomb1 who is a mathematical astronomer1 and not an easy theorist1 evolving the system of the universe from the depth of his own consciousness1 says3 ,should any one be sceptical as to the sufficiency of these laws to account for the present state of things1 science can furnish no evidence strong enough to overthrow his doubts until the sun shall be found to be growing smaller by actual measurement1 or the nebul be actually seen to condense into stars and systems4 ,in one of the most elaborate defences of the theory1 it is argued that the hypothesis explains why only one of the four planets nearest the sun can have a moon1 and why there can be no planet inside of ,mercury4 ,the discovery of the two satellites to ,mars and of the planet ,vulcan makes it all the worse for these facts4 ,some of the objections to the theory should be known by every thinker4 ,laplace must have the cloud diffused in consequence of excessive heat1 etc4 ,helmholtz1 in order to account for the heat of the contracting sun1 must have the cloud relatively cold4 ,how he and his followers diffused the cloud without heat is not stated4 ,the next difficulty is that of rotation4 ,the laws ,page #ahf of science compel a contraction into one non-rotating body--a central sun1 indeed1 but no planets about it4 ,laplace cleverly evades the difficulty by not taking from the hand of the ,creator diffused gas1 but a sun with an atmosphere filling space to the orbit of ,neptune1 and already in revolution4 ,he says3 ,it is four millions to one that all motions of the planets1 rotations and revolutions1 were at once imparted by an original common cause1 of which we know neither the nature nor the epoch4 ,helmholtz says of rotation1 the existence of which must be assumed4 ,professor ,newcomb says that the planets would not be arranged as now1 each one twice as far from the sun as the next interior one1 and the outer ones made first1 but that all would be made into planets at once1 and the small inner ones quite likely to cool off more rapidly4 ,it is a very serious difficulty that at least one satellite does not revolve in the right direction4 ,how ,neptune or ,uranus could throw their moons backward from its equator is not easily accounted for4 ,it is at least one ,parthian arrow at the system1 not necessarily fatal1 but certainly dangerous4 ,a greater difficulty is presented by the recently discovered satellites of ,mars4 ,the inner one goes round the planet in one-third part of the time of the latter's revolution4 ,how ,mars could impart three times the speed to a body flying off its surface that it has itself1 has caused several defenders of the hypothesis to rush forward with explanations1 but none with anything more than mere imaginary collisions with some comet4 ,it is to be noticed that accounting for three times the speed is not enough2 for as ,mars shrunk away from the ,page #ahg ring that formed that satellite1 it ought itself to attain more speed1 as the sun revolves faster than its planets1 and the earth faster than its moon4 ,in defending the hypothesis1 ,mitchel said3 ,suppose we had discovered that it required more time for ,saturn or ,jupiter to rotate on their axes than for their nearest moon to revolve round them in its orbit2 this would have falsified the theory4 ,it is also asserted that the newly discovered planet ,vulcan makes an orbital in less time than the sun makes an axial revolution4 ,in regard to one ,martial moon1 ,professor ,kirkwood1 on whom ,proctor conferred the highest title that could be conferred1 the modern ,kepler1 says3 ,unless some explanation can be given1 the short period of the inner satellite will be doubtless regarded as a conclusive argument against the nebular hypothesis4 ,if gravitation be sufficient to account for the various motions of the heavenly bodies1 we have a perplexing problem in the star known as #ahcj ,groombridge1 now in the ,hunting ,dogs of ,bootes4 ,it is thought to have a speed of two hundred miles per second--a velocity that all the known matter in the universe could not give to the star by all its combined attraction4 ,neither could all that attraction stop the motion of the star1 or bend it into an orbit4 ,its motion must be accounted for on some hypothesis other than the nebular4 ,the nebul which we are able to observe are not altogether confirmatory of the hypothesis under consideration4 ,they have the most fantastic shapes1 as if they had no relation to rotating suns in the formative stages4 ,there are vast gaps in the middle1 where they ought to be densest4 ,mr4 ,plumer1 in the ,natural ,science ,review1 ,page #ahh says1 in regard to the results of the spectroscopic revelations3 ,we are furnished with distinct proof that the gases so examined are not only of nearly equal density1 but that they exist in a low state of tension4 ,this fact is fatal to the nebular theory4 ,in the autumn of #ahgf a star blazed out in ,cygnus1 which promised to throw a flood of light on the question of world-making4 ,its spectrum was like some of the fixed stars4 ,it probably blazed ont by condensation from some previously invisible nebula4 ,but its brilliancy diminished swiftly1 when it ought to have taken millions of years to cool4 ,if the theory was true1 it ought to have behaved very differently4 ,it should have regularly condensed from gas to a solid sun by slow process4 ,but1 worst of all1 after being a star awhile1 it showed unmistakable proofs of turning into a cloud-mist--a star into a nebula1 instead of vice versa4 ,a possible explanation will be considered under variable stars4 ,such are a few of the many difficulties in the way of accepting the nebular hypothesis1 as at present explained1 as being the true mode of development of the solar system4 ,doubtless it has come from a hot and diffused condition into its present state2 but when such men as ,proctor1 ,newcomb1 and ,kirkwood see difficulties that cannot be explained1 contradictions that cannot be reconciled by the principles of this theory1 surely lesser men are obliged to suspend judgment1 and render the ,scotch verdict of not proven4 ,whatever truth there may be in the theory will survive1 and be incorporated into the final solution of the problem2 which solution will be a much grander generalization of the human mind than the nebular hypothesis4 ,page #ahi ,of some things we feel very sure3 that matter was once without form and void1 and darkness rested on the face of the mighty deeps2 that1 instead of chaos1 we have now cosmos and beauty2 and that there is some process by which matter has been brought from one state to the other4 ,whether1 however1 the nebular hypothesis lays down the road travelled to this transfiguration1 we are not sure4 ,some of it seems like solid rock1 and some like shifting quicksand4 ,doubtless there is a road from that chaos to this fair cosmos4 ,the nebular hypothesis has surveyed1 worked1 and perfected many long reaches of this road1 but the rivers are not bridged1 the chasms not filled1 nor the mountains tunnelled4 ,when men attempt to roll the hypothesis of evolution along the road of the nebular hypothesis of worlds1 and even beyond to the production of vegetable and animal life1 mind and affection1 the gaps in the road become evident1 and disastrous4 ,a soul that has reached an adoration for the ,supreme ,father cares not how he has made him4 ,doubtless the way ,god chose was the best4 ,it is as agreeable to have been thought of and provided for in the beginning1 to have had a myriad ages of care1 and to have come from the highest existent life at last1 as to have been made at once1 by a single act1 out of dust4 ,the one who is made is not to say to the ,maker1 ,why hast thou formed me in this or that manner8 ,we only wish the question answered in what manner we were really made4 ,evolution1 without constant superintendence and occasional new inspiration of power1 finds some tremendous chasms in the road it travels4 ,these must be spanned by the power of a present ,god or the airy imagination ,page #aij of man4 ,dr4 ,mc,cosh has happily enumerated some of these tremendous gaps over which mere force cannot go4 ,given1 then1 matter with mechanical power only1 what are the gaps between it and spirituality8 #a4 ,chemical action cannot be produced by mechanical power4 #b4 ,life1 even in the lowest forms1 cannot be produced from unorganized matter4 #c4 ,protoplasm can be produced only by living matter4 #d4 ,organized matter is made up of cells1 and can be produced only by cells4 ,whence the first cell8 #e4 ,a living being can be produced only from a seed or germ4 ,whence the first vegetable seed8 #f4 ,an animal cannot be produced from a plant4 ,whence the first animal8 #g4 ,sensation cannot be produced in insentient matter4 #h4 ,the genesis of a new species of plant or animal has never come under the cognizance of man1 either in pre-human or post-human ages1 either in pre-scientific or scientific times4 ,darwin acknowledges this1 and says that1 should a new species suddenly arise1 we have no means of knowing that it is such4 #i4 ,consciousness--that is1 a knowledge of self and its operations--cannot be produced out of mere matter or sensation4 #aj4 ,we have no knowledge of man being generated out of the lower animals4 #aa4 ,all human beings1 even savages1 are capable of forming certain high ideas1 such as those of ,god and duty4 ,the brute creatures cannot be made to entertain these by any training4 ,page #aia ,with such tremendous gaps in the process1 the theory which would derive all things out of matter by development is seen to be a very precarious one4 ,the truth1 according to the best judgment to be formed in the present state of knowledge1 would seem to be about this3 ,the nebular hypothesis is correct in all the main facts on which it is based2 but that neither the present forces of matter1 nor any other forces conceivable to the mind of man1 with which it can possibly be endowed1 can account for all the facts already observed4 ,there is a demand for a personal volition1 for an exercise of intelligence1 for the following of a divine plan that embraces a final perfection through various and changeful processes4 ,the five great classes of facts that sustain the nebular hypothesis seem set before us to show the regular order of working4 ,the several facts that will not1 so far as at present known1 accord with that plan1 seem to be set before us to declare the presence of a divine will and power working his good pleasure according to the exigencies of time and place4 ,page #aic ,x4 ,,the ,,stellar ,,system4 ,the heavens number out the glory of the strong ,god4--,,david4 ,page #aid ,richter says that an angel once took a man and stripped him of his flesh1 and lifted him up into space to show him the glory of the universe4 ,when the flesh was taken away the man ceased to be cowardly1 and was ready to fly with the angel past galaxy after galaxy1 and infinity after infinity1 and so man and angel passed on1 viewing the universe1 until the sun was out of sight--until our solar system appeared as a speck of light against the black empyrean1 and there was only darkness4 ,and they looked onward1 and in the infinities of light before1 a speck of light appeared1 and suddenly they were in the midst of rushing worlds4 ,but they passed beyond that system1 and beyond system after system1 and infinity after infinity1 until the human heart sank1 and the man cried out3 ',end is there none of the universe of ,god8' ,the angel strengthened the man by words of counsel and courage1 and they flew on again until worlds left behind them were out of sight1 and specks of light in advance were transformed1 as they approached them1 into rushing systems2 they moved over architraves of eternities1 over pillars of immensities1 over architecture of galaxies1 unspeakable in dimensions and duration1 and the human heart sank again and called ont3 ',end is there none of the universe of ,god8' ,and all the stars echoed the question with amazement3 ',end is there none of the universe of ,god8' ,and this echo found no answer4 ,they moved on again past immensities of immensities1 and eternities of eternities1 until in the dizziness of uncounted galaxies the human heart sank for the last time1 and called out3 ',end is there none of the universe of ,god8' ,and again all the stars repeated the question1 and the angel answered3 ',end is there none of the universe of ,god4 ,lo1 also1 there is no beginning4' ,page #aie ,x4 ,,the ,,open ,,page ,,of ,,the ,,heavens4 ,the ,greeks set their mythological deities in the skies1 and read the revolving pictures as a starry poem4 ,not that they were the first to set the blazonry of the stars as monuments of their thought2 we read certain allusions to stars and asterisms as far back as the time of ,job4 ,and the ,pleiades1 ,arcturus1 and ,orion are some of the names used by ,him who calleth all the stars by their names1 in the greatness of his power4 ,homer and ,hesiod1 #gej ,b4,c41 allude to a few stars and groups4 ,the ,arabians very early speak of the ,great ,bear2 but the ,greeks completely nationalized the heavens4 ,they colonized the earth widely1 but the heavens completely2 and nightly over them marched the grand procession of their apotheosized divinities4 ,there ,hercules perpetually wrought his mighty labors for the good of man2 there flashed and faded the changeful star ,algol1 as an eye in the head of the snaky-haired ,medusa2 over them flew ,pegasus1 the winged horse of the poet1 careering among the stars2 there the ship ,argo1 which had explored all strange seas of earth1 nightly sailed in the infinite realms of heaven2 there ,perseus perpetually killed the sea-monster by celestial aid1 and perpetually won the chained ,andromeda for his bride4 ,very evident was their recognition of divine help3 equally evident was ,page #aif their assertion of human ability and dominion4 ,they gathered the illimitable stars1 and put uncountable suns into the shape of the ,great ,bear--the most colossal form of animal ferocity and strength--across whose broad forehead imagination grows weary in flying2 but they did not fail to put behind him a representative of themselves1 who forever drives him around a sky that never sets--a perpetual type that man's ambition and expectation correspond to that which has always been revealed as the divine4 ,the heavens signify much higher power and wisdom to us2 we retain the old pictures and groupings for the convenience of finding individual stars4 ,it is enough for the astronomer that we speak of a star as situated right ascension #ac' #de1 declination #hh #dj'4 ,but for most people1 if not all1 it is better to call it ,polaris4 ,so we might speak of a lake in latitude #db #dj'1 longitude #gi #bb'1 but it would be clearer to most persons to say ,chatauqua4 ,for exact location of a star1 right ascension and declination must be given2 but for general indication its name or place in a constellation is sufficiently exact4 ,the heaven is rather indeterminably laid out in irregular tracts1 and the mythological names are preserved4 ,the brightest stars are then indicated in order by the letters of the ,greek alphabet--,alpha 7a71 ,beta 7b71 ,gamma 7g71 etc4 ,after these are exhausted1 the ,roman alphabet is used in the same manner1 and then numbers are resorted to2 so that the famous star #fa ,cygni is the #aaath star in brightness in that one constellation4 ,an acquaintance with the names1 peculiarities1 and movements of the stars visible at different seasons of the year is an unceasing source of pleasure4 ,it ,page #aig is not vision alone that is gratified1 for one fine enough may hear the morning stars sing together1 and understand the speech that day uttereth unto day1 and the knowledge that night showeth unto night4 ,one never can be alone if he is familiarly acquainted with the stars4 ,he rises early in the summer morning1 that he may see his winter friends2 in winter1 that he may gladden himself with a sight of the summer stars4 ,he hails their successive rising as he does the coming of his personal friends from beyond the sea4 ,on the wide ocean he is commercing with the skies1 his rapt soul sitting in his eyes4 ,under the clear skies of the ,east he hears ,god's voice speaking to him1 as to ,abraham1 and saying1 ,look now toward the heavens1 and tell the number of the stars1 if thou be able to number them4 ,a general acquaintance with the stars will be first attempted2 a more particular knowledge afterward4 ,fig4 #fg 7page #bja7 is a map of the circumpolar region1 which is in full view every clear night4 ,it revolves daily round ,polaris1 its central point4 ,toward this star1 the two end stars of the ,great ,dipper ever point1 and are in consequence called the ,pointers4 ,the map may be held toward the northern sky in such a position as the stars may happen to be4 ,the ,great ,bear1 or ,dipper1 will be seen at nine o'clock in the evening above the pole in ,april and ,may2 west of the pole1 the ,pointers downward1 in ,july and ,august2 close to the north horizon in ,october and ,november2 and east of the pole the ,pointers highest1 in ,january and ,february4 ,the names of such constantly visible stars should be familiar4 ,in order1 from the end of the tail of the ,great ,bear1 we have ,benetnasch ae1 ,mizar z1 ,little ,alcor close to it1 ,page #aih ,alioth1 e ,megrez1 d at the junction1 has been growing dimmer for a century1 ,phad1 g ,dubhe and ,merak4 ,it is best to get some facility at estimating distances in degrees4 ,dubhe and ,merak1 the ,pointers1 are five degrees apart4 ,eighteen degrees forward of ,dubhe is the ,bear's nose2 and three pairs of stars1 fifteen degrees apart1 show the position of the ,bear's three feet4 ,follow the ,pointers twenty-nine degrees from ,dubhe1 and we come to the pole-star4 ,this star is double1 made of two suns1 both appearing as one to the naked eye4 ,it is a test of an excellent three-inch telescope to resolve it into two4 ,three stars beside it make the curved-up handle of the ,little ,dipper of ,ursa ,minor4 ,between the two ,bears1 thirteen degrees from ,megrez1 and eleven degrees from ,mizar1 are two stars in the tail of the ,dragon1 which curves about to appropriate all the stars not otherwise assigned4 ,follow a curve of fifteen stars1 doubling back to a quadrangle from five to three degrees on a side1 and thirty-five degrees from the pole1 for his head4 ,his tongue runs out to a star four degrees in front4 ,we shall find1 hereafter1 that the foot of ,hercules stands on this head4 ,this is the ,dragon slain by ,cadmus1 and whose teeth produced such a crop of sanguinary men4 ,the star ,thuban was once the pole-star4 ,in the year ,b4,c4 #bcjj it was ten times nearer the pole than ,polaris is now4 ,in the year ,a4,d4 #bajj the pole will be within #cj' of ,polaris2 in ,a4,d4 #gejj1 it will be at a of ,cepheus2 in ,a4,d4 #ac1ejj1 within #g of ,vega2 in ,a4,d4 #ae1gjj1 at the star in the tongue of ,draco2 in ,a4,d4 #bc1jjj1 at ,thuban2 in ,a4,d4 #bh1jjj1 back to ,polaris4 ,this indicates no change in the position of the dome ,page #aii of stars1 but a change in the direction of the axis of the earth pointing to these various places as the cycles pass4 ,as the earth goes round its orbit1 the axis1 maintaining nearly the same direction1 really points to every part of a circle near the north star as large as the earth's orbit1 that is1 #ahe1jjj1jjj miles in diameter4 ,but1 as already shown1 that circle is too small to be discernible at our distance4 ,the wide circle of the pole through the ages is really made up of the interlaced curves of the annual curves continued through #be1hgj years4 ,the stem of the spinning top wavers1 describes a circle1 and finally falls2 the axis of the spinning earth wavers1 describes a circle of nearly #bh1jjj years1 and never falls4 ,the star g ,draconis1 also called ,etanin1 is famous in modern astronomy1 because observations on this star led to the discovery of the aberration of light4 ,if we held a glass tube perpendicularly out of the window of a car at rest1 when the rain was falling straight down1 we could see the drops pass directly through4 ,put the car in motion1 and the drops would seem to start toward us1 and the top of the tube must be bent forward1 or the drops entering would strike on the backside of the tube carried toward them4 ,so our telescopes are bent forward on the moving earth1 to enable the entered light to reach the eye-piece4 ,hence the star does not appear just where it is4 ,as the earth moves faster in some parts of its orbit than others1 this aberration is sometimes greater than at others4 ,it is fortunate that light moves with a uniform velocity1 or this difficult1 problem would be still further complicated4 ,the displacement of a star from this course is about #bj4dc4 ,page #bjj ,on the side of ,polaris1 opposite to ,ursa ,major1 is ,king ,cepheus1 made of a few dim stars in the form of the letter ,k4 ,near by is his brilliant wife ,cassiopeia1 sitting on her throne of state4 ,they were the graceless parents who chained their daughter to a rock for the sea-monster to devour2 but ,perseus1 swift with the winged sandals of ,mercury1 terrible with his avenging sword1 and invincible with the severed head of ,medusa1 whose horrid aspect of snaky hair and scaly body turned to stone every beholder1 rescues the maiden from chains1 and leads her away by the bands of love4 ,nothing could be more poetical than the life of ,perseus4 ,when he went to destroy the dreadful ,gorgon1 ,medusa1 ,pluto lent him his helmet1 which would make him invisible at will2 ,minerva loaned her buckler1 impenetrable1 and polished like a mirror2 ,mercury gave him a dagger of diamonds1 and his winged sandals1 which would carry him through the air4 ,coming to the loathsome thing1 he would not look upon her1 lest he1 too1 be turned to stone2 but1 guided by the reflection in the buckler1 smote off her head1 carried it high over ,libya1 the dropping blood turning to serpents1 which have infested those deserts ever since4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fg4--;,circumpolar ,constellations4 ,always visible4 ,in this position4--,january #bjth1 at #aj o'clock2 ,february #dth1 at #i o'clock2 and ,february #aith1 at #h o'clock4 ,the human mind has always been ready to deify and throne in the skies the heroes that labor for others4 ,both ,perseus and ,hercules are divine by one parent1 and human by the other4 ,they go up and down the earth1 giving deliverance to captives1 and breaking every yoke4 ,they also seek to purge away all evil2 they slay dragons1 gorgons1 devouring monsters1 cleanse the foul places of earth1 and one of them so wrestles with death as to win a victim from his grasp4 ,finally1 by ,page #bja an ascension in light1 they go up to be in light forever4 ,they are not ideally perfect4 ,they right wrong by slaying wrong-doers1 rather than by being crucified themselves2 they are just murderers2 but that only plucks the fruit from the tree of evil4 ,they never attempted to infuse a holy life4 ,they punished rather than regenerated4 ,it must be confessed1 also1 that they were not sinless4 ,but they were the best saviors the race could imagine1 and are examples of that perpetual effort of the human mind to incarnate a ,divine ,helper who shall labor and die for the good of men4 ,page #bjb ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fh4--;,algol is on the ,meridian1 #ea ,south of ,pole4--,at #aj o'clock1 ,december #gth2 #i o'clock1 ,december #bb;d2 #h o'clock1 ,january #eth4 ,equatorial ,constellations4 ,if we turn our backs on ,polaris on the #ajth of ,november1 at #aj o'clock in the evening1 and look directly overhead1 we shall see the beautiful constellation of ,andromeda4 ,together with the square of ,pegasus1 it makes another enormous dipper4 ,the star a ,alpheratz is in her face1 the three at the left cross her breast4 b and the two above mark the girdle of her loins1 and g is in the foot4 ,perseus is near enough for help2 and ,cetus1 the sea-monster1 is far enough away to do no harm4 ,below1 and east of ,andromeda1 is the ,ram of the golden fleece1 recognizable by the three stars in an acute triangle4 ,the brightest is called ,arietis1 or ,hamel4 ,east of this are the ,pleiades1 and the ,v-shaped ,hyades in ,taurus1 or the ,bull4 ,the ,pleiades rise about #i o'clock on the evening of the #ajth of ,september1 and at #c o'clock ,a4,m4 on ,june #ajth4 ,page #bjc ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fi4--;,capella 7#de from the ,pole7 and ,rigel 7#ajj7 are on the ,meridian at #h o'clock ,february #gth1 #i o'clock ,january #bb;d1 and at #aj o'clock ,january #gth4 ,fig4 #fi extends east and south of our last map4 ,it is the most gorgeous section of our heavens4 7,see the ,notes to the ,frontispiece47 ,note the triangle1 #bf on a side1 made by ,betelguese1 ,sirius1 and ,procyon4 ,a line from ,procyon to ,pollux leads quite near to ,polaris4 ,orion is the mighty hunter4 ,under his feet is a hare1 behind him are two dogs1 and before him is the rushing bull4 ,the curve of stars to the right of ,bellatrix1 g1 represents his shield of the ,nemean lion's hide4 ,the three stars of his belt make a measure #c long2 the upper one1 ,mintaker1 is less than #cj' south of the equinoctial4 ,the ecliptic passes between ,aldebaran and the ,pleiades4 ,sirius rises about #i o'clock ,p4,m4 on the #ast of ,december1 and about #d o'clock ,a4,m4 on the #afth of ,august4 ,procyon rises about half an hour earlier4 ,page #bjd ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gj--,regulus comes on the ,meridian1 #gi south from the ,pole1 at #aj o'clock ,march #bc;d1 #i o'clock ,april #hth1 and at #h o'clock ,april #bc;d4 ,fig4 #gj continues eastward4 ,note the sickle in the head and neck of the ,lion4 ,the star b is ,denebola1 in his tail4 ,arcturus appears by the word ,bootes1 at the edge of the map4 ,these two stars make a triangle with ,spica1 about #ce on a side4 ,the geometric head of ,hydra is easily discernible east of ,procyon3 ,the star g in the ,virgin is double1 with a period of #ade years4 z is just above the equinoctial4 ,there is a fine nebula two-thirds of the way from d to ae1 and a little above the line connecting the two4 ,coma ,berenices is a beautiful cluster of faint stars4 ,spica rises at #i o'clock on the #ajth of ,february1 at #e o'clock ,a4,m4 on the #fth of ,november4 ,page #bje ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gl4--,arcturus comes to the ,meridian1 #gj from the ,pole1 at #aj o'clock ,may #beth1 #i o'clock ,june #ith1 and at #h o'clock ,june #beth4 ,fig4 #ga represents the sky to the eastward and northward of the last4 ,a line drawn from ,polaris and ,benetnasch comes east of ,arcturus to the little triangle called his sons4 ,bootes drives the ,great ,bear round the pole4 ,arcturus and ,denebola make a triangle with a1 also called ,cor ,coroli1 in the ,hunting ,dogs4 ,this triangle1 and the one having the same base1 with ,spica for its apex1 is called the ,diamond of the ,virgin4 ,hercules appears head down--a in the face1 b1 g1 d2 in his shoulders1 p2 and ae2 in the loins1 t in the knee1 the foot being bent to the stars at the right4 ,the ,serpent's head1 making an ,x1 is just at the right of the g of ,hercules1 and the partial circle of the ,northern ,crown above4 ,the head of ,draco is seen at b on the left of the map4 ,arcturus rises at #i o'clock about the #bjth of ,february1 and at #e ,a4,m4 on the #bb;d of ,october2 ,regulus #c;h4 #cem4 ,earlier4 ,page #bjf ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gb4--;,altair comes to the ,meridian1 #hb from the ,pole1 at #aj o'clock ,p4,m4 ,august #ahth1 at #i o'clock ,september #b;d1 and at #h o'clock ,september #ahth4 ,fig4 #gb portrays the stars eastward and southward4 ,scorpio is one of the most brilliant and easily traced constellations4 ,antares1 a1 in the heart1 is double4 ,in ,sagittarius is the ,little ,milk-dipper1 and west of it the bended bow4 ,vega is at the top of the map4 ,near it observe z1 a double1 and e1 a quadruple star4 ,the point to which the solar system is tending is marked by the sign of the earth below p2 ,herculis4 ,the ,serpent1 west of ,hercules1 and coiled round nearly to ,aquila1 is very traceable4 ,in the right-hand lower corner is the ,centaur4 ,below1 and always out of our sight1 is the famous a ,centauri4 ,the diamond form of the ,dolphin is sometimes called ,job's ,coffin4 ,the ecliptic passes close ,page #bjg to b of ,scorpio1 which star is in the head4 ,antares1 in ,scorpio1 rises at #i o'clock ,p4,m4 on ,may #ith1 and at #e o'clock ,a4,m4 on ,january #eth4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gc4--;,fomalhaut comes to the ,meridian1 only #ag from the horizon1 at #h o'clock ,november #dth4 ,in ,fig4 #gc we recognize the familiar stars of ,pegasus1 which tell us we have gone quite round the heavens4 ,note the beautiful cross in the ,swan4 b in the bill is named ,albireo1 and is a beautiful double to almost any glass4 ,its yellow and blue colors are very distinct4 ,the place of the famous double star #fa ,cygni is seen4 ,the first magnitude star in the lower left-hand corner is ,fomalhaut1 in the ,southern ,fish4 a ,pegasi is in the diagonal corner from ,alpharetz1 in ,andromeda4 ,the star below ,altair is b ,aquil1 and is called ,alschain2 the one above is g ,aquil1 named ,tarazed4 ,this is not a brilliant section of the sky4 ,altair rises at #i o'clock on the #bith of ,may1 and at #f o'clock ,a4,m4 on the #aath of ,january4 ,page #bjh ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gd4--,southern ,circumpolar ,constellations invisible north of the ,equator4 ,fig4 #gd gives the stars that are never seen by persons north of the earth's equator4 ,in the ,ship is brilliant ,canopus1 and the remarkable variable ae4 ,below it is the beautiful ,southern ,cross1 near the pole of the southern heavens4 ,just below are the two first magnitude stars ,bungala1 a1 and ,achernar1 b1 of the ,centaur4 ,such a number of unusually brilliant stars give the southern sky an unequalled splendor4 ,in the midst of them1 as if for contrast1 is the dark hole1 called by the sailors the ,coal-sack1 where even the telescope reveals no sign of light4 ,here1 also1 are the two ,magellanic clouds1 both easily discernible by the naked eye2 the larger two hundred times the apparent size of the moon1 lying between the pole and ,canopus1 and the other between ,achernar and the pole4 ,the smaller cloud is only one-fourth the size of the other4 ,both are mostly resolvable into groups of stars from the fifth to the fifteenth magnitude4 ,page #bji ,for easy out-door finding of the stars above the horizon at any time1 see star-maps at end of the book4 ,characteristics of the ,stars4 ,such a superficial examination of stars as we have made scarcely touches the subject4 ,it is as the study of the baptismal register1 where the names were anciently recorded1 without any knowledge of individuals4 ,the heavens signify much more to us than to the ,greeks4 ,we revolve under a dome that investigation has infinitely enlarged from their estimate4 ,their little lights were turned by clumsy machinery1 held together by material connections4 ,our vast worlds are connected by a force so fine that it seems to pass out of the realm of the material into that of the spiritual4 ,animal ferocity or a human ,hercules could image their idea of power4 ,ours finds no symbol1 but rises to the ,almighty4 ,their heavens were full of fighting ,orions1 wild bulls1 chained ,andromedas1 and devouring monsters4 ,our heavens are significant of harmony and unity2 all worlds carried by one force1 and all harmonized into perfect music4 ,all their voices blend their various significations into a personal speaking1 which says1 ,hast thou not heard that the everlasting ,god1 the ,lord1 the creator of the ends of the earth1 fainteth not1 neither is weary8 ,there is no searching of his understanding4 ,lift up your eyes on high1 and behold who hath created all these things1 that brought out their host by number1 that calleth them all by their names in the greatness of his power2 for that he is strong in power not one faileth4 ,page #baj ,number4 ,we find about five thousand stars visible to the naked eye in the whole heavens1 both north and south4 ,of these twenty are of the first magnitude1 sixty-five of the second1 two hundred of the third1 four hundred of the fourth1 eleven hundred of the fifth1 and three thousand two hundred of the sixth4 ,we think we can easily number the stars2 but train a six-inch telescope on a little section of the ,twins1 where six faint stars are visible1 and over three thousand luminous points appear4 ,the seventh magnitude has #ac1jjj stars2 the eighth1 #dj1jjj2 the ninth1 #adb1jjj4 ,there are #ah1jjj1jjj stars in the zone called the ,milky ,way4 ,when our eyes are not sensitive enough to be affected by the light of far-off stars the tastimetre feels their heat1 and tells us the word of their ,maker is true--they are innumerable499 ,footnote 993 ,telescopic ,work4--,look at the ,hyades and ,pleiades in ,taurus4 ,notice the different colors of stars in them both4 ,find the cluster ,prsepe in ,fig4 #gj1 just a trifle above a point midway between ,procyon and ,regulus4 ,it is equally distant from ,procyon and a point a little below ,pollux4 ,sweep along the ,milky ,way almost anywhere1 and observe the distribution of stars2 in some places perfect crowds1 in others more sparsely scattered4 ,find with the naked eye the rich cluster in ,perseus4 ,draw a line from ,algol to a of ,perseus 7,fig4 #fg72 turn at right angles to the right1 at a distance of once and four-tenths the first line a brightness will be seen4 ,the telescope reveals a gorgeous cluster4 ,double and ,multiple ,stars4 ,if we look up during the summer months nearly overhead at the star e ,lyra1 east of ,vega 7,fig4 #gb71 we shall see with the naked eye that the star appears a little ,page #baa elongated4 ,turn your opera-glass upon it1 and two stars appear4 ,turn a larger telescope on this double star1 and each of the components separate into two4 ,it is a double double star4 ,we know that if two stars are near in reality1 and not simply apparently so by being in the same line of sight1 they must revolve around a common centre of gravity1 or rush to a common ruin4 ,eagerly we watch to see if they revolve4 ,a few years suffice to show them in actual revolution4 ,nay1 the movement of revolution has been decided before the companion star was discovered4 ,sirius has long been known to have a proper motion1 such as it would have if another sun were revolving about it4 ,even the direction of the unseen body could always be indicated4 ,in ,february1 #ahfb1 ,alvan ,clark1 artist1 poet1 and maker of telescopes 7which requires even greater genius than to be both poet and artist71 discovered the companion of ,sirius just in its predicted place4 ,as a matter of fact1 one of ,mr4 ,clark's sons saw it first2 but their fame is one4 ,the time of revolution of this pair is fifty years4 ,but one companion does not meet the conditions of the movements4 ,here must also be one or more planets too small or dark to be seen4 ,the double star x in the ,great ,bear 7see ,fig4 #gj7 makes a revolution in fifty-eight years4 ,procyon moves in an orbit which requires the presence of a companion star1 but it has as yet eluded our search4 ,castor is a double star2 but a third star or planet1 as yet undiscovered1 is required to account for its perturbations4 ,men who discovered ,neptune by the perturbations of ,uranus are capable of judging the cause of the perturbations of suns4 ,we have spoken of ,page #bab the whole orbit of the earth being invisible from the stars4 ,the nearest star in our northern hemisphere1 #fa ,cygni1 is a telescopic double star2 the constituent parts of it are forty-five times as far from each other as the earth is from the sun1 yet it takes a large telescope to show any distance between the stars499 ,footnote 993 ,telescopic ,work4--,only such work will be laid out here as can be done by small telescopes of from two to four inch object-glasses4 ,the numbers in ,fig4 #ge correspond to those of the table4 ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------- ,dist4 of,magni- ,no4 ,name4 ,fig4 ,parts4 tudes4 ,remarks4 ---------------------------------------- ----------------------- #a4 e ,lyr #gb #a' #ef ,quadruple4 #b4 z ,lyr #gb #dd #e #f ,topaz and green4 #c4 b ,cygni #gc #cd-a_/bc #f ,yellow and blue4 #d4 #fa ,cygni #gc #bj #e #f ,nearest star but one4 #e4 ,mizar #fg #ad #c #d ,both white4 #f4 ,polaris #fg #ah-a_/bb #i ,test object of eye and glass4 #g4 r ,orionis ,frontispiece4 #g #e #h ,yellow and blue4 #h4 b ,orionis #i #a #h ,rigel4 #i4 d #aj #b #h ,red and white4 #aj4 th ,septuple4 #aa4 l #e ,white and violet4 #ab4 s ,a1 ,b4 #aa #d #aj,octuple4 #ac4 ,castor #fi #e-a_/bb #c ,white4 #ad4 ,pollux #fi ,triple,orange1 gray1 lilac4 #ae4 g ,virginis #gj #e #c #c ,both yellow4 ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------- ,when g ,virginis was observed in #agah by ,bradley1 the component parts were #g asunder4 ,he incidentally remarked in his note-book that the line of their connection was parallel to the line of the two stars ,spica1 or a and d ,virginis4 ,by #ahdj they were not more than #a apart1 and the line of their connection greatly changed4 ,the appearance of the star is given in ,fig4 #ge 7#ae71 commencing at the left1 for the years #ahcg '#ch '#ci '#dj '#de '#ej '#fj and '#gi4 also a conjectural ,page #bac orbit1 placed obliquely1 and the position of the stars at the times mentioned1 commencing at the top4 ,the time of its complete revolution is one hundred and fifty years4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ge4--;,aspects and ,revolution of ,double ,stars4 ,the meaning of these double stars is that two or more suns revolve about their centre of gravity1 as the moon and earth about their centre4 ,if they have planets1 as doubtless they have1 the movement is no more complicated than the planets we call satellites of ,saturn revolving about their central body1 and also about the sun4 ,kindle ,saturn and ,jupiter to a blaze1 or let out their possible light1 and our system would appear a triple star in the distance4 ,doubtless1 in the far past1 before these giant planets were cooled1 it so appeared4 ,we find some stars double1 others triple1 quadruple1 octuple1 and multiple4 ,it is an extension of the same principles that govern our system4 ,some of these suns are so far asunder that they can swing their ,neptunes between them1 with less perturbation than ,uranus and ,neptune have in ours4 ,light all our planets1 and there would be a multiple star with more or less suns seen1 ,page #bad according to the power of the instrument4 ,perhaps the octuple star s in ,orion differs in no respect from our system1 except in the size and distance of its separate bodies1 and less cooling1 either from being younger1 or from the larger bodies cooling more slowly4 ,suns are of all ages4 ,infinite variety fills the sky4 ,it is as preposterous to expect that every system or world should have analogous circumstances to ours at the present time1 as to insist that every member of a family should be of the same age1 and in the same state of development4 ,there are worlds that have not yet reached the conditions of habitability by men1 and worlds that have passed these conditions long since4 ,let them go4 ,there are enough left1 and an infinite number in the course of preparation4 ,some are fine and lasting enough to be eternal mansions4 ,colored ,stars4 ,in the cloudy morning we get only red light1 but the sun is white4 ,so ,aldebaran and ,betelguese may be girt by vapors1 that only the strong red rays can pass4 ,again1 an iron moderately heated gives out dull red light2 becoming hotter1 it emits white light4 ,sirius1 ,regulus1 ,vega1 and ,spica may be white from greater intensity of vibration4 ,procyon1 ,capella1 and ,polaris are yellow from less intensity of vibration4 ,again1 burn salt in a white flame1 and it turns to yellow2 mix alcohol and boracic acid1 ignite them1 and a beautiful green flame results2 alcohol and nitrate of strontia give red flame2 alcohol and nitrate of barytes give yellow flame4 ,so the composition of a sun1 or the special development of anyone substance thereof at any time1 may determine the color of a star4 ,page #bae ,the special glory of color in the stars is seen in the marked contrasts presented in the double and multiple stars4 ,the larger star is usually white1 still in the intensity of heat and vibration2 the others1 smaller1 are somewhat cooled off1 and hence present colors lower down the scale of vibration1 as green1 yellow1 orange1 and even red4 ,that stars should change color is most natural4 ,many causes would produce this effect4 ,the ancients said ,sirius was red4 ,it is now white4 ,the change that would most naturally follow mere age and cooling would be from white1 through various colors1 to red4 ,we are charmed with the variegated flowers of our gardens of earth1 but he who makes the fields blush with flowers under the warm kisses of the sun has planted his wider gardens of space with colored stars4 ,the rainbow flowers of the footstool1 and the starry flowers of the throne1 proclaim one being as the author of them all4 ,clusters of ,stars4 ,from double and multiple we naturally come to groups and clusters4 ,allusion has been made to the ,hyades1 ,pleiades1 etc4 ,everyone has noticed the ,milky ,way4 ,it seems like two irregular streams of compacted stars4 ,it is not supposed that they are necessarily nearer together than the stars in the sparse regions about the pole4 ,but the #ah1jjj1jjj suns belonging to our system are arranged within a space represented by a flattened disk4 ,if one hundred lights1 three inches apart1 are arranged on a hoop ten feet in diameter1 they would be in a circle4 ,add a thousand or two more the same distance apart1 filling up the centre1 and ,page #baf extending a few inches on each side of the inner plane of the hoop3 an eye in the centre1 looking out toward the edge1 would see a milky way of lights2 looking out toward the sides or poles1 would see comparatively few4 ,it would seem as if this oblate spheroidal arrangement was the result of a revolution of all the suns composing the system4 ,jupiter and earth are flattened at the poles for the same reason4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gf4--,sprayed ,cluster below ae in ,hercules4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gg4--;,globular ,cluster4 ,in various parts of the heavens there are small globular well-defined clusters1 and clusters very irregular in form1 marked with sprays of stars4 ,there is a cluster of this latter class in ,hercules1 just under the ,s1 in ,fig4 #gb4 ,probably no one ever saw it with a good telescope without a shout of wonder4 ,here is a cluster of the former class represented in ,fig4 #gg4 ,the noble globular cluster1 o ,centauri is beyond all comparison the richest and largest object of the kind in the heavens4 ,its stars are literally innumerable2 and as their total light1 when received by the naked eye1 affects it hardly more than a star of the fifth to fourth ,page #bag magnitude1 the minuteness of each star may be imagined4 ,there are two possibilities of thought concerning these clusters4 ,either that they belong to our stellar system1 and hence the stars must be small and young1 or they are another universe of millions of suns1 so far way that the inconceivable distances between the stars are shrunken to a hand's-breadth1 and their unbearable splendor of innumerable suns can only make a gray haze at the distance at which we behold them4 ,the latter is the older and grander thought2 the former the newer and better substantiated4 ,nebul4 ,the gorgeous clusters we have been considering appear to the eye or the small telescope as little cloudlets of hazy light4 ,one after another were resolved into stars2 and the natural conclusion was1 that all would yield and reveal themselves to be clustered suns1 when we had telescopes of sufficient power4 ,but the spectroscope1 seeing not merely form but substance also1 shows that some of them are not stars in any sense1 but masses of glowing gas4 ,two of these nebul are visible to the naked eye3 one in ,andromeda 7see ,fig4 #fh71 and one around the middle star of the sword of ,orion1 shown in ,fig4#gh4 ,a three-inch telescope resolves th ,orionis into the famous trapezium1 and a nine-inch instrument sees two stars more4 ,the shape of the nebula is changeable1 and is hardly suggestive of the moulding influence of gravitation4 ,it is probably composed of glowing nitrogen and hydrogen gases4 ,nebul are of all conceivable shapes--circular1 annular1 oval1 lenticular1 ,page #bah conical1 spiral1 snake-like1 looped1 and nameless4 ,compare the sprays of the ,crab nebul above z ,tauri1 seen in ,fig4 #gi1 and the ring nebula1 ,fig4 #hj4 ,this last possibly consists of stars1 and is situated1 as shown in ,fig4 #ha1 midway between b and g ,lyr4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gh4--,the great ,nebula about the multiple ,star th ,orionis4 7,see ,frontispiece47 ,when ,herschel was sweeping the heavens with his telescope1 and saw but few stars1 he often said to his assistant1 ,prepare to write2 the nebul are coming4 ,they are most abundant where the stars are least so4 ,a zone about the heavens #cj wide1 with the ,milky ,way in the centre1 would include one-fourth of the celestial sphere2 but instead of one-fourth1 we find nine-tenths ,page #bai of the stars in this zone1 and but one-tenth of the nebul4 ,these immense masses of unorganized matter are noticed to change their forms1 vary their light greatly1 but not quickly2 they change through the ages4 ,god works slowly4 ,he takes a thousand years to lift his hand off4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gi4--;,crab ,nebula1 near z ,tauri4 7,see ,frontispiece47 ,there are many unsolved problems connected with these strange bodies4 ,whether they belong to our system1 or are beyond it1 is not settled2 the weight of evidence leans to the first view4 ,page #bbj ,variable ,stars4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #hj4--,the ,ring ,nebula4 ,our sun gives a variable amount of light1 changing through a period of eleven years4 ,probably every star1 if examined by methods sufficiently delicate and exact1 would be found to be variable4 ,the variations of some ,page #bba stars are so marked as to challenge investigation4 b ,lyr 7,fig4 #ha7 has two maxima and minima of light4 ,in three days it rises from magnitude #d-a_/b to #c-a_/b2 in a week falls to #d1 and rises to #c-a_/b2 and in three days more drops to #d-a_/b3 it makes all these changes in thirteen days2 but this period is constantly increasing4 ,the variations of one hundred and forty-three stars have been well ascertained4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ha4--;,constellation ,lyra1 showing place of the ,ring ,nebula4 ,mira1 or the ,wonderful1 in the ,whale 7,fig4 #fh71 is easily found when visible4 ,align from ,capella to the ,pleiades1 and as much farther1 and four stars will be seen1 situated thus3 99 99 99 99 ,the right-hand one is ,mira4 ,for half a month it shines as a star of the second magnitude4 ,then for three months it fades away1 and lost to sight2 going down even to the eleventh magnitude4 ,but after five months its resurrection morning mes2 and in three months more--eleven months in all--our ,wonderful is in its full glory in the heavens4 ,it its period and brilliancy are also variable4 ,the star ,megrez1 d in the ,great ,bear1 has been growing dim ,page #bbb for a century4 ,in #ahcf ,betelguese was exceedingly variable1 and continued so till #ahdj1 when the changes became much less conspicuous4 ,algol 7,fig4 #fh7 has been already referred to4 ,this slowly winking eye is of the second magnitude during #b;d4 #ad;h4 ,then it dozes off toward sleep for #d;h4 #bdm41 when it is nearly invisible4 ,it wakes up during the same time2 so that its period from maximum brilliancy to the same state again is #b;d4 #bj;h4 #dhm4 ,its recognizable changes are within five or six hours4 ,as ,i write1 ,march #beth1 #ahgi1 ,algol gives its minimum light at #i;h4 #cfm4 ,p4,m4 ,it passes fifteen minima in #dc;d4 #acm4 ,there will therefore be another minimum ,may #gth1 at #i;h4 #dim4 ,its future periods are easy to estimate4 ,perhaps it has some dark body revolving about it at frightful speed1 in a period of less than three days4 ,the period of its variability is growing shorter at an increasing rate4 ,if its variability is caused by a dark body revolving about it1 the orbit of that body is contracting1 and the huge satellite will soon1 as celestial periods are reckoned1 commence to graze the surface of the sun itself1 rebound again and again1 and at length plunge itself into the central fire4 ,such an event would evolve heat enough to make ,algol flame up into a star of the first magnitude1 and perhaps out-blaze ,sirius or ,capella in our winter sky4 ,none of the causes for these changes we have been able to conjecture seem very satisfactory4 ,the stars may have opaque planets revolving about them1 shutting off their light2 they may rotate1 and have unequally illuminated sides2 they may revolve in very elliptical orbits1 so as to greatly alter their distance from us2 they may be so situated in regard to zones of meteorites as ,page #bbc to call down periodically vast showers2 but none or all of these suppositions apply to all cases1 if they do to any4 ,temporary1 ,new1 and ,lost ,stars4 ,besides regular movements to right and left1 up and down1 to and from us--changes in the intensity of illumination by changes of distance--besides variations occurring at regular and ascertainable intervals1 there are stars called temporary1 shining awhile and then disappearing2 new1 coming to a definite brightness1 and so remaining2 and lost1 those whose first appearance was not observed1 but which have utterly disappeared4 ,in ,november1 #aegb1 a new star blazed out in ,cassiopeia4 ,its place is shown in ,fig4 #fg1 ch g being the stars d 99 g ch in the seat of the chair1 and d being the first one in the back4 ,this star was visible at noonday1 and was brighter than any other star in the heavens4 ,in ,january1 #aegc1 it was less bright than ,jupiter2 in ,april it was below the second magnitude1 and the last of ,may it utterly disappeared4 ,it was as variable in color as in brilliancy4 ,during its first two months1 the period of greatest brightness1 it was dazzling white1 then became yellow1 and finally as red as ,mars or ,aldebaran1 and so expired4 ,a bright star was seen very near to the place of the ,pilgrim1 as the star of #aegb was called1 in ,a4,d4 #ide and #abfd4 ,a star of the tenth magnitude is now seen brightening slowly almost exactly in the same place4 ,it is possible that this is a variable star of a period of about three hundred and ten years1 and will blaze out again about #ahhe4 ,but we have had1 within a few years1 fine opportunities ,page #bbd to study1 with improved instruments1 two new stars2 ,on the evening of ,may #abth1 #ahff1 a star of the second magnitude was observed in the ,northern ,crown1 where no star above the fifth magnitude had been twenty-four hours before4 ,in ,argelander's chart a star of the tenth magnitude occupies the place4 ,may #acth it had declined to the third magnitude1 ,may #afth to the fourth1 ,may #agth to the fifth1 ,may #aith to the seventh1 ,may #cast to the ninth1 and has since diminished to the tenth4 ,the spectroscope showed it to be a star in the usual condition2 but through the usual colored spectrum1 crossed with bright lines1 shone four bright lines1 two of which indicated glowing hydrogen4 ,here was plenty of proof that an unusual amount of this gas had given this sun its sudden flame4 ,as the hydrogen burned out the star grew dim4 ,two theories immediately presented themselves3 ,first1 that vast volumes had been liberated from within the orb by some sudden breaking up of the doors of its great deeps2 or1 second1 this star had precipitated upon itself1 by attraction1 some other sun or planet1 the force of whose impact had been changed into heat4 ,though we see the liberated hydrogen of our sun burst up with sudden flame1 it can hardly be supposed that enough could be liberated at once to increase the light and heat one hundred-fold4 ,in regard to the second theory1 it is capable of proof that two suns half as large as ours1 moving at a velocity of four hundred and seventy-six miles per second1 would evolve heat enough to supply the radiation of our sun for fifty million years4 ,how could it be possible for a sun like this newly blazing orb to cool off to such a ,page #bbe degree in a month8 ,besides1 there would not be one chance in a thousand for two orbs to come directly together4 ,they would revolve about each other till a kind of grazing contact of grinding worlds would slowly kindle the ultimate heat4 ,it is far more likely that this star encountered an enormous stream of meteoric bodies1 or perhaps absorbed a whole comet1 that laid its million leagues of tail as fuel on the central fire4 ,only let it be remembered that the fuel is far more force than substance4 ,allusion has already been made to the sudden brightening of our sun on the first day of ,september1 #ahei4 ,that was caused1 no doubt1 by the fall of large meteors1 following in the train of the comet of #ahdc1 or some other comet4 ,what the effect would have been1 had the whole mass of the comet been absorbed1 cannot be imagined4 ,another new star lately appeared in ,cygnus1 near the famous star #fa--the first star in the northern hemisphere whose distance was determined4 ,it was first seen ,november #bdth1 #ahgf1 as a third magnitude star of a yellow color4 ,by ,december #b;d it had sunk to the fourth magnitude1 and changed to a greenish color4 ,it had then three bright hydrogen lines1 the strong double sodium line1 and others1 which made1 it strongly resemble the spectrum of the chromosphere of our sun4 ,an entirely different result appeared in the fading of these two stars4 ,in the case of the star in the ,crown1 the extraordinary light was the first to fade1 leaving the usual stellar spectrum4 ,in the case of the star in ,cygnus1 the part of the spectrum belonging to stellar light was the first to fade1 leaving the bright lines2 that is1 the gas of one gave way to regular starlight1 and the starlight ,page #bbf of the other having faded1 the regular light of the glowing gas continued4 ,by some strange oversight1 no one studied the star again for six months4 ,in ,september and ,november1 #ahgg1 the light of this star was found to be blue1 and not to be starlight at all4 ,it had no rainbow spectrum1 only one kind of rays1 and hence only one color4 ,its sole spectroscopic line is believed to be that of glowing nitrogen gas4 ,we have then1 probably1 in the star of #ahgf1 a body shining by a feeble and undiscernible light1 surrounded by a discernible immensity of light of nitrogen gas4 ,this is its usual condition2 but if a flight of meteors should raise the heat of the central body so as to outshine the nebulous envelope1 we should have the conditions we discovered in ,november1 #ahgf4 ,but a rapid cooling dissipates the observable light of all colors1 and leaves only the glowing gas of one color4 ,movements of ,stars4 ,we call the stars fixed1 but motion and life are necessary to all things4 ,besides the motion in the line of sight described already1 there is motion in every other conceivable direction4 ,we knew ,sirius moved before we had found the cause4 ,we know that our sun moves back and forth in his easy bed one-half his vast diameter1 as the larger planets combine their influence on one side or the other4 ,the sun has another movement4 ,we find the stars in ,hercules gradually spreading from each other4 ,hercules's brawny limbs grow brawnier every century4 ,there can be but one cause3 we are approaching that quarter of the heavens4 7,see ,symbol1 ,fig4 #gb47 ,we are even ,page #bbg able to compute the velocity of our approach2 it is four miles a second4 ,the stars in the opposite quarter of the heavens in ,argo are drawing nearer together4 ,this movement would have no effect on the apparent place of the stars at either pole1 if they were all equally distant2 but it must greatly extend or contract the apparent space between them1 since they are situated at various distances4 ,independent of this1 the stars themselves are all in motion1 but so vast is the distance from which we observe them that it has taken an accumulation of centuries before they could be made measurable4 ,a train going forty miles an hour1 seen from a distance of two miles1 almost seems to stand still4 ,arcturus moves through space three times as fast as the earth1 but it takes a century to appear to move the eighth part of the diameter of the moon4 ,there is a star in the ,hunting ,dogs1 known as #ahcj ,groombridge1 which has a velocity beyond what all the attraction of the matter of the known universe could give it4 ,by the year #ijjj it may be in ,berenice's ,hair4 ,some stars have a common movement1 being evidently related together4 ,a large proportion of the brighter stars between ,aldebaran and the ,pleiades have a common motion eastward of about ten seconds a century4 ,all the angles marked by a1 b1 g1 ch ,orionis will be altered in different directions2 l is moving toward g4 l and e will appear as a double star4 ,in ,a4,d4 #ej1jjj ,procyon will be nearer ch ,orionis than ,rigel now is1 and ,sirius will be in line with a and ch ,orionis4 ,all the stars of the ,great ,dipper1 except ,benetnasch and ,dubhe1 have a common motion somewhat in the direction ,page #bbh of ,thuban 7,fig4 #fg71 while the two named have a motion nearly opposite4 ,in #cf1jjj years the end of the ,dipper will have fallen out so that it will hold no water1 and the handle will be broken square off at ,mizar4 ,the ,southern ,cross1 says ,humboldt1 will not always keep its characteristic form1 for its four stars travel in different directions with unequal velocities4 ,at the present time it is not known how many myriads of years must elapse before its entire dislocation4 ,these movements are not in fortuitous or chaotic ways1 but are doubtless in accordance with some perfect plan4 ,we have climbed up from revolving earth and moon to revolving planets and sun1 in order to understand how two or ten suns can revolve about a common centre4 ,let us now leap to the grander idea that all the innumerable stars of a winter night not only loan1 but must revolve about some centre of gravity4 ,men have been looking for a central sun of suns1 and have not found it4 ,none is needed4 ,two suns can balance about a point2 all suns can swing about a common centre4 ,that one unmoving centre may be that city more gorgeous than ,eastern imagination ever conceived1 whose pavement is transparent gold1 whose walls are precious stones1 whose light is life1 and where no dark planetary bodies ever cast shadows4 ,there reigns the ,king and ,lord of all1 and ranged about are the far-off provinces of his material systems4 ,they all move in his sight1 and receive power from a mind that never wearies4 ,page #bbi ,,xi4 ,,the ,,worlds ,,and ,,the ,,word4 ,the worlds were framed by the word of ,god4--,heb4 xi41 #c4 ,page #bcj ,mysterious night6 when our first parent knew thee ,from report divine1 and heard thy name1 ,did he not tremble for this lovely frame1 ,this glorious canopy of light and blue8 ,yet1 'neath a curtain of translucent dew1 ,bathed in the rays of the great setting flame1 ,hesperus1 with all the host of heaven1 came1 ,and lo6 creation widened in man's view4 ,who could have thought such darkness lay concealed ,within thy beams1 ,o ,sun6 ,oh who could find1 ,whilst fruit and leaf and insect stood revealed1 ,that to such countless worlds thou mad'st us blind6 ,why do we then shun death with anxious strife8 ,if light conceal so much1 wherefore not life8 ,,blanco ,,white4 ,page #bca ,,xi4 ,,the ,,worlds ,,and ,,the ,,word4 ,men have found the various worlds to be far richer than they originally thought4 ,they have opened door after door in their vast treasuries1 have ascended throne after throne of power1 and ruled realms of increasing extent4 ,we have no doubt that unfoldings in the future will amaze even those whose expectations have been quickened by the revealings of the past4 ,what if it be found that the ,word is equally inexhaustible8 ,after ages of thought and discovery we have come out of the darkness and misconceptions of men4 ,we believe in no serpent1 turtle1 or elephant supporting the world2 no ,atlas holding up the heavens2 no crystal domes1 with cycles and epicycles scribbled o'er4 ,what if it be found that one book1 written by ignorant men1 never fell into these mistakes of the wisest6 ,nay1 more1 what if some of the greatest triumphs of modern science are to be found plainly stated in a book older than the writings of ,homer8 ,if suns1 planets1 and satellites1 with all their possibilities of life1 changes of flora and fauna1 could be all provided for1 as some scientists tell us1 in the fiery star-dust of a cloud1 why may not the same ,author provide a perpetually widening river of life in his ,word8 ,as we believe ,he is perpetually present in his worlds1 we know ,he has ,page #bcb promised to be perpetually present in his ,word1 making it alive with spirit and life4 ,the wise men of the past could not avoid alluding to ideas the falsity of which subsequent discovery has revealed2 but the writers of the ,bible did avoid such erroneous allusion4 ,of course they referred to some things1 as sunrise and sunset1 according to appearance2 but our most scientific books do the same to-day4 ,that the ,bible could avoid teaching the opposite of scientific truth proclaims that a higher than human wisdom was in its teaching4 ,that negative argument is strong1 but the affirmative argument is much stronger4 ,the ,bible declares scientific truth far in advance of its discovery1 far in advance of man's ability to understand its plain declarations4 ,take a few conspicuous illustrations3 ,the ,bible asserted from the first that the present order of things had a beginning4 ,after ages of investigation1 after researches in the realms of physics1 arguments in metaphysics1 and conclusions by the necessities of resistless logic1 science has reached the same result4 ,the ,bible asserted from the first that creation of matter preceded arrangement4 ,it was chaos--void--without form--darkness2 arrangement was a subsequent work4 ,the world was not created in the form it was to have2 it was to be moulded1 shaped1 stratified1 coaled1 mountained1 valleyed1 subsequently4 ,all of which science utters ages afterward4 ,the ,bible did not hesitate to affirm that light existed before the sun1 though men did not believe it1 and used it as a weapon against inspiration4 ,now we praise men for having demonstrated the oldest record4 ,page #bcc ,it is a recently discovered truth of science that the trata of the earth were formed by the action of water1 and the mountains were once under the ocean4 ,it is an idea long familiar to ,bible readers3 ,thou coverest the earth with the deep as with a garment4 ,the waters stood above the mountains4 ,at thy rebuke they fled2 at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away4 ,the mountains ascend2 the valleys descend into the place thou hast founded for them4 ,here is a whole volume of geology in a paragraph4 ,the thunder of continental convulsions is ,god's voice2 the mountains rise by ,god's power2 the waters haste away unto the place ,god prepared for them4 ,our slowness of geological discovery is perfectly accounted for by ,peter4 ,for of this they are willingly ignorant1 that by the word of ,god there were heavens of old1 and land framed out of water1 and by means of water1 whereby the world that then was1 being overflowed by water1 perished4 ,we recognize these geological subsidences1 but we read them from the testimony of the rocks more willingly than from the testimony of the ,word4 ,science exults in having discovered what it is pleased to call an order of development on earth--tender grass1 herb1 tree2 moving creatures that have life in the waters2 bird1 reptile1 beast1 cattle1 man4 ,the ,bible gives the same order ages before1 and calls it ,god's successive creations4 ,during ages on ages man's wisdom held the earth to be flat4 ,meanwhile1 ,god was saying1 century after century1 of himself1 ,he sitteth upon the sphere of the earth 7,gesenius74 ,men racked their feeble wits for expedients to uphold ,page #bcd the earth1 and the best they could devise were serpents1 elephants1 and turtles2 beyond that no one had ever gone to see what supported them4 ,meanwhile1 ,god was perpetually telling men that he had hung the earth upon nothing4 ,men were ever trying to number the stars4 ,hipparchus counted one thousand and twenty-two2 ,ptolemy one thousand and twenty-six2 and it is easy to number those visible to the naked eye4 ,but the ,bible said1 when there were no telescopes to make it known1 that they were as the sands of the sea1 innumerable4 ,science has appliances of enumeration unknown to other ages1 but the space-penetrating telescopes and tastimeters reveal more worlds--eighteen millions in a single system1 and systems beyond count--till men acknowledge that the stars are innumerable to man4 ,it is ,god's prerogative to number all the stars2 he also calleth them all by their names4 ,torricelli's discovery that the air had weight was received with incredulity4 ,for ages the air had propelled ships1 thrust itself against the bodies of men1 and overturned their works4 ,but no man ever dreamed that weight was necessary to give momentum4 ,during all the centuries it had stood in the ,bible1 waiting for man's comprehension3 ,he gave to the air its weight 7,job xxviii4 #be74 ,the pet science of to-day is meteorology4 ,the fluctuations and variations of the weather have hitherto baffled all attempts at unravelling them4 ,it has seemed that there was no law in their fickle changes4 ,but at length perseverance and skill have triumphed1 and a single man in one place predicts the weather and winds ,page #bce for a continent4 ,but the ,bible has always insisted that the whole department was under law2 nay1 it laid down that law so clearly1 that if men had been willing to learn from it they might have reached this wisdom ages ago4 ,the whole moral law is not more clearly crystallized in ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and thy neighbor as thyself1 than all the fundamentals of the science of meteorology are crystallized in these words3 ,the wind goeth toward the south 7equator71 and turneth about 7up7 unto the north2 it whirleth about continually1 and the wind returneth again according to his circuits 7established routes74 ,all the rivers run into the sea2 yet the sea is not full3 unto the place from whence the rivers come1 thither they return again 7,eccles4 i4 #f1 #g74 ,those scientific queries which ,god propounded to ,job were unanswerable then2 most of them are so now4 ,whereon are the sockets of the earth made to sink8 ,job never knew the earth turned in sockets2 much less could he tell where they were fixed4 ,god answered this question elsewhere4 ,he stretcheth the north 7one socket7 over the empty place1 and hangeth the earth upon nothing4 ,speaking of the day-spring1 ,god says the earth is turned to it1 as clay to the seal4 ,the earth's axial revolution is clearly recognized4 ,copernicus declared it early2 ,god earlier4 ,no man yet understands the balancing of the clouds1 nor the suspension of the frozen masses of hail1 any more than ,job did4 ,had ,god asked if he had perceived the length of the earth1 many a man to-day could have answered yes4 ,but the eternal ice keeps us from perceiving the breadth ,page #bcf of the earth1 and shows the discriminating wisdom of the question4 ,the statement that the sun's going is from the end of the heaven1 and his circuit to the ends of it1 has given edge to many a sneer at its supposed assertion that the sun went round the earth4 ,it teaches a higher truth--that the sun itself obeys the law it enforces on the planets1 and flies in an orbit of its own1 from one end of heaven in ,argo to the other in ,hercules4 ,so eminent an astronomer and so true a ,christian as ,general ,mitchell1 who understood the voices in which the heavens declare the glory of ,god1 who read with delight the ,word of ,god em bodied in worlds1 and who fed upon the written ,word of ,god as his daily bread1 declared1 ,we find an aptness and propriety in all these astronomical illustrations1 which are not weakened1 but amazingly strengthened1 when viewed in the clear light of our present knowledge4 ,herschel says1 ,all human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more strongly the truths that come from on high1 and are contained in the sacred writings4 ,the common authorship of the worlds and the ,word becomes apparent2 their common unexplorable wealth is a necessary conclusion4 ,since the opening revelations of the past show an unsearchable wisdom in the ,word1 has that ,word any prophecy concerning mysteries not yet understood1 and events yet in the future8 ,there are certain problems as yet insolvable4 ,we have grasped many clews1 and followed them far into labyrinths of darkness1 but not yet through into light4 ,we ask in vain1 ,what is matter8 ,no man can ,page #bcg answer4 ,we trace it up through the worlds1 till its increasing fineness1 its growing power1 and possible identity of substance1 seem as if the next step would reveal its spirit origin4 ,what we but hesitatingly stammer1 the ,word boldly asserts4 ,we ask1 ,what is force8 ,no man can answer4 ,we recognize its various grades1 each subordinate to the higher--cohesion dissolvable by heat2 the affinity of oxygen and hydrogen in water overcome by the piercing intensity of electric fire2 rivers seeking the sea by gravitation carried back by the sun2 rock turned to soil1 soil to flowers2 and all the forces in nature measurably subservient to mind4 ,hence we partly understand what the ,word has always taught us1 that all lower forces must be subject to that which is highest4 ,how easily can seas be divided1 iron made to swim1 water to burn1 and a dead body to live again1 if the highest force exert itself over forces made to be mastered4 ,when we have followed force to its highest place1 we always find ourselves considering the forces of mind and spirit1 and say1 in the words of the ,scriptures1 ,god is spirit4 ,we ask in vain what is the end of the present condition of things4 ,we have read the history of our globe with great difficulty--its prophecy is still more difficult4 ,we have asked whether the stars form a system1 and if so1 whether that system is permanent4 ,we are not able to answer yet4 ,we have said that the sun would in time become as icy cold and dead as the moon1 and then the earth would wander darkling in the voids of space4 ,but the end of the earth1 as prophesied in the ,word1 is different3 ,the heavens will pass away with ,page #bch a rushing noise1 and the elements will be dissolved with burning heat1 and the earth and the works therein will be burned up4 ,the latest conclusions of science point the same way4 ,the great zones of uncondensed matter about the sun seem to constitute a resisting medium as far as they reach4 ,encke's comet1 whose orbit comes near the sun1 is delayed4 ,this gives gravitation an overwhelming power1 and hence the orbit is lessened and a revolution accomplished more quickly4 ,faye's comet1 which wheels beyond the track of ,mars1 is not retarded4 ,if the earth moves through a resisting substance1 its ultimate fall into the sun is certain4 ,whether in that far future the sun shall have cooled off1 or will be still as hot as to-day1 ,peter's description would admirably portray the result of the impact4 ,peters description1 however1 seems rather to indicate an interference of ,divine power at an appropriate time before a running down of the system at present in existence1 and a re-endowment of matter with new capabilities4 ,after thousands of years1 science discovered the true way to knowledge4 ,it is the ,baconian way of experiment1 of trial1 of examining the actual1 instead of imagining the ideal4 ,it is the acceptance of the ,scriptural plan4 ,if a man wills to do ,god's will1 he shall know4 ,oh taste and see6 ,in science men try hypotheses1 think the best they can1 plan broadly as possible1 and then see if facts sustain the theory4 ,they have adopted the ,scriptural idea of accepting a plan1 and then working in faith1 in order to acquire knowledge4 ,fortunately1 in the work of salvation the plan is always perfect4 ,but1 in order to make the trial under the most favorable circumstances1 there must be faith4 ,the faith of ,page #bci science is amazing2 its assertions of the supersensual are astounding4 ,it affirms a thousand things that cannot be physically demonstrated3 that the flight of a rifle-ball is parabolic2 that the earth has poles2 that gages are made of particles2 that there are atoms2 that an electric light gives ten times as many rays as are visible2 that there are sounds to which we are deaf1 sights to which we are blind2 that a thousand objects and activities are about us1 for the perception of which we need a hundred senses instead of five4 ,these faiths have nearly all led to sight2 they have been rewarded1 and the world's wealth of knowledge is the result4 ,the ,word has ever asserted the supersensuous1 solicited man's faith1 and ever uplifted every true faith into sight4 ,lowell is partly right when he sings3 ,science was ,faith once2 ,faith were science now1 ,would she but lay her bow and arrows by1 ,and aim her with the weapons of the time4 ,faith laid her bow and arrows by before men in pursuit of worldly knowledge discovered theirs4 ,what becomes of the force of the sun that is being spent to-day8 ,it is one of the firmest rocks of science that there can be no absolute destruction of force4 ,it is all conserved somehow4 ,but how8 ,the sun contracts1 light results1 and leaps swiftly into all encircling space4 ,it can never be returned4 ,heat from stars invisible by the largest telescope enters the tastimeter1 and declares that that force has journeyed from its source through incalculable years4 ,there is no encircling dome to reflect all this force back upon its sources4 ,is it lost8 ,science1 in defence of its own dogma1 should ,page #bdj assign light a work as it flies in the space which we have learned cannot be empty4 ,there ought to be a realm where light's inconceivable energy is utilized in building a grander universe1 where there is no night4 ,christ said1 as he went out of the seen into the unseen1 ,i go to prepare a place for you2 and when ,john saw it in vision the sun had disappeared1 the moon was gone1 but the light still continued4 ,science finds matter to be capable of unknown refinement2 water becomes steam full of amazing capabilities3 we add more heat1 superheat the steam1 and it takes on new aptitudes and uncontrollable energy4 ,zinc burned in acid becomes electricity1 which enters iron as a kind of soul1 to fill all that body with life4 ,all matter is capable of transformation1 if not transfiguration1 till it shines by the light of an indwelling spirit4 ,scripture readers know that bodies and even garments can be transfigured1 be made astrapton 7,luke xxiv4 #d71 shining with an inner light4 ,they also look for new heavens and a new earth endowed with higher powers1 fit for perfect beings4 ,when ,god made matter1 so far as our thought permits us to know1 he simply made force stationary and unconscious4 ,thereafter he moves through it with his own will4 ,he can at any time change these forces1 making air solid1 water and rock gaseous1 a world a cloud1 or a fire-mist a stone4 ,he may at some time restore all force to consciousness again1 and make every part of the universe thrill with responsive joy4 ,then shall the mountains and the hills break forth before you into singing1 and all the trees of the field clap their hands4 ,one of these changes is to come to the earth4 ,page #bda ,amidst great noise the heaven shall flee1 the earth be burned up1 and all their forces be changed to new forms4 ,perhaps it will not then be visible to mortal eyes4 ,perhaps force will then be made conscious1 and the flowers thereafter return our love as much as lower creatures do now4 ,a river and tree of life may be consciously alive1 as well as give life4 ,poets that are nearest to ,god are constantly hearing the sweet voices of responsive feeling in nature4 ,for his gayer hours ,she has a voice of gladness and a smile1 ,and eloquence of beauty2 and she glides ,into his darker musings with a mild ,and gentle sympathy1 that steals away ,their sharpness ere he is aware4 ,prophets who utter ,god's voice of truth say1 ,the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for holy men1 and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose4 ,it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice1 even with joy and singing4 ,distinguish clearly between certainty and surmise4 ,the certainty is that the world will pass through catastrophic changes to a perfect world4 ,the grave of uniformitarianism is already covered with grass4 ,he that creates promises to complete4 ,the invisible1 imponderable1 inaudible ether is beyond our apprehension2 it transmits impressions #ahf1jjj miles a second2 it is millions of times more capable and energetic than air4 ,what may be the bounds of its possibility none can imagine1 for law is not abrogated nor designs disregarded as we ascend into higher realms4 ,law works out more beautiful designs with more absolute certainty4 ,why ,page #bdb should there not be a finer universe than this1 and disconnected from this world altogether--a fit home for immortal souls8 ,it is a necessity4 ,god filleth all in all1 is everywhere omnipotent and wise4 ,why should there be great vacuities1 barren of power and its creative outgoings8 ,god has fixed the stars as proofs of his agency at some points in space4 ,but is it in points only8 ,science is proud of its discovery that what men once thought to be empty space is more intensely active than the coarser forms of matter can be4 ,but in the long times which are past ,job glanced at earth1 seas1 clouds1 pillars of heaven1 stars1 day1 night1 all visible things1 and then added3 ,lo6 these are only the outlying borders of his works4 ,what a whisper of a word we hear of ,him6 ,the thunder of his power who can comprehend8 ,science discovers that man is adapted for mastery in this world4 ,he is of the highest order of visible creatures4 ,neither is it possible to imagine an order of beings generically higher to be connected with the conditions of the material world4 ,this whole secret was known to the author of the oldest writing4 ,and ,god blessed them1 and ,god said unto them3 ,be fruitful1 and multiply1 and replenish the earth1 and subdue it3 and have dominion over the fish of the sea1 and over the fowl of the air1 and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth4 ,the idea is never lost sight of in the sacred writings4 ,and while every man knows he must fail in one great contest1 and yield himself to death1 the later portions of the divine ,word offer him victory even here4 ,the typical man is commissioned to destroy even death1 and make man a sharer in the victory4 ,page #bdc ,science babbles at this great truth of man's position like a little child2 ,scripture treats it with a breadth of perfect wisdom we are only beginning to grasp4 ,science tells us that each type is prophetic of a higher one4 ,the whale has bones prophetic of a human hand4 ,has man reached perfection8 ,is there no prophecy in him8 ,not in his body1 perhaps2 but how his whole soul yearns for greater beauty4 ,as soon as he has found food1 the savage begins to carve his paddle1 and make himself gorgeous with feathers4 ,how man yearns for strength1 subduing animal and cosmic forces to his will6 ,how he fights against darkness and death1 and strives for perfection and holiness6 ,these prophecies compel us to believe there is a world where powers like those of electricity and luminiferous ether are ever at hand2 where its waters are rivers of life1 and its trees full of perfect healing1 and from which all unholiness is forever kept4 ,what we infer1 ,scripture affirms4 ,science tells us there has been a survival of the fittest4 ,doubtless this is so4 ,so in the future there will be a survival of the fittest4 ,what is it8 ,wisdom1 gentleness1 meekness1 brotherly kindness1 and charity4 ,over those who have these traits death hath no permanent power4 ,the caterpillar has no fear as he weaves his own shroud2 for there is life within fit to survive1 and ere long it spreads its gorgeous wings1 and flies in the air above where once it crawled4 ,man has had two states of being already4 ,one confined1 dark1 peculiarly nourished1 slightly conscious2 then he was born into another--wide1 differently nourished1 and intensely ,page #bdd conscious4 ,he knows he may be born again into a life wider yet1 differently nourished1 and even yet more intensely conscious4 ,science has no hint how a long ascending series of developments crowned by man may advance another step1 and make man isaggelos--equal to angels4 ,but the simplest teaching of ,scripture points out a way so clear that a child need not miss the glorious consummation4 ,when ,uranus hastened in one part of its orbit1 and then retarded1 and swung too wide1 men said there must be another attracting world beyond2 and1 looking there1 ,neptune was found4 ,so1 when individual men are so strong that nations or armies cannot break down their wills2 so brave1 that lions have no terrors2 so holy1 that temptation cannot lure nor sin defile them2 so grand in thought1 that men cannot follow2 so pure in walk1 that ,god walks with them--let us infer an attracting world1 high and pure and strong as heaven4 ,the eleventh chapter of ,hebrews is a roll-call of heroes of whom this world was not worthy4 ,they were tortured1 not accepting deliverance1 that they might obtain a better resurrection4 ,the world to come influenced1 as it were1 the orbits of their souls1 and when their bodies fell off1 earth having no hold on them1 they sped on to their celestial home4 ,the tendency of such souls necessitates such a world4 ,the worlds and the ,word speak but one language1 teach but one set of truths4 ,how was it possible that the writers of the earlier ,scriptures described physical phenomena with wonderful sublimity1 and with such penetrative truth8 ,they gazed upon the same heaven that those men saw who ages afterward led the world in knowledge4 ,these latter were near-sighted1 and absorbed ,page #bde in the pictures on the first veil of matter2 the former were far-sighted1 and penetrated a hundred strata of thickest material1 and saw the immaterial power behind4 ,the one class studied the present1 and made the gravest mistakes2 the other pierced the uncounted ages of the past1 and uttered the profoundest wisdom4 ,there is but one explanation4 ,he that planned and made the worlds inspired the ,word4 ,science and religion are not two separate departments1 they are not even two phases of the same truth4 ,science has a broader realm in the unseen than in the seen1 in the source of power than in the outcomes of power1 in the sublime laws of spirit than in the laws of matter2 and religion sheds its beautiful light over all stages of life1 till1 whether we eat or whether we drink1 or whatsoever we do1 we may do all for the glory of ,god4 ,science and religion make common confession that the great object of life is to learn and to grow4 ,both will come to see the best possible means1 for the attainment of this end is a personal relation to a teacher who is the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life4 ,page #bdg ,,xii4 ,,the ,,ultimate ,,force4 ,in the beginning was the ,word1 and the ,word was with ,god1 and the ,word was ,god4 ,the same was in the beginning with ,god4 ,all things became by him1 and without him was not anything made that was made 99 99 99 and by him all things stand together4 ,page #bdh ,o thou eternal one2 whose presence blight ,all space doth occupy--all motion guide-- ,thou from primeval nothingness didst call ,first chaos1 then existence4 ,lord1 on thee ,eternity had its foundation3 all ,sprung forth from thee--of light1 joy1 harmony1 ,sole origin3 all life1 all beauty thine4 ,thy word created all1 and doth create2 ,thy splendor fills all space with rays divine2 ,thou art and wert1 and shalt be glorious1 great2 ,life-giving1 life-sustaining ,potentate1 ,thy chains the unmeasured universe surround-- ,upheld by thee1 by thee inspired with breath4 ,,derzhavin4 ,page #bdi ,,xii4 ,,the ,,ultimate ,,force4 ,the universe is ,god's name writ large4 ,thought goes up the shining suns as golden stairs1 and reads the consecutive syllables--all might1 and wisdom1 and beauty2 and if the heart be fine enough and pure enough1 it also reads everywhere the mystic name of love4 ,let us learn to read the hieroglyphics1 and then turn to the blazonry of the infinite page4 ,that is the key-note2 the heavens and the earth declaring the glory of ,god1 and men with souls attuned listening4 ,to what voices shall we listen first8 ,stand on the shore of a lake set like an azure gem among the bosses of green hills4 ,the patter of rain means an annual fall of four cubic feet of water on every square foot of it4 ,it weighs two hundred and forty pounds to the cubic foot1 one hundred million tons on the surface of a little sheet of water twenty miles long by three wide4 ,now1 all that weight of falling rain had to be lifted1 a work compared to which taking up mountains and casting them into the sea is pastime4 ,all that water had to be taken up before it could be cast down1 and carried hundreds of miles before it could be there4 ,you have heard ,niagara's thunder2 have stood beneath the falling immensity2 seen it ceaselessly poured from an infinite hand2 felt that you would be ground to atoms if you fell into that resistless flood4 ,well1 all that infinity of ,page #bej water had to be lifted by main force1 had to be taken up out of the far ,pacific1 brought over the ,rocky ,mountains2 and the ,mississippi keeps bearing its wide miles of water to the ,gulf1 and ,niagara keeps thundering age after age1 because there is power somewhere to carry the immeasurable floods all the time the other way in the upper air4 ,but this is only the ,alpha of power4 ,professor ,clark1 of ,amherst1 ,massachusetts1 found that such a soft and pulpy thing as a squash had so great a power of growth that it lifted three thousand pounds1 and held it day and night for months4 ,it toiled and grew under the growing weight1 compacting its substance like oak to do the work4 ,all over the earth this tremendous power and push of life goes on--in the little star-eyed flowers that look up to ,god only on the ,alpine heights1 in every tuft of grass1 in every acre of wheat1 in every mile of prairie1 and in every lofty tree that wrestles with the tempests of one hundred winters4 ,but this is only the ,b in the alphabet of power4 ,rise above the earth1 and you find the worlds tossed like playthings1 and hurled seventy times as fast as a rifle-ball1 never an inch out of place or a second out of time4 ,but this is only the ,c in the alphabet of power4 ,rise to the sun4 ,it is a quenchless reservoir of high-class energy4 ,our tornadoes move sixty miles an hour1 those of the sun twenty thousand miles an hour4 ,a forest on fire sends its spires of flame one hundred feet in air1 the sun sends its spires of flame two hundred thousand miles4 ,all our fires exhaust the fuel and burn out4 ,if the sun were pure coal1 it would burn out in five thousand years2 and yet this sea of unquenchable ,page #bea flame seethes and burns1 and rolls and vivifies a dozen worlds1 and flashes life along the starry spaces for a million years without any apparent diminution4 ,it sends out its power to every planet1 in the vast circle in which it lies4 ,it fills with light not merely a whole circle1 but a dome2 not merely a dome above1 but one below1 and on every side4 ,at our distance of ninety-two and a half millions of miles1 the great earth feels that power in gravitation1 tides1 rains1 winds1 and all possible life--every part is full of power4 ,fill the earth's orbit with a circle of such receptive worlds--seventy thousand instead of one--everyone would be as fully supplied with power from this central source4 ,more4 ,fill the whole dome1 the entire extent of the surrounding sphere1 bottom1 sides1 top1 a sphere one hundred and eighty-five million miles in diameter1 and everyone of these uncountable worlds would be touched with the same power as one2 each would thrill with life4 ,this is only the ,d of the alphabet of power4 ,and glancing up to the other suns1 one hundred1 five hundred1 twelve hundred times as large1 double1 triple1 septuple1 multiple suns1 we shall find power enough to go through the whole alphabet in geometrical ratio2 and then in the clustered suns1 galaxies1 and nebul1 power enough still unrepresented by single letters to require all combinations of the alphabet of power4 ,what is the significance of this single element of power8 ,the answer of science to-day is correlation1 the constant evolution of one force from another4 ,heat is a mode of motion1 motion a result of heat4 ,so far so good4 ,but are we mere reasoners in a circle8 ,then we would be lost men1 treading our round of death in a limitless forest4 ,what is the ultimate8 ,reason ,page #beb out in a straight line4 ,no definition of matter allows it to originate force2 only mind can do that4 ,hence the ultimate force is always mind4 ,carry your correlation as far as you please--through planets1 suns1 nebul1 concretionary vortices1 and revolving fire-mist--there must always be mind and will beyond4 ,some of that willpower that works without exhaustion must take its own force and render it static1 apparent4 ,it may do this in such correlated relation that that force shall go on year after year to a thousand changing forms2 but that force must originate in mind4 ,go out in the falling rain1 stand under the thunderous ,niagara1 feel the immeasurable rush of life1 see the hanging worlds1 and trace all this--the carried rain1 the terrific thunder with ,god's bow of peace upon it1 and the unfailing planets hung upon nothing--trace all this to the orb of day blazing in perpetual strength1 but stop not there4 ,who made the sun8 ,contrivance fills all thought4 ,who made the sun8 ,nature says there is a mind1 and that mind is ,almighty4 ,then you have read the first syllables1 viz41 being and power4 ,what is the continuous relation of the universe to the mind from which it derived its power8 ,some say that it is the relation of a wound-up watch to the winder4 ,it was dowered with sufficient power to revolve its ceaseless changes1 and its maker is henceforth an absentee ,god4 ,is it8 ,let us have courage to see4 ,for twenty years one devotes ten seconds every night to putting a little force into a watch4 ,it is so arranged that it distributes that force over twenty-four hours4 ,in that twenty years more power has been put into that watch than a horse could exert at once4 ,but suppose ,page #bec one had tried to put all that force into the watch at once3 it would have pulverized it to atoms4 ,but supposing the universe had been dowered with power at first to run its enormous rounds for twenty millions of years4 ,it is inconceivable2 steel would be as friable as sand1 and strengthless as smoke1 in such strain4 ,we have discovered some of the laws of the force we call gravitation4 ,but what do we know of its essence8 ,how it appears to act we know a little1 what it is we are profoundly ignorant4 ,few men ever discuss this question4 ,all theories are sublimely ridiculous1 and fail to pass the most primary tests4 ,how matter can act where it is not1 and on that with which it has no connection1 is inconceivable4 ,newton said that anyone who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking1 could not admit for a moment the possibility of a sun reaching through millions of miles1 and exercising there an attractive power4 ,a watch may run if wound up1 but how the watch-spring in one pocket can run the watch in another is hard to see4 ,a watch is a contrivance for distributing a force outside of itself1 and if the universe runs at all on that principle1 it distributes some force outside of itself4 ,le ,sage's theory of gravitation by the infinitive hail of atoms cannot stand a minute1 hence we come back as a necessity of thought to ,herschel's statement4 ,it is but reasonable to regard gravity as a result of a consciousness and a will existent somewhere4 ,where8 ,i read an old book speaking of these matters1 and it says of ,god1 ,he hangeth the earth upon nothing2 he upholdeth constantly all things by the word of his power4 ,page #bed ,by him all things consist or hold together4 ,it teaches an imminent mind2 an almighty1 constantly exerted power4 ,proof of this starts up on every side4 ,there is a recognized tendency in all high-class energy to deteriorate to a lower class4 ,there is steam in the boiler1 but it wastes without fuel4 ,there is electricity in the jar1 but every particle of air steals away a little1 unless our conscious force is exerted to regather it4 ,there is light in the sun1 but infinite space waits to receive it1 and takes it swift as light can leap4 ,we said that if the sun were pure coal1 it would burn out in five thousand years1 but it blazes undimmed by the million4 ,how can it8 ,there have been various theories3 chemical combustion1 it has failed2 meteoric impact1 it is insufficient2 condensation1 it is not proved2 and if it were1 it is an intermediate step back to the original cause of condensation4 ,the far-seeing eyes see in the sun the present active power of ,him who first said1 ,let there be light1 and who at any moment can meet a ,saul in the way to ,damascus with a light above the brightness of the sun--another noon arisen on mid-day2 and of whom it shall be said in the eternal state of unclouded brightness1 where sun and moon are no more1 ,the glory of the ,lord shall lighten it1 and the ,lamb is the light thereof4 ,but suppose matter could be dowered1 that worlds could have a gravitation1 one of two things must follow3 ,it must have conscious knowledge of the position1 exact weight1 and distance of every atom1 mass1 and world1 in order to proportion the exact amount of gravity1 or it must fill infinity with an omnipresent attractive power1 pulling in myriads of places at nothing2 in ,page #bee a few places at worlds4 ,every world must exert an infinitely extended power1 but myriads of infinities cannot be in the same space4 ,the solution is1 one infinite power and conscious will4 ,to see the impossibility of every other solution1 join in the long and microscopic hunt for the ultimate particle1 the atom2 and if found1 or if not found1 to a consideration of its remarkable powers4 ,bring telescopes and microscopes1 use all strategy1 for that atom is difficult to catch4 ,make the first search with the microscope3 we can count #aab1jjj lines ruled on a glass plate inside of an inch4 ,but we are here looking at mountain ridges and valleys1 not atoms4 ,gold can be beaten to the #a_/cdjjjj of an inch4 ,it can be drawn as the coating of a wire a thousand times thinner1 to the #a_/cdjjjjjjj of an inch4 ,but the atoms are still heaped one upon another4 ,take some of the infusorial animals4 ,alonzo ,gray says millions of them would not equal in bulk a grain of sand4 ,yet each of them performs the functions of respiration1 circulation1 digestion1 and locomotion4 ,some of our blood-vessels are not a millionth of our size4 ,what must be the size of the ultimate particles that freely move about to nourish an animal whose totality is too small to estimate8 ,a grain of musk gives off atoms enough to scent every part of the air of a room4 ,you detect it above1 below1 on every side4 ,then let the zephyrs of summer and the blasts of winter sweep through that room for forty years1 bearing out into the wide world miles on miles of air1 all perfumed from the atoms of that grain of musk1 and at the end of the forty years the weight of musk has not appreciably diminished4 ,page #bef ,yet uncountable myriads on myriads of atoms have gone4 ,our atom is not found yet4 ,many are the ways of searching for it which we cannot stop to consider4 ,we will pass in review the properties with which materialists preposterously endow it4 ,it is impenetrable and indivisible1 though some atoms are a hundred times larger than others4 ,each has definite shape2 some one shape1 and some another4 ,they differ in weight1 in quantity of combining power1 in quality of combining power4 ,they combine with different substances1 in certain exact assignable quantities4 ,thus one atom of hydrogen combines with eighty of bromine1 one hundred and sixty of mercury1 two hundred and forty of boron1 three hundred and twenty of silicon1 etc4 ,hence our atom of hydrogen must have power to count1 or at least to measure1 or be cognizant of bulk4 ,again1 atoms are of different sorts1 as positive or negative to electric currents4 ,they have power to take different shapes with different atoms in crystallization2 that is1 there is a power in them1 conscious or otherwise1 that the same bricks shall make themselves into stables or palaces1 sewers or pavements1 according as the mortar varies4 ,no1 no1 you cry out2 it is only according as the builder varies his plan4 ,there is no need to rehearse these powers much further2 though not one-tenth of the supposed innate properties of this infinitesimal infinite have been recited--properties which are expressed by the words atomicity1 quantivilence1 monad1 dryad1 univalent1 perissad1 quadrivalent1 and twenty other terms1 each expressing some endowment of power in this in visible atom4 ,refer to one more presumed ability1 an ability ,page #beg to keep themselves in exact relation of distance and power to each other1 without touching4 ,it is well known that water does not fill the space it occupies4 ,we can put eight or ten similar bulks of different substances into a glass of water without greatly increasing its bulk1 some actually diminishing it4 ,a philosopher has said that the atoms of oxygen and hydrogen are probably not nearer to each other in water than one hundred and fifty men would be if scattered over the surface of ,england1 one man to four hundred square miles4 ,the atoms of the luminiferous ether are infinitely more diffused1 and yet its interactive atoms can give four hundred millions of light-waves a second4 ,and now1 more preposterous than all1 each atom has an attractive power for every other atom of the universe4 ,the little mote1 visible only in a sunbeam streaming through a dark room1 and the atom1 infinitely smaller1 has a grasp upon the whole world1 the far-off sun1 and the stars that people infinite space4 ,the ,sage of ,concord advises you to hitch your wagon to a star4 ,but this is hitching all stars to an infinitesimal part of a wagon4 ,such an atom1 so dowered1 so infinite1 so conscious1 is an impossible conception4 ,but if matter could be so dowered as to produce such results by mechanism1 could it be dowered to produce the results of intelligence8 ,could it be dowered with power of choice without becoming mind8 ,if oxygen and hydrogen could be made able to combine into water1 could the same unformed matter produce in one case a plant1 in another a bird1 in a third a man2 and in each of these put bone1 brain1 blood1 and nerve in ,page #beh proper relations8 ,matter must be mind1 or subject to a present working mind1 to do this4 ,there must be a present intelligence directing the process1 laying the dead bricks1 marble1 and wood in an intelligent order for a living temple4 ,if we do put ,god behind a single veil in dead matter1 in all living things he must be apparent and at work4 ,if1 then1 such a thing as an infinite atom is impossible1 shall we not best understand matter by saying it is a visible representation of ,god's personal will and power1 of his personal force1 and perhaps knowledge1 set aside a little from himself1 still possessed somewhat of his personal attributes1 still responsive to his will4 ,what we call matter may be best understood as ,god's force1 will1 knowledge1 rendered apparent1 static1 and unweariably operative4 ,unless matter is eternal1 which is unthinkable1 there was nothing out of which the world could be made1 but ,god himself2 and1 reverently be it said1 matter seems to retain fit capabilities for such source4 ,is not this the teaching of the ,bible8 ,i come to the old ,book4 ,i come to that man who was taken up into the arcana of the third heaven1 the holy of holies1 and heard things impossible to word4 ,i find he makes a clear1 unequivocal statement of this truth as ,god's revelation to him4 ,by faith1 says the author of ,hebrews1 we understand the worlds were framed by the word of ,god1 so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear4 ,in ,corinthians1 ,paul says--,but to us there is but one ,god1 the ,father1 of whom as a source are all things2 and one ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 by whom as a creative worker are all things4 ,so in ,romans he says--,for out of him1 and through him1 and to him are all things1 to whom be glory forever4 ,amen4 ,page #bei ,god's intimate relation to matter is explained4 ,no wonder the forces respond to his will2 no wonder pantheism--the idea that matter is ,god--has had such a hold upon the minds of men4 ,matter1 derived from him1 bears marks of its parentage1 is sustained by him1 and when the ,divine will shall draw it nearer to himself the new power and capabilities of a new creation shall appear4 ,let us pay a higher respect to the attractions and affinities2 to the plan and power of growth2 to the wisdom of the ant2 the geometry of the bee2 the migrating instinct that rises and stretches its wings toward a provided ,south--for it is all ,god's present wisdom and power4 ,let us come to that true insight of the old prophets1 who are fittingly called seers2 whose eyes pierced the veil of matter1 and saw ,god clothing the grass of the field1 feeding the sparrows1 giving snow like wool and scattering hoar-frost like ashes1 and ever standing on the bow of our wide-sailing world1 and ever saying to all tumultuous forces1 ,peace1 be still4 ,let us1 with more reverent step1 walk the leafy solitudes1 and say3 ,father1 thy hand ,hath reared these venerable columns3 ,thou ,did'st weave this verdant roof4 ,thou did'st look down ,upon the naked earth1 and forthwise rose ,all these fair ranks of trees4 ,they in ,thy sun ,budded1 and shook their green leaves in ,thy breeze4 ,that delicate forest flower1 ,with scented breath and looks so like a smile1 ,seems1 as it issues from the shapeless mould1 ,an emanation of the indwelling life1 ,a visible token of the unfolding love ,that are the soul of this wide universe4--,,bryant4 ,page #bfj ,philosophy has seen the vast machine of the universe1 wheel within wheel1 in countless numbers and hopeless intricacy4 ,but it has not had the spiritual insight of ,ezekiel to see that they were everyone of them full of eyes--,god's own emblem of the omniscient supervision4 ,what if there are some sounds that do not seem to be musically rhythmic4 ,i have seen where an avalanche broke from the mountain side and buried a hapless city2 have seen the face of a cliff shattered to fragments by the weight of its superincumbent mass1 or pierced by the fingers of the frost and torn away4 ,all these thunder down the valley and are pulverized to sand4 ,is this music8 ,no1 but it is a tuning of instruments4 ,the rootlets seize the sand and turn it to soil1 to woody fibre1 leafy verdure1 blooming flowers1 and delicious fruit4 ,this asks life to come1 partake1 and be made strong4 ,the grass gives itself to all flesh1 the insect grows to feed the bird1 the bird to nourish the animal1 the animal to develop the man4 ,notwithstanding the tendency of all high-class energy to deteriorate1 to find equilibrium1 and so be strengthless and dead1 there is1 somehow1 in nature a tremendous push upward4 ,ask any philosopher1 and he will tell you that the tendency of all endowed forces is to find their equilibrium and be at rest--that is1 dead4 ,he draws a dismal picture of the time when the sun shall be burned out1 and the world float like a charnel ship through the dark1 cold voids of space--the sun a burned-out char1 a dead cinder1 and the world one dismal silence1 cold beyond measure1 and dead beyond consciousness4 ,the philosopher has wailed a dirge without ,page #bfa hope1 a requiem without grandeur1 over the world's future4 ,but nature herself1 to all ears attuned1 sings pans1 and shouts to men that the highest energy1 that of life1 does not deteriorate4 ,mere nature may deteriorate4 ,the endowments of force must spend themselves4 ,wound-up watches and worlds must run down4 ,but nature sustained by unexpendable forces must abide4 ,nature filled with unexpendable forces continues in form4 ,nature impelled by a magnificent push of life must ever rise4 ,study her history in the past4 ,sulphurous realms of deadly gases become solid worlds2 surplus sunlight becomes coal1 which is reserved power2 surplus carbon becomes diamonds2 sediments settle until the heavens are azure1 the air pure1 the water translucent4 ,if that is the progress of the past1 why should it deteriorate in the future8 ,there is a system of laws in the universe in which the higher have mastery over the lower4 ,lower powers are constitutionally arranged to be overcome2 higher powers are constitutionally arranged for mastery4 ,at one time the water lies in even layers near the ocean's bed1 in obedience to the law or power of gravitation4 ,at another time it is heaved into mountain billows by the shoulders of the wind4 ,again it flies aloft in the rising mists of the morning1 transfigured by a thousand rain bows by the higher powers of the sun4 ,again it develops the enormous force of steam by the power of heat4 ,again it divides into two light flying airs by electricity4 ,again it stands upright as a heap by the power of some law in the spirit realm1 whose mode of working we are not yet large enough ,page #bfb to comprehend4 ,the water is solid1 liquid1 gaseous on earth1 and in air according to the grade of power operating upon it4 ,the constant invention of man finds higher and higher powers4 ,once he throttled his game1 and often perished in the desperate struggle2 then he trapped it2 then pierced it with the javelin2 then shot it with an arrow1 or set the springy gases to hurl a rifle-ball at it4 ,sometime he may point at it an electric spark1 and it shall be his4 ,once he wearily trudged his twenty miles a day1 then he took the horse into service and made sixty2 invoked the winds1 and rode on their steady wings two hundred and forty2 tamed the steam1 and made almost one thousand2 and if he cannot yet send his body1 he can his mind1 one thousand miles a second4 ,it all depends upon the grade of power he uses4 ,now1 hear the grand truth of nature3 as the years progress the higher grades of power increase4 ,either by discovery or creation1 there are still higher class forces to be made available4 ,once there was no air1 no usable electricity4 ,there is no lack of those higher powers now4 ,the higher we go the more of them we find4 ,mr4 ,lockyer says that the past ten years have been years of revelation concerning the sun4 ,a man could not read in ten years the library of books created in that time concerning the sun4 ,but though we have solved certain problems and mysteries1 the mysteries have increased tenfold4 ,we do not know that any new and higher forces have been added to matter since man's acquaintance with it4 ,but it would be easy to add any number of them1 or change any lower into higher4 ,that is the ,page #bfc meaning of the falling granite that becomes soil1 of the pulverized lava that decks the volcano's trembling sides with flowers2 that is the meaning of the grass becoming flesh1 and of all high forces constitutionally arranged for mastery over lower4 ,take the ore from the mountain4 ,it is loose1 friable1 worthless in itself4 ,raise it in capacity to cast-iron1 wrought-iron1 steel1 it becomes a highway for the commerce of nations1 over the mountains and under them4 ,it becomes bones1 muscles1 body for the inspiring soul of steam4 ,it holds up the airy bridge over the deep chasm4 ,it is obedient in your hand as blade1 hammer1 bar1 or spring4 ,it is inspirable by electricity1 and bears human hopes1 fears1 and loves in its own bosom4 ,it has been raised from valueless ore4 ,change it again to something as far above steel as that is above ore4 ,change all earthly ores to highest possibility2 string them to finest tissues1 and the new result may fit ,god's hand as tools1 and thrill with his wisdom and creative processes1 a body fitted for ,god's spirit as well as the steel is fitted to your hand4 ,from this world take opacity1 gravity1 darkness1 bring in more mind1 love1 and ,god1 and then we will have heaven4 ,an immanent ,god makes a plastic world4 ,when man shall have mastered the forces that now exist1 the original ,creator and ,sustainer will say1 ,behold1 ,i create all things new4 ,nature shall be called nearer to ,god1 be more full of his power4 ,to the long-wandering neas1 his divine mother sometimes came to cheer his heart and to direct his steps4 ,but the goddess only showed herself divine by her departure2 only when he stood in desolation did the hero know he had ,page #bfd stood face to face with divine power1 beauty1 and love4 ,not so the ,christian scholars1 the wanderers in ,nature's bowers to-day4 ,in the first dawn of discovery1 we see her full of beauty and strength2 in closer communion1 we find her full of wisdom2 to our perfect knowledge1 she reveals an indwelling ,god in her2 to our ardent love1 she reveals an indwelling ,god in us4 ,but the evidence of the progressive refinements of habitation is no more clear than that of progressive refinement of the inhabitant3 there must be some one to use these finer things4 ,an empty house is not ,god's ideal nor man's4 ,the child may handle a toy1 but a man must mount a locomotive2 and before there can be ,new ,jerusalems with golden streets1 there must be men more avaricious of knowledge than of gold1 or they would dig them up2 more zealous for love than jewels1 or they would unhang the pearly gates4 ,the uplifting refinement of the material world has been kept back until there should appear masterful spirits able to handle the higher forces4 ,doors have opened on every side to new realms of power1 when men have been able to wield them4 ,if men lose that ability they close again1 and shut out the knowledge and light4 ,then ages1 dark and feeble1 follow4 ,some explore prophecy for the date of the grand transformation of matter by the coming of the ,son of ,man1 for a new creation4 ,a little study of nature would show that the date cannot be fixed4 ,a little study of ,peter would show the same thing4 ,he says1 ,what manner of persons ought ye to be1 in all holy conversation and godliness1 looking for and hastening the coming ,page #bfe of the day of ,god1 wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved1 and the elements shall melt with fervent heat8 ,nevertheless we1 according to his promise1 look for a new heaven and a new earth4 ,the idea is1 that the grand transformation of matter waits the readiness of man4 ,the kingdom waits the king4 ,the scattered cantons of ,italy were only prostrate provinces till ,victor ,emanuel came1 then they were developed into united ,italy4 ,the prostrate provinces of matter are not developed until the man is victor1 able to rule there a realm equal to ten cities here4 ,every good man hastens the coming of the day of ,god and nature's renovation4 ,not only does inference teach that there must be finer men1 but fact affirms that transformation has already taken place4 ,life is meant to have power over chemical forces4 ,it separates carbon from its compounds and builds a tree1 separates the elements and builds the body1 holds them separate until life withdraws4 ,more life means higher being4 ,certainly men can be refined and recapacitated as well as ore4 ,in ,ovid's ,metamorphoses he represents the lion in process of formation from earth1 hind quarters still clay1 but fore quarters1 head1 erect mane1 and blazing eye--live lion--and pawing to get free4 ,we have seen winged spirits yet linked to forms of clay1 but beating the celestial air1 endeavoring to be free2 and we have seen them1 dowered with new sight1 filled with new love1 break loose and rise to higher being4 ,in this grand apotheosis of man which nature teaches1 progress lias already been made4 ,man has already outgrown his harmony with the environment of mere matter4 ,he has given his hand to science1 and been lifted up above the earth into the voids of infinite space4 ,he ,page #bff has gone on and on1 till thought1 wearied amidst the infinities of velocity and distance1 has ceased to note them4 ,but he is not content2 all his faculties are not filled4 ,he feels that his future self is in danger of not being satisfied with space1 and worlds1 and all mental delights1 even as his manhood fails to be satisfied with the materiel toys of his babyhood4 ,he asks for an ,author and ,maker of things1 infinitely above them4 ,he has seen wisdom unsearchable1 power illimitable2 but he asks for personal sympathy and love4 ,paul expresses his feeling3 every creature--not the whole creation--groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now1 waiting for the adoption--the uplifting from orphanage to parentage--a translation out of darkness into the kingdom of ,god's dear ,son4 ,he hears that a man in ,christ is a new creation3 old things pass away1 all things become new4 ,there is then a possibility of finding the ,author of nature1 and the ,father of man4 ,he begins his studies anew4 ,now he sees that all lines of knowledge converge as they go out toward the infinite mystery2 sees that these converging lines are the reins of government in this world2 sees the converging lines grasped by an almighty hand2 sees a loving face and form behind2 sees that these lines of knowledge and power are his personal nerves1 along which flashes his will1 and every force in the universe answers like a perfect muscle4 ,then he asks if this ,personality is as full of love as of power4 ,he is told of a tenderness too deep for tears1 a love that has the ,cross for its symbol1 and a dying cry for its expression3 seeking it1 he is a new creation4 ,he sees more wondrous things in the ,word than in the ,page #bfg world4 ,he comes to know ,god with his heart1 better than he knows ,god's works by his mind4 ,every song closes with the key-note with which it began1 and the brief cadence at the close hints the realms of sound through which it has tried its wings4 ,the brief cadence at the close is this3 ,all force runs back into mind for its source1 constant support1 and uplifts into higher grades4 ,mr4 ,grove says1 ,causation is the will1 creation is the act1 of ,god4 ,creation is planned and inspired for the attainment of constantly rising results4 ,the order is chaos1 light1 worlds1 vegetable forms1 animal life1 then man4 ,there is no reason to pause here4 ,this is not perfection1 not even perpetuity4 ,original plans are not accomplished1 nor original force exhausted4 ,in another world1 free from sickness1 sorrow1 pain1 and death1 perfection of abode is offered4 ,perfection of inhabitant is necessary2 and as the creative power is everywhere present for the various uplifts and refinements of matter1 it is everywhere present with appropriate power for the uplifting and refinement of mind and spirit4 ,page #bfi ,,summary ,,of ,,latest ,,discoveries ,,and ,,conclusions4 ,movements on the ,sun4--,the discovery and measurement of the up-rush1 down-rush1 and whirl of currents about the sunspots1 also of the determination of the velocity of rotation by means of the spectroscope1 as described 7page #ec71 is one of the most delicate and difficult achievements of modern science4 ,movement of ,stars in ,line of ,sight 7page #ea74--,the following table shows this movement of stars1 so far as at present known3 ---------------------------------------- ----------------------- ,,aproaching4 ,,receding4 ---------------------------------------- --------------------- ,map4 ,name4 ,rate ,map4 ,name4 ,rate per sec4 per sec4 ---------------------------------------- ----------------- ,fig4 #ga;,arcturus #ee miles ,fig4 #fi ,sirius #bj miles #gb,vega #ej ,fr'piece,betelguese #bb #gc;a ,cygni #ci ,rigel #ae #fi,pollux #di ,fig4 #fi ,castor #be #fg;,dubhe #df #gj ,regulus #ae ---------------------------------------- ----------------------- ,sun's ,appearance4--,this was formerly supposed to be an even1 regular1 dazzling brightness1 except where the spots appeared4 ,but the sun's surface is now known to be mottled with what are called rice grains or willow leaves4 ,but the rice grains are as large as the continent of ,america4 ,the spaces between are called pores4 ,they constitute an innumerable number of small spots4 ,this appearance of the general surface is well portrayed in the cut on page #ib4 ,close ,relation between ,sun and ,earth4-,men always knew that the earth received light from the sun4 ,they subsequently discovered that the earth was momentarily held by the power ,page #bgj of gravitation4 ,but it is a recent discovery that the light is one of the principal agents in chemical changes1 in molecular grouping and world-building1 thus making all kinds of life possible 7p4 #cj-cf74 ,the close connection of the sun and the earth will be still farther shown in the relation of sun-spots and auroras4 ,one of the most significant instances is related on page #ai1 when the earth felt the fall of bolides upon the sun4 ,members of the body no more answer to the heart than the planets do to the sun4 ,hydrogen ,flames4--,it has been demonstrated that the sun flames #bjj1jjj miles high are hydrogen in a state of flaming incandescence 7page #he74 ,sun's ,distance4--,the former estimate1 #ie1eac1gid miles1 has been reduced by nearly one-thirtieth4 ,lockyer has stated it as low as #hi1hie1jjj miles1 and ,proctor1 in ,encyclopdia ,britannica1 at #ia1dcj1jjj miles1 but discovered errors show that these estimates are too small4 ,newcomb gives #ib1djj1jjj as within #bjj1jjj miles of the correct distance4 ,the data for a new determination of this distance1 obtained from the transit of ,venus1 ,december #hth1 #ahgd1 have not yet been deciphered2 a fact that shows the difficulty and laboriousness of the work4 ,meanwhile it begins to be evident that observations of the transit of ,venus do not afford the best basis for the most perfect determination of the sun's distance4 ,since the earth's distance is our astronomical unit of measure1 it follows that all other distances will be changed1 when expressed in miles1 by this ascertained change of the value of the standard4 ,oxygen in the ,sun4--,in #ahgg ,professor ,draper announced the discovery of oxygen lines in the spectrum of the sun4 ,the discovery was doubted1 and the methods used were criticised by ,lockyer and others1 but later and more delicate experiments substantiate ,professor ,draper's claim to the discovery4 ,the elements known to exist in the sun are salt1 iron1 hydrogen1 ,page #bga magnesium1 barium1 copper1 zinc1 cromium1 and nickel4 ,some elements in the sun are scarcely1 if at all1 discoverable on the earth1 and some on the earth not yet discernible in the sun4 ,substance of ,stars4--,aldebaran 7,frontispiece7 shows salt1 magnesium1 hydrogen1 calcium1 iron1 bismuth1 tellurium1 antimony1 and mercury4 ,some of the sun's metals do not appear4 ,stars differ in their very substance1 and will1 no doubt1 introduce new elements to us unknown before4 ,the theory that all nebul are very distant clusters of stars is utterly disproved by the clearest proof that some of them are only incandescent gases of one or two kinds4 ,discoveries of ,new ,bodies4--,vulcan1 the planet nearest the sun 7page #ach74 ,the two satellites of ,mars were discovered by ,mr4 ,hall1 ,u4 ,s4 ,naval ,observatory1 ,august #aath1 #ahgg 7page #afa74 ,the outer one is called ,diemas2 the inner1 ,phobus4 ,sir ,william ,herschel thought he discovered six satellites of ,uranus4 ,the existence of four of them has been disproved by the researches of men with larger telescopes4 ,two new ones1 however1 were discovered by ,mr4 ,lassell in #ahdf4 ,saturn's ,rings are proved to be in a state of fluidity and contraction 7page #aga74 ,meteors and ,comets4--,the orbits of over one hundred swarms of meteoric bodies are fixed3 their relation to1 and in some cases indentity with1 comets determined4 ,some comets are proved to be masses of great weight and solidity 7page #acc74 ,aerolites4-,some have a texture like our lowest strata of rocks4 ,there is a geology of stars and meteors as well as of the earth4 ,m4 ,meunier has just received the ,lalande ,medal from the ,paris ,academy for his treatise showing that1 so far as our present knowledge can determine1 some of these meteors once belonged to a globe developed in true geological epochs1 and which has been separated into fragments by agencies with which we are not acquainted4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #hb4--;,horizontal ,pendulum4 ,the ,horizontal ,pendulum4--,this delicate instrument is ,page #bgb represented in ,fig4 #hb4 ,it consists of an upright standard1 strongly braced2 a weight1 m1 suspended by the hair-spring of a watch1 ,b ,d1 and held in a horizontal position by another watch-spring1 ,a ,c4 ,the weight is deflected from side to side by the slightest influence4 ,the least change in the level of a base thirty-nine inches long that could be detected by a spirit-level is #j4a of an arc--equal to raising one end #a_/bjfh of an inch4 ,but the pendulum detects a raising of one end #a_/cfjjjjjj of an inch4 ,to observe the movements of the pendulum1 it is kept in a dark room1 and a ray of light is directed to the mirror1 m1 and thence reflected upon a screen4 ,thus the least movement may be enormously magnified1 and read and measured by the moving spot on the screen4 ,it has been discovered that when the sun rises it has sufficient attraction to incline this instrument to the east2 when it sets1 to incline it to the west4 ,the same is true of the moon4 ,when either is exactly overhead or underfoot1 of course there is no deflection4 ,the mean deflection caused by the moon at rising or setting is #j4jagd2 by the sun1 #j4jjh4 ,great results are expected from this instrument hardly known as yet3 among others1 whether gravitation acts instantly or consumes time in coming from the sun4 ,this will be shown by the time of the change of the pendulum from east to west when the sun reaches the zenith1 and vice versa when it crosses the nadir4 ,the sun will be best studied without light1 in the quiet and darkness of some deep mine4 ,page #bgc ,light of ,unseen ,stars4--,from careful examination1 it appears that three-fourths of the light on a fine starlight night comes from stars that cannot be discerned by the naked eye4 ,the whole amount of star light is about one-eightieth of that of the full moon4 ,lateral ,movements of ,stars1 page #bbf-bh4 ,future ,discoveries--,a ,trans-,neptunian ,planet4--,professor ,asaph ,hall says3 ,it is known to me that at least two ,american astronomers1 armed with powerful telescopes1 have been searching quite recently for a trans-,neptunian planet4 ,these searches have been caused by the fact that ,professor ,newcomb's tables of ,uranus and ,neptune already begin to differ from observation4 ,but are we to infer from these errors of the planetary tables the existence of a trans-,neptunian planet8 ,it is possible that such a planet may exist1 but the probability is1 ,i think1 that the differences are caused by errors in the theories of these planets4 99 99 99 ,a few years ago the remark was frequently made that the labors of astronomers on the solar system were finished1 and that henceforth they could turn their whole attention to sidereal astronomy4 ,but to-day we have the lunar theory in a very discouraging condition1 and the theories of ,mercury1 ,jupiter1 ,saturn1 ,uranus1 and ,neptune all in need of revision2 unless1 indeed1 ,leverrier's theories of the last two planets shall stand the test of observation4 ,but1 after all1 such a condition of things is only the natural result of long and accurate series of observations1 which make evident the small inequalities in the motions1 and bring to light the errors of theory4 ,future discoveries will mostly reveal the laws and conditions of the higher and finer forces4 ,already ,professor ,loomis telegraphs twenty miles without wire1 by the electric currents between mountains4 ,we begin to use electricity for light1 and feel after it for a motor4 ,comets and ,auroras show its presence between worlds1 and in the interstellar spaces4 ,let another ,newton arise4 ,page #bgd ,,some ,,elements ,,of ,,the ,,solar ,,system ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,mean ,dist4 from ,sun4 ------------------- ,mean ,density4 ,earth's ,diameter ,earth ,name4 ,sign4 ,masses4 ,dist4 ,millions in ,miles4 #a4 as #a4 of ,miles4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,sun ,symbol ,unity #hfj1jjj #j4bee ,mercury ,symbol#a_/ejjjjjj787 #j4chg #ce-c_/d #b1iib #a4ba ,venus ,symbol #a_/dbejjj #j4gbc #ff-c_/d #g1ffj #j4he ,earth ,symbol #a_/cbfhjj #a4 #ib-a_/c #g1iah #a4 ,mars ,symbol #a_/biejjjj #a4ebc #ada #d1baa #j4gcg ,asteroids 7,no47 ,jupiter ,symbol #a_/ajdg #e4bjc #dhj #hf1jjj #j4bdc ,saturn ,symbol #a_/ceja #i4ech #hha #gj1ejj #j4acc ,uranus ,symbol #a_/bbfjj #ai4ahc #agga #ca1gjj #j4bbf ,neptune ,symbol #a_/aichj #cj4jed #bgge #cd1ejj #j4bjd ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- --------------------- ,gravity ,axial at ,orbital ,revolu- ,surface4 ,periodic ,velocity ,name4 tion ,earth ,time4 in ,miles #a per sec4 ---------------------------------------- ----------------- ,sun #be to #bf;d #bg4ga ,mercury #bd;h #em787 #j4df #hg4ig;d #bi4ee ,venus #bc;h #bam787 #j4hb #bbd4gj;d #ba4fa ,earth #bc;h #efm #ds #a4 #cfe4bf;d #ah4ch ,mars #bd;h #cgm #bb4gs #j4ci #fhf4ih;d #ad4ii ,asteroids ,jupiter #i;h #eem #bjs #b4fd #aa4hfyrs #h4jf ,saturn #aj;h #adm #a4ah #bi4dfyrs #e4ie ,uranus ,unknown4 #j4ij #hd4jbyrs #d4bj ,neptune ,unknown4 #j4hi #afd4ghyrs #c4cf ---------------------------------------- --------------------- ,page #bge ,,explanation ,,of ,,astronomical ,,symbols4 ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,zodiac #j4 ,symbol ,aries #j ,,vi4 ,symbol ,libra #ahj ,i4 ,symbol ,taurus #cj ,,vii4 ,symbol ,scorpio #baj ,,ii4 ,symbol ,gemini #fj ,,viii4 ,symbol ,sagittarius #bdj ,,iii4 ,symbol ,cancer #ij ,,ix4 ,symbol ,capricornus #bgj ,,iv4 ,symbol ,leo #abj ,x4 ,symbol ,aquarius #cjj ,v4 ,symbol ,virgo #aej ,,xi4 ,symbol ,pisces #ccj 99 99 99 99 99 ,symbol ,conjunction4 ,s4 ,seconds of ,time4 ,symbol ,quadrature4 ,degrees4 ,symbol ,opposition4 ' ,minutes of ,arc4 ,symbol ,ascending ,node4 ,seconds of ,arc4 ,symbol ,descending ,node4 ,r4 ,a4 ,right ,ascension4 ,h4 ,hours4 ,decl4 or ,d4 ,declination4 ,m4 ,minutes of ,time4 ,n4 ,p4 ,d4 ,dist4 ,from ,north ,pole4 ,,other ,,abbreviations ,,used ,,in ,,the ,,almanac4 ,s41 ,south1 i4e41 crosses the meridian2 ,m41 morning2 ,a1 ,afternoon2 ,gr4 ,h4 ,l4 ,n41 greatest heliocentric latitude north1 i4e41 greatest distance north of the ecliptic1 as seen from the sun4 ,symbols ,inf41 inferior conjunction2 ,sup41 superior conjunction4 ,,greek ,,alphabet ,,used ,,indicating ,,the ,,stars4 a1 alpha4 ae1 eta4 n1 nu4 t1 tau4 b1 beta4 th1 theta4 x1 xi4 u1 upsilon4 g1 gamma4 i1 iota4 o1 omicron4 ph1 phi4 d1 delta4 k1 kappa4 p1 pi4 ch1 chi4 e1 epsilon4 l1 lambda4 r1 rho4 ps1 psi4 z1 zeta4 m1 mu4 s1 sigma4 o1 omega4 ,page #bgf ,,chautauqua ,,outline ,,for ,,students4 ,as an aid to comprehension1 every student should draw illustrative figures of the various circles1 planes1 and situations described4 7,for example1 see ,fig4 #de1 page #aab47 ,as an aid to memory1 the portion of this outline referring to each chapter should be examined at the close of the reading1 and this mere sketch filled up to a perfect picture from recollection4 ,i4 ,creative ,processes4--,the dial-plate of the sky4 ,cause or different weights--on sun1 moon4 ,two laws of gravity4 ,inertia4 ,fall of earth to sun per second4 ,forward motion4 ,elastic attraction4 ,perturbation of moon2 of ,jupiter and ,saturn4 ,oscillations of planets4 ,,ii4 ,light4--,from condensation4 ,number of vibrations of red2 violet4 ,thermometer against air4 ,aerolite against earth4 ,two bolides against the sun4 ,large eye4 ,velocity of light4 ,prism4 ,color means different vibrations4 ,music of light4 ,light reports substance of stars4 ,force of2 bridge1 rain1 dispersion1 intensities1 reflection1 refraction1 decomposition4 ,,iii4 ,astronomical ,instruments4--,refracting telescope4 ,reflecting2 largest4 ,spectroscope4 ,spectra of sun1 hydrogen1 sodium1 etc4 ,e made ,g by approach2 ,c by departure4 ,stars approach and recede4 ,,iv4 ,celestial ,measurements4-,place and time by stars4 ,degrees1 minutes1 seconds4 ,mapping stars4 ,mural circle4 ,slow watch4 ,hoosac ,tunnel4 ,fine measurements4 ,sidereal time4 ,spider-lines4 ,personal equation4 ,measure distance--height4 ,ten-inch base line4 ,parallax of sun1 stars4 ,longitude at sea4 ,distance of ,polaris1 a ,centauri1 #fa ,cygni4 ,orbits of asteroids4 ,v4 ,the ,sun4--,world on fire4 ,apparent size from planets4 ,zodiacal light4 ,corona4 ,hydrogen--how high8 ,size4 ,how many earths8 ,spots3 #a4 ,motion2 #b4 ,edges2 #c4 ,variable2 #d4 ,periodic2 #e4 ,cyclonic2 #f4 ,size2 #g4 ,velocities4 ,what the sun does4 ,experiments4 ,,vi4 ,the ,planets from ,space4--,north ,pole4 ,speed4 ,sizes4 ,axial revolution4 ,man's weight on4 ,seasons4 ,parallelism of axis4 ,earth near ,page #bgg sun in winter4 ,plane of ecliptic4 ,orbits inclined to4 ,earth rotates4 ,proof4 ,sun's path among stars4 ,position of planets4 ,motion--direct1 retrograde4 ,experiments4 ,,vii4 ,meteors4--,size2 number2 cause of2 above earth2 velocity2 colors2 number in space2 telescopic view of4 ,aerolites3 ,systems of2 how many known4 ,comets3 ,orbits2 number of comets2 ,halley's2 ,biela's lost2 ,encke's4 ,resisting medium4 ,whence come comets8 ,composed of what8 ,amount of matter in4 ,symbol4 ,,viii4 ,the ,planets4--,how many8 ,uranus discovered8 ,neptune8 ,asteroids8 ,vulcan8 ,distance from sun4 ,periodic time4 ,mercury3 ,elements2 shapes1 as seen from earth2 transits4 ,venus3 ,elements2 seen by day2 how near earth8 how far from8 phases2 ,galileo4 ,earth3 ,elements2 in space2 ,aurora2 balance of forces4 ,tides3 ,main and subsidiary causes2 eastern shores2 ,mediterranean ,sea4 ,moon3 ,elements2 hoax2 moves east2 see one side2 three causes help to see more than half4 ,revolution3 ,why twenty-nine and a half days3 heat--cold2 how much light8 ,craters and peaks lighted2 measured4 ,eclipses--,why not every new and full moon8 ,periodicity4 ,mars3 ,elements2 how near earth8 ,how far from8 ,apparent size2 ice-fields2 which end most8 ,satellites--,asteroids3 ,how found8 ,when8 ,by whom8 ,how many8 ,jupiter3 ,elements2 trade-winds2 how much light received8 ,own heat4 ,satellites3 ,how many8 ,colors4 ,saturn3 ,elements2 habitability2 rings2 flux2 satellites4 ,uranus3 ,elements2 discoverer2 seen by2 moon's motion4 ,neptune3 ,elements2 discovered by2 how8 ,review system4 ,,ix4 ,the ,nebular ,hypothesis4--,state it2 facts confirmatory4 ,objections--#a4 ,heat2 #b4 ,rotation2 #c4 ,retrograde2 #d4 ,martial moons2 #e4 ,star of #ahgf4 ,evolution3 ,gaps in2 conclusion4 ,x4 ,the ,stellar ,system4-,motto4 ,man among stars2 open page2 starry poem2 stars located2 named4 ,thuban4 ,etanin4 ,constellations3 ,know them2 number of stars2 double2 e ,lyr1 ,sirius1 ,procyon1 ,castor1 #fa ,cygni1 g ,virginis4 ,colored stars2 change color4 ,clusters3 ,two theories4 ,nebul3 ,two visible2 composed of2 shapes2 where8 ,variable stars4 ,sun4 b ,lyr1 ,mira1 ,betelguese1 ,algol2 cause4 ,temporary2 #aegb4 ,new star of #ahff3 ,two theories4 ,star of #ahgf4 ,movements of stars2 ,sirius2 sun2 #ahcj ,groombridge4 ,stars near ,pleiades3 ,orion1 ,great ,dipper1 ,southern ,cross4 ,centre of gravity4 ,,xi4 ,the ,worlds and the ,word4--,rich4 ,number4 ,erroneous allusions4 ,truth before discovery3 #a4 ,a beginning2 #b4 ,creation before arrangement2 #c4 ,light before sun2 #d4 ,mountains under water2 #e4 ,order of development2 ,page #bgh #f4 ,sphere of earth2 #g4 ,how upheld2 #h4 ,number of stars2 #i4 ,weight of air2 #aj4 ,meteorology2 #aa4 ,queries to ,job2 #ab4 ,sun to end of heaven2 #ac4 ,view of ,mitchell2 #ad4 ,herschel4 ,what is matter8 ,force8 ,end of earth4 ,way to knowledge4 ,work of light4 ,transfiguration of matter4 ,uniformitarianism4 ,a whisper of ,him4 ,man for mastery4 ,each a type of higher4 ,survival of fittest4 ,uranus4 ,worlds and ,word one language4 ,,xii4 ,the ,ultimate ,force4--,universe shows power3 #a4 ,rain2 ,niagara2 #b4 ,vegetable growth2 #c4 ,worlds carried2 #d4 ,sun2 fill dome with worlds2 #e4 ,double suns2 #f4 ,galaxies4 ,correlation4 ,what ultimate8 ,mind and will4 ,what continuous relation8 ,watch4 ,theories of gravitation3 ,newton's1 ,le ,sage's1 ,bible's4 ,high-class energy deteriorates4 ,search for atoms3 #a4 ,microscope2 #b4 ,gold2 #c4 ,infusoria2 #d4 ,musk4 ,properties of atoms3 #a4 ,impenetrable2 #b4 ,indivisible2 #c4 ,shape2 #d4 ,quality2 #e4 ,crystallization2 #f4 ,not touch each other2 #g4 ,active2 #h4 ,attractive2 #i4 ,intelligent4 ,whose8 ,relation of matter to ,god2 rock to soil4 ,push upward4 ,highest has mastery4 ,man advances by highest4 ,matter recapacitated4 ,refined habitations4 ,inhabitants4 ,all force leads back to mind4 ,personal and infinite4 ,page #bgi ,,glossary ,,of ,,astronomical ,,terms ,,and ,,index4 ,,abbreviations used in astronomies1 #bge4 ,,aberration ,,of ,,light 7a wandering away71 an apparent displacement of a star1 owing to the progressive motion of light combined with that of the earth and its orbit1 #aii4 ,,aerolite 7air-stone71 #abb4 ,,air1 refraction of the1 #dj4 ,,algol1 the variable star1 #bbb4 ,,almanac1 ,nautical1 #ga2 explanation of signs used1 #bge4 ,,alphabet1 ,greek1 #bge4 ,,altitude1 angular elevation of a body above the horizon4 ,,angle1 difference in directions of two straight lines that meet4 ,,annular 7ring-shaped7 ,,eclipses1 #aeh2 nebul1 #bah1 #bbj4 ,,aphelion1 the point in an orbit farthest from the sun4 ,,apogee1 the point of an orbit which is farthest from the earth4 ,,apsis1 plural apsides1 the line joining the aphelion and perihelion points2 or the major axis of elliptical orbits4 ,,arc1 a part of a circle4 ,,ascension1 ,,right1 the angular distance of a heavenly body from the first point of ,aries1 measured on the equator4 ,,asteroids 7star-like71 #afb2 orbits of interlaced1 #gd4 ,,astronomical ,,instruments1 #dc4 ,,astronomy1 use of1 #eg4 ,,atom1 size of1 #bee2 power of1 #bef4 ,,aurora ,,borealis1 #adc4 ,,axis1 the line about which a body rotates4 ,,azimuth1 the angular distance of any point or body in the horizon from the north or south points4 ,,bailey',s ,,beads1 dots of light on the edge of the moon seen in a solar eclipse1 caused by the moon's inequalities of surface4 ,,base ,,line1 #fh4 ,,biela',s ,,comet1 #abi4 ,,binary ,,system1 a double star1 the component parts of which revolve around their centre of gravity4 ,,bode',s ,,law of planetary distances is no law at all1 but a study of coincidences4 ,,bolides1 small masses of matter in space4 ,they are usually called meteors when luminous by contact with air1 #abj4 ,page #bhj ,,celestial ,,sphere1 the apparent dome in which the heavenly bodies seem to be set2 appears to revolve1 #c4 ,,centre ,,of ,,gravity1 the point on which a body1 or two or more related bodies1 balances4 ,,centrifugal ,,force 7centre fleeing74 ,,chromolithic ,,plate of spectra of metals1 to face #ej4 ,,circumpolar ,,stars1 map of north1 #bja4 ,,colors ,,of ,,stars1 #bad4 ,,colures1 the four principal meridians of the celestial sphere passing from the pole1 one through each equinox1 and one through each solstice4 ,,comets1 #abf2 ,halley's1 #abh2 ,biela's lost1 #abi2 ,encke's1 #acj2 constitution of1 #aca2 will they strike the earth8 #acc4 ,,conjunction4 ,two or more bodies are in conjunction when they are in a straight line 7disregarding inclination of orbit7 with the sun4 ,planets nearer the sun than the earth are in inferior conjunction when they are between the earth and the sun2 superior conjunction when they are beyond the sun4 ,,constellation1 a group of stars supposed to represent some figure3 circumpolar1 #bja2 equatorial1 for ,december1 #bjb2 for ,january1 #bjc2 ,april1 #bjd2 ,june1 #bje2 ,september1 #bjf2 ,november1 #bjg2 southern circumpolar1 #bjh4 ,,culmination1 the passage of a heavenly body across the meridian or south point of a place2 it is the highest point reached in its path4 ,,cusp1 the extremities of the crescent form of the moon or an interior planet4 ,,declination1 the angular distance of a celestial body north or south from the celestial equator4 ,,degree1 the #a_/cfj part of a circle4 ,,direct ,,motion1 a motion from west to east among stars4 ,,disk1 the visible surface of sun1 moon1 or planets4 ,,distance ,,of ,,stars1 #gj4 ,,double ,,stars1 #baj4 ,,earth1 revolution of1 #aji2 in space1 #adb2 irregular figure1 #ade4 ,,eccentricity ,,of ,,an ,,ellipse1 the distance of either focus from centre divided by half the major axis4 ,,eclipse 7a disappearance71 #aeg4 ,,ecliptic1 the apparent annual path of the sun among the stars2 plane of1 #ajf4 ,,egress1 the passing of one body off the disk of another4 ,,elements1 the quantities which determine the motion of a planet3 data for predicting astronomical phenomena2 table of solar1 #bgd4 ,,elements1 chemical1 present in the sun1 #bgj4 ,,elongation1 the angular distance of a planet from the sun4 ,,emersion1 the reappearance of a body after it has been eclipsed or occulted by another4 ,page #bha ,,equator1 terrestrial1 the great circle half-way between the poles of the earth4 ,when the plane of this is extended to the heavens1 the line of contact is called the celestial equator4 ,,equinox1 either of the points in which the sun1 in its apparent annual course among the stars1 crosses the equator1 making days and nights of equal length4 ,,evolution1 materialistic1 #ahb2 insufficient1 #ahi4 ,,fizeau determines the velocity of light1 #bc4 ,,forces1 delicate balance of1 #add4 ,,galileo1 construction of his telescope1 #dc4 ,,geocentric1 a position of a heavenly body as seen or measured from the earth's centre4 ,,geodesy1 the art of measuring the earth without reference to the heavenly bodies4 ,,god1 relation of1 to the universe1 #beh4 ,,gravitation1 laws of1 #f2 extends to the stars1 #ac2 theories of1 #bec4 ,,gravity on different bodies1 #f1 #bgd4 ,,helical1 rising or setting of a star1 as near to sunrise or sunset as it can be seen4 ,,heliocentric1 as seen from the centre of the sun4 ,,hoosac ,,tunnel1 example of accuracy1 #fb4 ,,horizontal ,,pendulum1 #bgb4 ,,immersion1 the disappearance of one body behind another1 or in its shadow4 ,,inclination ,,of ,,an ,,orbit1 the angle between its plane and the plane of the ecliptic4 ,,inferior ,,conjunction1 when an interior planet is between the earth and the sun4 ,,jupiter1 apparent path of1 in #ahff1 #aab2 elements of1 #afd2 satellites of1 #afe2 positions of satellites1 #aff2 elements of satellites1 #aff2 the ,jovian system1 #afg4 ,,kepler',s ,,laws--#ast1 that the orbits of planets are ellipses1 having the sun or central body in one of the foci2 #b;d1 the radius-vector passes over equal spaces in equal times2 #c;d1 the squares of the periodic times of the planets are in proportion to the cubes of their mean distances from the sun4 ,,latitude1 the angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic4 ,,light1 the child of force1 #ag2 number of vibrations of1 #ah1 #be2 velocity of1 #bb2 undulatory and musical1 #bf2 chemical force of1 #cj2 experiments with1 #cg2 approach and departure of a light-giving body measured1 #ea2 aberration of1 #aii4 ,,limb1 the edge of the disk of the moon1 sun1 or a planet4 ,,longitude4 ,if a perpendicular be dropped from a body to the ecliptic1 its celestial longitude is the distance of the foot of the perpendicular from the vertical equinox1 counted toward the east2 mode of ascertaining terrestrial1 #gb4 ,,magellanic ,,clouds1 #bjh4 ,page #bhb ,,mars1 #aei2 snow spots of1 #afj2 satellites of1 #afa4 ,,mass1 the quantity of matter a body contains4 ,,mean ,,distance ,,of ,a ,,planet1 half the sum of the aphelion and perihelion distances4 ,,measurements1 celestial1 #eg4 ,,mercury1 #ach4 ,,meridian1 terrestrial1 of a place1 a great circle of the heavens passing through the poles1 the zenith1 and the north and south points of the horizon2 celestial1 any great circle passing from one pole to the other4 ,,meteors1 #aai2 swarm of1 meeting the earth1 #aah2 explosion of1 #abj2 systems of1 #abc2 relation of1 to comets1 #abd4 ,,micrometer1 any instrument for the accurate measurement of very small distances or angles4 ,,mind1 origin of force1 #beb2 continuous relation of1 to the universe1 #beb4 ,,milky ,,way1 #baj1 #bae4 ,,mira1 the ,wonderful1 #bba4 ,,moon1 the1 #aea2 greatest and least distance from the earth1 #aj2 telescopic appearance of1 #aee4 ,,mural ,,circle1 #fa4 ,,nadir1 the point in the celestial sphere directly beneath our feet1 opposite to zenith4 ,,nebul1 #bag4 ,,nebular ,,hypothesis1 not atheistic1 #ahb2 stated1 #ahb2 confirmatory facts1 #ahc2 objections to1 #ahe4 ,,neptune1 elements of1 #age4 ,,node1 the point in which an orbit intersects the ecliptic1 or other plane of reference2 ascending1 descending1 line of1 #ajg4 ,,occultation1 the hiding of a star1 planet1 or satellite by the interposition of a nearer body of greater angular magnitude4 ,,opposition4 ,a superior planet is in opposition when the sun1 earth1 and the planet are in a line1 the earth being in the middle4 ,,orbit1 the path of a planet1 comet1 or meteor around the sun1 or of a satellite around a primary2 inclination of1 #ajf2 earth's1 seen from the stars1 #gj4 ,,outline ,,for ,,students1 #bgf4 ,,parallax1 the difference of direction of a heavenly body as seen from two points1 as the centre of the earth and some point of its surface1 #fi4 ,,parallels1 imaginary circles on the earth or in the heavens parallel to the equator1 having the poles for their centre4 ,,perigee1 nearest the earth2 said of a point in an orbit4 ,,perihelion1 the point of an orbit nearest the sun4 ,,periodic ,,time1 time of a planet's1 comet's1 or satellite's revolution4 ,,personal ,,equation1 #fe4 ,,perturbation1 the effect of the attractions of the planets or other ,page #bhc bodies upon each other1 disturbing their regular motion2 of ,saturn and ,jupiter1 #aa2 of asteroids1 #ac2 of ,uranus and ,neptune1 #agf4 ,,phases1 the portions of the illuminated half of the moon or interior planet1 as seen from the earth1 called crescent1 full1 and gibbous4 ,,photosphere of the sun1 #hi4 ,,planet 7a wanderer71 as seen from space1 #ii2 speed of1 #aja2 size of1 #ajb2 movements retrograde and direct1 #aab4 ,,pointers1 the1 #aig4 ,,pole1 ,,north1 movement of1 #aih4 ,,poles1 the extremities of an imaginary line on which a celestial body rotates4 ,,quadrant1 the fourth part of the circumference of a circle1 or #ij4 ,,quadrature1 a position of the moon or other body when #ij from the sun4 ,,radiant ,,point1 that point of the heavens from which meteors seem to diverge1 #aah4 ,,radius-,,vector1 an imaginary line joining the sun and a planet or comet in any part of its orbit4 ,,rain1 weight of1 #bdi4 ,,reflecting ,,telescope1 #dd4 ,,refracting ,,telescope1 #dc4 ,,refraction1 a bending of light by passing through any medium1 as air1 water1 prism4 ,,retrograde ,,motion1 the apparent movement of a planet from east to west among the stars4 ,,revolution1 the movement of bodies about their centre of gravity4 ,,rotation1 the motion of a body around its axis4 ,,satellites1 smaller bodies revolving around planets and stars4 ,,saturn1 elements of1 #afg2 revolution of1 #afh2 rings of1 #afi2 decreasing1 #aga2 nature of1 #aga2 satellites of1 #agb4 ,,seasons1 of the earth1 #ajb2 of other planets1 #aje4 ,,selenography 7lunography71 a description of the moon's surface4 ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,zodiac1 the twelve equal parts1 of #cj each1 into which the zodiac is divided4 ,,solar ,,system1 view of1 #ajj1 #agg4 ,,solstices1 those points of the ecliptic which are most distant from the equator4 ,the sun passes one about ,june #bast1 and the other about ,december #bast1 giving the longest days and nights4 ,,spectroscope1 #df4 ,,spectrum ,,of ,,sun ,,and ,,metals1 #ej4 ,,stars1 chemistry of1 #bh2 distance of1 #gj-gc2 mode of naming1 #aif2 number of1 #baj2 double and multiple1 #baj2 colored1 #bad2 clusters of1 #bae2 variable1 #bbj2 temporary1 new1 and lost1 #bbc2 movements of lateral1 #bbf2 in line of sight1 #bfi4 ,,stationary ,,points1 places in a planet's orbit at which it has no motion among the stars4 ,page #bhd ,,stellar ,,system1 the1 #aie4 ,,summary ,,of ,,recent ,,discoveries1 #bfi4 ,,sun1 fall of two meteoric bodies into1 #ai2 light from contraction of1 #bj2 as seen from planets1 #gi2 corona1 #ha2 hydrogen flames of1 #hd2 condition of1 #hi2 spots1 #ij2 experiments1 #ie2 apparent path among the stars1 #aaa2 power of1 #bej4 ,,symbols ,,used ,,in ,,astronomy1 #bge4 ,,telescope1 refracting1 #dc2 reflecting1 #dd2 ,cambridge equatorial1 #df4 ,,telescopic ,,work1 clusters1 #baj2 double stars1 #bab4 ,,temporary ,,stars1 #bbc4 ,,terminator1 the boundary-line between light and darkness on the moon or a planet4 ,,tides1 #adf4 ,,transit1 the passage of an object across some fixed line1 as the meridian1 or between the eye of an observer and an apparently larger object1 as that of ,mercury or ,venus over the disk of the sun1 and the satellites of ,jupiter over its disk2 of a star1 #fe4 ,,ultimate ,,force1 the1 #bdi4 ,,uranus1 elements of1 #agc2 moons of1 retrograde1 #agd2 perturbed by ,neptune1 #agf4 ,,variable ,,stars1 #bbj4 ,,venus1 #aci4 ,,vernier1 a scale to measure very minute distances4 ,,vertical ,,circle1 one that passes through the zenith and nadir of the celestial sphere4 ,the prime vertical circle passes through the east and west points of the horizon4 ,,vulcan1 discovery of1 #acg4 ,,worlds1 ,,the1 ,,and ,,the ,,word1 teach the same truth1 #bca-bde4 ,,year1 the1 length of1 on any planet1 is determined by the periodic time4 ,,zenith1 the point in the celestial sphere directly overhead4 ,,zodiac1 a belt #ah wide encircling the heavens1 the ecliptic being the middle4 ,in this belt the larger planets always appear4 ,in the older astronomy it was divided into twelve parts of #cj each1 called signs of the zodiac4 ,,zodiacal ,,light1 #hj4 ,,to ,,find ,,the ,,stars ,,in ,,the ,,sky4 ,detach any of the following maps1 appropriate to the time of year1 hold it between you and a lantern out-of-doors1 and you have an exact miniature of the sky4 ,or1 better1 cut squares of suitable sizes from the four sides of a box2 put a map over each aperture2 provide for ventilation1 and turn the box over a lamp or candle out-of-doors4 ,use an opera glass to find the smaller stars1 if one is accessible4 ,illustration3 ,circumpolar ,constellations4 ,always visible4 ,in this position4--,january #bjth1 at #aj o'clock2 ,february #dth1 at #i o'clock2 and ,february #aith1 at #h o'clock4 ,illustration3 ,algol is on the ,meridian1 #ea ,south of ,pole4--,at #aj o'clock1 ,december #gth2 #i o'clock1 ,december #bb;d2 #h o'clock1 ,january #eth4 ,illustration3 ,capella 7#de from ,pole7 and ,rigel 7#ajj7 are on the ,meridian at #h o'clock ,february #gth1 #i o'clock ,january #bb;d1 and at #aj o'clock ,january #gth4 ,illustration3 ,regulus comes on the ,meridian1 #gi south from the ,pole1 at #aj o'clock ,march #bc;d1 #i o'clock ,april #hth1 and at #h o'clock ,april #bc;d4 ,illustration3 ,arcturus comes to the ,meridian1 #gj from the ,pole1 at #aj o'clock ,may #beth1 #i o'clock ,june #ith1 and at #h o'clock ,june #beth4 ,illustration3 ,altair comes to the ,meridian1 #hb from the ,pole1 at #aj o'clock ,p4,m4 ,august #ahth1 at #i o'clock ,september #b;d1 and at #h o'clock ,september #ahth4 ,illustration3 ,fomalhaut comes to the ,meridian1 only #ag from the horizon1 at #h o'clock ,november #dth4