file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #cgehi-;h4htm or #cgehi-;h4zip3 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu b_/#cgehi_/pg#cgehi-;images4html7 or 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#cg ehi_/cgehi-;h4zip7 ,images of the original pages are available through ,internet ,archive4 ,see http3_/_/www4archive4org_/details_/throu ghmagicglas#jj;buck ,illustration3 ,for ,description see ,page #aeb ,frontispiece ,,the ,,great ,,nebula ,,of ,,orion ,from a photograph taken on ,february #dth1 #ahhi by ,mr ,isaac ,roberts4 ,,through ,,magic ,,glasses ,,and ,,other ,,lectures ,a ,sequel to ,the ,fairyland of ,science by ,,arabella ,b4 ,,buckley 7,mrs4 ,fisher7 ,author of ,life and ,her ,children1 ,winners in ,life's ,race1 ,a ,short ,history of ,natural ,science1 ,etc4 ,with ,numerous ,illustrations ,new ,york ,d4 ,appleton and ,company #ahij ,authorized ,edition4 ,,preface4 ,the present volume is chiefly intended for those of my young friends who have read1 and been interested in1 the ,fairyland of ,science4 ,it travels over a wide field1 pointing out a few of the marvellous facts which can be studied and enjoyed by the help of optical instruments4 ,it will be seen at a glance that any one of the subjects dealt with might be made the study of a lifetime1 and that the little information given in each lecture is only enough to make the reader long for more4 ,in these days1 when moderate-priced instruments and good books and lectures are so easily accessible1 ,i hope some eager minds may be thus led to take up one of the branches of science opened out to us by magic glasses2 while those who go no further will at least understand something of the hitherto unseen world which is now being studied by their help4 ,the two last lectures wander away from this path1 and yet form a natural conclusion to the ,magician's lectures to his young ,devonshire lads4 ,they have been published before1 one in the ,youth's ,companion of ,boston1 ,u4,s41 and the other in ,atalanta1 in which the essay on ,fungi also appeared in a shorter form4 ,all three lectures have1 however1 been revised and fully illustrated1 and ,i trust that the volume1 as a whole1 may prove a pleasant ,christmas companion4 ,for the magnificent photograph of ,orion's nebula1 forming the ,frontispiece1 ,i am indebted to the courtesy of ,mr4 ,isaac ,roberts1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 who most kindly lent me the plate for reproduction2 and ,i have had the great good fortune to obtain permission from ,,mm4 ,henri of the ,paris ,observatory to copy the illustration of the ,lunar ,apennines from a most beautiful and perfect photograph of part of the moon1 taken by them only last ,march4 ,my cordial thanks are also due to ,mr4 ,a4 ,cottam1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 for preparing the plate of coloured double stars1 and to my friend ,mr4 ,knobel1 ,hon4 ,sec4 of the ,r4,a4,s41 for much valuable assistance2 to ,mr4 ,james ,geikie for the loan of some illustrations from his ,geology2 and to ,messrs4 ,longman for permission to copy ,herschel's fine drawing of ,copernicus4 ,with the exception of these illustrations and a few others1 three of which were kindly given me by ,messrs4 ,macmillan1 all the woodcuts have been drawn and executed under the superintendence of ,mr4 ,carreras1 jun41 who has made my task easier by the skill and patience he has exercised under the difficulties incidental to receiving instructions from a distance4 ,,arabella ,b4 ,,buckley4 ,,upcott ,,avenel1 ,oct4 #ahij4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,,chapter ,i ,,page ,,the ,,magician',s ,,chamber ,,by ,,moonlight #a ,,chapter ,,ii ,,magic ,,glasses ,,and ,,how ,,to ,,use ,,them #bg ,,chapter ,,iii ,,fairy ,,rings ,,and ,,how ,,they ,,are ,,made #ee ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,life-,,history ,,of ,,lichens ,,and ,,mosses #ge ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,history ,,of ,a ,,lava ,,stream #if ,,chapter ,,vi ,,an ,,hour ,,with ,,the ,,sun #aag ,,chapter ,,vii ,,an ,,evening ,,among ,,the ,,stars #ade ,,chapter ,,viii ,,little ,,beings ,,from ,a ,,miniature ,,ocean #agb ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,dartmoor ,,ponies #aie ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,magician',s ,,dream ,,of ,,ancient ,,days #bji ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,plates ,,photograph ,,of ,,the ,,nebula ,,of ,,orion ,frontispiece ,,table ,,of ,,coloured ,,spectra ,plate ,i4 facing p4 #abg ,,coloured ,,double ,,stars ,plate ,,ii4 facing p4 #afg ,,woodcuts ,,in ,,the ,,text ,,page ,,partial ,,eclipse ,,of ,,the ,,moon ,initial letter #a ,a ,,boy ,,illustrating ,,the ,,phases ,,of ,,the ,,moon #f ,,course ,,of ,,the ,,moon ,,in ,,the ,,heavens #h ,,chart ,,of ,,the ,,moon #aj ,,face ,,of ,,the ,,full ,,moon #aa ,,tycho ,,and ,,his ,,surroundings 7from a photograph by ,de la ,rue7 #ac ,,plan ,,of ,,the ,,peak ,,of ,,teneriffe #ae ,,the ,,crater ,,copernicus #ag ,,the ,,lunar ,,appennines 7from a photograph by ,m4,m4 ,henri7 #ai ,,the ,,crater ,,plato ,,seen ,,soon ,,after ,,sunrise #bj ,,diagram ,,of ,,total ,,eclipse ,,of ,,the ,,moon #bc ,,boy ,,and ,,microscope ,initial letter #bg ,,eye-,,ball ,,seen ,,from ,,the ,,front #cj ,,section ,,of ,,an ,,eye ,,looking ,,at ,a ,,pencil #ca ,,image ,,of ,a ,,candle-,,flame ,,thrown ,,on ,,paper ,,by ,a ,,lens #cc ,,arrow ,,magnified ,,by ,a ,,convex ,,lens #ce ,,student',s ,,microscope #cf ,,skeleton ,,of ,a ,,microscope #cg ,,fossil ,,diatoms ,,seen ,,under ,,the ,,microscope #ci ,,an ,,astronomical ,,telescope #da ,,two ,,skeletons ,,of ,,telescopes #dd ,,the ,,photographic ,,camera #dg ,,kirchhoff',s ,,spectroscope #ea ,,passage ,,of ,,rays ,,through ,,the ,,spectroscope #eb ,a ,,group ,,of ,,fairy-,,ring ,,mushrooms ,initial letter #ee ,,three ,,forms ,,of ,,vegetable ,,mould ,,magnified #fa ,,mucor ,,mucedo ,,greatly ,,magnified #fc ,,yeast ,,cells ,,growing ,,under ,,the ,,microscope #fe ,,early ,,stages ,,of ,,the ,,mushroom #fg ,,later ,,stages ,,of ,,the ,,mushroom #fh ,,microscopic ,,structure ,,of ,,mushroom ,,gills #fi ,a ,,group ,,of ,,cup ,,lichens ,initial letter #ge ,,examples ,,of ,,lichens ,,from ,,life #gg ,,singe-,,celled ,,plants ,,growing #gh ,,sections ,,of ,,lichens #ha ,,fructification ,,of ,a ,,lichen #hc ,a ,,stem ,,of ,,feathery ,,moss ,,from ,,life #he ,,moss-,,leaf ,,magnified #hg ,,polytrichum ,,commune1 ,a ,,large ,,hair-,,moss #hh ,,fructification ,,of ,a ,,moss #hi ,,sphagnum ,,moss ,,from ,a ,,devonshire ,,bog #ic ,,surface ,,of ,a ,,lava-,,flow ,initial letter #if ,,vesuvius ,,as ,,seen ,,in ,,eruption #ig ,,top ,,of ,,vesuvius ,,in #ahfd #ajj ,,diagrammatic ,,section ,,of ,,an ,,active ,,volcano #aje ,,section ,,of ,a ,,lava-,,flow #ajh ,,volcanic ,,glass ,,with ,,crystallites ,,and ,,microliths #aji ,,volcanic ,,glass ,,with ,,well-,,developed ,,microliths #aaj ,a ,,piece ,,of ,,dartmoor ,,granite #aab ,,volcanic ,,glass ,,showing ,,large ,,included ,,crystals #aae ,a ,,total ,,eclipse ,,of ,,the ,,sun ,initial letter #aag ,,face ,,of ,,the ,,sun ,,projected ,,on ,a ,,piece ,,of ,,cardboard #abj ,,photograph ,,of ,,the ,,sun',s ,,face1 taken by ,mr4 ,selwyn 7,secchi1 ,le ,soleil7 #abb ,,total ,,eclipse ,,of ,,the ,,sun1 ,,showing ,,corona ,,and ,,prominences 7,guillemin1 ,le ,ciel7 #abd ,,kirchhoff',s ,,experiment ,,on ,,the ,,dark ,,sodium ,,line #abh ,,the ,,spectroscope ,,attached ,,to ,,the ,,telescope ,,for ,,solar ,,work #acb ,,sun-,,spectrum ,,and ,,prominence ,,spectrum ,,compared #acd ,,red ,,prominences1 as drawn by ,mr4 ,lockyer #ahfi #acf ,a ,,quiet ,,sun-,,spot #adj ,a ,,tumultuous ,,sun-,,spot #ada ,a ,,star-,,cluster ,initial letter #ade ,,some ,,constellations ,,seen ,,on ,,looking ,,south ,,in ,,march ,,from ,,six ,,to ,,nine ,o',,clock #adh ,,the ,,chief ,,stars ,,of ,,orion1 ,,with ,,aldebaran #adi ,,the ,,trapezium ,greek3 th ,,orionis #aej ,,spectrum ,,of ,,orion',s ,,nebula ,,and ,,sun-,,spectrum ,,compared #aea ,,some ,,constellations ,,seen ,,on ,,looking ,,north ,,in ,,march ,,from ,,six ,,to ,,nine ,o',,clock #aef ,,the ,,great ,,bear1 ,,showing ,,position ,,of ,,the ,,binary ,,star #aeg ,,drifting ,,of ,,the ,,seven ,,stars ,,of ,,charles',s ,,wain #aei ,,cassiopeia ,,and ,,the ,,heavenly ,,bodies ,,near #afb ,greek3 e ,,lyrae1 ,a ,,double-,,binary ,,star #aff ,a ,,seaside ,,pool ,initial letter #agb ,a ,,group ,,of ,,seaweeds 7natural size7 #age ,,ulva ,,lactuca1 a piece greatly magnified #agf ,,seaweeds1 magnified to show fruits #agg ,a ,,coralline ,,and ,,sertularian ,,compared #agi ,,sertularia ,,tenella ,,hanging ,,in ,,water #ahj ,,thuricolla ,,folliculata ,,and ,,chilomonas ,,amygdalum #ahb ,a ,,group ,,of ,,living ,,diatoms #ahd ,a ,,diatom ,,growing #ahe ,,cydippe ,,pileus1 ,,animal ,,and ,,structure #ahg ,,the ,,sea-,,mat1 ,,flustra ,,foliacea #aia ,,diagram ,,of ,,the ,,flustra ,,animal #aib ,,dartmoor ,,ponies ,initial letter #aie ,,equus ,,hemionus1 ,,the ,,horse-,,ass ,,of ,,tartary ,,and ,,tibet #bja ,,przevalsky',s ,,wild ,,horse #bjb ,,skeleton ,,of ,,an ,,animal ,,of ,,the ,,horse-,,tribe #bjf ,,palaeolithic ,,man ,,chipping ,,flint ,,tools ,initial letter #bji ,,scene ,,in ,,palaeolithic ,,times #bab ,,palaeolithic ,,relics--,,needle1 ,,tooth1 ,,implement #bac ,,mammoth ,,engraved ,,on ,,ivory #baf ,,neolithic ,,implements--,,hatchet1 ,,celt1 ,,spindle ,,whorl #bai ,a ,,burial ,,in ,,neolithic ,,times #bba ,,british ,,relics--,,coin1 ,,bronze ,,celt1 ,,and ,,bracelet #bbc ,,britons ,,taking ,,refuge ,,in ,,the ,,cave #bbd ,,through ,,magic ,,glasses ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,magician',s ,,chamber ,,by ,,moonlight ,illustration ,the full moon was shining in all its splendour one lovely ,august night1 as the magician sat in his turret chamber bathed in her pure white beams1 which streamed upon him through the open shutter in the wooden dome above4 ,it is true a faint gleam of warmer light shone from below through the open door1 for this room was but an offshoot at the top of the building1 and on looking down the turret stairs a lecture-room might be seen below where a bright light was burning4 ,very little1 however1 of this warm glow reached the magician1 and the implements of his art around him looked like weird gaunt skeletons as they cast their long shadows across the floor in the moonlight4 ,the small observatory1 for such it was1 was a circular building with four windows in the walls1 and roofed with a wooden dome1 so made that it could be shifted round and round by pulling certain cords4 ,one section of this dome was a shutter1 which now stood open1 and the strip1 thus laid bare to the night1 was so turned as to face that part of the sky along which the moon was moving4 ,in the centre of the room1 with its long tube directed towards the opening1 stood the largest magic glass1 the ,,telescope1 and in the dead stillness of the night1 could be heard distinctly the tick-tick of the clockwork1 which kept the instrument pointing to the face of the moon1 while the room1 and all in it1 was being carried slowly and steadily onwards by the earth's rotation on its axis4 ,it was only a moderate-sized instrument1 about six feet long1 mounted on a solid iron pillar firmly fixed to the floor and fitted with the clockwork1 the sound of which we have mentioned2 yet it looked like a giant as the pale moonlight threw its huge shadow on the wall behind and the roof above4 ,far away from this instrument in one of the windows1 all of which were now closed with shutters1 another instrument was dimly visible4 ,this was a round iron table1 with clawed feet1 and upon it1 fastened by screws1 were three tubes1 so arranged that they all pointed towards the centre of the table1 where six glass prisms were arranged in a semicircle1 each one fixed on a small brass tripod4 ,a strange uncanny-looking instrument this1 especially as the prisms caught the edge of the glow streaming up the turret stair1 and shot forth faint beams of coloured light on the table below them4 ,yet the magician's pupils thought it still more uncanny and mysterious when their master used it to read the alphabet of light1 and to discover by vivid lines even the faintest trace of a metal otherwise invisible to mortal eye4 ,for this instrument was the ,,spectroscope1 by which he could break up rays of light and make them tell him from what substances they came4 ,lying around it were other curious prisms mounted in metal rims and fitted with tubes and many strange devices1 not to be understood by the uninitiated1 but magical in their effect when fixed on to the telescope and used to break up the light of distant stars and nebulae4 ,compared with these mysterious glasses the ,,photographic ,,camera1 standing in the background1 with its tall black covering cloth1 like a hooded monk1 looked comparatively natural and familiar1 yet it1 too1 had puzzling plates and apparatus on the table near it1 which could be fitted on to the telescope1 so that by their means pictures might be taken even in the dark night1 and stars1 invisible with the strongest lens1 might be forced to write their own story1 and leave their image on the plate for after study4 ,all these instruments told of the magician's power in unveiling the secrets of distant space and exploring realms unknown1 but in another window1 now almost hidden in the shadow1 stood a fourth and highly-prized helpmate1 which belonged in one sense more to our earth1 since everything examined by it had to be brought near1 and lie close under its magnifying-glass4 ,yet the ,,microscope too could carry its master into an unseen world1 hidden to mortal eye by minuteness instead of by distance4 ,if in the stillness of night the telescope was his most cherished servant and familiar friend1 the microscope by day opened out to him the fairyland of nature4 ,as he sat on his high pedestal stool on this summer night with the moonlight full upon him1 his whole attention was centred on the telescope1 and his mind was far away from that turret-room1 wandering into the distant space brought so near to him2 for he was waiting to watch an event which brought some new interest every time it took place--a total eclipse of the moon4 ,to-night he looked forward to it eagerly1 for it happened that1 just as the moon would pass into the shadow of our earth1 it would also cross directly in front of a star1 causing what is known as an occultation of the star1 which would disappear suddenly behind the rim of the dark moon1 and after a short time flash out on the other side as the satellite went on its way4 ,how he wished as he sat there that he could have shown this sight to all the eager lads whom he was teaching to handle and love his magic glasses4 ,for this magician was not only a student himself1 he was a rich man and the ,founder and ,principal of a large public school for boys of the artisan class4 ,he had erected a well-planned and handsome building in the midst of the open country1 and received there1 on terms within the means of their parents1 working-lads from all parts of ,england1 who1 besides the usual book-learning1 received a good technical education in all its branches4 ,and1 while he left to other masters the regular school lessons1 he kept for himself the intense pleasure of opening the minds of these lads to the wonders of ,god's universe around them4 ,you had only to pass down the turret stairs1 into the large science class-room below1 to see at once that a loving hand and heart had furnished it4 ,not only was there every implement necessary for scientific work1 but numerous rough diagrams covering the walls showed that labour as well as money had been spent in decorating them4 ,it was a large oblong room1 with four windows to the north1 and four to the south1 in each of which stood a microscope with all the tubes1 needles1 forceps1 knives1 etc41 necessary for dissecting and preparing objects2 and between the windows were open shelves1 on which were ranged chemicals of various kinds1 besides many strange-looking objects in bottles1 which would have amused a trained naturalist1 for the lads collected and preserved whatever took their fancy4 ,on some of the tables were photographic plates laid ready for printing off2 on others might be seen drawings of the spectrum1 made from the small spectroscope fixed at one end of the room2 on others lay small direct spectroscopes which the lads could use for themselves4 ,but nowhere was a telescope to be seen4 ,this was not because there were none1 for each table had its small hand-telescope1 cheap but good4 ,the truth is that each of these instruments had been spirited away into the dormitories that night1 and many heads were lying awake on their pillows1 listening for the strike of the clock to spring out and see the eclipse begin4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #a4 ,a boy illustrating the phases of the moon4 ,a mere glance round the room showed that the moon had been much studied lately4 ,on the black-board was drawn a rough diagram1 showing how a boy can illustrate for himself the moon's journey round the earth1 by taking a ball and holding it a little above his head at arm's length1 while he turns slowly round on his heel in a darkened room before a lighted lamp1 or better still before the lens of a magic lantern 7,fig4 #a74 ,the lamp or lens then represents the sun1 the ball is the moon1 the boy's head is the earth4 ,beginning with the ball between him and the source of light1 but either a little above1 or a little below the direct line between his eye and it1 he will see only the dark side of the ball1 and the moon will be on the point of being new4 ,then as he turns slowly1 a thin crescent of light will creep over the side nearest the sun1 and by degrees encroach more and more1 so that when he has turned through one quarter of the round half the disc will be light4 ,when he has turned another quarter1 and has his back to the sun1 a full moon will face him4 ,then as he turns on through the third quarter a crescent of darkness creeps slowly over the side away from the sun1 and gradually the bright disc is eaten away by shadow till at the end of the third quarter half the disc again only is light2 then1 when he has turned through another quarter and completed the circle1 he faces the light again and has a dark moon before him4 ,but he must take care to keep the moon a little above or a little below his eye at new and full moon4 ,if he brings it exactly on a line with himself and the light at new moon1 he will shut off the light from himself and see the dark body of the ball against the light1 causing an eclipse of the sun2 while if he does the same at full moon his head will cast a shadow on the ball causing an eclipse of the moon4 ,there were other diagrams showing how and why such eclipses do really happen at different times in the moon's path round the earth2 but perhaps the most interesting of all was one he had made to explain what so few people understand1 namely1 that though the moon describes a complete circle round our earth every month1 yet she does not describe a circle in space1 but a wavy line inwards and outwards across the earth's path round the sun4 ,this is because the earth is moving on all the while1 carrying the moon with it1 and it is only by seeing it drawn before our eyes that we can realise how it happens4 ,thus suppose1 in order to make the dates as simple as possible1 that there is a new moon on the #ast of some month4 ,then by the #ith 7or roughly speaking in #g-c_/d days7 the moon will have described a quarter of a circle round the earth as shown by the dotted line 7,fig4 #b71 which marks her position night after night with regard to us4 ,yet because she is carried onwards all the while by the earth1 she will really have passed along the interrupted line - - - - between us and the sun4 ,during the next week her quarter of a circle will carry her round behind the earth1 so that we see her on the #agth as a full moon1 yet her actual movement has been onwards along the interrupted line on the farther side of the earth4 ,during the third week she creeps round another quarter of a circle so as to be in advance of the earth on its yearly journey round the sun1 and reaches the end of her third quarter on the #bdth4 ,in her last quarter she gradually passes again between the earth and the sun2 and though1 as regards the earth1 she appears to be going back round to the same place where she was at the beginning of the month1 and on the #cast is again a dark new moon1 yet she has travelled onwards exactly as much as we have1 and therefore has really not described a circle in the heavens but a wavy line4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #b4 ,diagram showing the moon's course during one month4 ,the moon and the earth are both moving onwards in the direction of the arrows4 ,the earth moves along the dark line1 the moon along the interrupted line - - - -4 ,the dotted curved line 4444 shows the circle gradually described by the moon round the earth as they move onwards4 ,near to this last diagram hung another1 well loved by the lads1 for it was a large map of the face of the moon1 that is of the side which is always turned towards us1 because the moon turns once on her axis during the month that she is travelling round the earth4 ,on this map were marked all the different craters1 mountains1 plains and shining streaks which appear on the moon's face2 while round the chart were pictures of some of these at sunrise and sunset on the moon1 or during the long day of nearly a fortnight which each part of the face enjoys in its turn4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #c4 ,chart of the moon4 ,craters-- #a ,tycho4 #d ,aristarchus4 #g ,plato4 #aj ,petavius4 #b ,copernicus4 #e ,eratosthenes4 #h ,eudoxus4 #aa ,ptolemy4 #c ,kepler4 #f ,archimedes4 #i ,aristotle4 ,grey plains formerly believed to be seas-- ,a ,mare ,crisium4 ,o ,mare ,imbrium4 ,c ---- ,frigoris4 ,q ,oceanus ,procellarum4 ,g ---- ,tranquillitatis4 ,x ,mare ,foecunditatis4 ,h ---- ,serenitatis4 ,t ---- ,humorum4 ,by studying this map1 and the pictures1 they were able1 even in their small telescopes1 to recognise ,tycho and ,copernicus1 and the mountains of the moon1 after they had once grown accustomed to the strange changes in their appearance which take place as daylight or darkness creeps over them4 ,they could not however pick out more than some of the chief points4 ,only the magician himself knew every crater and ridge under all its varying lights1 and now1 as he waited for the eclipse to begin1 he turned to a lad who stood behind him1 almost hidden in the dark shadow--the one fortunate boy who had earned the right to share this night's work4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #c;a4 ,the full moon4 7,from ,ball's ,starland47 ,we have still half an hour1 ,alwyn1 said he1 before the eclipse will begin1 and ,i can show you the moon's face well to-night4 ,take my place here and look at her while ,i point out the chief features4 ,see first1 there are the grey plains 7,a1 ,c1 ,g1 etc47 lying chiefly in the lower half of the moon4 ,you can often see these on a clear night with the naked eye1 but you must remember that then they appear more in the upper part1 because in the telescope we see the moon's face inverted or upside down4 ,these plains were once thought to be oceans1 but are now proved to be dry flat regions situated at different levels on the moon1 and much like what deserts and prairies would appear on our earth if seen from the same distance4 ,looking through the telescope1 is it not difficult to imagine how people could ever have pictured them as a man's face8 ,but not so difficult to understand how some ancient nations thought the moon was a kind of mirror1 in which our earth was reflected as in a looking-glass1 with its seas and rivers1 mountains and valleys2 for it does look something like a distant earth1 and as the light upon it is really reflected from the sun it was very natural to compare it to a looking-glass4 ,next cast your eye over the hundreds of craters1 some large1 others quite small1 which cover the moon's face with pitted marks1 like a man with small-pox2 while a few of the larger rings look like holes made in a window-pane1 where a stone has passed through1 for brilliant shining streaks radiate from them on all sides like the rays of a star1 covering a large part of the moon4 ,brightest of all these starred craters is ,tycho1 which you will easily find near the top of the moon 7,i1 ,fig4 #c71 for you have often seen it in the small telescope4 ,how grand it looks to-night in the full moon 7,fig4 #c;a76 ,it is true you see all the craters better when the moon is in her quarters1 because the light falls sideways upon them and the shadows are more sharply defined2 yet even at the full the bright ray of light on ,tycho's rim marks out the huge cavity1 and you can even see faintly the magnificent terraces which run round the cup within1 one below the other4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #d4 ,tycho and his surroundings4 7,from a photograph of the moon taken by ,mr4 ,de la ,rue1 #ahfc47 ,this cavity measures fifty-four miles across1 so that if it could be moved down to our earth it would cover by far the largest part of ,devonshire1 or that portion from ,bideford on the north1 to the sea on the south1 and from the borders of ,cornwall on the east1 to ,exeter on the west1 and it is #ag1jjj feet or nearly three miles in depth4 ,even in the brilliant light of the full moon this enormous cup is dark compared to the bright rim1 but it is much better seen in about the middle of the second quarter1 when the rising sun begins to light up one side while the other is in black night4 ,the drawing on the wall 7,fig4 #d71 which is taken from an actual photograph of the moon's face1 shows ,tycho at this time surrounded by the numerous other craters which cover this part of the moon4 ,you may recognise him by the gleaming peak in the centre of the cup1 and by his bright rim which is so much more perfect than those of his companions4 ,the gleaming peak is the top of a steep cone or hill rising up #fjjj feet1 or more than a mile from the base of the crater1 so that even the summit is about two miles below the rim4 ,there is one very interesting point in ,tycho1 however1 which is seen at its very best at full moon4 ,look outside the bright rim and you will see that from the shadow which surrounds it there spring on all sides those strange brilliant streaks 7see ,fig4 #c;a7 which ,i spoke of just now4 ,there are others quite as bright1 or even brighter1 round other craters1 ,copernicus 7,fig4 #f71 ,kepler1 and ,aristarchus1 lower down on the right-hand side of the moon2 but these of ,tycho are far the most widely spread1 covering almost all the top of the face4 ,what are these streaks8 ,we do not know4 ,during the second quarter of the moon1 when the sun is rising slowly upon ,tycho1 lighting up his peak and showing the crater beautifully divided into a bright cup in the curve to the right1 while a dense shadow lies in the left hollow1 these streaks are only faint1 and among the many craters around 7see ,fig4 #d7 you might even have some difficulty at first in finding the well-known giant4 ,but as the sun rises higher and higher they begin to appear1 and go on increasing in brightness till they shine with that wonderfully silvery light you see now in the full moon4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #e4 ,plan of the ,peak of ,teneriffe1 showing how it resembles a lunar crater4 7,a4 ,geikie47 ,here is a problem for you young astronomers to solve1 as we learn more and more how to use the telescope with all its new appliances4 ,the crater itself is not so difficult to explain1 for we have many like it on our earth1 only not nearly so large4 ,in fact1 we might almost say that our earthly volcanoes differ from those in the moon only by their smaller size and by forming mountains with the crater or cup on the top2 while the lunar craters lie flat on the surface of the moon1 the hollow of the cup forming a depression below it4 ,the peak of ,teneriffe 7,fig4 #e71 which is a dormant volcano1 is a good copy in miniature on our earth of many craters on the moon4 ,the large plain surrounded by a high rocky wall1 broken in places by lava streams1 the smaller craters nestling in the cup1 and the high peak or central crater rising up far above the others1 are so like what we see on the moon that we cannot doubt that the same causes have been at work in both cases1 even though the space enclosed in the rocky wall of ,teneriffe measures only eight miles across1 while that of ,tycho measures fifty-four4 ,but of the streaks we have no satisfactory explanation4 ,they pass alike over plain and valley and mountain1 cutting even across other craters without swerving from their course4 ,the astronomer ,nasmyth thought they were the remains of cracks made when the volcanoes were active1 and filled with molten lava from below1 as water oozes up through ice-cracks on a pond4 ,but this explanation is not quite satisfactory1 for the lava1 forcing its way through1 would cool in ridges which ought to cast a shadow in sunlight4 ,these streaks1 however1 not only cast no shadow1 as you can see at the full moon but when the sun shines sideways upon them in the new or waning moon they disappear as we have seen altogether4 ,thus the streaks1 so brilliant at full moon in ,tycho1 ,copernicus1 ,kepler1 and ,aristarchus1 remain a puzzle to astronomers still4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #f4 ,the crater ,copernicus4 7,as given in ,herschel's ,astronomy1 from a drawing taken in a reflecting telescope of #bj feet focal length47 ,we cannot examine these three last-named craters well to-night with the full sun upon them2 but mark their positions well1 for ,copernicus1 at least1 you must examine on the first opportunity1 when the sun is rising upon it in the moon's second quarter4 ,it is larger even than ,tycho1 measuring fifty-six miles across1 and has a hill in the centre with many peaks2 while outside1 great spurs or ridges stretch in all directions sometimes for more than a hundred miles1 and between these are scattered innumerable minute craters4 ,but the most striking feature in it is the ring1 which is composed inside the crater of magnificent terraces divided by deep ravines4 ,these terraces are in some ways very like those of the great crater of ,teneriffe1 and astronomers can best account for them by supposing that this immense crater was once filled with a lake of molten lava rising1 cooling at the edges1 and then falling again1 leaving the solid ridge behind4 ,the streaks are also beautifully shown in ,copernicus 7see ,fig4 #f71 but1 as in ,tycho1 they fade away as the sun sets on the crater1 and only reappear gradually as midday approaches4 ,and now1 looking a little to the left of ,copernicus1 you will see that grand range of mountains1 the ,lunar ,apennines 7,fig4 #g71 which stretches #djj miles across the face of the moon4 ,other mountain ranges we could find1 but none so like mountains on our own globe as these1 with their gentle sunny slope down to a plain on the left1 and steep perpendicular cliffs on the right4 ,the highest peak in this range1 called ,huyghens1 rises to the height of #ba1jjj feet1 higher than ,chimborazo in the ,andes4 ,other mountains on the moon1 such as those called the ,caucasus1 south of the ,apennines1 are composed of disconnected peaks1 while others again stand as solitary pyramids upon the plains4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #g4 ,the ,lunar ,apennines4 7,copied by kind permission of ,,mm4 ,henri from part of a magnificent photograph taken by them1 ,march #bi1 #ahij1 at the ,paris ,observatory47 ,but we must hasten on1 for ,i want you to observe those huge walled crater-plains which have no hill in the middle1 but smooth steel-grey centres shining like mirrors in the moonlight4 ,one of these1 called ,archimedes1 you will find just below the ,lunar ,apennines 7,figs4 #c and #g71 and another called ,plato1 which is sixty miles broad1 is still lower down the moon's face 7,figs4 #c and #h74 ,the centres of these broad circles are curiously smooth and shining like quicksilver1 with minute dots here and there which are miniature craters1 while the walls are rugged and crowned with turret-shaped peaks4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #h4 ,the crater ,plato as seen soon after sunrise4 7,after ,neison47 ,it is easy to picture to oneself how these may once have been vast seas of lava1 not surging as in ,copernicus1 and heaving up as it cooled into one great central cone1 but seething as molten lead does in a crucible1 little bubbles bursting here and there into minute craters2 and this is the explanation given of them by astronomers4 ,and now that you have seen the curious rugged face of the moon and its craters and mountains1 you will want to know how all this has come about4 ,we can only form theories on the point1 except that everything shows that heat and volcanoes have in some way done the work1 though no one has ever yet clearly proved that volcanic eruptions have taken place in our time4 ,we must look back to ages long gone by for those mighty volcanic eruptions which hurled out stones and ashes from the great crater of ,tycho1 and formed the vast seas of lava in ,copernicus and ,plato4 ,and when these were over1 and the globe was cooling down rapidly1 so that mountain ranges were formed by the wrinkling and rending of the surface1 was there then any life on the moon8 ,who can tell8 ,our magic glasses can reveal what now is1 so far as distance will allow2 but what has been1 except where the rugged traces remain1 we shall probably never know4 ,what we now see is a dead worn-out planet1 on which we cannot certainly trace any activity except that of heat in the past4 ,that there is no life there now1 at any rate of the kind on our own earth1 we are almost certain2 first1 because we can nowhere find traces of water1 clouds1 nor even mist1 and without moisture no life like ours is possible2 and secondly1 because even if there is1 as perhaps there may be1 a thin ocean of gas round the moon there is certainly no atmosphere such as surrounds our globe4 ,one fact which proves this is1 that there are no half-shadows on the moon4 ,if you look some night at the mountains and craters during her first and second quarters1 you will be startled to see what heavy shadows they cast1 not with faint edges dying away into light1 but sharp and hard 7see ,figs4 #f-h71 so that you pass1 as it were by one step1 from shadow to sunshine4 ,this in itself is enough to show that there is no air to scatter the sunlight and spread it into the edges of the shade as happens on our earth2 but there are other and better proofs4 ,one of these is1 that during an eclipse of the sun there is no reflection of his light round the dark moon as there would be if the moon had an atmosphere2 another is that the spectroscope1 that wonderful instrument which shows us invisible gases1 gives no hint of air around the moon2 and another is the sudden disappearance or occultation of a star behind the moon1 such as ,i hope to see in a few minutes4 ,see here6 take the small hand telescope and turn it on to the moon's face while ,i take my place at the large one1 and ,i will tell you what to look for4 ,you know that at sunset we see the sun for some time after it has dipped below the horizon1 because the rays of light which come from it are bent in our atmosphere and brought to our eyes1 forming in them the image of the sun which is already gone4 ,now in a short time the moon which we are watching will be darkened by our earth coming between it and the sun1 and while it is quite dark it will pass over a little bright star4 ,in fact to us the star will appear to set behind the dark moon as the sun sets below the horizon1 and if the moon had an atmosphere like ours1 the rays from the star would be bent in it and reach our eyes after the star was gone1 so that it would only disappear gradually4 ,astronomers have always observed1 however1 that the star is lost to sight quite suddenly1 showing that there is no ocean of air round the moon to bend the light-rays4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #i4 ,diagram of total eclipse of the moon4 ,s1 ,sun4 ,e1 ,earth4 ,m1 ,moon passing into the earth's shadow and passing out at ,m'4 ,r1 ,r'1 ,lines meeting at a point ,u1 ,u' behind the earth and enclosing a space within which all the direct rays of the sun are intercepted by the earth1 causing a black darkness or umbra4 ,r1 ,p and ,r'1 ,p'1 ,lines marking a space within which1 behind the earth1 part of the sun's rays are cut off1 causing a half-shadow or penumbra1 ,p1 ,p'4 a1 a1 ,points where a few of the sun's rays are bent or refracted in the earth's atmosphere1 so that they pass along the path marked by the dotted lines and shed a lurid light on the sun's face4 ,here the magician paused1 for a slight dimness on the lower right-hand side of the moon warned him that she was entering into the penumbra or half-shadow 7see ,fig4 #i7 caused by the earth cutting off part of the sun's rays2 and soon a deep black shadow creeping over ,aristarchus and ,plato showed that she was passing into that darker space or umbra where the body of the earth is completely between her and the sun and cuts off all his rays4 ,all1 did ,i say8 ,no6 not all4 ,for now was seen a beautiful sight1 which would prove to any one who saw our earth from a great distance that it has a deep ocean of air round it4 ,it was a clear night1 with a cloudless sky1 and as the deep shadow crept slowly over the moon's face1 covering the ,lunar ,apennines and ,copernicus1 and stealing gradually across the brilliant streaks of ,tycho till the crater itself was swallowed up in darkness1 a strange lurid light began to appear4 ,the part of the moon which was eclipsed was not wholly dark1 but tinted with a very faint bluish-green light1 which changed almost imperceptibly1 as the eclipse went on1 to rose-red1 and then to a fiery copper-coloured glow as the moon crept entirely into the shadow and became all dark4 ,the lad watching through his small telescope noted this weird light1 and wondered1 as he saw the outlines of the ,apennines and of several craters dimly visible by it1 though the moon was totally eclipsed4 ,he noted1 but was silent4 ,he would not disturb the ,principal1 for the important moment was at hand1 as this dark copper-coloured moon1 now almost invisible1 drew near to the star over which it was to pass4 ,this little star1 really a glorious sun billions of miles away behind the moon1 was perhaps the centre of another system of worlds as unknown to us as we to them1 and the fact of our tiny moon crossing between it and our earth would matter as little as if a grain of sand was blown across the heavens4 ,yet to the watchers it was a great matter--would the star give any further clue to the question of an atmosphere round the moon8 ,would its light linger even for a moment1 like the light of the setting sun8 ,nearer and nearer came the dark moon2 the star shone brilliantly against its darkness2 one second and it was gone4 ,the long looked-for moment had passed1 and the magician turned from his instrument with a sigh4 ,i have learnt nothing new1 ,alwyn1 said he1 but at least it is satisfactory to have seen for ourselves the proof that there is no perceptible atmosphere round the moon4 ,we need wait no longer1 for before the star reappears on the other side the eclipse will be passing away4 ,but1 master1 burst forth the lad1 now the silence was broken1 tell me why did that strange light of many tints shine upon the dark moon8 ,did you notice it1 ,alwyn8 said the ,principal1 with a pleased smile4 ,then our evening's work is not lost1 for you have made a real observation for yourself4 ,that light was caused by the few rays of the sun which grazed the edge of our earth passing through the ocean of air round it 7see ,fig4 #i74 ,there they were refracted or bent1 and so were thrown within the shadow cast by our earth1 and fell upon the moon4 ,if there were such a person as a 'man in the moon1' that lurid light would prove to him that our earth has an atmosphere4 ,the cause of the tints is the same which gives us our sunset colours1 because as the different coloured waves which make white light are absorbed one by one1 passing through the denser atmosphere1 the blue are cut off first1 then the green1 then the yellow1 till only the orange and red rays reached the centre of the shadow1 where the moon was darkest4 ,but this is too difficult a subject to begin at midnight4 ,so saying1 he lighted his lamp1 and covering the object-glass of his telescope with its pasteboard cap1 detached the instrument from the clockwork1 and the master and his pupil went down the turret stairs and past through the room below4 ,as they did so they heard in the distance a scuffling noise like that of rats in the wall4 ,a smile passed over the face of the ,principal1 for he knew that his young pupils1 who had been making their observations in the gallery above1 were hurrying back to their beds4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,magic ,,glasses1 ,,and ,,how ,,to ,,use ,,them ,illustration ,the sun shone brightly into the science class-room at mid-day4 ,no gaunt shadows nor ghostly moonlight now threw a spell on the magic chamber above4 ,the instruments looked bright and business-like1 and the ,principal1 moving amongst them1 heard the subdued hum of fifty or more voices rising from below4 ,it was the lecture hour1 and the subject for the day was1 ,magic glasses1 and how to use them4 ,as the large clock in the hall sounded twelve1 the ,principal gathered up a few stray lenses and prisms he had selected1 and passed down the turret stair to his platform4 ,behind him were arranged his diagrams1 before him on the table stood various instruments1 and the rows of bright faces beyond looked up with one consent as the hum quieted down and he began his lecture4 ,i have often told you1 boys1 have ,i not8 that ,i am a ,magician4 ,in my chamber near the sky ,i work spells as did the magicians of old1 and by the help of my magic glasses ,i peer into the secrets of nature4 ,thus ,i read the secrets of the distant stars2 ,i catch the light of wandering comets1 and make it reveal its origin2 ,i penetrate into the whirlpools of the sun2 ,i map out the craters of the moon4 ,nor can the tiniest being on earth hide itself from me4 ,where others see only a drop of muddy water1 that water brought into my magic chamber teems with thousands of active bodies1 darting here and whirling there amid a meadow of tiny green plants floating in the water4 ,nay1 my inquisitive glass sees even farther than this1 for with it ,i can watch the eddies of water and green atoms going on in each of these tiny beings as they feed and grow4 ,again1 if ,i want to break into the secrets of the rock at my feet1 ,i have only to put a thin slice of it under my microscope to trace every crystal and grain2 or1 if ,i wish to learn still more1 ,i subject it to fiery heat1 and through the magic prisms of my spectroscope ,i read the history of the very substances of which it is composed4 ,if ,i wish to study the treasures of the wide ocean1 the slime from a rock-pool teems with fairy forms darting about in the live box imprisoned in a crystal home4 ,if some distant stars are invisible even in the giant glasses of my telescope1 ,i set another power to work1 and make them print their own image on a photographic plate and so reveal their presence4 ,all these things you have seen through my magic glasses1 and ,i promised you that one day ,i would explain to you how they work and do my bidding4 ,but ,i must warn you that you must give all your attention2 there is no royal road to my magician's power4 ,every one can attain to it1 but only by taking trouble4 ,you must open your eyes and ears1 and use your intelligence to test carefully what your senses show you4 ,we have only to consider a little to see that we depend entirely upon our senses for our knowledge of the outside world4 ,all kinds of things are going on around us1 about which we know nothing1 because our eyes are not keen enough to see1 and our ears not sharp enough to hear them4 ,most of all we enjoy and study nature through our eyes1 those windows which let in to us the light of heaven1 and with it the lovely sights and scenes of earth2 and which are no ordinary windows1 but most wonderful structures adapted for conveying images to the brain4 ,they are of very different power in different people1 so that a long-sighted person sees a lovely landscape where a short-sighted one sees only a confused mist2 while a short-sighted person can see minute things close to the eye better than a long-sighted one4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #aj4 ,eye-ball seen from the front4 7,after ,le ,gros ,clark47 w1 ,white of eye4 i1 ,iris4 p1 ,pupil4 ,let us try to understand this before we go on to artificial glasses1 for it will help us to explain how these glasses show us many things we could never see without them4 ,here are two pictures of the human eyeball 7,figs4 #aj and #aa71 one as it appears from the front1 and the other as we should see the parts if we cut an eyeball across from the front to the back4 ,from these drawings we see that the eyeball is round2 it only looks oval1 because it is seen through the oval slit of the eyelids4 ,it is really a hard1 shining1 white ball with a thick nerve cord 7on1 ,fig4 #aa7 passing out at the back1 and a dark glassy mound c1 c in the centre of the white in front4 ,in this mound we can easily distinguish two parts--first1 the coloured iris or elastic curtain 7i1 ,fig4 #aj72 and secondly1 the dark spot or pupil p in the centre4 ,the iris is the part which gives the eye its colour2 it is composed of a number of fibres1 the outer ones radiating towards the centre1 the inner ones forming a ring round the pupil2 and behind these fibres is a coat of dark pigment or colouring matter1 blue in some people1 grey1 brown1 or black in others4 ,when the light is very strong1 and would pain the nerves inside if too much entered the pupil or window of the eye1 then the ring of the iris contracts so as partly to close the opening4 ,when there is very little light1 and it is necessary to let in as much as possible1 the ring expands and the pupil grows large4 ,the best way to observe this is to look at a cat's eyes in the dusk1 and then bring her near to a bright light2 for the iris of a cat's eye contracts and expands much more than ours does4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #aa4 ,section of an eye looking at a pencil4 7,adapted from ,kirke47 c1 c1 ,cornea4 w1 ,white of eye4 cm1 ,ciliary muscle4 a1 a1 ,aqueous humour4 i1 i1 ,iris4 l1 l1 ,lens4 r1 r1 ,retina4 on1 ,optic nerve4 #a1 #b1 ,pencil4 #a'1 #b'1 ,image of pencil on the retina4 ,now look at the second diagram 7,fig4 #aa7 and notice the chief points necessary in seeing4 ,first you will observe that the pupil is not a mere hole2 it is protected by a curved covering c4 ,this is the cornea1 a hard1 perfectly transparent membrane1 looking much like a curved watch-glass4 ,behind this is a small chamber filled with a watery fluid a1 called the aqueous humour1 and near the back of this chamber is the dark ring or iris i1 which you saw from the front through the cornea and fluid4 ,close behind the iris again is the natural 'magic glass' of our eye1 the crystalline lens l1 which is composed of perfectly transparent fibres and has two rounded or convex surfaces like an ordinary magnifying glass4 ,this lens rests on a cushion of a soft jelly-like substance v1 called the vitreous humour1 which fills the dark chamber or cavity of the eyeball and keeps it in shape1 so that the retina r1 which lines the chamber1 is kept at a proper distance from the lens4 ,this retina is a transparent film of very sensitive nerves2 it forms a screen at the back of the chamber1 and has a coating of very dark pigment or colouring matter behind it4 ,lastly1 the nerves of the retina all meet in a bundle1 called the optic nerve1 and passing out of the eyeball at a point on1 go to the brain4 ,these are the chief parts we use in seeing2 now how do we use them8 ,suppose that a pencil is held in front of the eye at the distance at which we see small objects comfortably4 ,light is reflected from all parts of the surface of the pencil1 and as the rays spread1 a certain number enter the pupil of the eye4 ,we will follow only two cones of light coming from the points #a and #b on the diagram ,fig4 #aa4 ,these you see enter the eye1 each widely spread over the cornea c4 ,they are bent in a little by this curved covering1 and by the liquid behind it1 while the iris cuts off the rays near the edges of the lens1 which would be too much bent to form a clear image4 ,the rest of the rays fall upon the lens l4 ,in passing through this lens they are very much bent 7or refracted7 towards each other1 so much so that by the time they reach the end of the dark chamber v1 each cone of light has come to a point or focus #a'1 #b'1 and as rays of this kind have come from every point all over the pencil1 exactly similar points are formed on the retina1 and a real picture of the pencil is formed there between #a' and #b'4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ab4 ,image of a candle-flame thrown on paper by a lens4 ,we will make a very simple and pretty experiment to illustrate this4 ,darkening the room ,i light a candle1 take a square of white paper in my hand1 and hold a simple magnifying glass between the two 7see ,fig4 #ab7 about three inches away from the candle4 ,then ,i shift the paper nearer and farther behind the lens1 till we get a clear image of the candle-flame upon it4 ,this is exactly what happens in our eye4 ,i have drawn a dotted line c round the lens and the paper on the diagram to represent the eyeball in which the image of the candle-flame would be on the retina instead of on the piece of paper4 ,the first point you will notice is that the candle-flame is upside down on the paper1 and if you turn back to ,fig4 #aa you will see why1 for it is plain that the cones of light cross in the lens l1 #a going to #a' and #b to #b'4 ,every picture made on our retina is upside down4 ,but it is not there that we see it4 ,as soon as the points of light from the pencil strike upon the retina1 the thrill passes on along the optic nerve on1 through the back of the eye to the brain2 and our mind1 following back the rays exactly as they have come through the lens1 sees a pencil1 outside the eye1 right way upwards4 ,this is how we see with our eyes1 which adjust themselves most beautifully to our needs4 ,for example1 not only is the iris always ready to expand or contract according as we need more or less light1 but there is a special muscle1 called the ciliary muscle 7cm1 ,fig4 #aa71 which alters the lens for us to see things far or near4 ,in all1 or nearly all1 perfect eyes the lens is flatter in front than behind1 and this enables us to see things far off by bringing the rays from them exactly to a focus on the retina4 ,but when we look at nearer things the rays require to be more bent or refracted1 so without any conscious effort on our part this ciliary muscle contracts and allows the lens to bulge out slightly in front4 ,instantly we have a stronger magnifier1 and the rays are brought to the right focus on the retina1 so that a clear and full-size image of the near object is formed4 ,how little we think1 as we turn our eyes from one thing to another1 and observe1 now the distant hills1 now the sheep feeding close by2 or1 as night draws on1 gaze into limitless space and see the stars millions upon millions of miles away1 that at every moment the focus of our eye is altering1 the iris is contracting or expanding1 and myriads of images are being formed one after the other in that little dark chamber1 through which pass all the scenes of the outer world6 ,yet even this wonderful eye cannot show us everything4 ,some see farther than others1 some see more minutely than others1 according as the lens of the eye is flatter in one person and more rounded in another4 ,but the most long-sighted person could never have discovered the planet ,neptune1 more than #bgjj millions of miles distant from us1 nor could the keenest-sighted have known of the existence of those minute and beautiful little plants1 called diatoms1 which live around us wherever water is found1 and form delicate flint skeletons so infinitesimally small that thousands of millions go to form one cubic inch of the stone called tripoli1 found at ,bilin in ,bohemia4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ac4 ,arrow magnified by a convex lens4 a1 b1 ,real arrow4 ,c1 ,d1 ,magnifying-glass4 ,a1 ,b1 ,enlarged image of the arrow4 ,it is here that our 'magic glasses' come to our assistance1 and reveal to us what was before invisible4 ,we learnt just now that we see near things by the lens of our eye becoming more rounded in front2 but there comes a point beyond which the lens cannot bulge any more1 so that when a thing is very tiny1 and would have to be held very close to the eye for us to see it1 the lens can no longer collect the rays to a focus1 so we see nothing but a blur4 ,more than #hjj years ago an ,arabian1 named ,alhazen1 explained why rounded or convex glasses make things appear larger when placed before the eye4 ,this glass which ,i hold in my hand is a simple magnifying-glass1 such as we used for focusing the candle-flame4 ,it bends the rays inwards from any small object 7see the arrow a1 b1 ,fig4 #ac7 so that the lens of our eye can use them1 and then1 as we follow out the rays in straight lines to the place where we see clearly 7at ,a1 ,b71 every point of the object is magnified1 and we not only see it much larger1 but every mark upon it is much more distinct4 ,you all know how the little shilling magnifying-glasses you carry show the most lovely and delicate structures in flowers1 on the wings of butterflies1 on the head of a bee or fly1 and1 in fact1 in all minute living things4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ad4 ,student's microscope4 ep1 ,eye-piece4 o1 g1 ,object-glass4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ae4 ,skeleton of a microscope1 showing how an object is magnified4 o1 l1 ,object-lens4 e1 g1 ,eye-glass4 s1 s1 ,spicule4 s'1 s'1 ,magnified image of same in the tube4 ,s1 ,s1 ,image again enlarged by the lens of the eye-piece4 ,but this is only our first step4 ,those diatoms we spoke of just now will only look like minute specks under even the strongest magnifying-glass4 ,so we pass on to use two extra lenses to assist our eyes1 and come to this compound microscope 7,fig4 #ad7 through which ,i have before now shown you the delicate markings on shells which were themselves so minute that you could not see them with the naked eye4 ,now we have to discover how the microscope performs this feat4 ,going back again for a minute to our candle and magnifying-glass 7,fig4 #ab71 you will find that the nearer you put the lens to the candle the farther away you will have to put the paper to get a clear image4 ,when in a microscope we put a powerful lens o1 l close down to a very minute object1 say a spicule of a flint sponge s1 s1 quite invisible to the unaided eye1 the rays from this spicule are brought to a focus a long way behind it at s'1 s'1 making an enlarged image because the lines of light have been diverging ever since they crossed in the lens4 ,if you could put a piece of paper at s' s'1 as you did in the candle experiment1 you would see the actual image of the magnified spicule upon it4 ,but as these points of light are only in an empty tube1 they pass on1 spreading out again from the image1 as they did before from the spicule4 ,then another convex lens or eye-glass e1 g is put at the top of the microscope at the proper distance to bend these rays so that they enter our eye in nearly parallel lines1 exactly as we saw in the ordinary magnifying-glass 7,fig4 #ac71 and our crystalline lens can then bring them to a focus on our retina4 ,by this time the spicule has been twice magnified2 or1 in other words1 the rays of light coming from it have been twice bent towards each other1 so that when our eye follows them out in straight lines they are widely spread1 and we see every point of light so clearly that all the spots and markings on this minute spicule are as clear as if it were really as large as it looks to us4 ,this is simply the principle of the microscope4 ,when you come to look at your own instruments1 though they are very ordinary ones1 you will find that the object-glass o1 l is made of three lenses1 flat on the side nearest the tube1 and each lens is composed of two kinds of glass in order to correct the unequal refraction of the rays1 and prevent fringes of colour appearing at the edge of the lens4 ,then again the eye-piece will be a short tube with a lens at each end1 and halfway between them a black ledge will be seen inside the tube which acts like the iris of our eye 7i1 ,fig4 #aa7 and cuts off the rays passing through the edges of the lens4 ,all these are devices to correct faults in the microscope which our eye corrects for itself1 and they have enabled opticians to make very powerful lenses4 ,look now at the diagram 7,fig4 #af7 showing a group of diatoms which you can see under the microscope after the lecture4 ,notice the lovely patterns1 the delicate tracery1 and the fine lines on the diatoms shown there4 ,yet each of these minute flint skeletons1 if laid on a piece of glass by itself1 would be quite invisible to the naked eye1 while hundreds of them together only look like a faint mist on the slide on which they lie4 ,nor are they even here shown as much magnified as they might be2 under a stronger power we should see those delicate lines on the diatoms broken up into minute round cups4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #af4 ,fossil diatoms seen under the microscope4 ,the largest of these is an almost imperceptible speck to the naked eye4 ,is it not wonderful and delightful to think that we are able to add in this way to the power of our eyes1 till it seems as if there were no limit to the hidden beauties of the minute forms of our earth1 if only we can discover them8 ,but our globe does not stand alone in the universe1 and we want not only to learn all about everything we find upon it1 but also to look out into the vast space around us and discover as much as we can about the myriads of suns and planets1 comets and meteorites1 star-mists and nebulae1 which are to be found there4 ,even with the naked eye we can admire the grand planet ,saturn1 which is more than #hjj millions of miles away1 and this in itself is very marvellous4 ,who would have thought that our tiny crystalline lens would be able to catch and focus rays1 sent all this enormous distance1 so as actually to make a picture on our retina of a planet1 which1 like the moon1 is only sending back to us the light of the sun8 ,for1 remember1 the rays which come to us from ,saturn must have travelled twice #hjj millions of miles--#hhd millions from the sun to the planet1 and less or more from the planet back to us1 according to our position at the time4 ,but this is as nothing when compared to the enormous distances over which light travels from the stars to us4 ,even the nearest star we know of1 is at least twenty millions of millions of miles away1 and the light from it1 though travelling at the rate of #ahf1cjj miles in a second1 takes four years and four months to reach us1 while the light from others1 which we can see without a telescope1 is between twenty and thirty years on its road4 ,does not the thought fill us with awe1 that our little eye should be able to span such vast distances8 ,but we are not yet nearly at the end of our wonder1 for the same power which devised our eye gave us also the mind capable of inventing an instrument which increases the strength of that eye till we can actually see stars so far off that their light takes two thousand years coming to our globe4 ,if the microscope delights us in helping us to see things invisible without it1 because they are so small1 surely the telescope is fascinating beyond all other magic glasses when we think that it brings heavenly bodies1 thousands of billions of miles away1 so close to us that we can examine them4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ag4 ,an astronomical telescope4 ep1 ,eye-piece4 og1 ,object-glass4 f1 ,finder4 ,a ,telescope 7,fig4 #ag7 can1 like the microscope1 be made of only two glasses3 an object-glass to form an image in the tube and a magnifying eye-piece to enlarge it4 ,but there is this difference1 that the object lens of a microscope is put close down to a minute object1 so that the rays fall upon it at a wide angle1 and the image formed in the tube is very much larger than the object outside4 ,in the telescope1 on the contrary1 the thing we look at is far off1 so that the rays fall on the object-glass at such a very narrow angle as to be practically parallel1 and the image in the tube is of course very1 very much smaller than the house1 or church1 or planet it pictures4 ,what the object-glass of the telescope does for us1 is to bring a small real image of an object very far off close to us in the tube of the telescope so that we can examine it4 ,think for a moment what this means4 ,imagine that star we spoke of 7p4 #da71 whose light1 travelling #ahf1cjj miles in one second1 still takes #bjjj years to reach us4 ,picture the tiny waves of light crossing the countless billions of miles of space during those two thousand years1 and reaching us so widely spread out that the few faint rays which strike our eye are quite useless1 and for us that star has no existence2 we cannot see it4 ,then go and ask the giant telescope1 by turning the object-glass in the direction where that star lies in infinite space4 ,the widespread rays are collected and come to a minute bright image in the dark tube4 ,you put the eye-piece to this image1 and there1 under your eye1 is a shining point3 this is the image of the star1 which otherwise would be lost to you in the mighty distance4 ,can any magic tale be more marvellous1 or any thought grander1 or more sublime than this8 ,from my little chamber1 by making use of the laws of light1 which are the same wherever we turn1 we can penetrate into depths so vast that we are not able even to measure them1 and bring back unseen stars to tell us the secrets of the mighty universe4 ,as far as the stars are concerned1 whether we see them or not depends entirely upon the number of rays collected by the object-glass2 for at such enormous distances the rays have no angle that we can measure1 and magnify as you will1 the brightest star only remains a point of light4 ,it is in order to collect enough rays that astronomers have tried to have larger and larger object-glasses2 so that while a small good hand telescope1 such as you use1 may have an object-glass measuring only an inch and a quarter across1 some of the giant telescopes have lenses of two and a half feet1 or thirty inches1 diameter4 ,these enormous lenses are very difficult to make and manage1 and have many faults1 therefore astronomical telescopes are often made with curved mirrors to reflect the rays1 and bring them to a focus instead of refracting them as curved lenses do4 ,we see1 then1 that one very important use of the telescope is to bring objects into view which otherwise we would never see2 for1 as ,i have already said1 though we bring the stars into sight1 we cannot magnify them4 ,but whenever an object is near enough for the rays to fall even at a very small perceptible angle on the object-glass1 then we can magnify them2 and the longer the telescope1 and the stronger the eye-piece1 the more the object is magnified4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ah4 ,skeletons of telescopes4 ,a1 ,a one-foot telescope with a three-inch eye-piece4 ,b1 ,a two-foot telescope with a three-inch eye-piece4 e1 p1 ,eye-piece4 o1 g1 ,object-glass4 r1 r1 ,rays which enter the telescopes and crossing at x form an image at i1 i1 which is magnified by the lens e1 p4 ,the angles r1 x1 r and i1 x1 i are the same4 ,in ,a the angle i1 o1 i is four times greater than that of i1 x1 i4 ,in ,b it is eight times greater4 ,i want you to understand the meaning of this1 for it is really very simple1 only it requires a little thought4 ,here are skeleton drawings of two telescopes 7,fig4 #ah71 one double the length of the other4 ,let us suppose that two people are using them to look at an arrow on a weathercock a long distance off4 ,the rays of light r1 r from the two ends of the arrow will enter both telescopes at the same angle r1 x1 r1 cross in the lens1 and pass on at exactly the same angle into the tubes4 ,so far all is alike1 but now comes the difference4 ,in the short telescope ,a the object-glass must be of such a curve as to bring the cones of light in each ray to a focus at a distance of one foot behind it1#a and there a small image i1 i of the arrow is formed4 ,but ,b being twice the length1 allows the lens to be less curved1 and the image to be formed two feet behind the object-glass2 and as the rays r1 r have been diverging ever since they crossed at x1 the real image of the arrow formed at i1 i is twice the size of the same image in ,a4 ,nevertheless1 if you could put a piece of paper at i1 i in both telescopes1 and look through the object-glass 7which you cannot actually do1 because your head would block out the rays71 the arrow would appear the same size in both telescopes1 because one would be twice as far off from you as the other1 and the angle i1 x1 i is the same in both4 #a ,in our ,fig4 #ah the distances are inches instead of feet1 but the proportions are the same4 ,but by going to the proper end of the telescope you can get quite near the image1 and can see and magnify it1 if you put a strong lens to collect the rays from it to a focus4 ,this is the use of the eye-piece1 which in our diagram is placed at a quarter of a foot or three inches from the image in both telescopes4 ,now that we are close to the images1 the divergence of the points i1 i makes a great difference4 ,in the small telescope1 in which the image is only one foot behind the object-glass1 the eye-piece being a quarter of a foot from it1 is four times nearer1 so the angle i1 o1 i is four times the angle i1 x1 i1 and the man looking through it sees the image magnified four times4 ,but in the longer telescope the image is two feet behind the lens1 while the eye-piece is1 as before1 a quarter of a foot from it4 ,thus the eyepiece is now eight times nearer1 so the angle i1 o1 i is eight times the angle i1 x1 i1 and the observer sees the image magnified eight times4 ,in real telescopes1 where the difference between the focal length of the object-glass and that of the eye-glass can be made enormously greater1 the magnifying power is quite startling1 only the object-glass must be large1 so as to collect enough rays to bear spreading widely4 ,even in your small telescopes1 with a focus of eighteen inches1 and an object-glass measuring one and a quarter inch across1 we can put on a quarter of an inch eye-piece1 and so magnify seventy-two times2 while in my observatory telescope1 eight feet or ninety-six inches long1 an eye-piece of half an inch magnifies #aib times1 and ,i can put on a #a_/h-;inch eye-piece and magnify #gfh times6 ,and so we can go on lengthening the focus of the object-glass and shortening the focus of the eye-piece1 till in ,lord ,rosse's gigantic fifty-six-foot telescope1 in which the image is fifty-four feet 7#fdh inches7 behind the object-glass1 an eye-piece one-eighth of an inch from the image magnifies #eahd times6 ,these giant telescopes1 however1 require an enormous object-glass or mirror1 for the points of light are so spread out in making the large image that it is very faint unless an enormous number of rays are collected4 ,lord ,rosse's telescope has a reflecting mirror measuring six feet across1 and a man can walk upright in the telescope tube4 ,the most powerful telescope yet made is that at the ,lick ,observatory1 on ,mount ,hamilton1 in ,california4 ,it is fifty-six and a half feet long1 the object-lens measures thirty-six inches across4 ,a star seen through this telescope appears #bjjj times as bright as when seen with the naked eye4 ,you need not1 however1 wait for an opportunity to look through giant telescopes1 for my small student's telescope1 only four feet long1 which we carry out on to the lawn1 will show you endless unseen wonders2 while your hand telescopes1 and even a common opera-glass1 will show many features on the face of the moon1 and enable you to see the crescent of ,venus1 ,jupiter's moons1 and ,saturn's rings1 besides hundreds of stars unseen by the naked eye4 ,of course you will understand that ,fig4 #ah only shows the principle of the telescope4 ,in all good instruments the lenses and other parts are more complicated2 and in a terrestrial telescope1 for looking at objects on the earth1 another lens has to be put in to turn them right way up again4 ,in looking at the sky it does not matter which way up we see a planet or a star1 so the second glass is not needed1 and we lose light by using it4 ,we have now three magic glasses to work for us--the magnifying-glass1 the microscope1 and the telescope4 ,besides these1 however1 we have two other helpers1 if possible even more wonderful4 ,these are the ,photographic camera and the ,spectroscope4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ai4 ,photographic camera4 l1 l1 ,lenses4 s1 s1 ,screen cutting off diverging rays4 c1 c1 ,sliding box4 p1 p1 ,picture formed4 ,now that we thoroughly understand the use of lenses1 ,i need scarcely explain this photographic camera 7,fig4 #ai71 for it is clearly an artificial eye4 ,in place of the crystalline lens 7compare with ,fig4 #aa7 the photographer uses one1 or generally two lenses l1 l1 with a black ledge or stop s between them1 which acts like the iris in cutting off the rays too near the edge of the lens4 ,the dark camera c answers to the dark chamber of the eyeball1 and the plate p1 p at the back of the chamber1 which is made sensitive by chemicals1 answers our retina4 ,the box is formed of two parts1 sliding one within the other at c1 so as to place the plate at a proper distance from the lens1 and then a screw adjusts the focus more exactly by bringing the front lens back or forward1 instead of altering the curve as the ciliary muscle does in our eye4 ,the difference between the two instruments is that in our eye the message goes to the brain1 and the image disappears when we turn our eyes away from the object2 but in the camera the waves of light work upon the chemicals1 and the image can be fixed and remain for ever4 ,but the camera has at least one weak point4 ,the screen at the back is not curved like our retina1 but must be flat because of printing off the pictures1 and therefore the parts of the photograph near the edge are a little out of proportion4 ,in many ways1 however1 this photographic eye is a more faithful observer than our own1 and helps us to make more accurate pictures4 ,for instance1 instantaneous photographs have been taken of a galloping horse1 and we find that the movements are very different from what we thought we saw with our eye1 because our retina does not throw off one impression after another quickly enough to be quite certain we see each curve truly in succession4 ,again1 the photograph of a face gives minute curves and lines1 lights and shadows1 far more perfectly than even the best artist can see them1 and when the picture is magnified we see more and more details which escaped us before4 ,but it is especially when attached to the microscope or the telescope that the photographic apparatus tells us such marvellous secrets2 giving us1 for instance1 an accurate picture of the most minute water-animal quite invisible to the naked eye1 so that when we enlarge the photograph any one can see the beautiful markings1 the finest fibre1 or the tiniest granule2 or affording us accurate pictures1 such as the one at p4 #ai of the face of the moon1 and bringing stars into view which we cannot otherwise see even with the strongest telescope4 ,our own eye has many weaknesses4 ,for example1 when we look through the telescope at the sky we can only fix our attention on one part at once1 and afterwards on another2 and the picture which we see in this way1 bit by bit1 we must draw as best we can4 ,but if we put a sensitive photographic plate into the telescope just at the point 7i1 i1 ,fig4 #ah71 where the image of the sky is focused1 this plate gives attention1 so to speak1 to the whole picture at once1 and registers every point exactly as it is2 and this picture can be kept and enlarged so that every detail can be seen4 ,then1 again1 if we look at faint stars1 they do not grow any brighter as we look4 ,each ray sends its message to the brain1 and that is all2 we cannot heap them up in our eye1 and1 indeed1 after a time we see less1 because our nerves grow tired4 ,but on a photographic plate in a telescope1 each ray in its turn does a little work upon the chemicals1 and the longer the plate remains1 the stronger the picture becomes4 ,when wet plates were used they could not be left long1 but since dry plates have been invented1 with a film of chemically prepared gelatine1 they can be left for hours in the telescope1 which is kept by clockwork accurately opposite to the same objects4 ,in this way thousands of faint stars1 which we cannot see with the strongest telescope1 creep into view as their feeble rays work over and over again on the same spot2 and1 as the brighter stars as well as the faint ones are all the time making their impression stronger1 when the plate comes out each one appears in its proper strength4 ,on the other hand1 very bright objects often become blurred by a long exposure1 so that we have sometimes to sacrifice the clearness of a bright object in order to print faint objects clearly4 ,we now come to our last magic glass--the ,spectroscope2 and the hour has slipped by so fast that ,i have very little time left to speak of it4 ,but this matters less as we have studied it before4#a ,i need now only remind you of some of the facts4 ,you will remember that when we passed sunlight through a three-sided piece of glass called a prism1 we broke up a ray of white light into a line of beautiful colours gradually passing from red1 through orange1 yellow1 green1 blue1 and indigo1 to violet1 and that these follow in the same order as we see them in the rainbow or in the thin film of a soap-bubble4 ,by various experiments we proved that these colours are separated from each other because the many waves which make up white light are of different sizes1 so that because the waves1 of red light are slow and heavy1 they lag behind when bent in the three-sided glass1 while the rapid violet waves are bent more out of their road and run to the farther end of the line1 the other colours ranging themselves between4 #a ,fairyland of ,science1 ,lecture ,,ii42 and ,short ,history of ,natural ,science1 chapter xxxiv4 ,now when the light falls through the open window1 or through a round hole or large slit1 the images of the hole made by each coloured wave overlap each other very much1 and the colours in the spectrum or coloured band are crowded together4 ,but when in the spectroscope we pass the ray of light through a very narrow slit1 each coloured image of the upright slit overlaps the next upright image only very little4 ,by using several prisms one after the other 7see ,fig4 #ba71 these upright coloured lines are separated more and more till we get a very long band or spectrum4 ,yet1 as you know from our experiments with the light of a glowing wire or of molten iron1 however much you spread out the light given by a solid or liquid1 you can never separate these coloured lines from each other4 ,it is only when you throw the light of a glowing gas or vapour into the slit that you get a few bright lines standing out alone4 ,this is because all the rays of white light are present in glowing solids and liquids1 and they follow each other too closely to be separated4 ,but a gas1 such as glowing hydrogen for example1 gives out only a few separate rays1 which1 pouring through the slit1 throw red1 greenish-blue1 and dark blue lines on the screen4 ,thus you have seen the double1 orange-yellow sodium line 7#c1 ,plate ,i47 which starts out at once when salt is held in a flame and its light thrown into the spectroscope1 and the red line of potassium vapour under the same treatment2 and we shall observe these again when we study the coloured lights of the sun and stars4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bj4 ,kirchhoff's spectroscope4 ,a1 ,the telescope which receives the ray of light through the slit in ,o4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ba4 ,passage of rays through the spectroscope4 ,s1 ,s'1 ,slit through which the light falls on the prisms4 #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 ,prisms in which the rays are dispersed more and more4 a1 b1 ,screen receiving the spectrum1 of which the seven principal colours are marked4 ,we see1 then1 that the work of our magic glass1 the spectroscope1 is simply to sift the waves of light1 and that these waves1 from their colour and their position in the long spectrum1 actually tell us what glowing gases have started them on their road4 ,is not this like magic8 ,i take a substance made of ,i know not what2 ,i break it up1 and1 melting it in the intense heat of an electric spark1 throw its light into the spectroscope4 ,then1 as ,i examine this light after it has been spread out by the prisms1 ,i can actually read by unmistakable lines what metals or non-metals it contains4 ,nay1 more2 when ,i catch the light of a star1 or even of a faint nebula1 in my telescope1 and pass it through these prisms1 there1 written up on the magic-coloured band1 ,i read off the gases which are glowing in that star-sun or star-dust billions of miles away4 ,now1 boys1 ,i have let you into the secrets of my five magic glasses--the magnifying-glass1 the microscope1 the telescope1 the photographic camera1 and the spectroscope4 ,with these and the help of chemistry you can learn to work all my spells4 ,you can peep into the mysteries of the life of the tiniest being which moves unseen under your feet2 you can peer into that vast universe1 which we can never visit so long as our bodies hold us down to our little earth2 you can make the unseen stars print their spots of light on the paper you hold in your hand1 by means of light-waves1 which left them hundreds of years ago2 or you can sift this light in your spectroscope1 and make it tell you what substances were glowing in that star when they were started on their road4 ,all this you can do on one condition1 namely1 that you seek patiently to know the truth4 ,stories of days long gone by tell us of true magicians and false magicians1 and the good or evil they wrought4 ,of these ,i know nothing1 but ,i do know this1 that the value of the spells you can work with my magic glasses depends entirely upon whether you work patiently1 accurately1 and honestly4 ,if you make careless1 inaccurate experiments1 and draw hasty conclusions1 you will only do bad work1 which it may take others years to undo2 but if you question your instruments honestly and carefully1 they will answer truly and faithfully4 ,you may make many mistakes1 but one experiment will correct the other2 and while you are storing up in your own mind knowledge which lifts you far above this little world1 or enables you to look deep below the outward surface of life1 you may add your little group of facts to the general store1 and help to pave the way to such grand discoveries as those of ,newton in astronomy1 ,bunsen and ,kirchhoff in spectrum analysis1 and ,darwin in the world of life4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,fairy ,,rings ,,and ,,how ,,they ,,are ,,made ,illustration ,it was a lovely warm day in ,september1 the golden corn had been cut and carted1 and the waggons of the farmers around were free for the use of the college lads in their yearly autumn holiday4 ,there they stood in a long row1 one behind the other in the drive round the grounds1 each with a pair of sleek1 powerful farm-horses1 and the waggoners beside them with their long whips ornamented with coloured ribbons2 and as each waggon drew up before the door1 it filled rapidly with its merry load and went on its way4 ,they had a long drive of seven miles before them1 for they were going to cross the wild moor1 and then descend gradually along a fairly good road to the more wooded and fertile country4 ,their object that day was to reach a certain fairy dell known to a few only among the party as one of the loveliest spots in ,devon4 ,it was a perfect day for a picnic4 ,as they drove over the wide stretches of moorland1 with tors to right and tors to the left1 the stunted furze bushes growing here and there glistened with spiders' webs from which the dew had not yet disappeared1 and mosses in great variety carpeted the ground1 from the lovely thread-mosses1 with their scarlet caps1 to the pale sphagnum of the bogs1 where a halt was made for some of the botanists of the party to search for the little ,sundew 7,drosera rotundifolia74 ,though this little plant had now almost ceased to flower1 it was not difficult to recognise by its rosette of leaves glistening with sticky glands which it spreads out in many of the ,dartmoor bogs to catch the tiny flies and suck out their life's blood1 and several specimens were uprooted and carefully packed away to plant in moist moss at home4 ,from this bog onwards the road ran near by one of the lovely streams which feed the rivers below1 and1 passing across a bridge covered with ivy1 led through a small forest of stunted trees round which the woodbine clung1 hanging down its crimson berries1 and the bracken fern1 already putting on its brown and yellow tints1 grew tall and thick on either side4 ,then1 as they passed out of the wood1 they came upon the dell1 a piece of wild moorland lying in a hollow between two granite ridges1 with large blocks of granite strewn over it here and there1 and furze bushes growing under their shelter1 still covered with yellow blossoms together with countless seed-bearing pods1 which the youngsters soon gathered for the shiny-black seeds within them4 ,here the waggons were unspanned1 the horses tethered out1 the food unpacked1 and preparations for the picnic soon in full swing4 ,just at this moment1 however1 a loud shout from one part of the dell called every one's attention4 ,the fairy rings6 the fairy rings6 we have found the fairy rings6 and there truly on the brown sward might be seen three delicate green rings1 the fresh sprouting grass growing young and tender in perfect circles measuring from six feet to nearly three yards across4 ,what are they8 ,the question came from many voices at once1 but it was the ,principal who answered4 ,why1 do you not know that they are pixie circles1 where the 'elves of hills1 brooks1 standing lakes1 and groves' hold their revels1 whirling in giddy round1 and making the rings1 'whereof the ewe not bites'8 ,have you forgotten how ,mrs4 ,quickly1 in the ,merry ,wives of ,windsor1 tells us that 'nightly1 meadow-fairies1 look you sing1 ,like to the ,garter's compass1 in a ring3 ,the expressure that it bears1 green let it be1 ,more fertile-fresh than all the field to see'8 ,if we are magicians and work spells under magic glasses1 why should not the pixies work spells on the grass8 ,i brought you here to-day on purpose to see them4 ,which of you now can name the pixie who makes them8 ,a deep silence followed4 ,if any knew or guessed the truth of the matter1 they were too shy to risk making a mistake4 ,be off with you then1 said the ,principal1 and keep well away from these rings all day1 that you may not disturb the spell4 ,but come back to me before we return at night1 and perhaps ,i may show you the wonder-working pixie1 and we may take him home to examine under the microscope4 ,the day passed as such happy days do1 and the glorious harvest moon had risen over the distant tors before the horses were spanned and the waggons ready4 ,but the ,principal was not at the starting place1 and looking round they saw him at the farther end of the dell4 ,gently1 gently1 he cried1 as there was one general rush towards him2 look where you tread1 for ,i stand within a ring of fairies6 ,and then they saw that just outside the green circle in which he stood1 forming here and there a broken ring1 were patches of a beautiful tiny mushroom1 each of which raised its pale brown umbrella in the bright moonlight4 ,here are our fairies1 boys4 ,i am going to take a few home where they can be spared from the ring1 and to-morrow we will learn their history4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the following day saw the class-room full1 and from the benches eager eyes were turned to the eight windows1 in each of which stood one of the elder boys at his microscope ready for work4 ,for under those microscopes the ,principal always arranged some object referred to in his lecture and figured in diagrams on the walls1 and it was the duty of each boy1 after the lecture was over1 to show and explain to the class all the points of the specimen under his care4 ,these boys were always specially envied1 for though the others could1 it is true1 follow all the descriptions from the diagrams1 yet these had the plant or animal always under their eye4 ,discussion was at this moment running high1 for there was a great uncertainty of opinion as to whether a mushroom could be really called a plant when it had no leaves or flowers4 ,all at once the hush came1 as the ,principal stepped into his desk and began3-- ,life is hard work1 boys1 and there is no being in this world which has not to work for its living4 ,you all know that a plant grows by taking in gases and water1 and working them up into sap and living tissue by the help of the sunshine and the green matter in their leaves2 and you know1 too1 that the world is so full of green plants that hundreds and thousands of young seedlings can never get a living1 but are stifled in their babyhood or destroyed before they can grow up4 ,now there are many dark1 dank places in the world where plants cannot get enough sunlight and air to make green colouring matter and manufacture their own food4 ,and so it comes to pass that a certain class of plants have found another way of living1 by taking their food ready made from other decaying plants and animals1 and so avoiding the necessity of manufacturing it for themselves4 ,these plants can live hidden away in dark cellars and damp cupboards1 in drains and pipes where no light ever enters1 under a thick covering of dead leaves in the forest1 under fallen trunks and mossy stones2 in fact1 wherever decaying matter1 whether of plant or animal1 can be found for them to feed upon4 ,it is to this class1 called fungi1 which includes all mushrooms and moulds1 mildews1 smuts1 and ferments1 that the mushroom belongs which we found yesterday making the fairy rings4 ,and1 in truth1 we were not so far wrong when we called them pixies or imps1 for many of them are indeed imps of mischief1 which play sorry pranks in our stores at home and in the fields and forest abroad4 ,they grow on our damp bread1 or cheese1 or pickles2 they destroy fruit and corn1 hop and vine1 and even take the life of insects and other animals4 ,yet1 on the other hand1 they are useful in clearing out unhealthy nooks and corners1 and purifying the air2 and they can be made to do good work by those who know how to use them2 for without ferments we could have neither wine1 beer1 nor vinegar1 nor even the yeast which lightens our bread4 ,i am going to-day to introduce you to this large vagabond class of plants1 that we may see how they live1 grow1 and spread1 what good and bad work they do1 and how they do it4 ,and before we come to the mushrooms1 which you know so well1 we must look at the smaller forms1 which do all their work above ground1 so that we can observe them4 ,for the fungi are to be found almost everywhere4 ,the film growing over manure-heaps1 the yeast plant1 the wine fungus1 and the vinegar plant2 the moulds and mildews covering our cellar-walls and cupboards1 or growing on decayed leaves and wood1 on stale fruit1 bread1 or jam1 or making black spots on the leaves of the rose1 the hop1 or the vine2 the potato fungus1 eating into the potato in the dark ground and producing disease2 the smut filling the grains of wheat and oats with disease1 the ergot feeding on the rye1 the rust which destroys beetroot1 the rank toadstools and puffballs1 the mushroom we eat1 and the truffles which form even their fruit underground1--all these are fungi1 or lowly plants which have given up making their own food in the sunlight1 and take it ready made from the dung1 the decaying mould1 the root1 the leaf1 the fruit1 or the germ on which they grow4 ,lastly1 the diseases which kill the silkworm and the common house-fly1 and even some of the worst skin diseases in man1 are caused by minute plants of this class feeding upon their hosts4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bb4 ,three forms of vegetable mould magnified4 #a1 ,mucor ,mucedo4 #b1 ,aspergillus glaucus4 #c1 ,penicillium glaucum4 ,in fact1 the fungi are so widely spread over all things living and dead1 that there is scarcely anything free from them in one shape or another4 ,the minute spores1 now of one kind1 now of another1 float in the air1 and settling down wherever they find suitable food1 have nothing more to do than to feed1 fatten1 and increase1 which they do with wonderful rapidity4 ,let us take as an example one of the moulds which covers damp leaves1 and even the paste and jam in our cupboard4 ,i have some here growing upon a basin of paste1 and you see it forms a kind of dense white fur all over the surface1 with here and there a bluish-green tinge upon it4 ,this white fur is the common mould1 ,mucor ,mucedo 7#a1 ,fig4 #bb71 and the green mould happens in this case to be another mould1 ,penicillium glaucum 7#c1 ,fig4 #bb72 but ,i must warn you that these minute moulds look very much alike until you examine them under the microscope1 and though they are called white1 blue1 or green moulds1 yet any one of them may be coloured at different times of its growth4 ,another very common and beautiful mould1 ,aspergillus glaucus 7#b1 ,fig4 #bb71 often grows with ,mucor on the top of jam4 ,all these plants begin with a spore or minute colourless cell of living matter 7s1 ,fig4 #bc71 which spends its energy in sending out tubes in all directions into the leaves1 fruit1 or paste on which it feeds4 ,the living matter1 flowing now this way now that1 lays down the walls of its tubes as it flows1 and by and by1 here and there1 a tube1 instead of working into the paste1 grows upwards into the air and swells at the tip into a colourless ball in which a number of minute seed-like bodies called spores are formed4 ,the ball bursts1 the spores fall out1 and each one begins to form fresh tubes1 and so little by little the mould grows denser and thicker by new plants starting in all directions4 ,under the first microscope you will see a slide showing the tubes which spread through the paste1 and which are called the mycelium 7m1 ,fig4 #bc71 and amongst it are three upright tubes1 one just starting a1 another with the fruit ball forming b1 and a third c1 which is bursting and throwing out the spores4 ,the ,aspergillus and the ,penicillium differ from the ,mucor in having their spores naked and not enclosed in a spore-case4 ,in ,penicillium they grow like the beads of a necklace one above the other on the top of the upright tube1 and can very easily be separated 7see ,fig4 #bb72 while ,aspergillus1 a most lovely silvery mould1 is more complicated in the growth of its spores1 for it bears them on many rows branching out from the top of the tube like the rays of a star4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bc4 ,mucor ,mucedo1 greatly magnified4 7,after ,sachs and ,brefeld47 m1 ,mycelium1 or tangle of threads4 a1 b1 c1 ,upright tubes in different stages4 c1 ,spore-case bursting and sending out spores4 s1 #a1 #b1 #c1 ,a growing spore1 in different stages1 starting a new mycelium4 ,i want you to look at each of these moulds carefully under the microscope1 for few people who hastily scrape a mould away1 vexed to find it on food or damp clothing1 have any idea what a delicate and beautiful structure lies under their hand4 ,these moulds live on decaying matter1 but many of the mildews1 rusts1 and other kinds of fungus1 prey upon living plants such as the smut of oats 7,ustilago carbo71 and the bunt 7,tilletia caria7 which eats away the inside of the grains of wheat1 while another fungus attacks its leaves4 ,there is scarcely a tree or herb which has not one fungus to prey upon it1 and many have several1 as1 for example1 the common lime-tree1 which is infested by seventy-four different fungi1 and the oak by no less than #bjj4 ,so these colourless food-taking plants prey upon their neighbours1 while they take their oxygen for breathing from air4 ,the 'ferments1' however1 which live inside plants or fluids1 take even their oxygen for breathing from their hosts4 ,if you go into the garden in summer and pluck an overripe gooseberry1 which is bursting like this one ,i have here1 you will probably find that the pulp looks unhealthy and rotten near the split1 and the gooseberry will taste tart and disagreeable4 ,this is because a small fungus has grown inside1 and worked a change in the juice of the fruit4 ,at first this fungus spread its tubes outside and merely fed upon the fruit1 using oxygen from the air in breathing2 but by and by the skin gave way1 and the fungus crept inside the gooseberry where it could no longer get any fresh air4 ,in this dilemma it was forced to break up the sugar in the fruit and take the oxygen out of it1 leaving behind only alcohol and carbonic acid which give the fermented taste to the fruit4 ,so the fungus-imp feeds and grows in nature1 and when man gets hold of it he forces it to do the same work for a useful purpose1 for the grape-fungus grows in the vats in which grapes are crushed and kept away from air1 and tearing up the sugar1 leaves alcohol behind in the grape-juice1 which in this way becomes wine4 ,so1 too1 the yeast-fungus grows in the malt and hop liquor1 turning it into beer2 its spores floating in the fluid and increasing at a marvellous rate1 as any housewife knows who1 getting yeast for her bread1 tries to keep it in a corked bottle4 ,the yeast plant has never been found wild4 ,it is only known as a cultivated plant1 growing on prepared liquor4 ,the brewer has to sow it by taking some yeast from other beer1 or by leaving the liquor exposed to air in which yeast spores are floating2 or it will sow itself in the same way in a mixture of water1 hops1 sugar1 and salt1 to which a handful of flour is added4 ,it increases at a marvellous rate1 one cell budding out of another1 while from time to time the living matter in a cell will break up into four parts instead of two1 and so four new cells will start and bud4 ,a drop of yeast will very soon cover a glass slide with this tiny plant1 as you will see under the second microscope1 where they are now at work 7,fig4 #bd74 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bd4 ,yeast cells growing under the microscope4 a1 ,single cells4 b1 ,two cells forming by division4 c1 ,a group of cells where division is going on in all directions4 ,but perhaps the most curious of all the minute fungi are those which grow inside insects and destroy them4 ,at this time of year you may often see a dead fly sticking to the window-pane with a cloudy white ring round it2 this poor fly has been killed by a little fungus called ,empusa muscae4 ,a spore from a former plant has fallen perhaps on the window-pane1 or some other spot over which the fly has crawled1 and being sticky has fixed itself under the fly's body4 ,once settled on a favourable spot it sends out a tube1 and piercing the skin of the fly1 begins to grow rapidly inside4 ,there it forms little round cells one after the other1 something like the yeast-cells1 till it fills the whole body1 feeding on its juices2 then each cell sends a tube1 like the upright tubes of the ,mucor 7,fig4 #bc7 out again through the fly's skin1 and this tube bursts at the end1 and so new spores are set free4 ,it is these tubes1 and the spores thrown from them1 which you see forming a kind of halo round the dead fly as it clings to the pane4 ,other fungi in the same way kill the silkworm and the caterpillars of the cabbage butterfly4 ,nor is it only the lower animals which suffer4 ,when we once realise that fungus spores are floating everywhere in the air1 we can understand how the terrible microscopic fungi called bacteria will settle on an open wound and cause it to fester if it is not properly dressed4 ,thus we see that these minute fungi are almost everywhere4 ,the larger ones1 on the contrary1 are confined to the fields and forests1 damp walls and hollow trees2 or wherever rotting wood1 leaves1 or manure provide them with sufficient nourishment4 ,few people have any clear ideas about the growth of a mushroom1 except that the part we pick springs up in a single night4 ,the real fact is1 that a whole mushroom plant is nothing more than a gigantic mould or mildew1 only that it is formed of many different shaped cells1 and spreads its tubes underground or through the trunks of trees instead of in paste or jam1 as in the case of the mould4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #be4 ,early stages of the mushroom4 7,after ,sachs47 m1 ,mycelium4 b#a-c1 ,mushroom buds of different ages4 b#d1 ,button mushroom4 g1 ,gills forming inside before lower attachment of the cap gives way at v4 ,the part which we gather and call a mushroom1 a toadstool1 or a puffball is only the fruit1 answering to the round balls of the mould4 ,the rest of the plant is a thick network of tubes1 which you will see under the third microscope4 ,these tubes spread underground and suck in decayed matter from the earth2 they form the mycelium 7m1 ,fig4 #be7 such as we found in the mould4 ,the mushroom-growers call it 'mushroom spawn' because they use it to spread over the ground for new crops4 ,out of these underground tubes there springs up from time to time a swollen round body no bigger at first than a mustard seed 7b#a1 ,fig4 #be74 ,as it increases in size it comes above ground and grows into the mushroom or spore-case1 answering to the round balls which contain the spores of the mould4 ,at first this swollen body is egg-shaped1 the top half being largest and broadest1 and the fruit is then called a 'button-mushroom' b#d4 ,inside this ball are now formed a series of folds made of long cells1 some of which are soon to bear spores just as the tubes in the mould did1 and while these are forming and ripening1 a way out is preparing for them4 ,for as the mushroom grows1 the skin of the lower part of the ball 7v1 b#d7 is stretched more and more1 till it can bear the strain no longer and breaks away from the stalk2 then the ball expands into an umbrella1 leaving a piece of torn skin1 called the veil 7v1 ,fig4 #bf71 clinging to the stalk4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bf4 ,later stages of the mushroom4 7,after ,gautier47 #a1 ,button mushroom stage4 c1 ,cap4 v1 ,veil4 g1 ,gills4 #b1 ,full-grown mushroom1 showing veil v after the cap is quite free1 and the gills or lamellae g1 of which the structure is shown in ,fig4 #bg4 ,all this happens in a single night1 and the mushroom is complete1 with a stem up the centre and a broad cap1 under which are the folds which bear the spores4 ,thus much you can see for yourselves at any time by finding a place where mushrooms grow and looking for them late at night and early in the morning so as to get the different stages4 ,but now we must turn to the microscope1 and cutting off one of the folds1 which branch out under the cap like the spokes of a wheel1 take a slice across it 7#a1 ,fig4 #bg7 and examine4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bg4 #a1 ,one of the gills or lamellae of the mushroom slightly magnified1 showing the cells round the edge4 c1 ,cells which do not bear spores4 fc1 ,fertile cells4 #b1 ,a piece of the edge of the same powerfully magnified1 showing how the spores s grow out of the tip of the fertile cells fc4 ,first1 under a moderate power1 you will see the cells forming the centre of the fold and the layer of long cells 7c and fc7 which are closely packed all round the edge4 ,some of these cells project beyond the others1 and it is they which bear the spores4 ,we see this plainly under a very strong power when you can distinguish the sterile cells c and the fertile cells fc projecting beyond them1 and each bearing four spore-cells s on four little horns at its tip4 ,these spores fall off very easily1 and you can make a pretty experiment by cutting off a large mushroom head in the early morning and putting it flat upon a piece of paper4 ,in a few hours1 if you lift it very carefully1 you will find a number of dark lines on the paper1 radiating from a centre like the spokes of a wheel1 each line being composed of the spores which have fallen from a fold as it grew ripe4 ,they are so minute that many thousands would be required to make up the size of the head of an ordinary pin1 yet if you gather the spores of the several kinds of mushroom1 and examine them under a strong microscope1 you will find that even these specks of matter assume different shapes in the various species4 ,you will be astonished too at the immense number of spores contained in a single mushroom head1 for they are reckoned by millions2 and when we remember that each one of these is the starting point of a new plant1 it reminds us forcibly of the wholesale destruction of spores and seeds which must go on in nature1 otherwise the mushrooms and their companions would soon cover every inch of the whole world4 ,as it is1 they are spread abroad by the wind1 and wherever they escape destruction they lie waiting in every nook and corner till1 after the hot summer1 showers of rain hasten the decay of plants and leaves1 and then the mushrooms1 toadstools1 and puffballs1 grow at an astounding pace4 ,if you go into the woods at this season you may see the enormous deep-red liver fungus 7,fistulina hepatica7 growing on the oak-trees1 in patches which weigh from twenty to thirty pounds2 or the glorious orange-coloured fungus 7,tremella mesenterica7 growing on bare sticks or stumps of furze2 or among dead leaves you may easily chance on the little caps of the crimson1 scarlet1 snowy white1 or orange-coloured fungi which grow in almost every wood4 ,from white to yellow1 yellow to red1 red to crimson and purple black1 there is hardly any colour you may not find among this gaily-decked tribe2 and who can wonder that the small bright-coloured caps have been supposed to cover tiny imps or elves1 who used the large mushrooms to serve for their stools and tables8 ,there they work1 thrusting their tubes into twigs and dead branches1 rotting trunks and decaying leaves1 breaking up the hard wood and tough fibres1 and building them up into delicate cells1 which by and by die and leave their remains as food for the early growing plants in the spring4 ,so we see that in their way the mushrooms and toadstools are good imps after all1 for the tender shoot of a young seedling plant could take no food out of a hard tree-trunk1 but it finds the work done for it by the fungus1 the rich nourishment being spread around its young roots ready to be imbibed4 ,to find our fairy-ring mushrooms1 however1 we must leave the wood and go out into the open country1 especially on the downs and moors and rough meadows1 where the land is poor and the grass coarse and spare4 ,there grow the nourishing kinds1 most of which we can eat1 and among these is the delicate little champignon or ',scotch-bonnet' mushroom1 ,marasmius ,oreades1#a which makes the fairy-rings4 ,when a spore of this mushroom begins to grow1 it sucks up vegetable food out of the earth and spreads its tubes underground1 in all directions from the centre1 so that the mycelium forms a round patch like a thick underground circular cobweb4 ,in the summer and autumn1 when the weather is suitable1 it sends up its delicate pale-brown caps1 which we may gather and eat without stopping the growth of the plant4 #a ,shown in initial letter of this chapter4 ,this goes on year after year underground1 new tubes always travelling outwards till the circle widens and widens like the rings of water on a pond1 only that it spreads very slowly1 making a new ring each year1 which is often composed of a mass of tubes as much as a foot thick in the ground1 and the tender tubes in the centre die away as the new ones form a larger hoop outside4 ,but all this is below ground2 where then are our fairy rings8 ,here is the secret4 ,the tubes1 as we have seen1 take up food from the earth and build it up into delicate cells1 which decay very soon1 and as they die make a rich manure at the roots of the grass4 ,so each season the cells of last year's ring make a rich feeding-ground for the young grass1 which springs up fresh and green in a fairy ring1 while outside this emerald circle the mushroom tubes are still growing and increasing underneath the grass1 so that next year1 when the present ring is no longer richly fed1 and has become faded and brown like the rest of the moor1 another ring will spring up outside it1 feeding on the prepared food below4 ,in bad seasons1 though the tubes go on spreading and growing below1 the mushroom fruit does not always appear above ground4 ,the plant will only fruit freely when the ground has been well warmed by the summer sun1 followed by damp weather to moisten it4 ,this gives us a rich crop of mushrooms all over the country1 and it is then you can best see the ring of fairy mushrooms circling outside the green hoop of fresh grass4 ,in any case the early morning is the time to find them2 it is only in very sheltered spots that they sometimes last through the day1 or come up towards evening1 as ,i found them last night on the warm damp side of the dell4 ,this is the true history of fairy rings1 and now go and look for yourselves under the microscopes4 ,under the first three you will find the three different kinds of mould of our diagram 7,fig4 #bb74 ,under the fourth the spores of the mould are shown in their first growth putting out the tubes to form the mycelium4 ,the fifth shows the mould itself with its fruit-bearing tubes1 one of which is bursting4 ,under the sixth the yeast plant is growing2 the seventh shows a slice of one of the folds of the common mushroom with its spore-bearing horns2 and under the eighth ,i have put some spores from different mushrooms1 that you may see what curious shapes they assume4 ,lastly1 let me remind you1 now that the autumn and winter are coming1 that you will find mushrooms1 toadstools1 puffballs1 and moulds in plenty wherever you go4 ,learn to know them1 their different shapes and colours1 and above all the special nooks each one chooses for its home4 ,look around in the fields and woods and take note of the decaying plants and trees1 leaves and bark1 insects and dead remains of all kinds4 ,upon each of these you will find some fungus growing1 breaking up their tissues and devouring the nourishing food they provide4 ,watch these spots1 and note the soft spongy soil which will collect there1 and then when the spring comes1 notice what tender plants flourish upon these rich feeding grounds4 ,you will thus see for yourselves that the fungi1 though they feed upon others1 are not entirely mischief-workers1 but also perform their part in the general work of life4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,life-,,history ,,of ,,lichens ,,and ,,mosses ,illustration ,the autumn has passed away and we are in the midst of winter4 ,in the long winter evenings the stars shine bright and clear1 and tempt us to work with the telescope and its helpmates the spectroscope and photographic plates4 ,but at first sight it would seem as though our microscopes would have to stand idle so far at least as plants are concerned1 or be used only to examine dried specimens and mounted sections4 ,yet this is not the fact1 as ,i remembered last week when walking through the bare and leafless wood4 ,a startled pheasant rising with a whirr at the sound of my footsteps among the dead leaves roused me from my thoughts1 and as a young rabbit scudded across the path and ,i watched it disappear among the bushes1 ,i was suddenly struck with the great mass of plant life flourishing underfoot and overhead4 ,can you guess what plants these were8 ,i do not mean the evergreen pines and firs1 nor the few hardy ferns1 nor the lovely ivy clothing the trunks of the trees4 ,such plants as these live and remain green in the winter1 but they do not grow4 ,if you wish to find plant life revelling in the cold damp days of winter1 fearing neither frost nor snow and welcoming mist and rain1 you must go to the mosses1 which as autumn passes away begin to cover the wood-paths1 to creep over the roots of the trees1 to suck up the water in the bogs1 and even to clothe dead walls and stones with a soft green carpet4 ,and with the mosses come the lichens1 those curious grey and greenish oddities which no one but a botanist would think of classing among plants4 ,the wood is full of them now3 the hairy lichens hang from the branches of many of the trees1 making them look like old greybearded men2 the leafy lichens encircle the branches1 their pale gray1 green1 and yellow patches looking as if they were made of crumpled paper cut into wavy plates2 and the crusty lichens1 scarcely distinguishable from the bark of the trees1 cover every available space which the mosses have left free4 ,as ,i looked at these lichens and thought of their curious history ,i determined that we would study them to-day1 and gathered a basketful of specimens 7see ,fig4 #bh74 ,but when ,i had collected these ,i found ,i had not the heart to leave the mosses behind4 ,i could not even break off a piece of bark with lichen upon it without some little moss coming too1 especially the small thread-mosses 7,bryum7 which make a home for themselves in every nook and corner of the branches2 while the feather-mosses1 hair-mosses1 cord-mosses1 and many others made such a lovely carpet under my feet that each seemed too beautiful to pass by1 and they found their way into my basket1 crowned at the top with a large mass of the pale-green ,sphagnum1 or bog-moss1 into which ,i sank more than ankle-deep as ,i crossed the bog in the centre of the wood on my way home4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bh4 ,examples of ,lichens4 7,from life47 #a1 ,a hairy lichen4 #b1 ,a leafy lichen4 #c1 ,a crustaceous lichen4 f1 f1 the fruit4 ,so here they all are1 and ,i hope by the help of our magic glass to let you into some of the secrets of their lives4 ,it is true we must study the structure of lichens chiefly by diagrams1 for it is too minute for beginners to follow under the microscope1 so we must trust to drawings made by men more skilful in microscopic botany1 at any rate for the present4 ,but the mosses we can examine for ourselves and admire their delicate leaves and wonderful tiny spore-cases4 ,now the first question which ,i hope you want to ask is1 how it is that these lowly plants flourish so well in the depth of winter when their larger and stronger companions die down to the ground4 ,we will answer this first as to the lichens1 which are such strange uncanny-looking plants that it is almost difficult to imagine they are alive at all2 and indeed they have been a great puzzle to botanists4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bi4 ,single-celled green plants growing and dividing 7,pleurococcus74 7,after ,thuret and ,bornet47 ,before we examine them1 however1 look for a minute at a small drop of this greenish film which ,i have taken from the rain-water taken outside4 ,i have put some under each microscope1 and those who can look into them will see the slide almost covered with small round green cells very much like the yeast cells we saw when studying the ,fungi1 only that instead of being colourless they are a bright green4 ,some of these cells will ,i suspect be longer than others1 and these long cells will be moving over the slide very rapidly1 swimming hither and thither1 and you will see1 perhaps for the first time1 that very low plants can swim about in water4 ,these green cells are1 indeed1 the simplest of all plants1 and are merely bags of living matter which1 by the help of the green granules in them1 are able to work up water and gases into nourishing food1 and so to live1 grow1 and multiply4 ,there are many kinds of these single-celled plants in the world4 ,you may find them on damp paths1 in almost any rain-water butt1 in ponds and ditches1 in sparkling waterfalls1 along the banks of flowing rivers1 and in the cold clear springs on the bleak mountains4 ,some of them take the form of tangled threads#a composed of long strings of cells1 and these sometimes form long streamers in flowing water1 and at other times are gathered together in a shapeless film only to be disentangled under a microscope4 ,other kinds#b wave to and fro on the water1 forming dense patches of violet1 orange-brown1 or glossy green scum shining in the bright sunlight1 and these flourish equally in the ponds of our gardens and in pools in the ,himalaya mountains1 #ah1jjj feet above the sea4 ,others again#c seize on every damp patch on tree trunks1 rocks1 or moist walls1 covering them with a green powder formed of single plant cells4 ,other species of this family turn a bright red colour when the cells are still2 and one1 under the name of ,gory ,dew1#d has often frightened the peasants of ,italy1 by growing very rapidly over damp walls and then turning the colour of blood4 ,another#e forms the red snow of the ,arctic regions1 where it covers wide surfaces of snow with a deep red colour4 ,others#f form a shiny jelly over rocks and stones1 and these may be found almost everywhere1 from the garden path to the warm springs of ,india1 from the marshes of ,new ,zealand up to the shores of the ,arctic ocean1 and even on the surface of floating icebergs4 #a ,confervae4 #b ,oscillariae4 #c ,protococcus4 #d ,palmella cruenta4 #e ,protococcus nivalis4 #f ,nostoc4 ,the reason why these plants can live in such very different regions is that they do not take their food through roots out of the ground1 but suck in water and gases through the thin membrane which covers their cell1 and each cell does its own work4 ,so it matters very little to them where they lie1 so long as they have moisture and sunlight to help them in their work4 ,wherever they are1 if they have these1 they can take in carbonic acid from the air and work up the carbon with other gases which they imbibe with the water1 and so make living material4 ,in this way they grow1 and as a cell grows larger the covering is stretched and part of the digested food goes to build up more covering membrane1 and by and by the cell divides into two and each membrane closes up1 so that there are two single-celled plants where there was only one before4 ,this will sometimes go on so fast that a small pond may be covered in a few hours with a green film formed of new cells4 ,now we have seen1 when studying mushrooms1 that the one difference between these green plants and the single-celled ,fungi is that while the green cells make their own food1 colourless cells can only take it in ready-made1 and therefore prey upon all kinds of living matter4 ,this is just what happens in the lichens2 and botanists have discovered that these curious growths are really the result of a partnership between single-celled green plants and single-celled fungi4 ,the grey part is a fungus2 but when it is examined under the microscope we find it is not a fungus only2 a number of green cells can be seen scattered through it1 which1 when carefully studied1 prove to be some species of the green single-celled plants4 ,here are two drawings of sections cut through two different lichens1 and enormously magnified so that the cells are clearly seen4 #a1 ,fig4 #cj is part of a hairy lichen 7#a1 ,fig4 #bh71 and #b is part of a leafy lichen 7#b1 ,fig4 #bh74 ,the hairy lichen as you see has a row of green cells all round the tiny branch1 with fungus cells on all sides of them4 ,the leafy lichen1 which only presents one surface to the sun and air while the other side is against the tree1 has only one layer of green cells near the surface1 but protected by the fungus above4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cj4 ,sections of ,lichens4 7,sachs47 #a1 ,section of a hairy lichen1 ,usnea barbata4 #b1 ,section of a leafy lichen1 ,sticta fuliginosa4 #c1 ,early growth of a lichen4 gc1 ,green cells4 f1 ,fungus4 ,the way the lichen has grown is this4 ,a green cell 7gc #c1 ,fig4 #cj7 falling on some damp spot has begun to grow and spread1 working up food in the sunlight4 ,to it comes the spore of the fungus f1 first thrusting its tubes into the tree-bark1 or wall1 and then spreading round the green cells1 which remain always in such a position that sunlight1 air1 and moisture can reach them4 ,from this time the two classes of plants live as friends1 the fungus using part of the food made by the green cells1 and giving them in return the advantage of being spread out to the sunlight1 while they are also protected in frosty or sultry weather when they would dry up on a bare surface4 ,on the whole1 however1 the fungus probably gains the most1 for it has been found1 as we should expect1 that the green cells can live and grow if separated out of the lichen1 but the fungus cells die when their industrious companions are taken from them4 ,at any rate the partnership succeeds1 as you will see if you go into the wood1 or into an orchard where the apple-trees are neglected1 for every inch of the branches is covered by lichens if not already taken up by mosses or toadstools4 ,there is hardly any part of the world except the tropics where lichens do not abound4 ,in the ,alps of ,scandinavia close to the limits of perpetual snow1 in the sandy wastes of ,arctic ,america1 and over the dreary ,tundras of ,arctic ,siberia1 where the ground is frozen hard during the greater part of the year1 they flourish where nothing else can live4 ,the little green cells multiply by dividing1 as we saw them doing in the green film from the water-butt4 ,the fungus1 however1 has many different modes of seeding itself4 ,one of these is by forming little pockets in the lichen1 out of which1 when they burst1 small round bodies are thrown1 which cover the lichen with a minute green powder4 ,there is plenty of this powder on the leafy lichen which you have by you4 ,you can see it with the magnifying-glass1 without putting it under the microscope4 ,as long as the lichen is dry these round bodies do not grow1 but as soon as moisture reaches them they start away and become new plants4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ca4 ,fructification of a lichen4 7,from ,sachs and ,oliver47 ,apothecium or spore-chamber of a lichen4 #a1 ,closed4 #b1 ,open4 #c1 ,the spore-cases and filaments enlarged1 showing the spores4 f1 ,filaments4 sc1 ,spore-cases4 s1 ,spores4 ,a more complicated and beautiful process is shown in this diagram 7,fig4 #ca74 ,if you look carefully at the leafy lichen 7#b1 ,fig4 #bh7 you will find here and there some little cups f1 while others grow upon the tips of the hairy lichen4 ,these cups1 or fruits1 were once closed1 flask-shaped chambers 7#a1 ,fig4 #ca7 inside which are formed a number of oval cells sc1 which are spore-cases1 with from four to eight spores or seed-like bodies s#c inside them4 ,when these chambers1 which are called apothecia1 are ripe1 moist or rainy weather causes them to swell at the top1 and they burst open and the spore-cases throw out the spores to grow into new fungi4 ,in some lichens the chambers remain closed and the spores escape through a hole in the top1 and they are then called perithecia1 while in others1 as these which we have here1 they open out into a cup-shape4 ,this1 then1 is the curious history of lichens2 the green cells and fungi flourishing together in the damp winter and bearing the hardest frost far better than the summer drought1 so that they have their good time when most other plants are dead or asleep4 ,yet though some of them1 such as the hairy lichens1 almost disappear in the summer1 they are by no means dead1 for1 like all these very low plants1 they can bear being dried up for a long time1 and then1 when moisture visits them again1 each green cell sets to work1 and they revive4 ,there is much more to be learnt about them1 but this will be sufficient to make you feel an interest in their simple lives1 and when you look for them in the wood you will be surprised to find how many different kinds there are1 for it is most wonderful that such lowly plants should build up such an immense variety of curious and grotesque forms4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and yet1 when we turn to the mosses1 ,i am half afraid they will soon attract you away from the dull grey lichens1 for of all plant histories it appears to me that the history of the moss-plant is most fascinating4 ,as this history is complicated by the moss having1 as it were1 two lives1 you must give me your whole attention1 and ,i will explain it first from diagrams1 though you can see all the steps under the microscope4 ,take in your hands1 in the first place1 a piece of this green moss which ,i have brought4 ,how thick it is1 like a rich felted carpet6 and yet1 if you pull it apart carefully1 you will find that each leafy stem is separate1 and can be taken away from the others without breaking anything4 ,in this dense moss each stem is single and clothed with leaves wrapped closely round it 7see ,fig4 #cc72 in some mosses the stem is branched1 and in others the leaves grow on side stalks1 as in this feathery moss 7,fig4 #cb74 ,but in each case every stem is like a separate plant1 with its own tuft of tender roots r4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cb4 ,a stem of feathery moss4 7,from life47 l1 ,leaves4 s1 ,stem4 r1 ,roots4 ,what a delicate growth it is6 ,the stem is scarcely more than a fine thread1 the leaves minute1 transparent1 and tender4 ,in this pale sphagnum or bog-moss 7,fig4 #cf1 p4 #ic71 which is much larger and stouter1 you can see better how each one of these leaves1 though they are so thickly packed1 is placed so that it can get the utmost light1 air1 and moisture4 ,yet so closely are the leaves of each stem entangled in those of the next that the whole forms a thick springy green carpet under our feet4 ,how is it1 then1 that these moss stems1 though each independent1 grow in such a dense mass8 ,partly because moss multiplies so rapidly that new stems are always thrusting themselves up to the light1 but chiefly because the stems were not always separate1 but in very early life sprang from a common source4 ,if1 instead of bringing the moss home and tearing it apart1 you went to a spot in the wood where fresh moss was growing1 and looked very carefully on the surface of the ground or among the water of a marsh1 you would find a spongy green mass below the growing moss1 very much like the green scum on a pond4 ,this film1 some of which ,i have brought home1 is seen under the microscope to be a mass of tangled green threads 7t1 ,fig4 #cd1 p4 #hh7 like those of the ,confervae 7see p4 #gi71 composed of rows of cells1 while here and there upon these threads you would find a bud 7mb1 ,fig4 #cd7 rising up into the air4 ,this tangled mass of green threads1 called the protonema1 is the first growth1 from which the moss stems spring4 ,it has itself originated from a moss-spore2 as we shall see by and by4 ,as soon as it has started it grows and spreads very rapidly1 drinking in water and air through all its cells and sending up the moss buds which swell and grow1 giving out roots below and fine stems above1 which soon become crowded with leaves1 forming the velvety carpet we call moss4 ,meanwhile the soft threads below die away1 giving up all their nourishment to the moss-stems1 and this is why1 when you take up the moss1 you find each stem separate4 ,but now comes the question1 ,how does each stem live after the nourishing threads below have died8 ,it is true each stem has a few hairy roots1 but these are very feeble1 and not at all like the roots of higher plants4 ,the fact is1 the moss is built up entirely of tender cells1 like the green cells in the lichen1 or in the film upon the pond4 ,these cells are not shut in behind a thick skin as in the leaves of higher plants1 but have every one of them the power to take in water and gases through their tender membrane4 ,i made last night a rough drawing of the leaf of the feathery moss put under the microscope1 but you will see it far better by putting a leaf with a little water on a glass slide under the covering glass and examining it for yourself4 ,you will see that it is composed of a number of oval-shaped cells packed closely together 7c ,fig4 #cc71 with a few long narrow ones mr in the middle of the leaf forming the midrib4 ,every cell is as clear and distinct as if it were floating in the water1 and the tiny green grains which help it to work up its food are clearly visible4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cc4 ,moss-leaf magnified4 7,from life47 ,showing the cells c1 each of which can take in and work up its own food4 mr1 ,long cells of the mid-rib4 ,each of these cells can act as a separate plant1 drinking in the water and air it needs1 and feeding and growing quite independently of the roots below4 ,yet at the same time the moss stem has a great advantage over single-celled plants in having root-hairs1 and being able to grow upright and expose its leaves to the sun and air4 ,now you will no longer wonder that moss grows so fast and so thick1 and another curious fact follows from the independence of each cell1 namely1 that new growths can start from almost any part of the plant4 ,for example1 pieces will often break off from the tangled mass or protonema below1 and1 starting on their own account1 form other thread masses4 ,then1 after the moss stems have grown1 a new mass of threads may grow from one of the tiny root-hairs of a stem and make a fresh tangle2 nay1 a thread will sometimes even spring out of a damp moss leaf and make a new beginning1 while the moss stems themselves often put forth buds and branches1 which grow root-hairs and settle down on their own account4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cd4 ,polytrichum commune4 ,a large hair-moss4 t1 t1 ,threads of green cells forming the protonema out of which moss-buds spring4 mb1 ,buds of moss-stems4 a1 ,minute green flower in which the antherozoids are formed 7enlarged in ,fig4 #ce74 p1 p#a1 p#b1 p#c1 ,minute green flower in which the ovules are formed1 and urn-plant springing out of it 7enlarged in ,fig4 #ce74 us1 ,urn stems4 c1 ,cap4 u1 ,urn after cap has fallen off1 still protected by its lid4 ,all this comes from the simple nature of the plants1 each cell doing its own work4 ,nor are the mosses in any difficulty as to soil1 for as the matted threads decay they form a rich manure1 and the dying moss-stems themselves1 being so fragile1 turn back very readily into food4 ,this is why mosses can spread over the poorest soil where even tough grasses cannot live1 and clothe walls and roofs with a rich green4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ce4 ,fructification of a moss4 ,a1 ,male moss-flower stripped of its outer leaves1 showing jointed filaments and oval sacs os and antherozoid cells zc swarming out of a sac4 zc'1 ,antherozoid cell enlarged4 z1 ,free antherozoid4 ,p1 ,female flower with bottle-shaped sacs bs4 bs-c1 ,bottle-shaped sac1 with cap being pushed up4 u1 ,urn of ,funaria hygrometrica1 with small cap4 u'1 ,urn1 from which the cap has fallen1 showing the teeth t which keep in the spores4 ,so far1 then1 we now understand the growth of the mossy-leaf stems1 but this is only half the life of the plant4 ,after the moss has gone on through the damp winter spreading and growing1 there appear in the spring or summer tiny moss flowers at the tip of some of the stems4 ,these flowers 7a1 p1 ,fig4 #cd7 are formed merely of a few green leaves shorter and stouter than the rest1 enclosing some oval sacs surrounded by jointed hairs or filaments 7see ,a and ,p1 ,fig4 #ce74 ,these sacs are of two different kinds1 one set being short and stout os1 the others having long necks like bottles bs4 ,sometimes these two kinds of sac are in one flower1 but more often they are in separate flowers1 as in the hair-moss1 ,polytrichum commune 7a and p1 ,fig4 #cd74 ,now when the flowers are ripe the short sacs in the flower ,a open and fling out myriads of cells zc1 and these cells burst1 and forth come tiny wriggling bodies z1 called by botanists antherozoids1 one out of each cell4 ,these find their way along the damp moss to the flower ,p1 and entering the neck of one of the bottle-shaped sacs bs1 find out each another cell or ovule inside4 ,the two cells together then form a plant-egg1 which answers to the germ in the seeds of higher plants4 ,now let us be sure we understand where we are in the life of the plant4 ,we have had its green-growing time1 its flowering1 and the formation of what we may roughly call its seed1 which last in ordinary higher plants would fall down and grow into a new green plant4 ,but with the moss there is more to come4 ,the egg does not shake out of the bottle-necked sac1 but begins to grow inside it1 sending down a little tube into the moss stem1 and using it as other plants use the ground to grow in4 ,as soon as it is rooted it begins to form a delicate stem1 and as this grows it pushes up the sac bs1 stretching the neck tighter and tighter till at last it tears away below1 and the sac is carried up and hangs like an extinguisher or cap 7c ,figs4 #cd1 #ce7 over the top of the stem4 ,meanwhile1 under this cap the top of the stalk swells into a knob which1 by degrees1 becomes a lovely little covered urn u1 something like a poppy head1 which has within it a number of spores4 ,the growth of this tiny urn-plant often occupies several months1 for you must remember that it is not merely a fruit1 though it is often called so1 but a real plant1 taking in food through its tubes below and working for its living4 ,when it is finished it is a most lovely little object 7us1 ,fig4 #cd71 the fine hairlike stalk being covered with a green1 yellow1 or brilliant red fool's cap on the top1 yet the whole in most mosses is not bigger than an ordinary pin4 ,you may easily see them in the spring or summer1 or even sometimes in the winter4 ,i have only been able to bring you one very little one to-day1 the ,funaria hygrometrica1 which fruits early in the year4 ,this moss has only a short cap1 but in many mosses they are very conspicuous4 ,i have often pulled them off as you would pull a cap from a boy's head4 ,in nature they fall off after a time1 leaving the urn1 which1 though so small1 is a most complicated structure4 ,first it has an outer skin1 with holes or mouths in it which open and close to let moisture in and out4 ,then come two layers of cells1 then an open space full of air1 in which are the green chlorophyll grains which are working up food for the tiny plant as the moisture comes in to them4 ,lastly1 within this again is a mass of tissue1 round which grow the spores which are soon to be sown1 and which in ,polytrichum commune are protected by a lid4 ,even after the extinguisher and the lid have both fallen off1 the spores cannot fall out1 for a thick row of teeth 7t1 ,fig4 #ce7 is closed over them like the tentacles of an anemone4 ,so long as the air is damp these teeth remain closed2 it is only in fine dry weather that they open and the spores are scattered on the ground4 ,funaria hygrometrica has no lid under its cap1 and after the cap falls the spores are only protected by the teeth4 ,when the spores are gone1 the life of the tiny urn-plant is over4 ,it shrivels and dies1 leaving ten1 fifteen1 or even more spores1 which1 after lying for some time on the ground1 sprout and grow into a fresh mass of soft threads4 ,so now we have completed the life-history of the moss and come back to the point at which we started4 ,i am afraid it has been rather a difficult history to follow step by step1 and yet it is perfectly clear when once we master the succession of growths4 ,starting from a spore1 the thread-mass or protonema gives rise to the moss-stems forming the dense green carpet1 then the green flowers on some of the leaf-stems give rise to a plant-egg1 which roots itself in the stem1 and grows into a perfect plant without leaves1 bearing merely the urn in which fresh spores are formed1 and so the round goes on from year to year4 ,there are a great number of different varieties of moss1 and they differ in the shape and arrangement of their stems and leaves1 and very much in the formation of their urns1 yet this sketch will enable you to study them with understanding1 and when you find in the wood the nodding caps of the fruiting plants1 some red1 some green1 some yellow1 and some a brilliant orange1 you will feel that they are acquaintances1 and by the help of the microscope may soon become friends4 ,among them one of the most interesting is the sphagnum or bog-moss 7,fig4 #cf71 which spreads its thick carpet over all the bogs in the woods4 ,you cannot miss its little orange-coloured spore-cases if you look closely1 for they contrast strongly with its pale green leaves1 out of which they stand on very short stalks4 ,i wish we could examine it1 for it differs much from other mosses1 both in leaves and fruit1 but it would take us too long4 ,at least1 however1 you must put one of its lovely transparent leaves under the microscope1 that you may see the large air-cells which lie between the growing cells1 and admire the lovely glistening bands which run across and across their covering membrane1 for the sphagnum leaf is so extremely beautiful that you will never forget it when once seen4 ,it is through these large cells in the edge of the stem and leaf that the water rises up from the swamp1 so that the whole moss is like a wet sponge4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cf4 ,sphagnum moss from a ,devonshire bog4 7,from life47 ,and now1 before we part1 we had better sum up the history of lichens and mosses4 ,with the lichens we have seen that the secret of success seems to be mutual help4 ,the green cells provide the food1 the fungus cells form a surface over which the green cells can spread to find sunlight and moisture1 and protection from extremes of heat or cold4 ,with the mosses the secret lies in their standing on the borderland between two classes of plant life4 ,on the one hand1 they are still tender-celled plants1 each cell being able to live its own life and make its own food2 on the other hand1 they have risen into shapely plants with the beginnings of feeble roots1 and having stems along which their leaves are arranged so that they are spread to the light and air4 ,both lichens and mosses keep one great advantage common to all tender-celled plants2 they can be dried up so that you would think them dead1 and yet1 because they can work all over their surface whenever heat and moisture reach them1 each cell drinks in food again and the plant revives4 ,so when a scorching sun1 or a dry season1 or a biting frost kills other plants1 the mosses and lichens bide their time till moisture comes again4 ,in our own country they grow almost everywhere--on walls1 on broken ground1 on sand-heaps1 on roofs and walls1 on trees living and dead1 and over all pastures which are allowed to grow poor and worn out4 ,they grow1 too1 in all damp1 marshy spots2 especially the bog-mosses forming the peat-bogs which cover a large part of ,ireland and many regions in ,scotland2 and these same bog-mosses occur in ,america1 ,new ,zealand1 and ,australia4 ,in the tropics mosses are less abundant1 probably because other plants flourish so luxuriantly2 but in ,arctic ,siberia and ,arctic ,america both lichens and mosses live on the vast ,tundras4 ,there1 during the three short months of summer1 when the surface of the ground is soft1 the lichens spread far and wide where all else is lifeless1 while in moister parts the ,polytrichums or hair-mosses cover the ground1 and in swampy regions stunted ,sphagnums form peat-bogs only a few inches in depth over the frozen soil beneath4 ,if1 then1 the lichens and mosses can flourish even in such dreary latitudes as these1 we can understand how they defy even our coldest winters1 appearing fresh and green when the snow melts away from over them1 and leave their cells bathed in water1 so that these lowly plants clothe the wood with their beauty when otherwise all would be bare and lifeless4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,history ,,of ,a ,,lava ,,stream ,illustration ,it is now just twenty-two years ago1 boys1 since ,i saw a wonderful sight1 which is still so fresh in my mind that ,i have to look round and remember that it was before any of you were born1 in order to persuade myself that it can be nearly a quarter of a century since ,i stood with my feet close to a flowing stream of red-hot lava4 ,it happened in this way4 ,i was spending the winter with friends in ,naples1 and we were walking quietly one lovely afternoon in ,november along the ,villa ,reale1 the public garden on the sea-shore1 when one of our party exclaimed1 ,look at ,vesuvius6 ,we did so1 and saw in the bright sunlight a dense dark cloud rising up out of the cone4 ,the mountain had been sending out puffs of smoke1 with a booming noise1 for several days1 but we thought nothing of that1 for it had been common enough for slight eruptions to take place at intervals ever since the great eruption of #ahfg4 ,this cloud1 however1 was far larger and wider-spread than usual1 and as we were looking at it we saw a thin red line begin some way down the side of the mountain and creep onwards toward the valley which lies behind the ,hermitage near where the ,observatory is built 7see ,fig4 #cg74 ,a crater has broken out on the slope1 said our host2 it will be a grand sight to-night4 ,shall we go up and see it8 ,no sooner proposed than settled1 and one of the party started off at once to secure horses and men before others engaged them4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cg4 ,somma4 ,vesuvius4 ,vesuvius1 as seen in eruption by the author1 ,november #ahfh4 ,it was about eight o'clock in the evening when we started in a carriage for ,resina1 and alighting there1 with buried ,herculaneum under our feet1 mounted our horses and set forward with the guides4 ,then followed a long ascent of about two hours and a half through the dark night4 ,silently and carefully we travelled on over the broad masses of slaggy lava of former years1 along which a narrow horse-path had been worn2 and ever and anon we heard the distant booming in the crater at the summit1 and caught sight of fresh gleams of light as we took some turning which brought the glowing peak into view4 ,our object was to get as close as possible to the newly-opened crater in the mountain-side1 and when we arrived on a small rugged plain not far from the spot1 we alighted from our horses1 which were growing frightened with the glare1 and walked some distance on foot till we came to a ridge running down the slope1 and upon this ridge the lava stream was flowing4 ,above our heads hung a vast cloud of vapour which reflected the bright light from the red-hot stream1 and threw a pink glow all around1 so that1 where the cloud was broken and we could see the dark sky1 the stars looked white as silver in contrast4 ,we could now trace clearly the outline of the summit towering above us1 and even watch the showers of ashes and dust which burst forth from time to time1 falling back into the crater1 or on to the steep slopes of the cone4 ,if the night had not been calm1 and such a breeze as there was blowing away from us1 our position would scarcely have been safe2 and indeed we were afterwards told we had been rash4 ,but ,i would have faced even a greater risk to see so grand a spectacle1 and when the guide helped me to scramble up on to the ledge1 so that ,i stood with my feet within a few yards of the lava flow1 my heart bounded with excitement4 ,i could not stay more than a few seconds1 for the gases and vapour choked me2 but for that short time it felt like a dream to be standing close to a river of molten rock1 which a few hours before had been lying deep in the bowels of the earth4 ,glancing upwards to where this river issued from the cone in the mountain-side1 ,i saw it first white-hot1 then gradually fading to a glowing red as it crept past my feet2 and then looking down the slope ,i saw it turn black and gloomy as it cooled rapidly at the top1 while through the cracks which opened here and there as it moved on1 puffs of gas and vapour rose into the air1 and the red lava beneath gleamed through the chinks4 ,we did not stay long1 for the air was suffocating1 but took our way back to the ,hermitage1 where another glorious sight awaited us4 ,some way above and behind the hill on which the ,observatory stands there is1 or was1 a steep cliff1 and over this the lava stream1 now densely black1 fell in its way to the valley below1 and as it fell it broke into huge masses1 which heeling over exposed the red-hot lava under the crust1 thus forming a magnificent fiery cascade in which black and red were mingled in wild confusion4 ,this is how ,i saw a fresh red-hot lava stream4 ,i had ascended the mountain some years before1 when it was comparatively quiet1 with only two small cones in its central crater sending out miniature flows of lava 7see ,fig4 #ch74 ,but the crater was too hot for me to cross over to these cones1 and ,i could only marvel at the mass of ashes of which the top of the mountain was composed1 and plunge a stick into an old lava stream to see how hot it still remained below4 ,peaceful and quiet as the mountain seemed then1 ,i could never have imagined such a glorious outburst as that of ,november #ahfh unless ,i had seen it1 and yet this was quite a small eruption compared to those of #ahfg and #ahgb1 which in their turn were nothing to some of the older eruptions in earlier centuries4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ch4 ,the top of ,vesuvius in #ahfd4 7,after ,nasmyth47 ,now it is the history of this lava stream which ,i saw1 that we are going to consider to-day1 and you will first want to know where it came from1 and what caused it to break out on the mountain-side4 ,the truth is1 that though we know now a good deal about volcanoes themselves1 we know very little about the mighty cauldrons deep down in the earth from which they come4 ,our deepest mines only reach to a depth of a little more than half a mile1 and no borings even have been made beyond three-quarters of a mile1 so that after this depth we are left very much to guesswork4 ,we do know that the temperature increases as we go farther down from the surface1 but the increase is very different in different districts--in some places being five times greater than it is in others at an equal depth1 and it is always greatest in localities where volcanoes have been active not long before4 ,now if there were an ocean of melted rock at a certain distance down below the crust all over the globe1 there could scarcely be such a great difference between one place and another1 and for this and many other reasons geologists are inclined to think that1 from some unknown cause1 great heat is developed at special points below the surface at different times4 ,this would account for our finding volcanic rocks in almost all parts of the world1 even very far away from where there are any active volcanoes now4 ,but1 as ,i have said1 we do not clearly know why great reservoirs of melted rock occur from time to time deep under our feet4 ,we may perhaps one day find the clue from the fact that nearly all1 if not all1 volcanoes occur near to the water's edge1 either on the coast of the great oceans or of some enormous inland sea or lake4 ,but at present all we can say is1 that in certain parts of the globe there must be from time to time great masses of rock heated till they are white-hot1 and having white-hot water mingled with them4 ,these great masses need not1 however1 be liquid1 for we know that under enormous pressure white-hot metals remain solid1 and water instead of flashing into steam is kept liquid1 pressing with tremendous force upon whatever keeps it confined4 ,but now suppose that for some reason the mass of solid rock and ground above one of these heated spots should crack and become weak1 or that the pressure from below should become so great as to be more powerful than the weight above1 then the white-hot rock and water quivering and panting to expand1 would upheave and burst the walls of their prison4 ,cannot you picture to yourselves how when this happened the rock would swell into a liquid state1 and how the water would force its way upwards into cracks and fissures expanding into steam as it went4 ,then would be heard strange rumbling noises underground1 as all these heavily oppressed white-hot substances upheaved and rent the crust above them4 ,and after a time the country round1 or the ground at the bottom of the sea1 would quake and tremble1 till by and by a way out would be found1 and the water flashing into vapour would break and fling up the masses of rock immediately above the passage it had made for itself1 and following after these would come the molten rock pouring out at the new opening4 ,such outbursts as these have been seen at sea many times near volcanic islands4 ,in #ahaa a new island called ,sabrina was thrown up off ,st4 ,michael's in the ,azores1 and after remaining a short time was washed away by the waves4 ,in the same way ,graham's ,island appeared off the coast of ,sicily in #ahca1 and as late as #ahhe ,mr4 ,shipley saw a magnificent eruption in the ,pacific near the ,tonga ,islands when an island about three miles long was formed4 ,another very extraordinary outburst1 this time on land1 took place in #aech on the opposite side of the ,bay of ,naples to where ,vesuvius stands4 ,there1 on the shores of the ,bay of ,baiae1 a mountain #ddj feet high was built up in one week1 where all had before been quiet in the memory of man4 ,for two years before the outburst came1 rumblings and earthquakes had alarmed the people1 and at last one day the sea drew back from the shore and the ground sank about fourteen feet1 and then on the night of ,sunday1 ,september #bi1 #aech1 it was hurled up again1 and steam1 fiery gases1 stones1 and mud burst forth1 driving away the frightened people from the village of ,puzzuoli about two miles distant4 ,for a whole week jets of lava1 fragments of rock1 and showers of ashes were poured out1 till they formed the hill now called ,monte ,nuovo1 #ddj feet high and measuring a mile and a half round the base4 ,and there it has remained till the present day1 perfectly quiet after the one great outburst had calmed down1 and is now covered with thickets of stone-pine trees4 ,these sudden outbursts show that some great change must occur in the state of the earth's crust under the spots where they take place1 and we know that eruptions may cease for centuries in any particular place and then begin afresh quite unexpectedly4 ,vesuvius was a peaceable mountain overgrown with trees and vines in the time of the ,greeks till in the year ,a4,d4 #gi occurred the terrific outburst which destroyed ,herculaneum and ,pompeii1 shattering old ,vesuvius to pieces1 so that only the cliffs on the northwest remain and are called ,somma 7see ,fig4 #cg71 while the new ,vesuvius has grown up in the lap1 as it were1 of its old self4 ,yet when we visit the cliffs of ,somma1 and examine the old lava streams in them1 we see that the ancient peaceful mountain was itself built up by volcanic outbursts of molten rock1 and showers of clinkers or scoriae1 long before man lived to record it4 ,meanwhile1 when once an opening is made1 we can understand how after an eruption is over1 and the steam and lava are exhausted1 all quiets down for awhile1 and the melted rock in the crater of the mountain cools and hardens1 shutting in once more the seething mass below4 ,this was the state of the crater when ,i saw it in #ahfd1 though small streams still flowed out of two minute cones2 but since then at least one great outburst had taken place in #ahfg1 and now on this ,november night1 #ahfh1 the imprisoned gases rebelled once more and forced their way through the mountain-side4 ,at this point we can leave off forming conjectures and really study what happens2 for we do know a great deal about the structure of volcanoes themselves1 and the history of a lava-flow has been made very clear during the last few years1 chiefly by the help of the microscope and chemical experiments4 ,if we imagine then that on the day of the eruption we could have seen the inside of the mountain1 the diagram 7,fig4 #ci7 will fairly represent what was taking place there4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ci4 ,diagrammatic section of an active volcano4 a1 ,central pipe or funnel4 b1 b1 ,walls of the crater or cup4 c1 c1 ,dark turbid cloud formed by the ascending globular clouds d1 d4 e1 ,rain-shower from escaped vapour4 f1 f1 ,shower of blocks1 cooled bombs1 stones1 and ashes falling back on to the cone4 g1 ,lava escaping through a fissure1 and pouring out of a cone opened in the mountain side4 ,in the funnel a which passes down from the crater or cup b1 b1 white-hot lava was surging up1 having a large quantity of water and steam entangled in it4 ,the lava1 or melted rock1 would be in much the same state as melted iron-slag is1 in the huge blast-furnaces in which iron-rock is fused1 only it would have floating in it great blocks of solid rock1 and rounded stones called bombs which have been formed from pieces of half-melted rock whirled in air and falling back into the crater1 together with clinkers or scoriae1 dust and sand1 all torn off and ground down from the walls of the funnel up which the rush was coming4 ,and in the pipe of melted rock1 forcing the lava upwards1 enormous bubbles of steam and gas d1 d would be rising up one after another as bubbles rise in any thick boiling substances1 such as boiling sugar or tar4 ,in the morning before the eruption1 when only a little smoke was issuing from the crater1 these bubbles rose very slowly through the loaded funnel and the half-cooled lava in the basin1 and the booming noise1 like that of heavy cannon1 heard from time to time1 was caused by the bursting of one of these globes of steam at the top of the funnel1 as it brought up with it a feeble shower of stones1 dust1 and scoriae4 ,meanwhile the lava surging below was forcing a passage g for itself in a weak part of the mountain-side and1 just at the time when our attention was called to ,vesuvius1 the violent pressure from below rent open a mouth or crater at h1 so that the lava began to flow down the mountain in a steady stream4 ,this1 relieving the funnel1 enabled the huge steam bubbles d1 d to rise more quickly1 and to form the large whitish-grey cloud c1 into which from time to time the red-hot blocks1 scoriae1 and pumice were thrown up by the escaping steam and gases4 ,these blocks and fragments then fell back again in a fiery shower f1 f either into the cup1 to be thrown up again by the bursting of the next bubble1 or on to the sides of the cone1 making it both broader and higher4 ,only one feature in the diagram was fortunately absent the evening we went up1 namely1 the rain-shower e4 ,the night1 as ,i said1 was calm1 and the air dry1 and the steam floated peacefully away4 ,the next night1 however1 when many people hurried down from ,rome to see the sight they were woefully disappointed1 for rain-showers fell heavily from the cloud1 bringing down with them the dust and ashes1 which covered the unfortunate sight-seers4 ,this was what happened during the eruption1 and the result after a few days was that the cone was a little higher1 with a fresh layer of rough slaggy scoriae on its slopes1 and that on the side of the mountain behind the ,hermitage a new lava stream was added to the many which have flowed there of late years4 ,what then can we learn from this stream about the materials which come up out of the depths of the earth1 and of the manner in which volcanic rocks are formed8 ,the lava as ,i saw it when coming first out of the newly-opened crater is1 as ,i have said1 like white-hot iron slag1 but very soon the top becomes black and solid1 a hard cindery mass full of holes and cavities with rough edges1 caused by the steam and sulphur and other gases breaking through it4#a ,in fact1 there are so many holes and bubbles in it that it is very light and floats on the top of the heavier lava below1 falling over it on to the mountain-side when it comes to the end of the stream4 ,still1 however1 the great mass moves on1 so that the stream slides over these fallen clinkers or scoriae4 ,thus after an eruption a new flow consists of three layers2 at the top the cooled and broken crust of clinkers1 then the more solid lava1 which often remains hot for years1 and lastly another cindery layer beneath1 formed of the scoriae which have fallen from above 7see ,fig4 #dj74 #a ,for the cindery nature of the surface of such a stream see the initial letter of this chapter4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dj4 ,section of a lava-flow4 7,j4 ,geikie47 #a1 ,slaggy crust1 formed chiefly of scoriae of a glassy nature4 #b1 ,middle portion where crystals form4 #c1 ,slaggy crust which has slipped down and been covered by the flow4 ,you would be surprised to see how quickly the top hardens1 so that you can actually walk across a stream of lava a day or two after it comes out from the mountain4 ,but you must not stand still or your shoes would soon be burnt1 and if you break the crust with a stick you will at once see the red-hot lava below2 while after a few days the cavities become filled with crystals of common salt1 sulphur or soda1 as the vapour and gases escape4 ,then as time goes on the harder minerals gradually crystallise out of the melted mass1 and iron-pyrites1 copper-sulphate1 and numerous other forms of crystal appear in the lower part of the stream4 ,in the clinkers above1 where the cooling goes on very rapidly1 the lavas formed are semi-transparent and look much like common bottle-glass4 ,in fact1 if you take this piece of obsidian or volcanic glass in your hand1 you might think that it had come out of an ordinary glass manufactory and had nothing remarkable in it4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #da4 ,a slice of volcanic glass showing the lines of crystallites and microliths which are the beginnings of crystals4#a 7,j4 ,geikie47 #a ,this arrangement in lines is called fluidal structure in lava4 ,but the microscope tells another tale4 ,i have put a thin slice under the first microscope1 and this diagram 7,fig4 #da7 shows what you will see4 ,nothing1 you say1 but a few black specks and some tiny dark rods4 ,true1 but these specks and rods are the first beginnings of crystals forming out of the ground-mass of glassy lava as it cools down4 ,they are not real crystals1 but the first step toward them1 and by a careful examination of glassy lavas which have cooled at different rates1 they have been seen under the microscope in all stages of growth1 gradually building up different crystalline forms4 ,when we remember how rapidly the top of many glassy lavas cool down we can understand that they have often only time to grow very small4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #db4 ,a slice of volcanic glass under the microscope1 showing well-developed microliths4 7,after ,cohen47 ,the smaller specks are called crystallites1 the rods are called microliths4#a ,under the next microscope you can see the microliths much more distinctly 7,fig4 #db7 and observe that they grow in very regular shapes4 #a ,micros1 little2 lithos1 stone4 ,our first slice1 however 7,fig4 #da71 tells us something more of their history1 for the fact that they are arranged in lines shows that they have grown while the lava was flowing and carrying them along in streams4 ,you will notice that each one has its greatest length in the direction of the lines1 just as pieces of stick are carried along lengthways in a river4 ,in the second specimen 7,fig4 #db7 the microliths are much larger and the stream has evidently not been flowing fast1 for they lie in all directions4 ,this is what we find in the upper part of the stream1 but if we look at a piece of underlying lava we find that it is much more coarse-grained1 and the magnifying-glass shows many crystals in it1 as well as a number of microliths4 ,for this lava1 covered by the crust above1 has remained very hot for a long time1 and the crystals have had time to build themselves up out of the microliths and crystallites4 ,still there is much glassy groundwork even in these lavas4 ,if we want to find really stony masses such as porphyry and granite made up entirely of crystals we must look inside the mountain where the molten rock is kept intensely hot for long periods1 as for example in the fissure g1 ,fig4 #ci4 ,such fissures sometimes open out on the surface like the one ,i saw1 and sometimes only penetrate part of the way through the hill2 but in either case when the lava in them cools down1 it forms solid walls called dykes which help to bind the loose materials of the mountain together4 ,we cannot1 of course1 examine these in an active volcano1 but there are many extinct volcanoes which have been worn and washed by the weather for centuries1 so that we can see the inside4 ,the dykes laid bare in the cliffs of ,somma are old fissures filled with molten rock which has cooled down1 and they show us many stony lavas2 and ,mr4 ,judd tells us of one beautiful example of a ruined volcano which composes the whole island of ,mull in the ,hebrides1 where such dykes can be traced right back to a centre4 ,this centre must once have been a mass of melted matter far down in the earth1 and as you trace the dykes back deeper and deeper into it1 the rocks grow more and more stony1 till at last they are composed entirely of large crystals closely crowded together without any glassy matter between them4 ,you know this crystalline structure well1 for we have plenty of blocks of granite scattered about on ,dartmoor1 showing that at some time long ago molten matter must have been at work in the depths under ,devonshire4 ,we see then that we can trace the melted rock of volcanoes right back--from the surface of the lava stream which cools quickly at the top1 hurrying the crystallites and microliths along with it--down through the volcano to the depths of the earth1 where the perfect crystals form slowly and deliberately in the underground lakes of white-hot rock which are kept in a melted state at an intense heat4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dc4 ,a piece of ,dartmoor ,granite1 drawn from a specimen4 ,but ,i promised you that we would have no guesswork here1 and you will perhaps ask how ,i can be certain what was going on in the depths when these crystals were formed4 ,a few years ago ,i could not have answered you1 but now chemists1 and especially two eminent ,french chemists1 ,,mm4 ,fouque and ,levy1 have actually made lavas and shown us how it is done in ,nature4 ,by using powerful furnaces and bellows they have succeeded in getting temperatures of all degrees1 from a dazzling white heat down to a dull red1 and to keep any temperature they like for a long time1 so as to imitate the state of a mass of melted rock at different depths in the earth1 and in this way they have actually made lavas in their crucibles4 ,for example1 there is a certain whitish rock common in ,vesuvius called leucotephrite1#a which is made up chiefly of crystals of the minerals called leucite1 ,labrador felspar1 and augite4 ,this they proposed to make artificially1 so they took proper quantities of silica1 alumina1 oxide of iron1 lime1 potash1 and soda1 and putting them in a crucible1 melted them by keeping them at a white heat4 ,then they lowered the temperature to an orange-heat1 that is a heat sufficient to melt steel4 ,they kept this heat for forty-eight hours1 after which they took out some of the mixture and1 letting it cool1 examined a slice under the microscope4 ,within it they found crystals of leucite already formed1 showing that these are the first to grow while the melted rock is still intensely hot4 ,the rest of the mixture they kept red-hot1 or at the melting-point of copper1 for another forty-eight hours1 and when they took it out and examined it they found that the whole of it had been transformed into microliths of the two other forms of crystals1 ,labrador felspar and augite1 except some small eight-sided crystals of magnetite and picotite which are also found in the natural rock4 #a ,leucos1 white2 tephra1 ashes4 ,there is no need for you to remember all these names4 ,what ,i do want you to remember is1 that1 at the different temperatures1 the right crystals and beginnings of crystals grew up to form the rock which is found in ,vesuvius4 ,and what is still more interesting1 they grew exactly to the same stages as in the natural rock1 which is composed of crystals of leucite and microliths of the two other minerals4 ,this is only one among numerous experiments by which we have learnt how volcanic rocks are formed and at what heat the crystals of different substances grow4 ,we are only as yet at the beginning of this new study1 and there is plenty for you boys to do by and by when you grow up4 ,many experiments have failed as yet to imitate certain rocks1 and it is remarkable that these are usually rocks of very ancient eruptions1 when perhaps our globe may have been in a different state to what it is now2 but this remains for us to find out4 ,meanwhile ,i have still another very interesting slide to show you which tells us something of what is going on below the volcano4 ,under the third microscope ,i have put a slice of volcanic glass 7,fig4 #dd7 in which you will see really large crystals with dark bands curving round them4 ,these crystals have clearly not been formed in the glass while the lava was flowing1 first because they are too large to have grown up so rapidly1 and secondly because they are broken at the edges in places and sometimes partly melted4 ,they have evidently come up with the lava as it flowed out of the mountain1 and the dark bands curving round them are composed of microliths which have been formed in the flow and have swept round them1 as floating straws gather round a block of wood in a stream4 ,such crystals as these are often found in lava streams1 and in fact they make a great difference in the rate at which a stream flows1 for a thoroughly melted lava shoots along at a great pace and often travels several miles in a very short time2 but an imperfectly melted lava full of crystals creeps slowly along1 and often does not travel far from the crater out of which it flows4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dd4 ,slice of volcanic glass under the microscope1 showing large included crystals brought up from inside the volcano in the fluid lava4 ,the dark bands are lines of microliths formed as the lava cooled4 7,j4 ,geikie47 ,so you see we have proof in this slice of volcanic glass of two separate periods of crystallisation--the period when the large crystals grew in the liquid mass under the mountain1 and the period when the microliths were formed after it was poured out above ground4 ,and as we know that different substances form their crystals at very different temperatures1 it is not surprising that some should be able to take up the material they require and grow in the underground lakes of melted matter1 even though the rest of the lava was sufficiently fluid to be forced up out of the mountain4 ,and here we must leave our lava stream4 ,the microscope can tell us yet more1 of marvellous tiny cavities inside the crystals1 millions in a single inch1 and of other crystals inside these1 all of which have their history2 but this would lead us too far4 ,we must be content for the present with having roughly traced a flow of lava from the depths below1 where large crystals form in subterranean darkness1 to the open air above1 where we catch the tiny beginnings of crystals hardened into glassy lava before they have time to grow further4 ,if you will think a little for yourselves about these wonderful discoveries made with the magic-glass1 you will see how many questions they suggest to us about the minerals which we find buried in the earth and running through it in veins1 and you will want to know something about the more precious crystals1 such as rubies1 diamonds1 sapphires1 and garnets1 and many others which ,nature forms far away out of our sight4 ,all these depend1 though indirectly1 upon the strange effects of underground heat1 and if you have once formed a picture in your minds of what must have been going on before that magnificent lava stream crept down the mountain-side and added its small contribution to the surface of the earth1 you will study eagerly all that comes in your way about crystals and minerals1 and while you ask questions with the spectroscope about what is going on in the sun and stars millions of miles away1 you will also ask the microscope what it has to tell of the work going on at depths many miles under your feet4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,an ,,hour ,,with ,,the ,,sun ,illustration ,before beginning upon the subject of our lecture to-day ,i want to tell you the story of a great puzzle which presented itself to me when ,i was a very young child4 ,i happened to come across a little book--,i can see it now as though it were yesterday--a small square green book called ,world without ,end1 which had upon the cover a little gilt picture of a stile with trees on each side of it4 ,that was all4 ,i do not know what the book was about1 indeed ,i am almost sure ,i never opened it or saw it again1 but that stile and the title ,world without ,end puzzled me terribly4 ,what was on the other side of the stile8 ,if ,i could cross over it and go on and on should ,i be in a world which had no ending1 and what would be on the other side8 ,but then there could be no other side if it was a world without any end4 ,i was very young1 you must remember1 and ,i grew confused and bewildered as ,i imagined myself reaching onwards and onwards beyond that stile and never1 never resting4 ,at last ,i consulted my greatest friend1 an old man who did the weeding in my father's garden1 and whom ,i believed to be very wise4 ,he looked at first almost as bewildered as ,i was1 but at last light dawned upon him4 ,i tell you what it is1 ,master ,arthur1 said he1 ,i do not rightly know what happens when there is no end1 but ,i do know that there is a mighty lot to be found out in this world1 and ,i'm thinking we had better learn first all about that1 and perhaps it may teach us something which will help us to understand the other4 ,i daresay you will wonder what this anecdote can have to do with a lecture on the sun--,i will tell you4 ,last night ,i stood on the balcony and looked out far and farther away into the star-depths of the midnight sky1 marvelling what could be the history of those countless suns of which we see ever more and more as we increase the power of our telescopes1 or catch the faint beams of those we cannot see and make them print their image on the photographic plate4 ,and1 as ,i grew oppressed at the thought of this never-ending expanse of suns and at my own littleness1 ,i remembered all at once the little square book of my childish days with its gilt stile1 and my old friend's advice to learn first all we can of that which lies nearest4 ,so to-day1 before we travel away to the stars1 we had better inquire what is known about the one star in the heavens which is comparatively near to us1 our own glorious sun1 which sends us all our light and heat1 causes all the movements of our atmosphere1 draws up the moisture from the ground to return in refreshing rain1 ripens our harvests1 awakens the seeds and sleeping plants into vigorous growth1 and in a word sustains all the energy and life upon our earth4 ,yet even this star1 which is more than a million times as large as our earth1 and bound so closely to us that a convulsion on its surface sends a thrill right through our atmosphere1 is still so far off that it is only by questioning the sunbeams it sends to us1 that we can know anything about it4 ,you have already learnt#a a good deal as to the size1 the intense heat and light1 and the photographic power of the sun1 and also how his white beams of light are composed of countless coloured rays which we can separate in a prism4 ,now let us pass on to the more difficult problem of the nature of the sun itself1 and what we know of the changes and commotions going on in that blazing globe of light4 #a ,fairyland of ,science1 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,we will try first what we can see for ourselves4 ,if you take a card and make a pin-hole in it1 you can look through this hole straight at the sun without injuring your eye1 and you will see a round shining disc on which1 perhaps1 you may detect a few dark spots4 ,then if you take your hand telescopes1 which ,i have shaded by putting a piece of smoked glass inside the eye-piece1 you will find that this shining disc is really a round globe1 and moreover1 although the object-glass of your telescopes measures only two-and-a-half inches across1 you will be able to see the dark spots very distinctly and to observe that they are shaded1 having a deep spot in the centre with a paler shadow round it4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #de4 ,face of the sun projected on a sheet of cardboard ,c4 ,t1 ,telescope4 f1 ,finder4 og1 ,object-glass4 ep1 ,eye-piece4 ,s1 ,screen shutting off the diffused light from the window4 ,as1 however1 you cannot all use the telescopes1 and those who can will find it difficult to point them truly on to the sun1 we will adopt still another plan4 ,i will turn the object-glass of my portable telescope full upon the sun's face1 and bringing a large piece of cardboard on an easel near to the other end1 draw it slowly backward till the eye-piece forms a clear sharp image upon it 7see ,fig4 #de74 ,this you can all see clearly1 especially as ,i have passed the eye-piece of the telescope through a large screen s1 which shuts off the light from the window4 ,you have now an exact image of the face of the sun and the few dark spots which are upon it1 and we have brought1 as it were1 into our room that great globe of light and heat which sustains all the life and vigour upon our earth4 ,this small image can1 however1 tell us very little4 ,let us next see what photography can show us4 ,the diagram 7,fig4 #df7 shows a photograph of the sun taken by ,mr4 ,selwyn in ,october #ahfj4 ,let me describe how this is done4 ,you will remember that there is a point in the telescope tube where the rays of light form a real image of the object at which the telescope is pointed 7see p4 #dd74 ,now an astronomer who wishes to take a photograph of the sun takes away the eye-piece of his telescope and puts a photographic plate in the tube exactly at the place where this real image is formed4 ,he takes care to blacken the frame of the plate and shuts up this end of the telescope and the plate in a completely dark box1 so that no diffused light from outside can reach it4 ,then he turns his telescope upon the sun that it may print its image4 ,but the sun's light is so strong that even in a second of time it would print a great deal too much1 and all would be black and confused4 ,to prevent this he has a strip of metal which slides across the tube of the telescope in front of the plate1 and in the upper part of this strip a very fine slit is cut4 ,before he begins1 he draws the metal up so that the slit is outside the tube and the solid portion within1 and he fastens it in this position by a thread drawn through and tied to a bar outside4 ,then he turns his telescope on the sun1 and as soon as he wishes to take the photograph he cuts the thread4 ,the metal slides across the tube with a flash1 the slit passing across it and out again below in the hundredth part of a second1 and in that time the sun has printed through the slit the picture before you4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #df4 ,photograph of the face of the sun1 taken by ,mr4 ,selwyn1 ,october #ahfj1 showing spots1 faculae1 and mottled surface4 ,in it you will observe at least two things not visible on our card-image4 ,the spots1 though in a different position from where we see them to-day1 look much the same1 but round them we see also some bright streaks called faculae1 or torches1 which often appear in any region where a spot is forming1 while the whole face of the sun appears mottled with bright and darker spaces intermixed4 ,those of you who have the telescopes can see this mottling quite distinctly through them if you look at the sun4 ,the bright points have been called by many names1 and are now generally known as light granules1 as good a name1 perhaps1 as any other4 ,this is all our photograph can tell us1 but the round disc there shown1 which is called the photosphere1 or light-giving sphere1 is by no means the whole of the sun1 though it is all we see daily with the naked eye4 ,whenever a total eclipse of the sun takes place--by the dark body of the moon coming between us and it1 so as to shut out the whole of this disc--a brilliant white halo1 called the crown or corona1 is seen to extend for many thousands of miles all round the darkened globe4 ,it varies very much in shape1 sometimes forming a kind of irregular square1 sometimes a circle with off-shoots1 as in ,fig4 #dg1 which shows what ,major ,tennant saw in ,india during the total eclipse of ,august #ah1 #ahfh1 and at other times it shoots out in long pearly white jets and sheets of light with dark spaces between4 ,on the whole it varies periodically4 ,at the time of few sun-spots its extensions are equatorial2 but when the sun's face is much covered with spots1 they are diagonal1 stretching away from the spot-zones1 but not nearly so far4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dg4 ,total eclipse of the sun1 as drawn by ,major ,tennant at ,guntoor in ,india1 ,august #ah1 #ahfh1 showing corona and the protuberances seen at the beginning of totality4 ,and besides this corona there are seen very curious flaming projections on the edge of the sun1 which begin to appear as soon as the moon covers the bright disc4 ,in our diagram 7,fig4 #dg7 you see them on the left side where the moon is just creeping over the limits of the photosphere and shutting out the strong light of the sun as the eclipse becomes total4 ,a very little later they are better seen on the other side just before the bright edge of the sun is uncovered as the moon passes on its way4 ,these projections in the real sun are of a bright red colour1 and they take on all manners of strange shapes1 sometimes looking like ranges of fiery hills1 sometimes like gigantic spikes and scimitars1 sometimes even like branching fiery trees4 ,they were called prominences before their nature was well understood1 and will probably always keep that name4 ,it would be far better1 however1 if some other name such as glowing clouds or red jets could be used1 for there is now no doubt that they are jets of gases1 chiefly hydrogen1 constantly playing over the face of the sun1 though only seen when his brighter light is quenched4 ,they have been found to shoot up #bj1jjj1 #hj1jjj1 and even as much as #cej1jjj miles beyond the edge of the shining disc2 and this last means that the flames were so gigantic that if they had started from our earth they would have reached beyond the moon4 ,we shall see presently that astronomers are now able by the help of the spectroscope to see the prominences even when there is no eclipse1 and we know them to be permanent parts of the bright globe4 ,this gives us at last the whole of the sun1 so far as we know4 ,there is1 indeed1 a strange faint zodiacal light1 a kind of pearly glow seen after sunset or before sunrise extending far beyond the region of the corona2 but we understand so little about this that we cannot be sure that it actually belongs to the sun4 ,and now how shall ,i best give you an idea of what little we do know about this great surging monster of light and heat which shines down upon us8 ,you must give me all your attention1 for ,i want to make the facts quite clear1 that you may take a firm hold upon them4 ,our first step is to question the sunlight which comes to us2 and this we do with the spectroscope4 ,let me remind you how we read the story of light through this instrument4 ,taking in a narrow beam of light through a fine slit1 we pass the beam through a lens to make the rays parallel1 and then throw it upon a prism or row of prisms1 so that each set of waves of coloured light coming through the slit is bent on its own road and makes an upright image of the slit on any screen or telescope put to receive it 7see ,fig4 #ba1 p4 #eb74 ,now when the light we examine comes from a glowing solid1 like white-hot iron1 or a glowing liquid1 or a gas under such enormous pressure that it behaves like a liquid1 then the images of the slit always overlap each other1 so that we see a continuous unbroken band of colour4 ,however much you spread out the light you can never break up or separate the spectrum in any part4#a ,but when you send the light1 of a glowing gas such as hydrogen through the spectroscope1 or of a substance melted into gas or vapour1 such as sodium or iron vaporised by great heat1 then it is a different story4 ,such gases give only a certain number of bright lines quite separate from each other on the dark background1 and each kind of gas gives its own peculiar lines2 so that even when several are glowing together there is no confusion1 but when you look at them through the spectroscope you can detect the presence of each gas by its own lines in the spectrum4 #a ,two rare earths1 ,erbia and ,didymium1 form an exception to this1 but they do not concern us here4 ,illustration3 ,,table ,,of ,,spectra4 ,plate ,i4 ,to make quite sure of this we will close the shutters and put a pinch of salt in a spirit-flame4 ,salt is chloride of sodium1 and in the flame the sodium glows with a bright yellow light4 ,look at this light through your small direct-vision spectroscopes#a and you see at once the bright yellow double-line of sodium 7,no4 #c1 ,plate ,i47 start into view across the faint continuous spectrum given by the spirit-flame4 ,next ,i will show you glowing hydrogen4 ,i have here a glass tube containing hydrogen1 so arranged that by connecting two wires fastened to it with the induction coil of our electric battery it will soon glow with a bright red colour4 ,look at this through your spectroscopes and you will see three bright lines1 one red1 one greenish blue1 and one indigo blue1 standing out on the dark background 7,no4 #d1 ,plate ,i47 #a ,a direct-vision spectroscope is like a small telescope with prisms arranged inside the tube4 ,the object-glass end is covered by two pieces of metal1 which slide backwards and forwards by means of a screw1 so that a narrow or broad slit can be opened4 ,think for a moment what a grand power this gives you of reading as in a book the different gases which are glowing in the sky even billions of miles away4 ,you would never mistake the lines of hydrogen for the line of sodium1 but when looking at a nebula or any mass of glowing gas you could say at once sodium is glowing there1 or that cloud must be composed of hydrogen4 ,now1 opening the shutters1 look at the sunlight through your spectroscopes4 ,here you have something different from either the continuous spectrum of solids1 or the bright separate lines of gases1 for while you have a bright-coloured band you have also some dark lines crossing it 7,no4 #b1 ,plate ,i47 ,it is those dark lines which enable us to guess what is going on in the sun before the light comes to us4 ,in #ahei ,professor ,kirchhoff made an experiment which explained those dark lines1 and we will repeat it now4 ,take a good look at the sunlight spectrum1 to fix the lines in your memory1 and then close the shutters again4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dh4 ,kirchhoff's experiment1 explaining the dark lines in sunlight4 ,a1 ,limelight dispersed through a prism4 s1 ,slit through which the beam of light comes4 l1 ,lens bringing it to a focus on the prism p4 sp1 ,continuous spectrum thrown on the wall4 ,b1 ,the same light1 with the flame f containing glowing sodium placed in front of it4 ,d1 ,dark sodium line appearing in the spectrum4 ,i have here our magic-lantern with its lime-light1 in which the solid lime glows with a white heat1 in consequence of the jets of oxygen and hydrogen burning round it4 ,this was the light ,kirchhoff used1 and you know it will give a continuous bright band in the spectroscope4 ,i put a cap with a narrow slit in it over the lantern tube1 so as to get a narrow beam of light2 in front of this ,i put a lens l1 and in front of this again the prism p4 ,the slit and the prism act exactly like your spectroscopes1 and you can all see the continuous spectrum on the screen 7sp1 ,a1 ,fig4 #dh74 ,next ,i put a lighted lamp of very weak spirit in front of the slit1 and find that it makes no difference1 for whatever light it gives only strengthens the spectrum4 ,but now notice carefully4 ,i am going to put a little salt into the flame1 and you would expect that the sodium in it1 when turned to glowing vapour1 causing it to look yellow1 would strengthen the yellow part of the spectrum and give a bright line4 ,this is what ,kirchhoff expected1 but to his intense surprise he saw as you do now a dark line ,d start out where the bright line should have been4 ,what can have happened8 ,it is this4 ,the oxyhydrogen light is very hot indeed1 the spirit flame with the sodium is comparatively weak and cool4 ,so when those special coloured waves of the oxyhydrogen light which agree with those of the sodium light reached the flame1 they spent all their energy in heating up those waves to their own temperature1 and while all the other coloured rays travelled on and reached the screen1 these waves were stopped or absorbed on the way1 and consequently there was a blank1 black space in the spectrum where they should have been4 ,if ,i could put a hydrogen flame cooler than the original light in the road1 then there would be three dark lines where the bright hydrogen lines should be1 and so with every other gas4 ,the cool vapour in front of the hot light cuts off from the white ray exactly those waves which it gives out itself when burning4 ,thus each black line of the sun-spectrum 7,no4 #b1 ,plate ,i471 tells us that some particular ray of sunlight has been absorbed by a cooler vapour of its own kind somewhere between the sun and us1 and it must be in the sun itself1 for when we examine other stars we often find dark lines in their spectrum different from those in the sun1 and this shows that the missing rays must have been stopped close at home1 for if they were stopped in our atmosphere they would all be alike4 ,there are1 by the bye1 some lines which we know are caused by our atmosphere1 especially when it is full of invisible water vapour1 and these we easily detect1 because they show more distinctly when the sun is low and shines through a thicker layer of air than when he is high up and shines through less4 ,but to return to the sun4 ,in your small spectroscopes you see very few dark lines1 but in larger and more perfect ones they can be counted by thousands1 and can be compared with the bright lines of glowing gases burnt here on earth4 ,in the spectrum of glowing iron vapour #dfj lines are found to agree with dark lines in the sun-spectrum1 and other gases have nearly as many4 ,still1 though thousands of lines can now be explained1 by matching them with the bright lines of known gases1 the whole secret of sunlight is not yet solved1 for the larger number of lines still remain a riddle to be read4 ,we see then that the spectroscope teaches us that the round light-giving disc or photosphere of the sun consists of a bright and intensely hot light shining behind a layer of cooler though still very hot vapours1 which form a kind of shell of luminous clouds around it1 and in this shell1 or reversing layer--as it is often called1 because it turns light to darkness--we have proved that iron1 lead1 copper1 zinc1 aluminum1 magnesium1 potassium1 sodium1 carbon1 hydrogen1 and many other substances common to our earth1 exist in a state of vapour for a depth of perhaps #ajjj miles4 ,you will easily understand that when the spectroscope had told so much1 astronomers were eager to learn what it would reveal about the prominences or red jets seen during eclipses1 and they got an answer in ,india during that same eclipse of ,august #ahfh which is shown in our diagram 7,fig4 #dg74 ,making use of the time during which the prominences were seen1 they turned the telescope upon them with a spectroscope attached to it1 and saw a number of bright lines start out1 of which the chief were the three bright lines of hydrogen1 showing that these curious appearances are really flames of glowing gas4 ,in the same year ,professor ,jannsen and ,mr4 ,lockyer succeeded in seeing the bright lines of the prominences in full sunlight4 ,this was done in a very simple way1 when once it was discovered to be possible1 and though my apparatus 7,fig4 #di7 is very primitive compared with some now made1 it will serve to explain the method4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #di4 ,the spectroscope attached to the telescope for the examination of the sun4 7,lockyer47 ,p1 ,pillar of ,telescope4 ,t1 ,telescope4 ,s1 ,finder or small telescope for pointing the telescope in position4 a1 a1 b1 ,supports fastening the spectroscope to the telescope4 d1 ,collimator or tube carrying the slit at the end nearest the telescope1 and a lens at the other end to render the rays parallel4 c1 ,plate on which the prisms are fixed4 e1 ,small telescope through which the observer examines the spectrum after the ray has been dispersed in the prisms4 h1 ,micrometer for measuring the relative distance of the lines4 ,when an astronomer wishes to examine the spectrum of any special part of the sun1 he takes off the eye-piece of his telescope and screws the spectroscope upon the draw-tube4 ,the spectroscope is made exactly like the large one for ordinary work4 ,the tube d 7,fig4 #di7 carries the slit at the end nearest the telescope1 and this slit must be so placed as to stand precisely at the principal focus of the lens where the sun's image is formed 7see i1 i1 p4 #dd74 ,this comes to exactly the same thing as if we could put the slit close against the face of the sun1 so as to show only the small strip which it covers1 and by moving it to one part or another of the image we can see any point that we wish and no other4 ,the light then passes through the tube d into the round of prisms standing on the tray c1 and the observer looking through the small telescope e sees the spectrum as it emerges from the last prism4 ,in this way astronomers can examine the spectrum of a spot1 or part of a spot1 or of a bright streak1 or any other mark on the sun's face4 ,now in looking at the prominences we have seen that the difficulty is caused by the sunlight1 between us and them1 overpowering the bright lines of the gas1 nor could we overcome this if it were not for a difference which exists between the two kinds of light4 ,the more you disperse or spread out the continuous sun-spectrum the fainter it becomes1 but in spreading out the bright lines of the gas you only send them farther and farther apart2 they themselves remain almost as bright as ever4 ,so1 when the telescope forms an image of the red flame in front of the slit1 though the glowing gas and the sunlight both send rays into the spectroscope1 you have only to use enough prisms and arrange them in such a way that the sunlight is dispersed into a very long faint spectrum1 and then the bright lines of the flames will stand out bright and clear4 ,of course only a small part of the long spectrum can be seen at once1 and the lines must be studied separately4 ,on the other hand1 if you want to compare the strong light of the sun with the bright lines of the prominences1 you place the slit just at the edge of the sun's image in the telescope1 so that half the slit is on the sun's face and half on the prominence4 ,the prisms then disperse the sunlight between you and the prominences1 while they only lessen the strong light of the sun itself1 which still shows clearly4 ,in this way the two spectra are seen side by side and the dark and bright lines can be compared accurately together 7see ,fig4 #ej74 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ej4 ,bright lines of prominences4 ,sun-spectrum with dark lines4 ,wherever the telescope is turned all round the sun the lines of luminous gas are seen1 showing that they form a complete layer outside the photosphere1 or light-giving mass1 of the sun4 ,this layer of luminous gases is called the chromosphere1 or coloured sphere4 ,it lies between the photosphere and the corona1 and is supposed to be at least #ejjj miles deep1 while1 as we have seen1 the flames shoot up from it to fabulous heights4 ,the quiet red flames are found to be composed of hydrogen and another new metal called helium2 but lower down1 near the sun's edge1 other bright lines are seen1 showing that sodium1 magnesium1 and other metals are there1 and when violent eruptions occur these often surge up and mingle with the purer gas above4 ,at other times the eruptions below fling the red flames aloft with marvellous force1 as when ,professor ,young saw a long low-lying cloud of hydrogen1 #ajj1jjj miles long1 blown into shreds and flung up to a height of #bjj1jjj miles1 when the fragments streamed away and vanished in two hours4 ,yet all these violent commotions and storms are unseen by us on earth unless we look through our magic glasses4 ,you will wonder no doubt how the spectroscope can show the height and the shape of the flames4 ,i will explain to you1 and ,i hope to show them you one day4 ,you must remember that the telescope makes a small real image of the flame at its focus1 just as in one of our earlier experiments you saw the exact image of the candle-flame upside down on the paper 7see p4 #cc74 ,the reason why we only see a strip of the flame in the spectroscope is because the slit is so narrow4 ,but when once the sunlight was dispersed so as no longer to interfere1 ,dr4 ,huggins found that it is possible to open the slit wide enough to take in the image of the whole flame1 and then1 by turning the spectroscope so as to bring one of the bright hydrogen lines into view1 the actual shape of the prominence is seen1 only it will look a different colour1 either red1 greenish-blue1 or indigo-blue1 according to the line chosen4 ,as the image of the whole sun and its appendages in the telescope is so very small1 you will understand that even a very narrow slit will really take in a very large prominence several thousand miles in length4 ,fig #ea shows a drawing by ,mr4 ,lockyer of a group of flames he observed very soon after ,dr4 ,huggins suggested the open slit1 and these shapes did not last long1 for in another picture he drew ten minutes later their appearance had already changed4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ea4 ,red prominences1 as drawn by ,mr4 ,lockyer during the total eclipse of ,march #ad1 #ahfi4 ,these then are some of the facts revealed to us by our magic glasses4 ,i scarcely expect you to remember all the details ,i have given you1 but you will at least understand now how astronomers actually penetrate into the secrets of the sun by bringing its image into their observatory1 as we brought it to-day on the card-board1 and then making it tell its own tale through the prisms of the spectroscope2 and you will retain some idea of the central light of the sun with its surrounding atmosphere of cooler gases and its layer of luminous lambent gases playing round it beyond4 ,of the corona ,i cannot tell you much1 except that it is far more subtle than anything we have spoken of yet2 that it is always strongest when the sun is most spotted2 that it is partly made up of self-luminous gases whose bright lines we can see1 especially an unknown green ray2 while it also shines partly by reflected light from the sun1 for we can trace in it faint dark lines2 lastly it fades away into the mysterious zodiacal light1 and so the sun ends in mystery at its outer fringe as it began at its centre4 ,and now at last1 having learnt something of the material of the sun1 we can come back to the spots and ask what is known about them4 ,as ,i have said1 they are not always the same on the sun's face4 ,on the contrary1 they vary very much both in number and size4 ,in some years the sun's face is quite free from them1 at others there are so many that they form two wide belts on each side of the sun's equator1 with a clear space of about six degrees between4 ,no spots ever appear near the poles4 ,herr ,schwabe1 who watched the sun's face patiently for more than thirty years1 has shown that it is most spotted about every eleven years1 then the spots disappear very quickly and reappear slowly till the full-spot time comes round again4 ,some spots remain a very short time and then break up and disappear1 but others last for days1 weeks1 and even months1 and when we watch these1 we find that a spot appears to travel slowly across the face of the sun from east to west and then round the western edge so that it disappears4 ,it is when it reaches the edge that we can convince ourselves that the spot is really part of the sun1 for there is no space to be seen between them1 the edge and the spot are one1 as the last trace of the dark blotch passes out of sight4 ,in fact1 it is not the spot which has crossed the sun's face1 but the sun itself which has turned1 like our earth1 upon its axis1 carrying the spot round with it4 ,as some spots remain long enough to reappear1 after about twelve or thirteen days1 on the opposite edge1 and even pass round two or three times1 astronomers can reckon that the sun takes about twenty-five days and five hours in performing one revolution4 ,you will wonder why ,i say only about twenty-five1 but ,i do so because all spots do not come round in exactly the same time1 those farthest from the equator lag rather more than a day behind those nearer to it1 and this is explained by the layer of gases in which they are formed1 drifting back in higher latitudes as the sun turns4 ,it is by watching a spot as it travels across the sun1 that we are able to observe that the centre partlies deeper in the sun's face than the outer rim4 ,there are many ways of testing this1 and you can try one yourselves with a telescope if you watch day after day4 ,i will explain it by a simple experiment4 ,i have here a round lump of stiff dough1 in which ,i have made a small hollow and blackened the bottom with a drop of ink4 ,as ,i turn this round1 so that the hollow facing you moves from right to left1 you will see that after it passes the middle of the face1 the hole appears narrower and narrower till it disappears1 and if you observe carefully you will note that the dark centre is the first thing you lose sight of1 while the edges of the cup are still seen1 till just before the spot disappears altogether4 ,but now ,i will stick a wafer on1 and a pea half into1 the dough1 marking the centre of each with ink4 ,then ,i turn the ball again4 ,this time you lose sight of the foremost edge first1 and the dark centre is seen almost to the last moment4 ,this shows that if the spots were either flat marks1 or hillocks1 on the sun's face1 the dark centre would remain to the last1 but as a fact it disappears before the rim4 ,father ,secchi has tried to measure the depth of a spot-cavity1 and thinks they vary from #ajjj to #cjjj miles deep4 ,but there are many difficulties in interpreting the effects of light and shadow at such an enormous distance1 and some astronomers still doubt whether spots are really depressions4 ,for many centuries now the spots have been watched forming and dispersing1 and this is roughly speaking what is seen to happen4 ,when the sun is fairly clear and there are few spots1 these generally form quietly1 several black dots appearing and disappearing with bright streaks or faculae round their edge1 till one grows bigger than the rest1 and forms a large dark nucleus1 round which1 after a time1 a half-shadow or penumbra is seen and we have a sun-spot complete1 with bright edges1 dark shadow1 and deep black centre 7,fig4 #eb74 ,this lasts for a certain time and then it becomes bridged over with light streaks1 the dark spot breaks up and disappears1 and last of all the half-shadow dies away4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #eb4 ,a quiet sun-spot4 7,secchi47 ,but things do not always take place so quietly4 ,when the sun's face is very troubled and full of spots1 the bright faculae1 which appear with a spot1 seem to heave and wave1 and generally several dark centres form with whirling masses of light round them1 while in some of them tongues of fire appear to leap up from below 7,fig4 #ec74 ,such spots change quickly from day to day1 even if they remain for a long time1 until at last by degrees the dark centres become less distinct1 the half-shadows disappear1 leaving only the bright streaks1 which gradually settle down into luminous points or light granules4 ,these light granules are in fact supposed by astronomers to be the tips of glowing clouds heaving up everywhere1 while the dark spaces between them are cooler currents passing downwards4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ec4 ,a tumultuous sun-spot4 7,langley47 ,below these clouds1 no doubt1 the great mass of the sun is in a violent state of heat and commotion1 and when from time to time1 whether suddenly or steadily1 great upheavals and eruptions take place1 bright flames dart up and luminous clouds gather and swell1 so that long streaks or faculae surge upon the face of the sun4 ,now these hot gases rising up thus on all sides would leave room below for cooler gases to pour down from above1 and these1 as we know1 would cut off1 or absorb1 much of the light coming from the body of the sun1 so that the centre1 where the down current was the strongest1 would appear black even though some light would pass through4 ,this is the best explanation we have as yet of the formation of a sun-spot1 and many facts shown in the spectroscope help to confirm it1 as for example the thickening of the dark lines of the spectrum when the slit is placed over the centre of a spot1 and the flashing out of bright lines when an uprush of streaks occurs either across the spots or round it4 ,and now1 before you go1 ,i must tell you of one of these wonderful uprushes1 which sent such a thrill through our own atmosphere1 as to tell us very plainly the power which the sun has over our globe4 ,the year #ahei was remarkable for sun-spots1 and on ,september #a1 when two astronomers many miles apart were examining them1 they both saw1 all at once1 a sudden cloud of light far brighter than the general surface of the sun burst out in the midst of a group of spots4 ,the outburst began at eight minutes past eleven in the forenoon1 and in five minutes it was gone again1 but in that time it had swept across a space of #ce1jjj miles on the sun6 ,now both before and after this violent outburst took place a magnetic storm raged all round the earth1 brilliant auroras were seen in all parts of the world1 sparks flashed from the telegraph wires1 and the telegraphic signalmen at ,washington and ,philadelphia received severe electric shocks4 ,messages were interrupted1 for the storm took possession of the wires and sent messages of its own1 the magnetic needles darting to and fro as though seized with madness4 ,at the very instant when the bright outburst was seen in the sun1 the self-registering instruments at ,kew marked how three needles jerked all at once wildly aside2 and the following night the skies were lit up with wondrous lights as the storm of electric agitation played round the earth4 ,we are so accustomed to the steady glow of sunshine pouring down upon us that we pay very little heed to daylight1 though ,i hope none of us are quite so ignorant as the man who praised the moon above the sun1 because it shone in the dark night1 whereas the sun came in the daytime when there was light enough already6 ,yet probably many of us do not actually realise how close are the links which bind us to our brilliant star as he carries us along with him through space4 ,it is only when an unusual outburst occurs1 such as ,i have just described1 that we feel how every thrill which passes through our atmosphere1 through the life-current of every plant1 and through the fibre and nerve of every animal has some relation to the huge source of light1 heat1 electricity1 and magnetism at which we are now gazing across a space of more than #ic1jjj1jjj miles4 ,yet it is well to remember that the sudden storm and the violent eruption are the exceptional occurrences1 and that their use to us as students is chiefly to lead us to understand the steady and constant thrill which1 never ceasing1 never faltering1 fulfils the great purpose of the unseen ,lawgiver in sustaining all movement and life in our little world4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,an ,,evening ,,among ,,the ,,stars ,illustration ,do you love the stars8 asked the magician of his lads1 as they crowded round him on the college green1 one evening in ,march1 to look through his portable telescope4 ,have you ever sat at the window on a clear frosty night1 or in the garden in summer1 and looked up at those wondrous lights in the sky1 pondering what they are1 and what purpose they serve8 ,i will confess to you that when ,i lived in ,london ,i did not think much about the stars1 for in the streets very few can be seen at a time even on a clear night2 and during the long evenings in summer1 when town people visit the country1 you must stay up late to see a brilliant display of starlight4 ,it is when driving or walking across country on a winter's evening week after week1 and looking all round the sky1 that the glorious suns of heaven force you to take notice of them2 and ,orion becomes a companion with his seven brilliant stars and his magnificent nebula1 which appears as a small pale blue patch1 to eyes accustomed to look for it1 when the night is very bright and clear4 ,it is then that ,charles's ,wain becomes quite a study in all its different positions1 its horses now careering upwards1 now plunging downwards1 while the waggon1 whether upwards or downwards1 points ever true1 by the two stars of its tail-board1 to the steadfast pole-star4 ,it is on such nights as these that1 looking southward from ,orion1 we recognise the dog-star ,sirius1 bright long before other stars have conquered the twilight1 and feast our eye upon his glorious white beams2 and then1 turning northwards1 are startled by the soft lustrous sheen of ,vega just appearing above the horizon4 ,but stop1 ,i must remember that ,i have not yet introduced you to these groups of stars2 and moreover that1 though we shall find them now in the positions ,i mention1 yet if you look for them a few hours later to-night1 or at the same hour later in the year1 you will not find them in the same places in the sky4 ,for as our earth turns daily on its axis1 the stars appear to alter their position hour by hour1 and in the same way as we travel yearly on our journey round the sun1 they appear to move in the sky month by month4 ,yet with a little practice it is easy to recognise the principal stars1 for1 as it is our movement and not theirs which makes us see them in different parts of the sky1 they always remain in the same position with regard to each other4 ,in a very short time1 with the help of such a book as ,proctor's ,star ,atlas2 you could pick out all the chief constellations and most conspicuous stars for yourselves4 ,one of the best ways is to take note of the stars each night as they creep out one by one after sunset4 ,if you take your place at the window to-morrow night as the twilight fades away1 you will see them gradually appear1 now in one part1 now in another of the sky1 as ,one by one each little star ,sits on its golden throne4 ,the first to appear will be ,sirius or the dog-star 7see ,fig4 #ed71 that pure white star which you can observe now rather low down to the south1 and which belongs to the constellation ,canis ,major4 ,as ,sirius is one of the most brilliant stars in the sky1 he can be seen very soon after the sun is gone at this time of year4 ,if1 however1 you had any doubt as to what star he was1 you would not doubt long1 for in a little while two beautiful stars start into view above him more to the west1 and between them three smaller ones in a close row1 forming the cross in the constellation of ,orion1 which is always very easy to recognise4 ,now the three stars of ,orion's belt which make the short piece of the cross always point to ,sirius1 while ,betelgeux in his right shoulder1 and ,rigel in his left foot 7see ,figs4 #ed and #ee71 complete the long piece1 and these all show very early in the twilight4 ,you would have to wait longer for the other two leading stars1 ,bellatrix in the right shoulder and ,greek3 k ,orionis in the right leg1 for these stars are feebler and only seen when the light has faded quite away4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ed4 ,some of the constellations seen when looking south in ,march from six to nine o'clock4 ,by that time you would see that there are an immense number of stars in ,orion visible even to the naked eye1 besides the veil of misty1 tiny stars called the ,milky ,way which passes over his arm and club4 ,yet the figure of the huntsman is very difficult to trace1 and the seven bright stars1 the five of the cross and those in the left arm and knee1 are all you need remember4 ,no6 not altogether all1 for on a bright clear night like this you can detect a faint greenish blue patch 7,n1 ,fig4 #ed7 just below the belt1 and having a bright star in the centre4 ,this is called the ,great ,nebula or mist of ,orion 7see ,frontispiece74 ,with your telescopes it looks very small indeed1 for only the central and brightest part is seen4 ,really1 however1 it is so widespread that our whole solar system is as nothing compared to it4 ,but even your telescopes will show1 somewhere near the centre1 what appears to be a bright and very beautiful star 7see ,fig4 #ee7 surrounded by a darker space than the rest of the nebula1 while in my telescope you will see many stars scattered over the mist4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ee4 ,chief stars of ,orion1 with ,aldebaran4 7,after ,proctor47 ,now first let me tell you that these last stars do not1 so far as we know1 lie in the nebula1 but are scattered about in the heavens between us and it1 perhaps millions of miles nearer our earth4 ,but with the bright star in the centre it is different1 for the spectroscope tells us that the mist passes over it1 so that it is either behind or in the nebula4 ,moreover1 this star is very interesting1 for it is not really one star1 but six arranged in a group 7see ,fig4 #ef74 ,you can see four distinctly through my telescope1 forming a trapezium or four-sided figure1 and more powerful instruments show two smaller ones4 ,so ,greek3 th ,orionis1 or the ,trapezium of ,orion1 is a multiple star1 probably lying in the midst of the nebula4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ef4 ,the trapezium1 ,greek3 th ,orionis1 in the nebula of ,orion4 7,herschel47 ,the next question is1 ,what is the mist itself composed of8 ,for a long time telescopes could give us no answer4 ,at last one night ,lord ,rosse1 looking through his giant telescope at the densest part of the nebula1 saw myriads of minute stars which had never been seen before4 ,then1 you will say1 it is after all only a cluster of stars too small for our telescopes to distinguish4 ,wait a bit2 it is always dangerous to draw hasty conclusions from single observations4 ,what ,lord ,rosse said was true as to that particular part of the nebula1 but not the whole truth even there1 and not at all true of other parts1 as the spectroscope tells us4 ,for though the light of nebulae1 or luminous mists1 is so faint that a spectrum can only be got by most delicate operations1 yet ,dr4 ,huggins has succeeded in examining several4 ,among these is the nebula of ,orion1 and we now know that when the light of the mist is spread out it gives1 not a continuous band of colour such as would be given by stars1 but faint coloured lines on a dark ground 7see ,fig4 #eg74 ,such lines as these we have already learnt are always given by gases1 and the particular bright lines thrown by ,orion's nebula answer to those given by nitrogen and hydrogen1 and some other unknown gases4 ,so we learn at last that the true mist of the nebula is formed of glowing gas1 while parts have probably a great number of minute stars in them4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #eg4 ,nebula-spectrum4 ,sun-spectrum4 ,spectrum of ,orion's ,nebula1 showing bright lines1 with sun-spectrum below for comparison4 ,till within a very short time ago only those people who had access to very powerful telescopes could see the real appearance of ,orion1 for drawings made of it were necessarily very imperfect2 but now that telescopes have been made expressly for carrying photographic appliances1 even these faint mists print their own image for us4 ,in #ahhj ,professor ,draper of ,america photographed the nebula of ,orion1 in ,march #ahha ,mr4 ,common got a still better effect1 and last year ,mr4 ,isaac ,roberts succeeded in taking the most perfect and beautiful photograph#a yet obtained1 in which the true beauty of this wonderful mist stands out clearly4 ,i have marked on the edge of our copy two points ,greek3 th and ,greek3 th'1 and if you follow out straight lines from these points till they meet1 you will arrive at the spot where the multiple star lies4 ,it cannot1 however1 be seen here1 because the plate was exposed for three hours and a half1 and after a time the mist prints itself so densely as to smother the light of the stars4 ,look well at this photograph when you go indoors and fix it on your memory1 and then on clear nights accustom your eye to find the nebula below the three stars of the belt1 for it tells a wonderful story4 #a ,reproduced in the ,frontispiece with ,mr4 ,roberts's kind permission4 ,the star-halo at the top of the plate is caused by diffraction of light in the telescope1 and comes only from an ordinary star4 ,more than a hundred years ago the great ,german philosopher ,kant suggested that our sun1 our earth1 and all the heavenly bodies might have begun as gases1 and the astronomer ,laplace taught this as the most likely history of their formation4 ,after a few years1 however1 when powerful telescopes showed that many of the nebulae were only clusters of very minute stars1 astronomers thought that ,laplace's teaching had been wrong4 ,but now the spectroscope has revealed to us glowing gas actually filling large spaces in the sky1 and every year accurate observations and experiments tell us more and more about these marvellous distant mists4 ,some day1 though perhaps not while you or ,i are here to know it1 ,orion's nebula1 with its glowing gas and minute star-dust1 may give some clue to the early history of the heavenly bodies2 and for this reason ,i wish you to recognise and ponder over it1 as ,i have often done1 when it shines down on the rugged moor in the stillness of a clear frosty winter's night4 ,but we must pass on for1 while ,i have been talking1 the whole sky has become bespangled with hundreds of stars4 ,that glorious one to the west1 which you can find by following 7,fig4 #ed7 a curved line upwards from ,betelgeux1 is the beautiful red star ,aldebaran or the hindmost2 so called by the ,arabs1 because he drives before him that well-known cluster1 the ,pleiades1 which we reach by continuing the curve westwards and upwards4 ,stop to look at this cluster through your telescopes1 for it will delight you2 even with the naked eye you can count from six to ten stars in it1 and an opera-glass will show about thirty1 though they are so scattered you will have to move the glass about to find them4 ,yet though my telescope shows a great many more1 you cannot even count all the chief ones through it1 for in powerful telescopes more than #fjj stars have been seen in the single cluster6 while a photograph taken by ,mr4 ,roberts shows also four lovely patches of nebula4 ,and now from the ,pleiades let us pass on directly overhead to the beautiful star ,capella1 which once was red but now is blue1 and drop down gently to the south-east1 where ,castor and ,pollux1 the two most prominent stars in the constellation ,gemini or the twins1 show brilliantly against the black sky4 ,pause here a moment1 for ,i want to tell you something about ,castor1 the one nearest to ,capella4 ,if you look at ,castor through your telescopes1 some of you may possibly guess that it is really two stars1 but you will have to look through mine to see it clearly4 ,these two stars have been watched carefully for many years1 and there is now no doubt that one of them is moving slowly round the other4 ,such stars as these are called binary1 to distinguish them from stars that merely appear double because they stand nearly in a line one behind the other in the heavens1 although they may be millions of miles apart4 ,but binary stars are actually moving in one system1 and revolve round each other as our earth moves round the sun4 ,i wonder if it strikes you what a grand discovery this is8 ,you will remember that it is gravitation which keeps the moon held to the earth so that it moves round in a circle1 and which keeps the earth and other planets moving round the sun4 ,but till these binary stars were discovered we had no means of guessing that this law had any force beyond our own solar system4 ,now1 however1 we learn that the same law and order which reigns in our small group of planets is in action billions of miles away among distant suns1 so that they are held together and move round each other as our earth moves round our sun4 ,i will repeat to you what ,sir ,r4 ,ball1 the ,astronomer-,royal of ,ireland1 says about this1 for his words have remained in my mind ever since ,i read them1 and ,i should like them to linger in yours till you are old enough to feel their force and grandeur4 ,this discovery1 he writes1 gave us knowledge we could have gained from no other source4 ,from the binary stars came a whisper across the vast abyss of space4 ,that whisper told us that the law of gravitation is not peculiar to the solar system4 ,it gives us grounds for believing that it is obeyed throughout the length1 the breadth1 the depth1 and the height of the entire universe4#a #a ,the ,story of the ,heavens4 ,and now1 leaving ,castor and going round to the east1 we pass through the constellation ,leo or the ,lion1 and ,i want you particularly to notice six stars in the shape of a sickle1 which form the front part of the lion1 the brightest1 called ,regulus1 being the end of the handle4#a ,this sickle is very interesting1 because it marks the part of the heavens from which the brilliant shower of ,november meteors radiates once in thirty-three years4 ,this is1 however1 too long a story to be told to-night1 so we will pass through ,leo1 and turning northwards1 look high up in the north-east 7,fig4 #eh71 where ,charles's ,wain stretches far across the sky4 ,i need not point this out to you1 for every country lad knows and delights in it4 ,you could not have seen it in the twilight when ,sirius first shone out1 for these stars are not so powerful as he is4 ,but they come out very soon after him1 and when once fairly bright1 the four stars which form the waggon1 wider at the top than at the bottom1 can never be mistaken1 and the three stars in front1 the last bending below the others1 are just in the right position for the horses4 ,for this reason ,i prefer the country people's name of ,charles's ,wain or ,waggon to that of the ,plough1 which astronomers generally give to these seven stars4 ,they really form part of an enormous constellation called the ,great ,bear 7,fig4 #ei71 but1 as in the case of ,orion1 it is very difficult to make out the whole of ,bruin in the sky4 #a ,in ,fig4 #ed the sickle alone comes within the picture4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #eh4 ,some of the constellations seen when looking north in ,march from six to nine o'clock4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ei4 ,the ,great ,bear1 showing the position of ,charles's ,wain1 and also the small binary star ,greek3 x in the hind foot1 whose period has been determined4 ,now1 although most people know ,charles's ,wain when they see it1 we may still learn a good deal about it4 ,look carefully at the second star from the waggon and you will see another star close to it1 called by country people ,jack by the second horse1 and by astronomers ,alcor4 ,even in your small telescopes you can see that ,jack or ,alcor is not so close as he appears to the naked eye1 but a long way off from the horse1 while in my telescope you will find this second horse 7called ,mizar7 split up into two stars1 one a brilliant white and the other a pale emerald green4 ,we do not know whether these two form a binary1 for they have not yet been observed to move round each other4 ,take care in looking that you do not confuse the stars one with another1 for you must remember that your telescope makes objects appear upside down1 and ,alcor will therefore appear in it below the two stars forming the horse4 ,but though we do not know whether ,mizar is binary1 there is a little star a long way below the waggon1 in the left hind paw of the ,great ,bear 7,greek3 x1 ,figs4 #eh and #ei71 which has taught us a great deal1 for it is composed of two stars1 one white and the other grey1 which move right round each other once in sixty years1 so that astronomers have observed more than one revolution since powerful telescopes were invented4 ,you will have to look in my telescope to see the two stars divided1 but you can make an interesting observation for yourselves by comparing the light of this binary star with the light of ,castor1 for ,castor is such an immense distance from us that his light takes more than a hundred years to reach us1 while the light of this smaller star comes in sixty-one years1 yet see how incomparably brighter ,castor is of the two4 ,this proves that brilliant stars are not always the nearest1 but that a near star may be small and faint and a far-off one large and bright4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fj4 ,the seven stars of ,charles's ,wain1 showing the directions in which they are travelling4 7,after ,proctor47 ,there is another very interesting fact known to us about ,charles's ,wain which ,i should like you to remember when you look at it4 ,this is that the seven stars are travelling onwards in the sky1 and not all in the same direction4 ,it was already suspected centuries ago that1 besides the apparent motion of all the stars in the heavens caused by our own movements1 they have each also a real motion and are travelling in space1 though they are so inconceivably far off that we do not notice it4 ,it has now been proved1 by very accurate observations with powerful instruments1 that three of the stars forming the waggon and the two horses nearest to it1 together with ,jack1 are drifting forwards 7see ,fig4 #fj71 while the top star of the tailboard of the waggon and the leader of the horses are drifting the other way4 ,thus1 thousands of years hence ,charles's ,wain will most likely have quite altered its shape1 though so very slowly that each generation will think it is unchanged4 ,one more experiment with ,charles's ,wain1 before we leave it1 will help you to imagine the endless millions of stars which fill the universe4 ,look up at the waggon and try to count how many stars you can see inside it with the naked eye4 ,you may1 if your eye is keen1 be able to count twelve4 ,now take an opera-glass and the twelve become two hundred4 ,with your telescopes they will increase again in number4 ,in my telescope upstairs the two hundred become hundreds1 while in one of the giant telescopes1 such as ,lord ,rosse's in ,ireland1 or the great telescope at ,washington in the ,united ,states1 thousands of stars are brought into view within that four-sided space6 ,now this part of the sky is not fuller of stars than many others2 yet at first1 looking up as any one might on a clear evening1 we thought only twelve were there4 ,cast your eyes all round the heavens4 ,on a clear night like this you may perhaps1 with the naked eye1 have in view about #cjjj stars2 then consider that a powerful telescope can multiply these by thousands upon thousands1 so that we can reckon about #bj1jjj1jjj where you see only #cjjj4 ,if you add to these the stars that rise later at night1 and those of the southern hemisphere which never rise in our latitude1 you would have in all about #ej1jjj1jjj stars1 which we are able to see from our tiny world through our most powerful telescopes4 ,but we can go farther yet4 ,when our telescopes fail1 we turn to our other magic seer1 the photographic camera1 and trapping rays of light from stars invisible in the most powerful telescope1 make them print their image on the photographic plate1 and at once our numbers are so enormously increased that if we could photograph the whole of the heavens as visible from our earth1 we should have impressions of at least #agj1jjj1jjj stars6 ,these numbers are so difficult to grasp that we had better pass on to something easier1 and our next step brings us to the one star in the heavens which never appears to move1 as our world turns4 ,to find it we have only to draw a line upwards through the two stars in the tailboard of the waggon and on into space4 ,indeed these two stars are called the ,pointers1 because a line prolonged onwards from them will1 with a very slight curve1 bring us to the ,pole-star 7see ,fig4 #eh74 ,this star1 though not one of the largest1 is important1 because it is very near that spot in the sky towards which the ,north ,pole of our earth points4 ,the consequence is1 that though all the other stars appear to move in a circle round the heavens1 and to be in different places at different seasons1 this star remains always in the same place1 only appearing to describe a very tiny circle in the sky round the exact spot to which our ,north ,pole points4 ,month after month and year after year it shines exactly over that thatched cottage yonder1 which you see now immediately below it2 and wherever you are in the northern hemisphere1 if you once note a certain tree1 or chimney1 or steeple which points upwards to the ,pole-star1 it will guide you to it at any hour on any night of the year1 though the other constellations will be now on one side1 now on the other side of it4 ,the ,pole-star is really the front horse of a small imitation of ,charles's ,wain1 which1 however1 has never been called by any special name1 but only part of the ,little ,bear4 ,those two hind stars of the tiny waggon1 which are so much the brightest1 are called the ,guards1 because they appear to move in a circle round the ,pole-star night after night and year after year like sentries4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fa4 ,the constellation of ,cassiopeia1 and the heavenly bodies which can be found by means of it4#a #a ,for ,almach see ,fig4 #eh1 it has been accidentally omitted from this figure4 ,opposite to them1 on the farther side of the ,pole-star1 is a well-marked constellation1 a widespread ,w written in the sky by five large stars2 the second ,v of the ,w has rather a longer point than the first1 and as we see it now the letter is almost upside down 7see ,fig4 #eh74 ,these are the five brightest stars in the constellation ,cassiopeia1 with a sixth not quite so bright in the third stroke of the ,w4 ,you can never miss them when you have once seen them1 even though they lie in the midst of a dense layer of the stars of the ,milky ,way1 and if you have any difficulty at first1 you have only to look as far on the one side of the ,pole-star as the top hind star of ,charles's ,wain is on the other1 and you must find them4 ,i want to use them to-night chiefly as guides to find two remarkable objects which ,i hope you will look at again and again4 ,the first is a small round misty patch not easy to see1 but which you will find by following out the second stroke of the first ,v of the ,w4 ,beginning at the top1 and following the line to the point of the ,v1 continue on across the sky1 and then search with your telescope till you catch a glimpse of this faint mist 7c1 ,fig4 #eh2 star-cluster1 ,fig4 #fa74 ,you will see at once that it is sparkling all over with stars1 for in fact you have actually before you in that tiny cluster more stars than you can see with the naked eye all over the heavens6 ,think for a moment what this means4 ,one faint misty spot in the constellation ,perseus1 which we should have passed over unheeded without a telescope1 proves to be a group of more than #cjjj suns6 ,the second object you will find more easily1 for it is larger and brighter1 and appears as a faint dull spot to the naked eye4 ,going back to ,cassiopeia1 follow out the second ,v in the ,w from the top to the point of the ,v and onwards till your eye rests upon this misty cloud1 which is called the ,great ,nebula of ,andromeda1 and has sometimes been mistaken for a comet 7,figs4 #eh and #fa74 ,you will1 however1 be disappointed when you look through the telescope1 for it will still only appear a mist1 and you will be able to make nothing of it1 except that instead of being of an irregular shape like ,orion1 it is elliptical2 and in a powerful telescope two dark rifts can be seen separating the streams of nebulous matter4 ,these rifts are now shown in a photograph taken by ,mr4 ,roberts1 #ast ,october #ahhh1 to be two vast dusky rings lying between the spiral stream of light1 which winds in an ellipse till it ends in a small nucleus at the centre4 ,ah6 you will say1 this must be a cloud of gas like ,orion's nebula1 only winding round and round4 ,no6 the spectroscope steps in here and tells us that the light shows something very much like a continuous spectrum1 but not as long as it ought to be at the red end4 ,now1 since gases give only bright lines1 this nebula cannot be entirely gaseous4 ,then it must be made of stars too far off to see8 ,if so1 it is very strange that though it is so dense and bright in some parts1 and so spread out and clear in others1 the most powerful telescopes cannot break it up into stars4 ,in fact1 the composition of the great nebula of ,andromeda is still a mystery1 and remains for one of you boys to study when he has become a great astronomer4 ,still one more strange star we will notice before we leave this part of the heavens4 ,you will find it1 or at least go very near it1 by continuing northwards the line you drew from ,cassiopeia to the ,star ,cluster 7c1 ,fig4 #eh71 and as it is a bright star1 you will not miss it4 ,that is to say1 it is bright to-night and will remain so till to-morrow night1 but if you come to me about nine o'clock to-morrow evening ,i will show you that it is growing dim1 and if we had patience to watch through the night we should find1 three or four hours later still1 that it looks like one of the smaller stars4 ,then it will begin to brighten again1 and in four hours more will be as bright as at first4 ,it will remain so for nearly three days1 or1 to speak accurately1 #b days1 #bj hours1 #dh minutes1 and #ee seconds1 and then will begin to grow dull again4 ,this star is called ,algol the ,variable4 ,there are several such stars in the heavens1 and we do not know why they vary1 unless perhaps some dark globe passes round them1 cutting off part of their light for a time4 ,and now1 if your eyes are not weary1 let us go back to the ,pole-star and draw a line from it straight down the horizon due north4 ,shortly before we arrive there you will see a very brilliant bluish-white star a little to the east of this line4 ,this is ,vega1 one of the brightest stars in the heavens except ,sirius4 ,it had not risen in the earlier part of the evening1 but now it is well up and will appear to go on1 steadily mounting as it circles round the ,pole-star1 till at four o'clock to-morrow morning it will be right overhead towards the south4 ,but beautiful as ,vega is1 a still more interesting star lies close to it 7see ,fig4 #eh74 ,this small star1 called ,greek3 e ,lyrae by astronomers1 looks a little longer in one direction than in the other1 and even with the naked eye some people can see a division in the middle dividing it into two stars4 ,your telescopes will show them easily1 and a powerful telescope tells a wonderful story1 for it reveals that each of these two stars is again composed of two stars1 so that ,greek3 e ,lyrae 7,fig4 #fb7 is really a double-double star4 ,there is no doubt that each pair is a binary star1 that is1 the two stars move round each other very slowly1 and possibly both pairs may also revolve round a common centre4 ,there are at least #aj1jjj double stars in the heavens2 though1 as we have seen1 they are not all binary4 ,the list of binary stars1 however1 increases every year as they are carefully examined1 and probably about one star in three over the whole sky is made up of more than one sun4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fb4 ,greek3 e ,lyrae4 ,a double-binary star4 ,each couple revolves1 and the couples probably also revolve round each other4 7,after ,chambers47 ,let us turn the telescope for a short time upon a few of the double stars and we shall have a great treat1 for one of the most interesting facts about them is that both stars are rarely of the same colour4 ,it seems strange at first to speak of stars as coloured1 but they do not by any means all give out the same kind of light4 ,our sun is yellow1 and so are the ,pole-star and ,pollux2 but ,sirius1 ,vega1 and ,regulus are dazzling white or bluish-white1 ,arcturus is a yellowish-white1 ,aldebaran is a bright yellow-red1 ,betelgeux a deep orange-red1 as you may see now in the telescope1 for he is full in view2 while ,antares1 a star in the constellation of the ,scorpion1 which at this time of year cannot be seen till four in the morning1 is an intense ruby red4 ,illustration3 ,plate ,,ii4 ,,coloured ,,double ,,stars4 ,illustration3 ,greek3 g ,andromedae4 ,illustration3 ,greek3 e ,booetis4 ,illustration3 ,greek3 d ,geminorum4 ,illustration3 ,greek3 a ,herculis4 ,illustration3 ,greek3 b ,cygni4 ,illustration3 ,greek3 e ,cassiopeiae4 ,it appears to be almost a rule with double stars to be of two colours4 ,look up at ,almach 7,greek3 g ,andromedae71 a bright star standing next to ,algol the ,variable in the sweep of four bright stars behind ,cassiopeia 7see ,fig4 #eh74 ,even to the naked eye he appears to flash in a strange way1 and in the telescope he appears as two lovely stars1 one a deep orange and the other a pale green1 while in powerful telescopes the green one splits again into two 7,plate ,,ii47 ,then again1 ,greek3 e ,cassiopeae1 the sixth star lying between the two large ones in the second ,v of ,cassiopeia1 divides into a yellow star and a small rich purple one1 and ,greek3 d ,geminorum1 a bright star not far from ,pollux in the constellation ,gemini1 is composed of a large green star and a small purple one4 ,another very famous double star 7,greek3 b ,cygni71 which rises only a little later in the evening1 lies below ,vega a little to the left4 ,it is composed of two lovely stars2 one an orange yellow and the other blue2 while ,greek3 e ,booetis1 just visible above the horizon1 is composed of a large yellow star and a very small green one4#a #a ,the plate of coloured stars has been most kindly drawn to scale and coloured for me by ,mr4 ,arthur ,cottam1 ,f4,r4,a4,s4 ,there are many other stars of two colours even among the few constellations we have picked out to-night1 as1 for example1 the star at the top of the tailboard of ,charles's ,waggon and the second horse ,mizar4 ,rigel in ,orion1 and the two outer stars of the belt1 ,greek3 a ,herculis1 which will rise later in the evening1 and the beautiful triple star 7,greek3 z ,cancer7 near the ,beehive 7see ,fig4 #ed71 are all composed of two or more stars of different colours4 ,why do these suns give out such beautiful coloured light8 ,the telescope cannot tell us1 but the spectroscope again reveals the secrets so long hidden from us4 ,by a series of very delicate experiments1 ,dr4 ,huggins has shown that the light of all stars is sifted before it comes to us1 just as the light of our sun is2 and those rays which are least cut off play most strongly on our eyes1 and give the colour to the star4 ,the question is a difficult one but ,i will try to give you some idea of it1 that you may form some picture in your mind of what happens4 ,we learnt in our last lecture 7p4 #aca7 that the light from our sun passes through the great atmosphere of vapours surrounding him before it goes out into space1 and that many rays are in this way cut off2 so that when we spread out his light in a long spectrum there are dark lines or spaces where no light falls4#a ,now in sunlight these dark lines are scattered pretty evenly over the spectrum1 so that about as much light is cut off in one part as in another1 and no one colour is stronger than the rest4 #a ,see ,no4 #a in ,table of ,spectra1 ,plate ,i4 ,dr4 ,huggins found1 however1 that in coloured stars the dark spaces are often crowded into particular parts of the long band of colour forming the spectrum2 showing that many of those light-rays have been cut off in the atmosphere round the star1 and thus their particular colours are dimmed1 leaving the other colour or colours more vivid4 ,in red stars1 for example1 the yellow1 blue1 and green parts of the spectrum are much lined while the red end is strong and clear4 ,with blue stars it is just the opposite1 and the violet end is most free from dark lines4 ,so there are really brilliantly coloured suns shining in the heavens1 and in many cases two or more of these revolve round each other4 ,and now ,i have kept your attention and strained your eyes long enough1 and you have objects to study for many a long evening before you will learn to see them plainly4 ,you must not expect to find them every night1 for the lightest cloud or the faintest moonlight will hide many of them from view2 and1 moreover1 though you may learn to use the telescope fairly1 you will often not know how to get a clear view with it4 ,still1 you may learn a great deal1 and before we go in ,i want to put a thought into your minds which will make astronomy still more interesting4 ,we have seen that the stronger our telescopes the more stars1 star-clusters1 and nebulae we see1 and we cannot doubt that there are still countless heavenly bodies quite unknown to us4 ,some years ago ,bessel the astronomer found that ,sirius1 in its real motion through the heavens1 moves irregularly1 travelling sometimes a little more slowly than at other times1 and he suggested that some unseen companion must be pulling at him4 ,twenty-eight years later1 in #ahfb1 two celebrated opticians1 father and son1 both named ,alvan ,clark1 were trying a new telescope at ,chicago ,university1 when suddenly the son1 who was looking at ,sirius1 exclaimed1 ,why1 father1 the star has a companion6 ,and so it was4 ,the powerful telescope showed what ,bessel had foretold1 and proved ,sirius to be a binary star--that is1 as we have seen1 a star which has another moving round it4 ,it has since been proved that this companion is twenty-eight times farther from ,sirius than we are from our sun1 and moves round him in about forty-nine years4 ,it is seven times as heavy as our sun1 and yet gives out so little light that only the keenest telescopes can bring it into view4 ,now if such a large body as this can give so very faint a light that we can scarcely see it1 though ,sirius1 which is close to it1 shines brightest of any star in the heavens1 how many more bodies must there be which we shall never see1 even among those which give out light1 while how many there are dark like our earth1 who can tell8 ,now that we know each of the stars to be a brilliant sun1 many of them far1 far brighter than ours1 yet so like in their nature and laws1 we can scarcely help speculating whether round these glorious suns1 worlds of some kind may not be moving4 ,if so1 and there are people in them1 what a strange effect those double coloured suns must produce with red daylight one day and blue daylight another6 ,surely1 as we look up at the myriads of stars bespangling the sky1 and remember that our star-sun has seven planets moving round it of which one at least--our own earth--is full of living beings1 we must picture these glorious suns as the centres of unseen systems1 so that those twinkling specks become as suggestive as the faint lights of a great fleet far out at sea1 which tell us of mighty ships1 together with frigates and gunboats1 full of living beings1 though we cannot see them1 nor even guess what they may be like4 ,how insignificant we feel when we look upon that starlit sky and remember that the whole of our solar system would be but a tiny speck of light if seen as far off as we see the stars6 ,if our little earth and our short life upon it were all we could boast of we should be mites indeed4 ,but our very study to-night lifts us above these and reminds us that there is a spirit within us which even now can travel beyond the narrow bounds of our globe1 measure the vast distances between us and the stars1 gauge their brightness1 estimate their weight1 and discern their movements4 ,as we gaze into the depths of the starlit sky1 and travel onwards and onwards in imagination to those distant stars which photography alone reveals to us1 do not our hearts leap at the thought of a day which must surely come when1 fettered and bound no longer to earth1 this spirit shall wander forth and penetrate some of the mystery of those mighty suns at which we now gaze in silent awe4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,little ,,beings ,,from ,a ,,miniature ,,ocean ,illustration ,in our last lecture we soared far away into boundless space1 and lost ourselves for a time among seen and unseen suns4 ,in this lecture we will come back not merely to our little world1 nor even to one of the widespread oceans which cover so much of it1 but to one single pool lying just above the limits of low tide1 so that it is only uncovered for a very short time every day4 ,this pool is to be found in a secluded bay within an hour's journey by train from this college1 and only a few miles from ,torquay4 ,it has no name1 so far as ,i know1 nor do many people visit it1 otherwise ,i should not have kept my little pool so long undisturbed4 ,as it is1 however1 for many years past ,i have had only to make sure as to the time of low tide1 and put myself in the train2 and then1 unless the sea was very rough and stormy1 ,i could examine the little inhabitants of my miniature ocean in peace4 ,the pool lies in a deep hollow among a group of rocks and boulders1 close to the entrance of the cove1 which can only be entered at low water2 it does not measure more than two feet across1 so that you can step over it1 if you take care not to slip on the masses of green and brown seaweed growing over the rocks on its sides1 as ,i have done many a time when collecting specimens for our salt-water aquarium4 ,i find now the only way is to lie flat down on the rock1 so that my hands and eyes are free to observe and handle1 and then1 bringing my eye down to the edge of the pool1 to lift the seaweeds and let the sunlight enter into the chinks and crannies4 ,in this way ,i can catch sight of many a small being either on the seaweed or the rocky ledges1 and even creatures transparent as glass become visible by the thin outline gleaming in the sunlight4 ,then ,i pluck a piece of seaweed1 or chip off a fragment of rock with a sharp-edged collecting knife1 bringing away the specimen uninjured upon it1 and place it carefully in its own separate bottle to be carried home alive and well4 ,now though this little pool and ,i are old friends1 ,i find new treasures in it almost every time ,i go1 for it is almost as full of living things as the heavens are of stars1 and the tide as it comes and goes brings many a mother there to find a safe home for her little ones1 and many a waif and stray to seek shelter from the troublous life of the open ocean4 ,you will perhaps find it difficult to believe that in this rock-bound basin there can be millions of living creatures hidden away among the fine feathery weeds2 yet so it is4 ,not that they are always the same4 ,at one time it may be the home of myriads of infant crabs1 not an eighth of an inch long1 at another of baby sea-urchins only visible to the naked eye as minute spots in the water1 at another of young jelly-fish growing on their tiny stalks1 and splitting off one by one as transparent bells to float away with the rising tide4 ,or it may be that the whelk has chosen this quiet nook to deposit her leathery eggs2 or young barnacles1 periwinkles1 and limpets are growing up among the green and brown tangles1 while the far-sailing velella and the stay-at-home sea-squirts1 together with a variety of other sea-animals1 find a nursery and shelter in their youth in this quiet harbour of rest4 ,and besides these casual visitors there are numberless creatures which have lived and multiplied there1 ever since ,i first visited the pool4 ,tender red1 olive-coloured1 and green seaweeds1 stony corallines1 and acorn-barnacles lining the floor1 sea-anemones clinging to the sides1 sponges tiny and many-coloured hiding under the ledges1 and limpets and mussels wedged in the cracks4 ,these can be easily seen with the naked eye1 but they are not the most numerous inhabitants2 for these we must search with a magnifying-glass1 which will reveal to us wonderful fairy-forms1 delicate crystal vases with tiny creatures in them whose transparent lashes make whirlpools in the water1 living crystal bells so tiny that whole branches of them look only like a fringe of hair1 jelly globes rising and falling in the water1 patches of living jelly clinging to the rocky sides of the pool1 and a hundred other forms1 some so minute that you must examine the fine sand in which they lie under a powerful microscope before you can even guess that they are there4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fc4 ,group of seaweeds 7natural size74 #a1 ,ulva ,linza4 #b1 ,sphacelaria filicina4 #c1 ,polysiphonia urceolata4 #d1 ,corallina officinalis4 ,so it has proved a rich hunting-ground1 where summer and winter1 spring and autumn1 ,i find some form to put under my magic glass4 ,there ,i can watch it for weeks growing and multiplying under my care2 moved only from the aquarium1 where ,i keep it supplied with healthy sea-water1 to the tiny transparent trough in which ,i place it for a few hours to see the changes it has undergone4 ,i could tell you endless tales of transformations in these tiny lives1 but ,i want to-day to show you a few of my friends1 most of which ,i brought yesterday fresh from the pool1 and have prepared for you to examine4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fd4 ,ulva lactuca1 a green seaweed1 greatly magnified to show structure4 7,after ,oersted47 s1 ,spores in the cells4 ss1 ,spores swimming out4 h1 ,holes through which spores have escaped4 ,let us begin with seaweeds4 ,i have said that there are three leading colours in my pool--green1 olive1 and red--and these tints mark roughly three kinds of weed1 though they occur in an endless variety of shapes4 ,here is a piece of the beautiful pale green seaweed1 called the ,laver or ,sea-lettuce1 ,ulva ,linza 7#a1 ,fig4 #fc71 which grows in long ribbons in a sunny nook in the water4 ,i have placed under the first microscope a piece of this weed which is just sending out young seaweeds in the shape of tiny cells1 with lashes very like those we saw coming from the moss-flower1 and ,i have pressed them in the position in which they would naturally leave the plant 7ss1 ,fig4 #fd474a ,you will also see on this slide several cells in which these tiny spores s are forming1 ready to burst out and swim2 for this green weed is merely a collection of cells1 like the single-celled plants on land4 ,each cell can work as a separate plant2 it feeds1 grows1 and can send out its own young spores4 #a ,the slice given in ,fig4 #fd is from a broader-leaved form1 ,u4 lactuca1 because this species1 being composed of only one layer of cells1 is better seen4 ,ulva linza is composed of two layers of cells4 ,this deep olive-green feathery weed 7#b1 ,fig4 #fc71 of which a piece is magnified under the next microscope 7#b1 ,fig4 #fe71 is very different4 ,it is a higher plant1 and works harder for its living1 using the darker rays of sunlight which penetrate into shady parts of the pool4 ,so it comes to pass that its cells divide the work4 ,those of the feathery threads make the food1 while others1 growing on short stalks on the shafts of the feather make and send out the young spores4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fe4 ,three seaweeds of ,fig4 #fc much magnified to show fruits4 7,harvey47 #b1 ,sphacelaria filicina4 #c1 ,polysiphonia urceolata4 #d1 ,corallina officinalis4 ,lastly1 the lovely red threadlike weeds1 such as this ,polysiphonia urceolata 7#c1 ,fig4 #fc71 carry actual urns on their stems like those of mosses4 ,in fact1 the history of these urns 7see ,no4 #c1 ,fig4 #fe7 is much the same in the two classes of plants1 only that instead of the urn being pushed up on a thin stalk as in the moss1 it remains on the seaweed close down to the stem1 when it grows out of the plant-egg1 and the tiny plant is shut in till the spores are ready to swim out4 ,the stony corallines 7#d1 ,figs4 #fc and #fe71 which build so much carbonate of lime into their stems1 are near relations of the red seaweeds4 ,there are plenty of them in my pool4 ,some of them1 of a deep purple colour1 grow upright in stiff groups about three or four inches high2 and others1 which form crusts over the stones and weeds1 are a pale rose colour2 but both kinds1 when the plant dies1 leaving the stony skeleton 7#a1 ,fig4 #ff71 are a pure white1 and used to be mistaken for corals4 ,they belong to the same order of plants as the red weeds1 which all live in shady nooks in the pools1 and are the highest of their race4 ,my pool is full of different forms of these four weeds4 ,the green ribbons float on the surface rooted to the sides of the pool and1 as the sun shines upon it1 the glittering bubbles rising from them show that they are working up food out of the air in the water1 and giving off oxygen4 ,the brown weeds lie chiefly under the shelves of rocks1 for they can manage with less sunlight1 and use the darker rays which pass by the green weeds2 and last of all1 the red weeds and corallines1 small and delicate in form1 line the bottom of the pool in its darkest nooks4 ,and now if ,i hand round two specimens--one a coralline1 and the other something you do not yet know--,i am sure you will say at first sight that they belong to the same family1 and1 in fact1 if you buy at the seaside a group of seaweeds gummed on paper1 you will most likely get both these among them4 ,yet the truth is1 that while the coralline 7#a1 ,fig4 #ff7 is a plant1 the other specimen 7#b7 which is called ,sertularia filicula1 is an animal4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ff4 ,coralline and ,sertularia1 to show likeness between the animal ,sertularia and the plant ,coralline4 #a1 ,corallina officinalis4 #b1 ,sertularia filicula4 ,this special sertularian grows upright in my pool on stones or often on seaweeds1 but ,i have here 7,fig4 #fg7 another and much smaller one which lives literally in millions hanging its cups downwards4 ,i find it not only under the narrow ledges of the pool sheltered by the seaweed1 but forming a fringe along all the rocks on each side of the cove near to low-water mark1 and for a long time ,i passed it by thinking it was of no interest4 ,but ,i have long since given up thinking this of anything1 especially in my pool1 for my magic glass has taught me that there is not even a living speck which does not open out into something marvellous and beautiful4 ,so ,i chipped off a small piece of rock and brought the fringe home1 and found1 when ,i hung it up in clear sea water as ,i have done over this glass trough 7,fig4 #fg7 and looked at it through the lens1 that each thread of the dense fringe1 in itself not a quarter of an inch deep1 turns out to be a tiny sertularian with at least twenty mouths4 ,you can see this with your pocket lens even as it hangs here1 and when you have examined it you can by and by take off one thread and put it carefully in the trough4 ,i promise you a sight of the most beautiful little beings which exist in nature4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fg4 ,sertularia tenella1 hanging from a splint of rock over a water trough4 ,also piece enlarged to show the animal protruding4 ,come and look at it after the lecture4 ,it is a horny branched stem with a double row of tiny cups all along each side 7see ,fig4 #fg74 ,out of these cups there appear from time to time sixteen minute transparent tentacles as fine as spun glass1 which wave about in the water4 ,if you shake the glass a little1 in an instant each crystal star vanishes into its cup1 to come out again a few minutes later2 so that now here1 now there1 the delicate animal-flowers spread out on each side of the stem1 and the tree is covered with moving beings4 ,these tentacles are feelers1 which lash food into a mouth and stomach in each cup1 where it is digested and passed1 through a hole in the bottom1 along a jelly thread which runs down the stem and joins all the mouths together4 ,in this way the food is distributed all over the tree1 which is1 in fact1 one animal with many feeding-cups4 ,some day ,i will show you one of these cups with the tentacles stretched out and mounted on a slide1 so that you can examine a tentacle with a very strong magnifying power4 ,you will then see that it is dotted over with cells1 in which are coiled fine threads4 ,the animal uses these threads to paralyse the creatures on which it feeds1 for at the base of each thread there is a poison gland4 ,in the larger ,sertularia 7#b1 ,fig4 #ff7 the whole branched tree is connected by jelly threads running through the stem1 and all the thousands of mouths are spread out in the water4 ,one large form called the sea-fir ,sertularia cupressina grows sometimes three feet high1 and bears as many as a hundred thousand cups1 with living mouths1 on its branches4 ,the next of my minute friends ,i can only show to the class in a diagram1 but you will see it under the fourth microscope by and by4 ,i had great trouble in finding it yesterday1 though ,i knew its haunts upon the green weed1 for it is so minute and transparent that even when the weed is in a trough a magnifying-glass will scarcely detect it4 ,and ,i must warn you that if you want to know any of the minute creatures we are studying1 you must visit one place constantly4 ,you may in a casual way find many of them on seaweed1 or in the damp ooze and mud1 but it will be by chance only2 to look for them with any certainty you must take trouble in making their acquaintance4 ,turning then to the diagram 7,fig4 #fh7 ,i will describe it as ,i hope you will see it under the microscope--a curious tiny1 perfectly transparent open-mouthed vase standing upright on the weed1 and having an equally transparent being rising up in it and waving its tiny lashes in the water4 ,this is really all one animal1 the vase hc being the horny covering or carapace of the body1 which last stands up like a tube in the centre4 ,if you watch carefully1 you may even see the minute atoms of food twisting round inside the tube until they are digested1 after they have been swept in at the wide open mouth by the whirling lashes4 ,you will see this more clearly if you put a little rice-flour1 very minutely powdered and coloured by carmine1 into the water2 for you can trace these red atoms into some round spaces called vacuoles which are dotted over the body of the animal1 and are really globules of watery fluid in which the food is probably partly digested4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fh4 ,thuricolla folliculata and ,chilomonas amygdalum4 7,saville ,kent47 #a1 ,thuricolla erect2 #b1 retracted2 #c1 dividing4 #d1 ,chilomonas amygdalum4 hc1 ,horny carapace4 cv1 ,contractile vesicle4 v1 ,closing valves4 ,you will notice1 however1 one round clear space 7cv7 into which they do not go1 and after a time you will be able to observe that this round spot closes up or contracts very quickly1 and then expands again very slowly4 ,as it expands it fills with a clear fluid1 and naturalists have not yet decided exactly what work it does4 ,it may serve the animal either for breathing1 or as a very simple heart1 making the fluids circulate in the tube4 ,the next interesting point about this little being is the way it retreats into its sheltering vase4 ,even while you are watching1 it is quite likely it may all at once draw itself down to the bottom as in ,no4 #b1 and folding down the valves v1 v of horny teeth which grow on each side1 shut itself in from some fancied danger4 ,another very curious point is that1 besides sending forth young ones1 these creatures multiply by dividing in two 7see ,no4 #c1 ,fig4 #fh71 each one closing its own part of the vase into a new home4 ,there are hundreds of these ,infusoria1 as they are called1 in my pond1 some with vases1 some without1 some fixed to weeds and stones1 others swimming about freely4 ,even in the water-trough in which this ,thuricolla stands1 ,i saw several smaller forms1 and the next microscope has a trough filled with the minutest form of all1 called a ,monad 7,no4 #d1 ,fig4 #fh74 ,these are so small that #bjjj of them would lie side by side in an inch2 that is1 if you could make them lie at all1 for they are the most restless little beings1 darting hither and thither1 scarcely even halting except to turn back4 ,and yet though there are so many of them1 and as far as we know they have no organs of sight1 they never run up against each other1 but glide past more cleverly than any clear-sighted fish4 ,these creatures are mostly to be found among decaying seaweed1 and though they are so tiny1 you can still see distinctly the clear space 7cv7 contracting and expanding within them4 ,but if there are so many thousands of mouths to feed1 on the tree-like ,sertulariae as well as in all these ,infusoria1 where does the food come from8 ,partly from the numerous atoms of decaying life all around1 and the minute eggs of animals and spores of plants2 but besides these1 the pool is full of minute living plants--small jelly masses with solid coats of flint which are moulded into most lovely shapes4 ,plants formed of jelly and flint6 ,you will think ,i am joking1 but ,i am not4 ,these plants1 called ,diatoms1 which live both in salt and fresh water1 are single cells feeding and growing just like those we took from the water-butt 7,fig4 #bi1 p4 #gh71 only that instead of a soft covering they build up a flinty skeleton4 ,they are so small1 that many of them must be magnified to fifty times their real size before you can even see them distinctly4 ,yet the skeletons of these almost invisible plants are carved and chiselled in the most delicate patterns4 ,i showed you a group of these in our lecture on magic glasses 7p4 #ci71 and now ,i have brought a few living ones that we may learn to know them4 ,the diagram 7,fig4 #fi7 shows the chief forms you will see on the different slides4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #fi4 ,living diatoms4 a1 ,cocconema lanceolatum4 b1 ,bacillaria paradoxa4 c1 ,gomphonema marinum4 d1 ,diatoma hyalina4 ,the first one1 ,bacillaria paradoxa 7b1 ,fig4 #fi71 looks like a number of rods clinging one to another in a string1 but each one of these is a single-celled plant with a jelly cell surrounding the flinty skeleton4 ,you will see that they move to and fro over each other in the water4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gj4 ,a diatom 7,diatoma vulgare7 growing4 a1 b1 ,flint skeleton inside the jelly-cell4 a1 c and d1 b1 ,two flint skeletons formed by new valves1 c and d1 forming within the first skeleton4 ,the next two forms1 a and c1 look much more like plants1 for the cells arrange themselves on a jelly stem1 which by and by disappears1 leaving only the separate flint skeletons such as you see in ,fig4 #af4 ,the last form1 d1 is something midway between the other forms1 the separate cells hang on to each other and also on to a straight jelly stem4 ,another species of ,diatoma 7,fig4 #gj7 called ,diatoma vulgare1 is a very simple and common form1 and will help to explain how these plants grow4 ,the two flinty valves a1 b inside the cell are not quite the same size2 the older one a is larger than the younger one b and fits over it like the cover of a pill-box4 ,as the plant grows1 the cell enlarges and forms two more valves1 one c fitting into the cover a1 so as to make a complete box ac1 and a second1 d1 back to back with c1 fitting into the valve b1 and making another complete box bd4 ,this goes on very rapidly1 and in this plant each new cell separates as it is formed1 and the free diatoms move about quite actively in the water4 ,if you consider for a moment1 you will see that1 as the new valves always fit into the old ones1 each must be smaller than the last1 and so there comes a time when the valves have become too small to go on increasing4 ,then the plant must begin afresh4 ,so the two halves of the last cell open1 and throwing out their flinty skeletons1 cover themselves with a thin jelly layer1 and form a new cell which grows larger than any of the old ones4 ,these1 which are spore-cells1 then form flinty valves inside1 and the whole thing begins again4 ,now though the plants themselves die1 or become the food of minute animals1 the flinty skeletons are not destroyed1 but go on accumulating in the waters of ponds1 lakes1 rivers1 and seas1 all over the world4 ,untold millions have no doubt crumbled to dust and gone back into the waters1 but untold millions also have survived4 ,the towns of ,berlin in ,europe and of ,richmond in the ,united ,states are actually built upon ground called infusorial earth1 composed almost entirely of valves of these minute diatoms which have accumulated to a thickness of more than eighty feet6 ,those under ,berlin are fresh-water forms1 and must have lived in a lake1 while those of ,richmond belong to salt-water forms4 ,every inch of the ground under those cities represents thousands and thousands of living plants which flourished in ages long gone by1 and were no larger than those you will see presently under the microscope4 ,these are a very few of the microscopic inhabitants of my pond1 but1 as you will confuse them if ,i show you too many1 we will conclude with two rather larger specimens1 and examine them carefully4 ,the first1 called the ,cydippe1 is a lovely1 transparent living ball1 which ,i want to explain to you because it is so wondrously beautiful4 ,the second1 the ,sea-mat or ,flustra1 looks like a crumpled drab-coloured seaweed1 but is really composed of many thousands of grottos1 the homes of tiny sea-animals4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ga4 ,cydippe ,pileus4 #a1 ,animal with tentacles t1 bearing small tendrils t'4 #b1 ,body of animal enlarged4 m1 ,mouth4 c1 ,digestive cavity4 s1 ,sac into which the tentacles are withdrawn4 p1 ,bands with comb-like plates4 #c1 ,portion of a band enlarged to show the moving plates p4 ,let us take the ,cydippe first 7#a1 ,fig4 #ga74 ,i have six here1 each in a separate tumbler1 and could have brought many more1 for when ,i dipped my net in the pool yesterday such numbers were caught in it that ,i believe the retreating tide must just have left a shoal behind4 ,put a tumbler on the desk in front of you1 and if the light falls well upon it you will see a transparent ball about the size of a large pea marked with eight bright bands1 which begin at the lower end of the ball and reach nearly to the top1 dividing the outside into sections like the ribs of a melon4 ,the creature is so perfectly transparent that you can count all the eight bands4 ,at the top of the ball is a slight bulge which is the mouth 7m #b1 ,fig4 #ga71 and from it1 inside the ball1 hangs a long bag or stomach1 which opens below into a cavity c1 from which two canals branch out1 one on each side1 and these divide again into four canals which go one into each of the tubes running down the bands4 ,from this cavity the food1 which is digested in the stomach1 is carried by the canals all over the body4 ,the smaller tubes which branch out of these canals cannot be seen clearly without a very strong lens1 and the only other parts you can discern in this transparent ball are two long sacs on each side of the lower end4 ,these are the tentacle sacs1 in which are coiled up the tentacles1 which we shall describe presently4 ,lastly1 you can notice that the bands outside the globe are broader in the middle than at the ends1 and are striped across by a number of ridges4 ,in moving the tumblers the water has naturally been shaken1 and the creature being alarmed will probably at first remain motionless4 ,but very soon it will begin to play in the water1 rising and falling1 and swimming gracefully from side to side4 ,now you will notice a curious effect1 for the bands will glitter and become tinged with prismatic colours1 till1 as it moves more and more rapidly these colours1 reflected in the jelly1 seem to tinge the whole ball with colours like those on a soap-bubble1 while from the two sacs below come forth two long transparent threads like spun glass4 ,at first these appear to be simple threads1 but as they gradually open out to about four or five inches1 smaller threads uncoil on each side of the line till there are about fifty on each line4 ,these short tendrils are never still for long2 as the main threads wave to and fro1 some of the shorter ones coil up and hang like tiny beads1 then these uncoil and others roll up1 so that these graceful floating lines are never two seconds alike4 ,we do not really know their use4 ,sometimes the creature anchors itself by them1 rising and falling as they stretch out or coil up2 but more often they float idly behind it in the water4 ,at first you would perhaps think that they served to drive the ball through the water1 but this is done by a special apparatus4 ,the cross ridges which we noticed on the bands are really flat comb-like plates 7p1 ,fig4 #ga71 of which there are about twenty or thirty on each band2 and these vibrate very rapidly1 so that two hundred or more paddles drive the tiny ball through the water4 ,this is the cause of the prismatic colours2 for iridescent tints are produced by the play of light upon the glittering plates1 as they incessantly change their angle4 ,sometimes they move all at once1 sometimes only a few at a time1 and it is evident the creature controls them at will4 ,this lovely fairy-like globe1 with its long floating tentacles and rainbow tints1 was for a long time classed with the jelly-fish2 but it really is most nearly related to sea-anemones1 as it has a true central cavity which acts as a stomach1 and many other points in common with the ,actinozoa4 ,we cannot help wondering1 as the little being glides hither and thither1 whether it can see where it is going4 ,it has nerves of a low kind which start from a little dark spot 7ng71 exactly at the south pole of the ball1 and at that point a sense-organ of some kind exists1 but what impression the creature gains from it of the world outside we cannot tell4 ,i am afraid you may think it dull to turn from such a beautiful being as this1 to the grey leaf which looks only like a dead dry seaweed2 yet you will be wrong1 for a more wonderful history attaches to this crumpled dead-looking leaf than to the lovely jelly-globe4 ,first of all ,i will pass round pieces of the dry leaf 7r1 ,fig4 #gb71 and while you are getting them ,i will tell you where ,i found the living ones4 ,great masses of the ,flustra1 as it is called1 line the bottom and sides of my pool4 ,they grow in tufts1 standing upright on the rock1 and looking exactly like hard grey seaweeds1 while there is nothing to lead you to suspect that they are anything else4 ,yesterday ,i chipped off very carefully a piece of rock with a tuft upon it1 and have kept it since in a glass globe by itself with sea-water1 for the little creatures living in this marine city require a very good supply of healthy water and air4 ,i have called it a marine city1 and now ,i will tell you why4 ,take the piece in your hand and run your finger gently up and down it2 you will glide quite comfortably from the lower to the higher part of the leaf1 but when you come back you will feel your finger catch slightly on a rough surface4 ,your pocket lens will show why this is1 for if you look through it at the surface of the leaf you will see it is not smooth1 but composed of hundreds of tiny alcoves with arched tops2 and on each side of these tops stand two short blunt spines 7see #b1 ,fig4 #gb71 making four in all1 pointing upwards1 so as partly to cover the alcove above4 ,as your finger went up it glided over the spines1 but on coming back it met their points4 ,this is all you can see in the dead specimen2 ,i must show you the rest by diagrams1 and by and by under the microscope4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gb4 ,the ,sea-mat or ,flustra 7,flustra foliacea47 #a1 ,natural size4 #b1 ,much magnified4 s1 ,slit caused by drawing in of the animal a4 ,first1 then1 in the living specimen which ,i have here1 those alcoves are not open as in the dead piece1 but covered over with a transparent skin1 in which1 near the top of the alcove just where the curve begins1 is a slit 7s #b1 ,fig4 #gb74 ,unfortunately the membrane covering this alcove is too dense for you to distinguish the parts within4 ,presently1 however1 if you are watching a piece of this living leaf in a flat water-cell under the microscope1 you will see the slit slowly open1 and begin to turn as it were inside out1 exactly like the finger of a glove1 which has been pushed in at the tip1 gradually rises up when you put your finger inside it4 ,as this goes on1 a bundle of threads appears1 at first closed like a bud1 but gradually opening out into a crown of tentacles 7a1 ,fig4 #gb71 each one clothed with hairs4 ,then you will see that the slit was not exactly a slit after all1 but the round edge where the sac was pushed in4 ,ah6 you will say1 you are now showing me a polyp like those on the sertularian tree4 ,not so fast1 my friend2 you have not yet studied what is still under the covering skin and hidden in the living animal4 ,i have1 however1 prepared a slide with this membrane removed 7see ,fig4 #gc71 and there you can observe the different parts1 and learn that each one of these alcoves contains a complete animal1 and not merely one among many mouths1 like the polyp on the ,sertularia4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gc4 ,diagram of the animal in the ,flustra or ,sea-mat4 #a1 ,animal protruding4 #b1 ,animal retracted in the sheath4 sh1 ,covering sheath4 s1 ,slit4 t1 ,tentacles4 m1 ,mouth4 th1 ,throat4 st1 ,stomach4 i1 ,intestine4 r1 ,retractor muscle4 e1 ,egg-forming parts4 g1 ,nerve-ganglion4 ,each of these little beings 7a1 ,fig #gb7 living in its alcove has a mouth1 throat1 stomach1 intestine1 muscles1 and nerves starting from the ganglion of nervous matter1 besides all that is necessary for producing eggs and sending forth young ones4 ,you can trace all these under the microscope 7see #b1 ,fig4 #gc7 as the creature lies curiously doubled up in its bed1 with its body bent in a loop2 the intestine i1 out of which the refuse food passes1 coming back close up to the slit4 ,when it is at rest1 the top of the sac in which it lies is pulled in by the retractor muscle r1 and looks1 as ,i have said1 like the finger of a glove with the top pushed in4 ,when it wishes to feed1 this top is drawn out by muscles running round the sac1 and the tentacles open and wave in the water 7#a1 ,fig4 #gc74 ,look now at the alcoves1 the homes of these animals2 see how tiny they are and how closely they fit together4 ,mr4 ,gosse1 the naturalist1 has reckoned that there are #fgbj alcoves in a square inch2 then if you turn the leaf over you will see that there is another set1 fixed back to back with these1 on the other side1 making in all #ac1ddj alcoves4 ,now a moderate-sized leaf of flustra measures about three square inches1 taking all the rounded lobes into account1 so you will see we get #dj1cbj as a rough estimate of the number of beings on this one leaf4 ,but if you look at this tuft ,i have brought1 you will find it is composed of twelve such leaves1 and this after all is a very small part of the mass growing round my pool4 ,was ,i wrong1 then1 when ,i said that my miniature ocean contains as many millions of beings as there are stars in the heavens8 ,you will want to know how these leaves grew1 and it is in this way4 ,first a little free swimming animal1 a mere living sac provided with lashes1 settles down and grows into one little horny alcove1 with its live creature inside1 which in time sends off from it three to five buds1 forming alcoves all round the top and sides of the first one1 growing on to it4 ,these again bud out1 and you can thus easily understand that1 in this way1 in time a good-sized leaf is formed4 ,meanwhile the creatures also send forth new swimming cells1 which settle down near to begin new leaves1 and thus a tuft is formed2 and long after the beings in earlier parts of the leaf have died and left their alcoves empty1 those round the margin are still alive and spreading4 ,with this history we must stop for to-day1 and ,i expect it will be many weeks before you have thoroughly examined the specimens of each kind which ,i have put in the aquarium4 ,if you can trace the spore-cells and urns in the seaweeds1 observe the polyps in the ,sertularia1 and count the number of mouths on a branch of my animal fringe 7,sertularia tenella72 if you make acquaintance with the ,thuricolla in its vase1 and are fortunate enough to see one divide in two2 if you learn to know some of the beautiful forms of diatoms1 and can picture to yourselves the life of the tiny inhabitants of the ,flustra2 then you will have used your microscope with some effect1 and be prepared for an expedition to my pool1 where we will go together some day to seek new treasures4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,dartmoor ,,ponies1 ,,or ,,the ,,wanderings ,,of ,,the ,,horse ,,tribe ,illustration ,put away the telescopes and microscopes to-day1 boys1 the holidays are close at hand1 and we will take a rest from peeping and peering till we come back in the autumn laden with specimens for the microscope1 while the rapidly darkening evenings will tempt us again on to the lawn star-gazing4 ,on this our last lecture-day ,i want you to take a journey with me which ,i took in imagination a few days ago1 as ,i lay on my back on the sunny moor and watched the ,dartmoor ponies4 ,it was a calm misty morning one day last week1 giving promise of a bright and sunny day1 when ,i started off for a long walk across the moor to visit the famous stone-circles1 many of which are to be found not far off the track1 called ,abbot's ,way1 leading from ,buckfast ,abbey1 on the ,dart1 to the ,abbey of ,tavistock1 on the ,tavy4 ,my mind was full of the olden times as ,i pictured to myself how1 seven hundred years or more ago1 some ,benedictine monk from ,tavistock ,abbey1 in his black robe and cowl1 paced this narrow path on his way to his ,cistercian brethren at ,buckfast1 meeting some of them on his road as they wandered over the desolate moor in their white robes and black scapularies in search of stray sheep4 ,for the ,cistercians were shepherds and wool-weavers1 while the ,benedictines devoted themselves to learning1 and the track of about twenty-five miles from one abbey to the other1 which still remains1 was worn by the members of the two communities and their dependents1 the only variety in whose lives consisted probably in these occasional visits one to the other4 ,yet even these monks belonged to modern times compared to the ancient ,britons who raised the stone-circles1 and buried their dead in the barrows scattered here and there over the moor2 and my mind drifted back to the days when1 long before that pathway was worn1 men clad in the skins of beasts hunted wild animals over the ground on which ,i was treading1 and lived in caves and holes of the ground4 ,i wondered1 as ,i thought of them1 whether the cultured monks and the uncivilised ,britons delighted as much in the rugged scenery of the moor as ,i did that morning4 ,for many miles in front of me the moor stretched out wild and treeless2 the sun was shining brightly upon the mass of yellow furze and deep-red heather1 drawing up the moisture from the ground1 and causing a kind of watery haze to shimmer over the landscape2 while the early mist was rising off the tors1 or hill-tops1 in the distance1 curling in fanciful wreaths around the rugged and stony summits1 as it dispersed gradually in the increasing heat of the day4 ,the cattle which were scattered in groups here and there feeding on the dewy grass were enjoying the happiest time of the year4 ,the moor1 which in winter affords them scarcely a bare subsistence1 is now richly covered with fresh young grass1 and the sturdy oxen fed solemnly and deliberately1 while the wild ,dartmoor ponies and their colts scampered joyously along1 shaking their manes and long flowing tails1 and neighing to each other as they went2 or clustered together on some verdant spot1 where the colts teased and bit each other for fun1 as they gambolled round their mothers4 ,it was a pleasure1 there on the open moor1 with the lark soaring overhead1 and the butterflies and bees hovering among the sweet-smelling furze blossoms1 to see horses free and joyous1 with no thought of bit or bridle1 harness or saddle1 whose hoofs had never been handled by the shoeing-smith1 nor their coats touched with the singeing iron4 ,those little colts1 with their thick heads1 shaggy coats1 and flowing tails1 will have at least two years more freedom before they know what it is to be driven or beaten4 ,only once a year are they gathered together1 claimed by their owners and branded with an initial1 and then left again to wander where they will4 ,true1 it is a freedom which sometimes has its drawbacks1 for if the winter is severe the only food they can get will be the furze-tops1 off which they scrape the snow with their feet2 yet it is very precious in itself1 for they can gallop when and where they choose1 with head erect1 sniffing at the wind and crying to each other for the very joy of life4 ,now as ,i strolled across the moor and watched their gambols1 thinking how like free wild animals they seemed1 my thoughts roamed far away1 and ,i saw in imagination scenes where other untamed animals of the horse tribe are living unfettered all their lives long4 ,first there rose before my mind the level grass-covered pampas of ,south ,america1 where wild horses share the boundless plains with troops of the rhea1 or ,american ostrich1 and wander1 each horse with as many mares as he can collect1 in companies of hundreds or even thousands in a troop4 ,these horses are now truly wild1 and live freely from youth to age1 unless they are unfortunate enough to be caught in the more inhabited regions by the lasso of the hunter4 ,in the broad pampas1 the home of herds of wild cattle1 they dread nothing4 ,there1 as they roam with one bold stallion as their leader1 even beasts of prey hesitate to approach them1 for1 when they form into a dense mass with the mothers and young in their centre1 their heels deal blows which even the fierce jaguar does not care to encounter1 and they trample their enemy to death in a very short time4 ,yet these are not the original wild horses we are seeking1 they are the descendants of tame animals1 brought from ,europe by the ,spaniards to ,buenos ,ayres in #aece1 whose descendants have regained their freedom on the boundless pampas and prairies4 ,as ,i was picturing them careering over the plains1 another scene presented itself and took their place4 ,now ,i no longer saw around me tall pampas-grass with the long necks of the rheas appearing above it1 for ,i was on the edge of a dreary scantily covered plain between the ,aral ,sea and the ,balkash ,lake in ,tartary4 ,to the south lies a barren sandy desert1 to the north the fertile plains of the ,kirghiz steppes1 where the ,tartar feeds his flocks1 and herds of antelopes gallop over the fresh green pasture2 and between these is a kind of no-man's land1 where low scanty shrubs and stunted grass seemed to promise but a poor feeding-ground4 ,yet here the small long-legged but powerful ,tarpans1 the wild horses of the treeless plains of ,russia and ,tartary1 were picking their morning meal4 ,sturdy wicked little fellows they are1 with their shaggy light-brown coats1 short wiry manes1 erect ears1 and fiery watchful eyes4 ,they might well be supposed to be true wild horses1 whose ancestors had never been tamed by man2 and yet it is more probable that even they escaped in early times from the ,tartars1 and have held their own ever since1 over the grassy steppes of ,russia and on the confines of the plains of ,tartary4 ,sometimes they live almost alone1 especially on the barren wastes where they have been seen in winter1 scraping the snow off the herbage as our ponies do on ,dartmoor4 ,at other times1 as in the south of ,russia1 where they wander between the ,dnieper and the ,don1 they gather in vast herds and live a free life1 not fearing even the wolves1 which they beat to the ground with their hoofs4 ,from one green oasis to another they travel over miles of ground4 ,a thousand horse--and none to ride6 ,with flowing tail1 and flying mane1 ,wide nostrils--never stretch'd by pain1 ,mouths bloodless to the bit or rein1 ,and feet that iron never shod1 ,and flanks unscarr'd by spur or rod4 ,a thousand horse1 the wild1 the free1 ,like waves that follow o'er the sea4#a #a ,byron's ,mazeppa4 ,as ,i followed them in their course ,i fancied ,i saw troops of yet another animal of the horse tribe1 the ,kulan1 or ,equus hemionus1 which is a kind of half horse1 half ass 7,fig4 #gd71 living on the ,kirghiz steppes of ,tartary and spreading far beyond the range of the ,tarpan into ,tibet4 ,here at last we have a truly wild animal1 never probably brought into subjection by man4 ,the number of names he possesses shows how widely he has spread4 ,the ,tartars call him ,kulan1 the ,tibetans ,kiang1 while the ,mongolians give him the unpronounceable name of ,dschiggetai4 ,he will not submit to any of them1 but if caught and confined soon breaks away again to his old life1 a free and fetterless creature4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gd4 ,equus hemionus1 ,kiang or ,kulan1 the ,horse-ass of ,tartary and ,tibet4 7,brehm47 ,no one has ever yet settled the question whether he is a horse or an ass1 probably because he represents an animal truly between the two4 ,his head is graceful1 his body light1 his legs slender and fleet1 yet his ears are long and ass-like2 he has narrow hoofs1 and a tail with a tuft at the end like all the ass tribe2 his colour is a yellow brown1 and he has a short dark mane and a long dark stripe down his back as a donkey has1 though this last character you may also see in many of our ,devonshire ponies4 ,living often on the high plateaux1 sometimes as much as #aejj feet above the sea1 this child of the steppes travels in large companies even as far as the rich meadows of ,central ,asia2 in summer wandering in green pastures1 and in winter seeking the hunger-steppes where sturdy plants grow4 ,and when autumn comes the young steeds go off alone to the mountain heights to survey the country around and call wildly for mates1 whom1 when found1 they will keep close to them through all the next year1 even though they mingle with thousands of others4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ge4 ,przevalsky's ,wild ,horse1 the ,kertag or ,statur4 ,till about ten years ago the ,equus hemionus was the only truly wild horse known1 but in the winter of #ahgi-hj the ,russian traveller ,przevalsky brought back from ,central ,asia a much more horse-like animal1 called by the ,tartars ,kertag and by the ,mongols ,statur4 ,it is a clumsy1 thick-set1 whitish-gray creature with strong legs and a large1 heavy1 reddish-coloured head2 its legs have a red tint down to the knees1 beyond which they are blackish down to the hoofs4 ,but the ears are small1 and it has the broad hoofs of the true horse1 and warts on his hind legs1 which no animal of the ass tribe has4 ,this horse1 like the ,kiang1 travels in small troops of from five to fifteen1 led through the wildest parts of the ,dsungarian desert1 between the ,altai and ,tianschan ,mountains1 by an old stallion4 ,they are extremely shy1 and see1 hear1 and smell very quickly1 so that they are off like lightning whenever anything approaches them4 ,so having travelled over ,america1 ,europe1 and ,asia1 was my quest ended8 ,no2 for from the dreary ,asiatic deserts my thoughts wandered to a far warmer and more fertile land1 where between the ,blue ,nile and the ,red ,sea rise the lofty highlands of ,abyssinia1 among which the ,african wild ass 7,asinus taeniopus71 the probable ancestor of our donkeys1 feeds in troops on the rich grasses of the slopes1 and then onwards to the bank of a river in ,central ,africa where on the edge of a forest1 with rich pastures beyond1 elephants and rhinoceroses1 antelopes and buffaloes1 lions and hyaenas1 creep down in the cool of the evening to slake their thirst in the flowing stream4 ,there ,i saw the herds of ,zebras in all their striped beauty coming down from the mountain regions to the north1 and mingling with the darker-coloured but graceful quaggas from the southern plains1 and ,i half-grieved at the thought how these untamed and free rovers are being slowly but surely surrounded by man closing in upon them on every side4 ,i might now have travelled still farther in search of the ,onager1 or wild ass of the ,asiatic and ,indian deserts1 but at this point a more interesting and far wider question presented itself1 as ,i flung myself down on the moor to ponder over the early history of all these tribes4 ,where have they all come from8 ,where shall we look for the first ancestors of these wild and graceful animals8 ,for the answer to this question ,i had to travel back to ,america1 to those ,western ,united ,states where ,professor ,marsh has made such grand discoveries in horse history4 ,for there1 in the very country where horses were supposed never to have been before the ,spaniards brought them a few centuries ago1 we have now found the true birthplace of the equine race4 ,come back with me to a time so remote that we cannot measure it even by hundreds of thousands of years1 and let us visit the territories of ,utah and ,wyoming4 ,those highlands were very different then from what they are now4 ,just risen out of the seas of the ,cretaceous ,period1 they were then clothed with dense forests of palms1 tree-ferns1 and screw-pines1 magnolias and laurels1 interspersed with wide-spreading lakes1 on the margins of which strange and curious animals fed and flourished4 ,there were large beasts with teeth like the tapir and the bear1 and feet like the elephant2 and others far more dangerous1 half bear1 half hyaena1 prowling around to attack the clumsy paleotherium or the anoplotherium1 something between a rhinoceros and a horse1 which grazed by the waterside1 while graceful antelopes fed on the rich grass4 ,and among these were some little animals no bigger than foxes1 with four toes and a splint for the fifth1 on their front feet1 and three toes on the hind ones4 ,these clumsy little animals1 whose bones have been found in the rocks of ,utah and ,wyoming1 have been called ,eohippus1 or horses of the dawn1 by naturalists4 ,they were animals with real toes1 yet their bones and teeth show that they belonged to the horse tribe1 and already the fifth toe common to most other toed animals was beginning to disappear4 ,this was in the ,eocene period1 and before it passed away with its screw-pines and tree-ferns1 another rather larger animal1 called the ,orohippus1 had taken the place of the small one1 and he had only four toes on his front feet4 ,the splint had disappeared1 and as time went on still other animals followed1 always with fewer toes1 while they gained slender fleet legs1 together with an increase in size and in gracefulness4 ,first one as large as a sheep 7,mesohippus7 had only three toes and a splint4 ,then the splint again disappeared1 and one large and two dwindling toes only remained1 till finally these two became mere splints1 leaving one large toe or hoof with almost imperceptible splints1 which may be seen on the fetlock of a horse's skeleton4 ,the diagram 7,fig #gf7 shows these splints in the horse's or ass's foot of to-day4 ,for you must notice that a horse's foot really begins at the point w which we call his knee in the front legs1 and at his hock h in the hind legs4 ,his true knee k and elbow e are close up to the body4 ,what we call his foot or hoof is really the end of the strong1 broad1 middle toe t covered with a hoof1 and farther up his foot at s and s we can feel two small splints1 which are remains of two other toes4 ,meanwhile during these long succeeding ages while the foot was lengthening out into a slender limb the animals became larger1 more powerful1 and more swift1 the neck and head became longer and more graceful1 the brain-case larger in front and the teeth decreased in number1 so that there is now a large gap between the biting teeth i and the grinding teeth g of a horse4 ,their slender limbs too became more flexible and fit for running and galloping1 till we find the whole skeleton the same in shape1 though not in size1 as in our own horses and asses now4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gf4 ,skeleton of ,horse or ,ass4 i1 ,incisor teeth4 g1 ,grinding teeth1 with the gap between the two as in all grass-feeders4 k1 ,knee4 h1 ,hock or heel4 f1 ,foot4 s1 ,splints or remains of the two lost toes4 e1 ,elbow4 w1 ,wrist4 ha1 ,hand-bone4 t1 middle toe of three joints1 #a1 #b1 #c forming the hoof4 ,they did not1 however1 during all this time remain confined to ,america1 for1 from the time when they arrived at an animal called ,miohippus1 or lesser horse1 which came after the ,mesohippus and had only three toes on each foot1 we find their remains in ,europe1 where they lived in company with the giraffes1 opossums1 and monkeys which roamed over these parts in those ancient times4 ,then a little later we find them in ,africa and ,india2 so that the horse tribe1 represented by creatures about as large as donkeys1 had spread far and wide over the world4 ,and now1 curiously enough1 they began to forsake1 or to die out in1 the land of their birth4 ,why they did so we do not know2 but while in the old world as asses1 quaggas1 and zebras1 and probably horses1 they flourished in ,asia1 ,europe1 and ,africa1 they certainly died out in ,america1 so that ages afterwards1 when that land was discovered1 no animal of the horse tribe was found in it4 ,and the true horse1 where did he arise8 ,born and bred probably in ,central ,asia from some animal like the ,kulan1 or the ,kertag1 he proved too useful to savage tribes to be allowed his freedom1 and it is doubtful whether in any part of the world he escaped subjection4 ,in our own country he probably roamed as a wild animal till the savages1 who fed upon him1 learned in time to put him to work2 and when the ,romans came they found the ,britons with fine and well-trained horses4 ,yet though tamed and made to know his master he has1 as we have seen1 broken loose again in almost all parts of the world--in ,america on the prairies and pampas1 in ,europe and ,asia on the steppes1 and in ,australia in the bush4 ,and even in ,great ,britain1 where so few patches of uncultivated land still remain1 the young colts of ,dartmoor1 ,exmoor1 and ,shetland1 though born of domesticated mothers1 seem to assert their descent from wild and free ancestors as they throw out their heels and toss up their heads with a shrill neigh1 and fly against the wind with streaming manes and outstretched tails as the ,kulan1 the ,tarpan1 and the ,zebra do in the wild desert or grassy plain4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,magician',s ,,dream ,,of ,,ancient ,,days4 ,illustration ,the magician sat in his armchair in the one little room in the house which was his1 and his only1 besides the observatory4 ,and a strange room it was4 ,the walls were hung with skulls and bones of men and animals1 with swords1 daggers1 and shields1 coats of mail1 and bronze spear-heads4 ,the drawers1 many of which stood open1 contained flint-stones chipped and worn1 arrowheads of stone1 jade hatchets beautifully polished1 bronze buckles and iron armlets2 while scattered among these were pieces of broken pottery1 some rough and only half-baked1 others beautifully finished1 as the ,romans knew how to finish them4 ,rough needles made of bone lay beside bronze knives with richly-ornamented handles and1 most precious of all1 on the table by the magician's side lay a reindeer antler1 on which was roughly carved the figure of the reindeer itself4 ,he had been enjoying a six weeks' holiday1 and he had employed it in visiting some of the bone caves of ,europe to learn about the men who lived in them long1 long ago4 ,he had been to the south of ,france to see the famous caves of the ,dordogne1 to ,belgium to the caves of ,engis and ,engihoul1 to the ,hartz ,mountains and to ,hungary4 ,then hastening home he had visited the chief ,english caves in ,yorkshire1 ,wales1 and ,devonshire4 ,now that he had returned to his college1 his mind was so full of facts1 that he felt perplexed how to lay before his class the wonderful story of the life of man before history began4 ,and as the day was hot1 and the very breeze which played around him made him feel languid and sleepy1 he fell into a reverie--a waking dream4 99 99 99 99 99 ,first the room faded from his sight1 then the trim villages disappeared2 the homesteads1 the corn-fields1 the grazing cattle1 all were gone1 and he saw the whole of ,england covered with thick forests and rough uncultivated land4 ,from the mountains in the north1 glaciers were to be seen creeping down the valleys between dense masses of fir and oak1 pine and birch2 while the wild horse1 the bison1 and the ,irish elk were feeding on the plains4 ,as he looked southward and eastward he saw that the sea no longer washed the shores1 for the ,english and ,irish ,channels were not yet scooped out4 ,the ,british ,isles were still part of the continent of ,europe1 so that animals could migrate overland from the far south1 up to what is now ,england1 ,scotland1 and ,ireland4 ,many of these animals1 too1 were very different from any now living in the country1 for in the large rivers of ,england he saw the hippopotamus playing with her calf1 while elephants and rhinoceroses were drinking at the water's edge4 ,yet these strange creatures did not have all the country to themselves--wolves1 bears1 and foxes prowled in the woods1 large beavers built their dams across the streams1 and here and there over the country human beings were living in caves and holes of the earth4 ,it was these men chiefly who attracted the magician's attention1 and being curious to know how they lived1 he turned towards a cave1 at the mouth of which was a group of naked children who were knocking pieces of flint together1 trying to strike off splinters and make rough flint tools1 such as they saw their fathers use4 ,not far off from them a woman with a wild beast's skin round her waist was gathering firewood1 another was grubbing up roots1 and another1 venturing a little way into the forest1 was searching for honey in the hollows of the tree trunks4 ,all at once in the dusk of the evening a low growl and a frightened cry were heard1 and the women rushed towards the cave as they saw near the edge of the forest a huge tiger with sabre-shaped teeth struggling with a powerful stag4 ,in vain the deer tried to stamp on his savage foe or to wound him with his antlers2 the strong teeth of the tiger had penetrated his throat1 and they fell struggling together as the stag uttered his death-cry4 ,just at that moment loud shouts were heard in the forest1 and the frightened women knew that help was near4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gg4 ,palaeolithic times4 ,one after another1 several men1 clothed in skins hung over one shoulder and secured round the waist1 rushed out of the thicket1 their hair streaming in the wind1 and ran towards the tiger4 ,they held in their hands strange weapons made of rough pointed flints fastened into handles by thongs of skin1 and as the tiger turned upon them with a cry of rage they met him with a rapid shower of blows4 ,the fight raged fiercely1 for the beast was strong and the weapons of the men were rude1 but the tiger lay dead at last by the side of his victim4 ,his skin and teeth were the reward of the hunters1 and the stag he had killed became their prey4 ,how skilfully they hacked it to pieces with their stone axes1 and then loading it upon their shoulders set off up the hill towards the cave1 where they were welcomed with shouts of joy by the women and children6 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gh4 ,palaeolithic relics4 #a1 ,bone needle1 from a cave at ,la ,madeleine1 #a_/b size4 #b1 ,tooth of ,machairodus or sabre-toothed tiger1 from ,kent's ,cavern1 #a_/b size4 #c1 ,rough stone implement1 from ,kent's ,cavern1 #a_/d size4 ,then began the feast4 ,first fires were kindled slowly and with difficulty by rubbing a sharp-pointed stick in a groove of softer wood till the wood-dust burst into flame2 then a huge pile was lighted at the mouth of the cave to cook the food and keep off wild beasts4 ,how the food was cooked the magician could not see1 but he guessed that the flesh was cut off the bones and thrust in the glowing embers1 and he watched the men afterwards splitting open the uncooked bones to suck out the raw marrow which savages love4 ,after the feast was over he noticed how they left these split bones scattered upon the floor of the cave mingling with the sabre-shaped teeth of the tiger1 and this reminded him of the bones of the stag and the tiger's tooth which he had found in ,kent's ,cavern in ,devonshire only a few days before4 ,by this time the men had lain down to sleep1 and in the darkness strange cries were heard from the forest4 ,the roar of the lion1 mingled with the howling of the wolves and the shrill laugh of the hyaenas1 told that they had come down to feed on the remains of the tiger4 ,but none of these animals ventured near the glowing fire at the mouth of the cavern1 behind which the men slept in security till the sun was high in the heavens4 ,then all was astir again1 for weapons had been broken in the fight1 and some of the men sitting on the ground outside the cave placed one flint between their knees1 and striking another sharply against it drove off splinters1 leaving a pointed end and cutting edge4 ,they spoiled many before they made one to their liking1 and the entrance to the cave was strewn with splintered fragments and spoilt flints1 but at last several useful stones were ready4 ,meanwhile another man1 taking his rude stone axe1 set to work to hew branches from the trees to form handles1 while another1 choosing a piece remaining of the body of the stag1 tore a sinew from the thigh1 and threading it through the large eye of the bone needle1 stitched the tiger's skin roughly together into a garment4 ,this1 then1 said the magician to himself1 is how ancient man lived in the summer-time1 but how would he fare when winter came8 ,as he mused the scene gradually changed4 ,the glaciers crept far lower down the valleys1 and the hills1 and even the lower ground1 lay thick in snow4 ,the hippopotamus had wandered away southward to warmer climes1 as animals now migrate over the continent of ,america in winter1 and with him had gone the lion1 the southern elephant1 and other summer visitors4 ,in their place large herds of reindeer and shaggy oxen had come down from the north and were spread over the plains1 scraping away the snow with their feet to feed on the grass beneath4 ,the mammoth1 too1 or hairy elephant1 of the same extinct species as those which have been found frozen in solid ice under a sandbank in ,siberia1 had come down to feed1 accompanied by the woolly rhinoceros2 and scattered over the hills were the curious horned musk-sheep1 which have long ago disappeared off the face of the earth4 ,still1 bitterly cold as it was1 the hunter clad in his wild-beast skin came out from time to time to chase the mammoth1 the reindeer1 and the oxen for food1 and cut wood in the forest to feed the cavern fires4 ,this time the magician's thoughts wandered down to the south-west of ,france1 where1 on the banks of a river in that part now called the ,dordogne1 a number of caves not far from each other formed the home of savage man4 ,here he saw many new things1 for the men used arrows of deer-horn and of wood pointed with flint1 and with these they shot the birds1 which were hovering near in hopes of finding food during the bitter weather4 ,by the side of the river a man was throwing a small dart of deer-horn fastened to a cord of sinews1 with which from time to time he speared a large fish and drew it to the bank4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #gi4 ,mammoth engraved on ivory by ,palaeolithic man4 ,but the most curious sight of all1 among such a rude people1 was a man sitting by the glowing fire at the mouth of one of the caves scratching a piece of reindeer horn with a pointed flint1 while the children gathered round him to watch his work4 ,what was he doing8 ,see6 gradually the rude scratches began to take shape1 and two reindeer fighting together could be recognised upon the horn handle4 ,this he laid carefully aside1 and taking a piece of ivory1 part of the tusk of a mammoth1 he worked away slowly and carefully till the children grew tired of watching and went off to play behind the fire4 ,then the magician1 glancing over his shoulder1 saw a true figure of the mammoth scratched upon the ivory1 his hairy skin1 long mane1 and up-curved tusks distinguishing him from all elephants living now4 ,ah1 exclaimed the magician aloud1 that is the drawing on ivory found in the cave of ,la ,madeleine in ,dordogne1 proving that man existed ages ago1 and even knew how to draw figures1 at a time when the mammoth1 or hairy elephant1 long since extinct1 was still living on the earth6 ,with these words he started from his reverie1 and knew that he had been dreaming of ,palaeolithic man who1 with his tools of rough flints1 had lived in ,europe so long ago that his date cannot be fixed by years1 or centuries1 or even thousands of years4 ,only this is known1 that1 since he lived1 the mammoth1 the sabre-toothed tiger1 the cave-bear1 the woolly rhinoceros1 the cave-hyaena1 the musk-sheep1 and many other animals have died out from off the face of the earth2 the hippopotamus and the lion have left ,europe and retired to ,africa1 and the sea has flowed in where land once was1 cutting off ,great ,britain and ,ireland from the continent4 ,how long all these changes were in taking place no one knows4 ,when the magician drifted back again into his dream the land had long been desolate1 and the hyaenas1 which had always taken possession of the caves whenever the men deserted them for awhile1 had now been undisturbed for a long time1 and had left on the floor of the cave gnawed skulls and bones1 and jaws of animals1 more or less scored with the marks of their teeth1 and these had become buried in a thick layer of earth4 ,the magician knew that these teeth marks had been made by hyaenas1 both because living hyaenas leave exactly such marks on bones in the present day1 and because the hyaena bones alone were not gnawed1 showing that no animals preyed upon their flesh4 ,he knew too that the hyaenas had been there long after man had ceased to use the caves1 because no flint tools were found among the bones4 ,but now the age of hyaenas1 too1 was past and gone1 and the caves had been left so long undisturbed that in many of them the water dripping from the roof had left film after film of carbonate of lime upon the floor1 which as the centuries went by became a layer of stalagmite many feet thick1 sealing down the secrets of the past4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the face of the country was now entirely changed4 ,the glaciers were gone1 and so1 too1 were all the strange animals4 ,true1 the reindeer1 the wild ox1 and even here and there the ,irish elk1 were still feeding in the valleys2 wolves and bears still made the country dangerous1 and beavers built their dams across the streams1 which were now much smaller than formerly1 and flowed in deeper channels1 carved out by water during the interval2 but the elephants1 rhinoceroses1 lions1 and tigers were gone never to return1 and near the caves in which some of the people lived1 and the rude underground huts which formed the homes of others1 tame sheep and goats were lying with dogs to watch them4 ,also1 though the land was still covered with dense forests1 yet here and there small clearings had been made1 where patches of corn and flax were growing4 ,naked children still played about as before1 but now they were moulding cups of clay like those in which food was being cooked on the fire outside the caves or huts4 ,some of the women1 dressed partly in skins of beasts1 partly in rough woven linen1 were spinning flax into thread1 using as a spinning-whorl a small round stone with a hole in the middle tied to the end of the flax1 as a weight to enable them to twirl it4 ,others were grinding corn in the hollow of a large stone by rubbing another stone within it4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #hj4 ,neolithic implements4 #a1 ,stone hatchet mounted in wood4 #b1 ,jade celt1 a polished stone weapon1 from ,livermore in ,suffolk1 #a_/d size4 #c1 ,spindle whorl1 #a_/b size4 ,the men1 while they still spent much time in hunting1 had now other duties in tending the sheep and goats1 or looking after the hogs as they turned up the ground in the forest for roots1 or sowing and reaping their crops4 ,yet still all the tools were made of stone1 no longer rough and merely chipped like the old stone weapons1 but neatly cut and polished4 ,stone axes with handles of deer-horn1 stone spears and javelins1 stone arrowheads beautifully finished1 sling-stones and scrapers1 were among their weapons and tools1 and with them they made many delicate implements of bone4 ,on the broad lakes which here and there broke the monotony of the forests1 canoes1 made of the trunks of trees hollowed out by fire1 were being paddled by one man1 while another threw out his fishing line armed with delicate bone-hooks2 and on the banks of the lakes1 nets weighted with drilled stones tied on to the meshes were dragged up full of fish4 ,for these ,neolithic men1 or men of the ,new ,stone ,period1 who used polished stone weapons1 were farmers and shepherds and fishermen4 ,they knew how to make rude pottery1 and kept domestic animals4 ,moreover1 they either came from the east or exchanged goods by barter with tribes living more to the eastward1 now that canoes enabled them to cross the sea2 for many of their weapons were made of greenstone or jade1 and of other kinds of stone not to be found in ,europe1 and their sheep and goats were animals of eastern origin4 ,they understood how to unite to protect their homes1 for they made underground huts by digging down several feet into the ground and roofing the hole over with wood coated with clay2 and often long passages underground united these huts1 while in many places on the hills1 camps1 made of ramparts of earth surrounded by ditches1 served as strongholds for the women and children and the flocks and herds1 when some neighbouring tribe attacked their homesteads4 ,still1 however1 where caves were ready to hand they used them for houses1 and the same shelter which had been the home of the ancient hunters1 now resounded with the voices of the shepherds1 who1 treading on the sealed floor1 little dreamt that under their feet lay the remains of a bygone age4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ha4 ,a burial in ,neolithic times4 ,and now1 as our dreamer watched this new race of men fashioning their weapons1 feeding their oxen1 and hunting the wild stag1 his attention was arrested by a long train of people crossing a neighbouring plain1 weeping and wailing as they went4 ,at the head of this procession1 lying on a stretcher made of tree-boughs1 lay a dead chieftain1 and as the line moved on1 men threw down their tools1 and women their spinning1 and joined the throng4 ,on they went to where two upright slabs of stone with another laid across them formed the opening to a long mound or chamber4 ,into this the bearers passed with lighted torches1 and in a niche ready prepared placed the dead chieftain in a sitting posture with the knees drawn up1 placing by his side his flint spear and polished axe1 his necklace of shells1 and the bowl from which he had fed4 ,then followed the funeral feast1 when1 with shouts and wailing1 fires were lighted1 and animals slaughtered and cooked1 while the chieftain was not forgotten1 but portions were left for his use1 and then the earth was piled up again around the mouth of the chamber1 till it should be opened at some future time to place another member of his family by his side1 or till in after ages the antiquary should rifle his resting-place to study the mode of burial in the ,neolithic or ,polished ,stone ,age4 ,time passed on in the magician's dream1 and little by little the caves were entirely deserted as men learnt to build huts of wood and stone4 ,and as they advanced in knowledge they began to melt metals and pour them into moulds1 making bronze knives and hatchets1 swords and spears2 and they fashioned brooches and bracelets of bronze and gold1 though they still also used their necklaces of shells and their polished stone weapons4 ,they began1 too1 to keep ducks and fowls1 cows and horses2 they knew how to weave in looms1 and to make cloaks and tunics2 and when they buried their dead it was no longer in a crouching position4 ,they laid them decently to rest1 as if in sleep1 in the barrows where they are found to this day with bronze weapons by their side4 ,then as time went on they learnt to melt even hard iron1 and to beat it into swords and plough-shares1 and they lived in well-built huts with stone foundations4 ,their custom of burial1 too1 was again changed1 and they burnt their dead1 placing the ashes in a funeral urn4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #hb4 ,british relics4 #a1 ,a coin of the age of ,constantine4 #b1 ,bronze weapon from a ,suffolk barrow4 #c1 ,bronze bracelet from ,liss in ,hampshire4 ,by this time the ,britons1 as they were now called1 had begun to gather together in villages and towns1 and the ,romans ruled over them4 ,now when men passed through the wild country they were often finely dressed in cloth tunics1 wearing arm rings of gold1 some even driving in war-chariots1 carrying shields made of wickerwork covered with leather4 ,still many of the country people who laboured in the field kept their old clothing of beast skins2 they grew their corn and stored it in cavities of the rocks2 they made basket-work boats covered with skin1 in which they ventured out to sea4 ,so things went on for a long period till at last a troubled time came1 and the quiet valleys were disturbed by wandering people who fled from the towns and took refuge in the forests2 for the ,romans after three hundred and fifty years of rule had gone back home to ,italy1 and a new and barbarous people called the ,jutes1 ,angles1 and ,saxons1 came over the sea from ,jutland and drove the ,britons from their homes4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #hc4 ,britons taking refuge in the ,cave4 ,and so once more the caves became the abode of man1 for the harassed ,britons brought what few things they could carry away from their houses and hid themselves there from their enemies4 ,how little they thought1 as they lay down to sleep on the cavern floor1 that beneath them lay the remains of two ages of men6 ,they knew nothing of the woman who had dropped her stone spindle-whorl into the fire1 on which the food of ,neolithic man had been cooking in rough pots of clay2 they never dug down to the layer of gnawed bones1 nor did they even in their dreams picture the hyaena haunting his ancient den1 for a hyaena was an animal they had never seen4 ,still less would they have believed that at one time1 countless ages before1 their island had been part of the continent1 and that men1 living in the cave where they now lay1 had cut down trees with rough flints1 and fought with such unknown animals as the mammoth and the sabre-toothed tiger4 ,but the magician saw it all passing before him1 even as he also saw these ,britons carrying into the cave their brooches1 bracelets1 and finger rings1 their iron spears and bronze daggers1 and all their little household treasures which they had saved in their flight4 ,and among these1 mingling in the heap1 he recognised ,roman coins bearing the inscription of the ,emperor ,constantine1 and he knew that it was by these coins that he had1 a few days before in ,yorkshire1 been able to fix the date of the ,british occupation of a cave4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and with this his dream ended1 and he found himself clutching firmly the horn on which ,palaeolithic man had engraved the figure of the reindeer4 ,he rose1 and stretching himself crossed the sunny grass plot of the quadrangle and entered his classroom4 ,the boys wondered as he began his lecture at the far-away look in his eyes4 ,they did not know how he had passed through a vision of countless ages2 but that afternoon1 for the first time1 they realised1 as he unfolded scene after scene1 the history of ,the ,men of ,ancient ,days4 ,,index ,abbot's ,way across ,dartmoor1 #aif ,absorption of rays of sunlight1 #abi ,abyssinia1 wild ass of1 #bjc ,actinozoa1 ,cydippe allied to the1 #aij ,ages1 lapse of between old and new stone age1 #bag ,alcor1 or ,jack1 #aeh ,aldebaran1 #adi2 called so by the ,arabs1 #aec2 colour of1 #afg ,algol the ,variable1 #afb1 #afe ,almach1 ,greek3 g ,andromedae1 #aef2 a coloured double star1 #afg ,america1 extinction of original horse in1 #bjg ,andromeda1 the great nebula of1 #afb1 #afd2 double coloured star in1 #afg ,animal of the ,sea-mat1 #aia2 number in one leaf1 #aic ,animal-trees and stony plants1 #agh ,animals1 extinct1 living with man1 #baa ,antares1 a ruby-red star1 #afg ,antherozoids of mosses1 #hi ,apothecia of lichens1 #hc ,apennines1 ,lunar1 figured1 #ai ,archimedes1 a lunar crater1 #aj2 smooth centre of1 #ai ,arctic lands1 lichens in1 #hb ,arcturus1 colour of1 #aff ,aristarchus1 a lunar crater1 #aj1 #bd2 streaks around1 #ag ,aristotle1 a lunar crater1 #aj ,arrows1 old stone1 #bae ,asia1 horse of ,central1 #bja ,asinus taeniopus1 #bjc ,aspergillus glaucus1 #fa2 growth of1 #fc ,ass tribe1 forms allied to the1 #bja ,ass1 wild of ,africa1 #bjc ,atmosphere1 absence of in the moon1 #ba ,australia1 wild horses of1 #bjg ,bacillaria ,paradoxa1 a diatom1 #ahe ,bacteria growing on wounds1 #ff ,baiae1 hill thrown up on ,bay of1 #ajc ,ball1 ,sir ,r41 on binary stars1 #aed ,beehive1 triple star near the1 #afh ,beer1 fermentation of1 #fe ,bellatrix1 a star in ,orion1 #adh ,berlin1 ground beneath1 formed of diatoms1 #ahf ,bessel1 on movements of ,sirius1 #afi ,betelgeux1 a star in ,orion1 #adh ,binary star in ,great ,bear1 #aeg1 #aeh ,binary stars1 #aed1 #aff1 #agj ,bog-moss or ,sphagnum1 #ic ,bog-mosses1 distribution of1 #id ,bombs1 volcanic1 #aje ,booetis ,greek3 e1 a coloured double star1 #afg ,britons inhabiting caves1 #bbd2 ornaments and customs of1 #bbc ,britons of ,dartmoor1 #aif ,bronze weapon and bracelet1 #bbc ,bryum or thread moss1 #gg ,buckfast ,abbey1 monks of1 #aif ,bunt1 a fungus1 #fd ,burial in ,neolithic times1 #bba ,cassiopeia1 the constellation1 #afb2 coloured double star in1 #afg ,castor1 a binary star1 #aed ,camera1 photographic1 #dg2 attached to the telescope1 #aba ,cancer ,greek3 z1 a triple coloured star1 #afh ,candle-flame1 image of1 formed by lens1 #cc ,canis ,major1 constellation of1 #adh ,capella1 colour of the star1 #aec ,castor1 light of compared with a near star1 #aeh ,caterpillars destroyed by fungus1 #ff ,caucasus ,mountains on the ,moon1 #ah ,cave1 the three periods of a1 #bbe ,caves1 ,palaeolithic and ,neolithic1 #baj2 ,palaeolithic life in1 #baa2 hyaenas roamed in1 #bag2 ,neolithic life in1 #bah2 ,britons took refuge in1 #bbd ,cells1 fertile of mushroom1 #fi2 of moss-plant1 #hi ,celt1 jade1 from ,suffolk1 #bai ,chambers1 ,mr41 his drawing of ,greek3 e ,lyrae1 #aff ,charles's ,wain1 #aee2 part of ,great ,bear1 #aeg2 stars of drifting1 #aei2 stars visible in waggon of1 #afj2 double coloured star in1 #aeh1 #afg ,chilomonas amygdalum1 a monad1 #ahb ,ciliary muscle1 action of the1 #cd ,clark1 ,alvan1 on companion of ,sirius1 #afi ,clockwork of telescope1 #b ,cocconema lanceolatum1 a diatom1 #ahd ,coin of age of ,constantine1 #bbc ,confervae1 growth of1 #gi ,commons1 ,mr41 photographed ,orion's nebula1 #aeb ,constantine1 coin of age of1 #bbc ,constellations1 maps of1 #adh1 #aef ,copernicus1 a lunar crater1 #aj1 #bd2 figured1 #ag2 bright streaks around1 #ah ,copper-sulphate in lava1 #ajh ,corallina1 a stony seaweed1 #age2 fruit of1 #agg2 appearance like ,sertularia1 #agi ,cornea of the eye1 #ca ,corona1 nature of the sun's1 #abc1 #acg ,cottam1 ,mr4 ,a41 his plate of coloured stars1 #afg ,crater1 lava flowing from a1 #ih2 interior of ,vesuvius1 #ajj ,crater-plains1 #ai-ba ,craters on the moon1 #aj1 #ac1 #ag1 #ai1 #bj2 of earth and moon compared1 #af ,crystallites in volcanic glass1 #aji ,crystallisation1 two periods of1 in lava1 #aae ,crystals forming in artificial lavas1 #aad2 precious1 #aaf ,cydippe pileus1 a living jelly-ball1 #ahg2 structure of1 #ahh-aij ,cygni ,greek3 b1 a coloured double star1 #afg ,dartmoor1 fairy rings on1 #eg1 #eh2 the ,sundew on1 #ef2 granite figured1 #aab2 ponies1 #aie ,de la ,rue1 his photograph of moon1 #ac ,devonshire ponies1 black stripe on1 #bja ,diatom1 a growing1 #ahe ,diatoma hyalina1 #ahd ,diatoms1 magnified fossil1 #ci2 living marine1 #ahd ,didymium1 giving a broken spectrum1 #abf ,dordogne1 caves of the1 #baj1 #bae ,draper1 ,prof41 photographed ,orion's nebula1 #aeb ,drosera rotundifolia on ,dartmoor1 #ef ,dschiggetai1 horse-ass of ,tibet1 #bjj ,dsungarian desert1 wild horse of the1 #bjc ,dykes1 nature of volcanic1 #aaa ,earth1 path of the moon round the1 #h2 magnetic storm on1 caused by sun1 #ad2 reservoirs of melted matter in the1 #aja ,earthquakes accompanying volcanic outbursts1 #ajb ,eclipse of sun1 red jets and corona seen during1 #abe ,eclipse1 total1 of the moon1 #bc2 lurid light during1 #be ,eclipses1 how caused1 #g ,elephant1 hairy1 engraved on ivory1 #baf ,empusa muscae1 #ff ,engis and ,engihoul caves1 #baj ,england1 ancient caves in1 #baj2 in ,palaeolithic times1 #baa ,eocene1 toed horses of the1 #bje ,eohippus1 or horse of the dawn1 #bje ,equus hemionus1 the horse-ass1 #bjb ,eratosthenes1 a lunar crater1 #aj ,erbia1 giving a broken spectrum1 #abf ,ergot1 a fungus1 #fa ,eruptions of ,vesuvius1 #ig1 #ajj1 #ajd ,eudoxus1 a lunar crater1 #aj ,experiments1 necessity for accurate1 #ed ,eye1 structure of the1 #bi-cb2 mode of seeing with the1 #cb2 short-sighted1 #bi1 #ce2 distances spanned by the naked1 #dj ,faculae on the sun's face1 #abb1 #adj ,fairy rings1 #ee2 mentioned in ,merry ,wives of ,windsor1 #eg2 growth of1 #ga-gc ,ferments caused by fungi1 #fj1 #fd ,fishing in ancient times1 #bae1 #bbj ,fistulina hepatica1 a fungus1 #ga ,flint skeletons of plants1 #ahe ,flustra or sea-mat1 #ahg2 structure of1 #aia-aic ,fly1 fungus killing a1 #ff ,focal images1 #cc2 distances1 #dd ,fouque1 ,m41 artificial lava made by1 #aab ,fructification of mushrooms1 #fi2 of lichens1 #hc2 of mosses1 #ia2 of seaweeds1 #agg ,funaria hygrometrica1 urn of the1 #hi1 #ia2 has no urn lid1 #ib ,fungi1 nature of1 #ei2 different kinds of1 #fj2 attacking insects1 #ff2 growing on wounds1 #ff2 the use of1 #gd ,fungus and green cells in lichen1 #ha ,gardener1 advice of the old1 #aah ,gas1 spectrum of a1 #abf ,gases revealed by spectroscope1 #eb ,gemini1 the constellation1 #aed ,geminorum1 ,greek3 d1 a double coloured star1 #afg ,gills of mushroom1 #fi ,gomphonema marinum1 #ahd ,gooseberry1 fermentation in a1 #fd ,gory dew1 ,palmella cruenta1 #gi ,graham's island thrown up1 #ajb ,granular appearance of sun's face1 #abc ,grape fungus1 #fe ,great ,bear1 the constellation1 #aeg2 binary star in1 #aeh2 coloured double star in1 #aeh1 #afh ,greenstone1 ,neolithic weapons of1 #bbj ,guards1 the1 in the ,little ,bear1 #afb ,hartz ,mountains1 caves of the1 #baj ,hatchet1 a ,neolithic stone1 #bai ,hebrides1 volcanic islands of1 #aaa ,henri1 ,,mm41 photograph of moon's face by1 #ai ,herculaneum1 buried1 #ih1 #ajd ,herculis ,greek3 a1 a coloured double star1 #afh ,hermitage1 lava stream flowing behind the1 #ig1 #ii ,herschel's drawing of ,copernicus1 #ag ,huggins1 ,dr41 on shape of prominences1 #ace2 on spectra of nebulae1 #aea2 on cause of colour in stars1 #afh ,himalayas1 single-celled plants in the1 #gi ,horse1 wild1 of the ,pampas1 #aih2 of ,tartary1 #aii2 of ,kirghiz steppes1 #bjj2 ,przevalsky's1 #bjb2 early history of toed1 #bjd2 structure of foot and hoof of1 #bje2 skeleton of1 #bjf2 origin and migration of early1 #bjg ,hungary1 ancient caves of1 #baj ,huyghens1 the highest peak in ,lunar ,apennines1 #ai ,image formed at focus of lens1 #cc2 of sky in telescope1 #di ,implements1 old stone1 #bac2 new stone1 #bai ,imps of plant-life1 #ei ,india1 low plants in springs of1 #gi2 solar eclipse seen in1 #abd2 wild ass of1 #bjc ,infusorial earth1 #ahf ,infusorians in a seaside pool1 #ahc ,inhabitants of a seaside pool1 #agb-agd ,iris of the eye1 #cj ,iron pyrites in lava1 #ajh ,iron slag1 lava compared to1 #aje ,islands1 volcanic thrown up1 #ajb ,jack by the second horse1 #aeg ,jade1 ,neolithic weapons of1 #bbj ,jannsen1 ,prof41 on sun prominences1 #aca ,judd1 ,mr41 on volcano of ,mull1 #aaa ,jutes and ,angles invading ,britain1 #bbd ,kant on nebular hypothesis1 #aeb ,kent's ,cavern1 rough stone implement from1 #bac ,kepler1 a lunar crater1 #aj2 streaks around1 #ag ,kertag1 or wild horse1 #bjb ,kew1 sun-storm registered at1 #adc ,kiang or ,kulan1 #bjj ,kirchhoff1 ,prof41 on sunlight1 #abh ,kulan or ,kiang1 #bjj ,labrador felspar artificially made1 #aac ,langley1 ,prof41 sun-spot drawn by1 #ada ,laplace1 nebular hypothesis of1 #aeb ,lava1 aspect of flowing1 #ii2 reservoirs of molten1 #aja2 nature of1 #ajg2 artificially made1 #aac2 two periods of crystallisation in1 #aae ,lava-stream1 history of a1 #ajj2 section of a1 #ajh2 rapid cooling of surface1 #ajh ,laver or sea-lettuce1 structure of1 #agf ,leo1 the constellation1 #aee ,leucotephrite artificially made1 #aac ,lens1 natural1 of the eye1 #ca2 simple magnifying1 #ce ,levy1 ,m41 artificial lava made by1 #aab ,lichens1 specimens of from life1 #gg2 the life-history of1 #hj-hd2 sections of1 #ha2 distribution of #hb1 #ie2 fructification of1 #hc2 causes of success of1 #id ,lick telescope1 magnifying power of1 #df ,light1 lurid1 on moon during eclipse1 #bd2 sifted by spectroscope1 #abf ,light-granules on sun's face1 #abc2 supposed explanation of1 #ada ,lime-tree1 fungi on the1 #fd ,liss1 bronze bracelet from1 #bbc ,little ,bear1 pole-star and guards in the1 #afb ,lockyer1 ,mr41 on sun-prominences1 #aca1 #acf ,lunar ,apennines figured1 #ai ,lyrae ,greek3 epsilon1 a double-binary star1 #aff ,machairodus1 tooth of1 #bac ,madeleine1 ,la1 carvings from cave of1 #baf ,magic glasses and how to use them1 #bg2 what can be done by1 #bh1 #ec ,magician's chamber1 #a2 his pupils1 #d2 spells1 #bh2 his dream of ancient days1 #bji ,magnetic connection of sun and earth1 #adb ,magnifying-glass1 action of a1 #ce ,mammoth engraved on ivory1 #baf ,maps of constellations1 #adh1 #aef ,marasmius oreastes1 fairy-ring mushroom1 #ee1 #gb ,mazeppa1 quotation from ,byron's1 #bja ,men of older stone age1 #bab2 of ,neolithic age1 #bah ,mesohippus1 a toed horse1 #bje ,microliths in volcanic glass1 #aji1 #aaj1 #aac1 #aae2 formed in artificial lava1 #aac ,microscope1 #c2 action of the1 #cf-ch ,mildews are fungi1 #fj ,milky ,way1 #adi2 ,cassiopeia in the1 #afc ,minerals crystallising in lava1 #ajh ,mines1 increase of temperature in1 #aja ,miohippus1 or lesser toed horse1 #bjf ,mizar1 a double-coloured star in the ,great ,bear1 #aeh1 #afh ,monads1 size and activity of1 #ahc ,monks1 ancient1 of ,dartmoor1 #aif ,monte ,nuovo thrown up in #aech1 #ajc ,moon1 phases of the1 #f2 course in the heavens1 #h2 map of the1 #aj2 craters of the1 #aj1 #ac1 #ag1 #ai1 #bj2 face of full1 #aa2 a worn-out planet1 #ba2 no atmosphere in the1 #ba2 diagram of eclipse of1 #bc2 lurid light on during eclipse1 #bd ,moss-leaf magnified1 #hg ,moss1 life-history of a1 #hd1 #ib2 a stem of feathery1 #he2 protonema of a1 #hf2 modes of new growth of a1 #hh2 fructification of a1 #hi2 urns of a1 #hi1 #ia ,mosses1 different kinds of1 #gg2 advantages and distribution of1 #id ,moulds are fungi1 #fj2 how they grow1 #fc ,mountains of the moon1 #ai2 formation of1 #ba ,mucor ,mucedo1 figured1 #fa2 growth of1 #fc ,mull1 volcanic dykes in the island of1 #aaa ,mushroom1 early stages and spawn of1 #fg2 mycelium of1 #fg2 later stages of1 #fh2 section of gills of1 #fi2 spores of1 #gj2 fairy or ,scotch bonnet1 #gb ,mycelium of mould1 #fc2 of mushroom1 #fg2 of fairy rings1 #gb ,naples1 volcanic eruption seen at1 #if2 ,monte ,nuovo thrown up near1 #ajc ,nasmyth on bright lunar streaks1 #af ,nebula of ,orion1 #adi2 spectrum of1 #aea2 photographs of1 #aeb2 of ,pleiades1 #aec2 of ,andromeda1 #afc-afd ,needle1 bone1 from a cave1 #bab ,neolithic implements1 #bai2 industries and habits1 #bah-bbj2 burials1 #bba ,neptune1 invisible to naked eye1 #ce ,neison1 ,mr41 his drawing of ,plato1 #bj ,nostoc1 growing on stones1 #gi ,oak1 fungi on the1 #fd ,observatory1 the ,magician's1 #b2 astronomical on ,vesuvius1 #ig2 cascade of lava behind the1 #ii ,obsidian1 or volcanic glass1 #aji ,occultation of a star1 #bb1 #be ,onager1 or wild ass of ,asia1 #bjc ,optic nerve of eye1 #cd ,orion1 constellation of1 #adg1 #adi2 great nebula of1 #adi2 photographs of ,nebula of1 #aeb2 coloured double stars in1 #afh ,orionis ,greek3 th1 or ,trapezium1 #aej ,ornaments of ancient ,britons1 #bbb ,orohippus1 a toed horse1 #bje ,oscillariae1 growth of1 #gi ,palaeolithic man1 #bab2 relics1 #bac2 life1 #bad1 #baf ,pampas1 wild horses of the1 #aih ,penicillium glaucum1 figured1 #fa2 growth of1 #fc ,penumbra of an eclipse1 #bc2 of sun-spots1 #adj ,perithecia of lichens1 #hd ,petavius1 a lunar crater1 #aj ,photographic camera1 #c1 #dg2 attached to telescope1 #aba ,photographs of the moon1 #ac1 #ai2 of galloping horse1 #dh2 of the stars1 #di1 #afa2 of the sun1 #aba ,photosphere of the sun1 #abc ,philadelphia1 electric shocks at during sun-storm1 #adc ,pixies of plant life1 #ei ,plains of the moon1 #aj2 nature of the1 #ab ,plants1 colourless1 single-celled1 #fe2 single-celled green1 #gh2 two kinds of in lichens1 #hj2 with flint skeletons1 #ahe ,plato1 a lunar crater1 #aj1 #bd2 figured1 #bj ,pleiades1 the1 #aec2 nebulae in1 #aec ,pleurococcus1 a single-celled plant1 #gh ,plough1 the1 or ,charles's ,wain1 #aeg ,pointers1 in ,charles's ,wain1 #afa ,pole-star1 the1 #afa2 a yellow sun1 #aff ,pollux1 a yellow sun1 #aff ,polysiphonia1 a red seaweed1 #age2 fruit of1 #agg ,polytrichum commune1 a hair moss1 #hh2 its urns protected by a lid1 #ia ,pool1 inhabitants of a seaside1 #agb-gd ,precious stones1 formation of1 #aaf ,proctor1 his star atlas1 #adf2 on drifting of ,charles's ,wain1 #aei ,prominence-spectrum and sun-spectrum compared1 #acd ,prominences1 red1 of the sun1 #abe2 seen in full daylight1 #aca-acc2 shape of1 #ace ,protococcus nivalis1 #gi ,protonema of a moss1 #hf ,przevalsky's wild horse1 #bjb ,ptolemy1 a lunar crater1 #aj ,puffballs1 #fg1 #gj2 use of in nature1 #gc ,pupil of the eye1 #cj ,puzzuoli1 eruption near1 #aech1 #ajc ,quaggas1 herds of1 #bjc ,rain-band in the solar spectrum1 #acj ,rain-shower during volcanic eruption1 #ajg ,readings in the sky1 #ec1 #abg1 #aea1 #afh ,red snow1 a single-celled plant1 #gi ,regulus1 the star1 #aee1 #aff ,reindeer1 carving on horn of1 #baf ,reservoirs of molten rock underground1 #aja ,resina1 ascent of ,vesuvius from1 #ih ,retina of the eye1 #ca2 image of object on the1 #cc ,richmond1 ,virginia1 infusorial earth of1 #ahf ,rigel1 a star in ,orion1 #adi2 a coloured double star1 #afh ,rings1 growth of fairy1 #gc ,roberts1 ,mr4 ,i41 his photograph of ,orion's nebula1 #aeb2 and of nebula of the ,pleiades1 #aec2 and of nebula of ,andromeda1 #afd ,rosse1 ,lord1 his telescope1 #df2 on ,orion's nebula1 #aej2 stars visible in his telescope1 #afj ,rue1 ,de la1 his photograph of the moon1 #ac ,rust on plants1 #fa ,sabrina island formed1 #ajb ,saturn1 distance of1 #dj ,saxons1 invasion of the1 #bbd ,schwabe1 ,herr1 on sun-spots cycle1 #acg ,scoriae of volcanoes1 #ajh ,scotch bonnet mushroom1 #gb ,sea-mat1 see ,flustra ,seas lunar1 so-called1 #aj ,seaweeds1 a group of1 #age2 fruits of1 #agg ,secchi1 ,father1 on depth of a sun-spot1 #aci ,selwyn1 ,mr41 photograph of sun by1 #abb ,senses alone tell us of outer world1 #bi ,sertularia tenella1 structure of1 #ahj2 cupressina1 #aha ,sertularian and coralline1 resemblance of1 #agi ,shakespeare on fairy rings1 #eg ,shipley1 ,mr41 saw volcanic island formed1 #ajc ,sight1 far and near1 #ce ,silkworm destroyed by fungi1 #ff ,sirius1 #adf2 a bluish white sun1 #aff2 irregularities of caused by a companion1 #afi ,skeleton of the horse1 #bjf ,skin diseases caused by fungi1 #fa1 #ff ,sky1 light readings in the1 #ec1 #abg1 #aea1 #afh ,smut1 a fungus1 #fa ,sodium lime in the spectrum1 #abh ,somma1 part of ancient ,vesuvius1 #ig1 #ajd ,spawn of mushroom1 #fg ,spectra1 plate of coloured1 #abg ,spectroscope1 #c2 ,kirchhoff's1 #ea2 gases revealed by the1 #eb2 direct vision1 #abg2 sifting light1 #abf2 attached to telescope1 #acb ,spectrum of sunlight1 #abg1 #acj ,sphacelaria1 a brown-green seaweed1 #age2 fruit of1 #agg ,sphagnum or bog moss1 #gg1 #ic2 structure of leaves of1 #ic ,spindle-whorl from ,neolithic caves1 #bai ,spore-cases of mosses1 #hi1 #ia1 #ic ,spores of moulds1 #fc2 of mushroom1 #gj2 of lichens1 #hc2 of mosses1 #ia ,star1 occultation of1 by the moon1 #bd2 a double-binary1 #aff2 a dark1 travelling round ,sirius1 #afi ,star-cluster in ,perseus1 #afb ,star-depths1 #afj1 #aga ,stars1 light from the1 #dj1 #db2 visible in the country1 #ade2 apparent motion of the1 #adf2 maps of1 #adh1 #aef2 of milky way1 #adi2 binary1 #aed2 real motion of1 #aei2 drifting1 #aei2 number of known and estimated1 #afa2 colours of1 #aff2 double coloured1 #afg2 cause of colour in1 #afh2 are they centres of solar systems8 #agj ,statur or wild horse1 #bjb ,streaks1 bright1 on the moon1 #ad-ag ,suffolk1 bronze weapon from barrow in1 #bbc ,sun1 path of the moon round the1 #h2 one of the stars1 #aai2 how to look at the1 #aai2 face of1 thrown on a screen1 #abj2 photograph of the1 #abb2 prominences1 corona1 and faculae of1 #abb-abe2 mottling of face of1 #abc2 total eclipse of1 #abd2 zodiacal line round1 #abe2 dark lines in spectrum of1 #abh2 reversing layer of1 #aca2 metals in the1 #aca2 sudden outburst in the1 #adb2 magnetic connection with the earth1 #adc2 a yellow star1 #aff ,sun's rays touching moon during eclipse1 #bd ,sun-spots1 cycle of1 #acg2 proving sun's rotation1 #ach2 nature of1 #aci2 quiet and unquiet1 #adj2 formation of1 #adb ,sundew on ,dartmoor1 #ef ,tarpan1 a wild horse1 #aii ,tartary1 wild horses of1 #aii ,tavistock ,abbey1 monks of1 #aif ,telescope1 clock-work1 adjusting a1 #b2 an astronomical1 #da2 magnifying power of the1 #dc-df2 giant1 #df2 terrestrial1 #dg2 what can be seen in a small1 #df2 how the sun is photographed in the1 #abb2 how the spectroscope is worked with the1 #acb ,teneriffe1 peak of compared to lunar craters1 #ae ,tennant1 ,major1 drawing of eclipsed sun by1 #abc ,temperature1 underground1 #aja ,thuricolla follicula1 a transparent infusorian1 #ahb ,tiger1 sabre-toothed1 #baa1 #bac ,tilletia caria or bunt1 #fd ,toadstools1 #fg1 #gj2 use of in nature1 #gc ,tools1 of ancient stone period1 #bad1 #bae ,tooth of machairodus1 #bac ,torquay1 the ,magician's pool near1 #agb ,tors of ,dartmoor1 #aig ,trapezium of ,orion1 #aej ,tremella mesenterica fungus1 #ga ,tripoli formed of diatoms1 #ce ,tundras1 lichens and mosses of the1 #hb1 #ie ,tycho1 a lunar crater1 #aj2 description of1 #ac2 bright streaks of1 #ad ,ulva1 a green seaweed1 #age2 a section magnified1 #agf ,umbra of an eclipse1 #bc ,urns of mosses1 #hi1 #ia ,ustilago carbo1 or smut1 #fd ,variable stars1 #afe ,vega1 a bluish-white sun1 #aff2 double-binary star near1 #afe ,veil of mushroom1 #fh ,vesuvian lavas imitated1 #aac ,vesuvius1 eruption of #ahfh described1 #ig1 #ii1 #ajd2 dormant1 #ajc2 eruption of in ,a4,d4 #gi1 #ajd ,volcanic craters of earth and moon compared1 #af2 eruptions in the moon1 #ba2 glass under the microscope1 #aji1 #aaj1 #aae ,volcano1 diagram of an active1 #aje ,volcanoes1 the cause of discussed1 #aja1 #ajb2 ancient1 laid bare1 #aaa ,washington1 electric shocks at during sun-storm1 #adc ,winter in ,palaeolithic times1 #bae ,wood1 winter growth in a1 #gf ,world without ,end1 #aae ,yeast1 growth of1 #fe ,yorkshire1 ,roman coins in caves of1 #bbe ,zebra1 herds of1 #bjc ,zodiacal light1 #abe ,,the ,,end 99 99 99 99 99 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,co4',s ,,publications4 ,,the ,,fairyland ,,of ,,science4 ,by ,,arabella ,b4 ,,buckley4 ,with #gd ,illustrations4 ,cloth1 gilt1 #a4ej4 ,deserves to take a permanent place in the literature of youth4--,london ,times4 ,so interesting that1 having once opened the book1 we do not know how to leave off reading4--,saturday ,review4 ,,life ,,and ,,her ,,children3 ,glimpses of ,animal ,life from the ,amoeba to the ,insects4 ,by ,,arabella ,b4 ,,buckley4 ,with over #ajj ,illustrations4 ,cloth1 gilt1 #a4ej4 ,the work forms a charming introduction to the study of zoology--the science of living things--which1 we trust1 will find its way into many hands4--,nature4 ,,winners ,,in ,,life',s ,,race2 or1 the ,great ,backboned ,family4 ,by ,,arabella ,b4 ,,buckley4 ,with numerous ,illustrations4 ,cloth1 gilt1 #a4ej4 ,we can conceive no better gift-book than this volume4 ,miss ,buckley has spared no pains to incorporate in her book the latest results of scientific research4 ,the illustrations in the book deserve the highest praise--they are numerous1 accurate1 and striking4--,spectator4 ,a ,,short ,,history ,,of ,,natural ,,science2 and of the ,progress of ,discovery from the ,time of the ,greeks to the ,present ,time4 ,by ,,arabella ,b4 ,,buckley4 ,new edition1 revised and rearranged4 ,with #gg ,illustrations4 ,cloth1 #b4jj4 ,the work1 though mainly intended for children and young persons1 may be most advantageously read by many persons of riper age1 and may serve to implant in their minds a fuller and clearer conception of 'the promises1 the achievements1 and claims of science4'--,journal of ,science4 ,a ,,world ,,of ,,wonders2 or1 ,marvels in ,animate and ,inanimate ,nature4 ,a ,book for ,young ,readers4 ,with #cbb ,illustrations on ,wood4 ,large #abmo4 ,cloth1 illuminated1 #b4jj4 ,,contents4--,wonders of ,marine ,life2 ,curiosities of ,vegetable ,life2 ,curiosities of the ,insect and ,reptile ,world2 ,marvels of ,bird and ,beast ,life2 ,phenomenal ,forces of ,nature4 ,,around ,,and ,,about ,,south ,,america3 ,twenty ,months of ,quest and ,query4 ,by ,,frank ,,vincent1 author of ,the ,land of the ,white ,elephant1 etc4 ,with ,maps1 ,plans1 and #ed full-page ,illustrations4 #hvo1 xxiv-#dgc pages4 ,ornamental cloth1 #e4jj4 ,no former traveler has made so comprehensive and thorough a tour of ,spanish and ,portuguese ,america as did ,mr4 ,vincent4 ,he visited every capital1 chief city1 and important seaport1 made several expeditions into the interior of ,brazil and the ,argentine ,republic1 and ascended the ,parana1 ,paraguay1 ,amazon1 ,orinoco1 and ,magdalena ,rivers2 he visited the crater of ,pichinchas1 #af1jjj feet above the sea-level2 he explored falls in the center of the continent1 which1 though meriting the title of ,niagara of ,south ,america1 are all but unknown to the outside world2 he spent months in the picturesque capital of ,rio ,janeiro2 he visited the coffee districts1 studied the slaves1 descended the gold-mines1 viewed the greatest rapids of the globe1 entered the isolated ,guianas1 and so on4 ,,brazil3 ,its ,condition and ,prospects4 ,by ,c4 ,c4 ,,andrews1 ex-,consul-,general to ,brazil4 #abmo4 ,cloth1 #a4ej4 ,i hope ,i may be able to present some facts in respect to the present situation of ,brazil which will be both instructive and entertaining to general readers4 ,my means of acquaintance with that empire are principally derived from a residence of three years at ,rio de ,janeiro1 its capital1 while employed in the service of the ,united ,states ,government1 during which period ,i made a few journeys into the interior4--,from the ,preface4 ,,five ,,thousand ,,miles ,,in ,a ,,sledge3 ,a ,mid-,winter ,journey across ,siberia4 ,by ,,lionel ,f4 ,,gowing4 ,with ,map and #cj ,illustrations in ,text4 #abmo4 ,cloth1 #a4ej4 ,the book is most certainly one to be read1 and will be welcomed as an addition to the scant literature on a singularly interesting country4--,courier4 ,,china3 ,travels and ,investigations in the ,middle ,kingdom4 ,a ,study of its ,civilization and ,possibilities4 ,with a ,glance at ,japan4 ,by ,,james ,,harrison ,,wilson1 late ,major-,general ,united ,states ,volunteers and ,brevet ,major-,general ,united ,states ,army4 #abmo4 ,cloth1 #a4ge4 ,the book presents ,china and ,japan in all these aspects2 the manners and customs of the people2 the institutions1 tendencies1 and social ideas2 the government and leading men4--,boston ,traveller4 ,,the ,,garden',s ,,story2 or1 ,pleasures and ,trials of an ,amateur ,gardener4 ,by ,,george ,h4 ,,ellwanger4 ,with ,head and ,tail ,pieces by ,rhead4 #abmo4 ,cloth extra1 #a4ej4 ,mr4 ,ellwanger's instinct rarely errs in matters of taste4 ,he writes out of the fullness of experimental knowledge1 but his knowledge differs from that of many a trained cultivator in that his skill in garden practice is guided by a refined aesthetic sensibility1 and his appreciation of what is beautiful in nature is healthy1 hearty1 and catholic4 ,his record of the garden year1 as we have said1 begins with the earliest violet1 and it follows the season through until the witch-hazel is blossoming on the border of the wintry woods4444 ,this little book can not fail to give pleasure to all who take a genuine interest in rural life4 ,they will sympathize with most of the author's robust and positive judgments1 and with his strong aversions as well as his tender attachments4--,the ,tribune1 ,new ,york4 ,,the ,,folk-,,lore ,,of ,,plants4 ,by ,t4 ,f4 ,,thiselton ,,dyer1 ,m4,a4 #abmo4 ,cloth1 #a4ej4 ,the ,folk-,lore of ,plants traces the superstitions and fancies connected with plants in fairy-lore1 in witchcraft and demonology1 in religion1 in charms1 in medicine1 in plant language1 etc4 ,the author is an eminent ,english botanist1 and superintendent of the gardens at ,kew4 ,a handsome and deeply interesting volume4444 ,in all respects the book is excellent4 ,its arrangement is simple and intelligible1 its style bright and alluring2 authorities are cited at the foot of the page1 and a full index is appended4444 ,to all who seek an introduction to one of the most attractive branches of folk-lore1 this delightful volume may be warmly commended4--,notes and ,queries4 ,,flowers ,,and ,,their ,,pedigrees4 ,by ,,grant ,,allen1 author of ,vignettes of ,nature1 etc4 ,illustrated4 #abmo4 ,cloth1 #a4ej4 ,no writer treats scientific subjects with so much ease and charm of style as ,mr4 ,grant ,allen4 ,his sketches in the magazines have well been called fascinating1 and the present volume1 being a collection of various papers1 will fully sustain his reputation as an eminently entertaining and suggestive writer4 ',flowers and their ,pedigrees1' by ,grant ,allen1 with many illustrations1 is not merely a description of ,british wild flowers1 but a discussion of why they are1 what they are1 and how they come to be so2 in other words1 a scientific study of the migration and transformation of plants1 illustrated by the daisy1 the strawberry1 the cleavers1 wheat1 the mountain tulip1 the cuckoo-pint1 and a few others4 ,the study is a delightful one1 and the book is fascinating to any one who has either love for flowers or curiosity about them4--,hartford ,courant4 ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,ancient ,,civilization4 ,a ,hand-book based upon ,m4 ,gustave ,ducoudray's ,histoire ,sommaire de la ,civilisation4 ,edited by the ,rev4 ,j4 ,,verschoyle1 ,m4,a4 ,with numerous ,illustrations4 ,large #abmo4 ,cloth1 #a4ge4 ,with ,m4 ,ducoudray's work as a basis1 many additions having been made1 derived from special writers1 ,mr4 ,verschoyle has produced an excellent work1 which gives a comprehensive view of early civilization4444 ,as to the world of the past1 the volume under notice treats of ,egypt1 ,assyria1 the ,far ,east1 of ,greece and ,rome in the most comprehensive manner4 ,it is not the arts alone which are fully illustrated1 but the literature1 laws1 manners1 and customs1 the beliefs of all these countries are contrasted4 ,if the book gave alone the history of the monuments of the past it would be valuable1 but it is its all-around character which renders it so useful4 ,a great many volumes have been produced treating of a past civilization1 but we have seen none which in the same space gives such varied information4--,the ,new ,york ,times4 ,,great ,,leaders3 ,historic ,portraits from the ,great ,historians4 ,selected1 with ,notes and ,brief ,biographical ,sketches1 by ,g4 ,t4 ,,ferris4 ,with sixteen engraved ,portraits4 #abmo4 ,cloth1 #a4ge4 ,the ,historic ,portraits of this work are eighty in number1 drawn from the writings of ,,plutarch1 ,,grote1 ,,gibbon1 ,,curtius1 ,,mommsen1 ,,froude1 ,,hume1 ,,macaulay1 ,,lecky1 ,,green1 ,,thiers1 ,,taine1 ,,prescott1 ,,motley1 and other historians4 ,the subjects extend from ,themistocles to ,wellington4 ,every one perusing the pages of the historians must have been impressed with the graphic and singularly penetrative character of many of the sketches of the distinguished persons whose doings form the staple of history4 ,these pen-portraits often stand out from the narrative with luminous and vivid effect1 the writers seeming to have concentrated upon them all their powers of penetration and all their skill in graphic delineation4 ,few things in literature are marked by analysis so close1 discernment so keen1 or effects so brilliant and dramatic4--,from the ,preface4 ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,greeks ,,and ,,romans1 described from ,ancient ,monuments4 ,by ,e4 ,,guhl and ,w4 ,,koner4 ,translated from the third ,german edition by ,f4 ,,hueffer4 ,with #edc ,illustrations4 #hvo4 ,cloth1 #b4ej4 ,the result of careful and unwearied research in every nook and cranny of ancient learning4 ,nowhere else can the student find so many facts in illustration of ,greek and ,roman methods and manners4--,dr4 ,c4 ,k4 ,adams's ,manual of ,historical ,literature4 ,new ,york3 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,co41 #a1 #c1 #e ,bond ,street4