The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-27 00:00:00

DUBLIN-FRIDAY.

A strong attendance to day. - Supply moderate, and an
improved demand for both Irish and foreign grain at an
advance of 6d on all wheat anJ Indian corn. A fair inquiry
for oats at 3d over late rates. Flour steady; but value
unchanged.

s. d. s. d.
Wheat, white,. 24 0 to 26 6
Do., red 2l 6 to 24 0
Do., new
Barley
Oats
Do., black — 0 to 0

s. d. s. d.
Oatmeal lO 0 to 13 0
Beans.. . 0 to 0
Bere — 0 to -- 0
Rapeseed
Bakers' flour
Indian corn

Foreign Mail Packet List.

MAILS DUE.

Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton .. June —..—
via Marseilles July 14.
iirazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. July 5.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena June 2l
-'nina, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton June—.
via Marseilles June 27.

Falkland Islands ..
Gibraltar, via Southampton June —.
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton June—.
via Marseilles June 27.
`ndia (Bombay), via Southampton June 25
via Marseilles July 5.
l'ortugal.... ......
"vlalta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton June —.—
via Marseilles July 5.
Sewfoundland
ivorto and Vigo
U. z.... And British N. America, by Brit. packet.... June 30
by U.S. packet....
by Canadian packet. June 24.
All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 June 28.
California. and British Columbia..

PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE SUN.—Our
readers must recollect the intense interest with
which the public received the announcement of MM. Bunsen
and Kirchoff's wonderful discovery of spectrum analysis,
and the surprise which was caused by the fact that the
chemical constituents of the sun might be determined by
this valuable method of investigation. The conquests of
science, however, are sometimes dearly bought, and the
acquisition of a now theory will occasionally compel us
to relinquish another which, though it answered its
purpose, is found to be incompatible with the new
discovery. This was the case with the constitution of
the sun according to W. Herschel's theory, which supposed
it to consist of a dark nucleus, surrounded with a high at-
mosphere, the upper part of which only was in a state of
combustion, and was called the photosphere. When a spot
was remarked on the surface of the sun, it might easily bo
explained by this theory by saying that the burning enve-
lope had, by some convulsion, been torn open, and that the
dark nucleus thus became visible through the gap. The
&mi., or wrinkles seen on the burning surface, might
be explained by the vehement action caused by a tem-
perature infinitely superior to any we can produce on
our earth. The instantaneous changes of form observable
in the spots were Equally well explained by Herschel's
theory, and Arago had proved the gaseous nature of the
photosphere by showing that it did not emit any polarized
light, which it would if it were liquid or solid. But M.
Kirchoff overthrows this convenient theory, by declaring
that the sun's nucleus, instead of being dark, is even more
luminous than the photosphere, because the spectrum
formed by the passage of solar rays through prisms
presents the black bands observed by Wollaston in 1802,
and since studied by Fraunhofer, instead of the brilliant
bands produced by the vaporised metals, constituting the
visible incandescent surface of the sun. Unwilling to forego
the advantages accruing from Herschel's theory, M. Petit,
the astronomer of Toulouse, in a paper addressed to the
Academy of Sciences, describes two observations made by
him for the purpose of measuring the distance of the
nucleus from the photosphere. From this delicate opera..
tion it appears that the nucleus, which ceased to be visible
in a spot at a distance of nine seconds from the sun,
slimb,
wasor th still visible
at
of
tenthe seconds,sun atmosphere whichby
a calculation
value
equal
gives
f
the earth's radius. Hence, Herschel's theory would seen!,
e altitude
to be confirmed.—Gaignani.