The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-07
Grruing telegraph
WEDNESDAY,, DEoBMBER I, 1864.
TIE suN.s surPIY.

The source and rcp.cnishment Of the suns heat
has been a subject Of curious speculation among
astronomers for many years. Some have helu
that the sun Is gradually throwing OF the noA'
which was given to it when the Creator auncncu
it into space others that it Is not heated oouy'
but that is rays are perfectly cold ana uo' "
some unknown chemical law upon the suos'a"oo
OF heat ON this earth, through The medium oi our
Atmospbere (Sir william Herschel maln'alheu
tbis on,norl. others again, that electricity best
explarps the solar phenomena
~, suggested that the solar dres, which
Ii ,,t,,yise in the course Of ages, become
.,bausted by the prodigious radiation Of heat,
s,iobt he fed TO some extent by comets tumbling
in,o tbc suns disc. This idea Of Newton's-at
resi- shrewd and startling conjecture-has been
worked pp and improved upon by the later ply
sicists and Is now seriously brought forward as
tbc only rational way TO account for the origin
AMI uniailing supply of the suns heat. Accord
ing to this theory, the heavens are ul OF comets,
asst, roids meteOrs, and other cosmich mater,
forever Circliug about the central iumulry IN
din ipishing orbits, and finally pitching head
fremost into its incandescent bath.
The zooiaca light which has been for centuries
one of the chief mysteries OF the skies, plays an
importapt part in his theory, for 1t is claimed to
he composed Of closely packed asteroids or other
cosmical substances gradually nearing the sun.
Being crowded together and reHectng the SOAR
10
tbin pyrnmid or convex lens, rising high towards
tbe zenith The zodiacal light Is supposed to
eucirce the SUM- but having its greater diameter
in the plane of the solar equator, II presents 10
the eye Of the earthly spectator only lts euBe'
The abcst champion OF this theory Is Dr.
Mpyer of Germany, whose treatise on celestial
dyfanics has recently been published, in con-
necton with number of other essays on the
problems Of the universe, under the general utle
OF the "Correation and Conservatism of Forces"
DR. Mayer assumes at the start that the sun is a
molten mas raised 10 heat when would
yaporize platinum or any other OF the most IN
fusble known substances. This IS MS hrst hypoc
thesis His next is that, in the wise economy OF
Nature there must be some provision Tor making
good the enormous losses sustained Dy the raulh-
tion Of the suns heat.
Thirdly, he assumes for there is really no evil
dence upon the subject worthy the name) the eA-
istence of ether or an exceedingly rarehed resist
ing medium peryading the heavenly spaces Which
obstIucts the movements of all objects revolving
about the sun until at last they fall into it-helr
centripetal overcoming their centrifugal lorce'
On this hypothesis, the earth and all the planets
Of our system, ehcOunering the resistance OF tue
universal medium, will eventually drop into tho
sun Having greater density ana magnitude
than the widely disseminated floating cosmcal
matter, the planets approach their doom moro
slowly, but not less surely The time Will come
perhaps millions of centuries henCe-wnen tns
earth will be chucked like lump of coal into the
roaring solar furnace. These preiminaries to
clever pieces of guess-work-unproYed by a
par ticle Of positive testimony. ~
Having promised all this, Dr. Mayer finds little
difficulty in showing not only how the heat of
the sun is main aimed, but how 1t was originated
Heat being developed, in accordance with we'll
kl own law, by the violent contact OF bodies, as
well as by chemical processes, he claims that the
sun, being perpetually bombarded by asteroids
and what nor, falling into il at velocity OF not less
than sixty miles q second must have been raised
to and is now kept at an intellectually high degree
of heat. The supply of cOSmical matter he con-
Sidcrs to be wonderfully abundant.
He quotes kepler's celebrated statement that
"there are more comets in the heavens than fish
in the ocean," comparatively few OF them being
visible, by reason of their peculiar organization,
to the inhabitants of this earth. He refers To the
fact that, on a bright night twenty minutes sell
dom eapse without a shooting star being per-
ceptible to an observer in any situation. tie
alludes also to the famous fire shower of 1888,
when at least 100000 meteors were estimated, by
a spectator at Boston, Mass, to have impnged
upon the earth's atmosphere within the period OF
nine hours. According to the calculus of proba
bities, the number Of these wandering bodies
approaches the infinite, so that no fears need D
entertained that the supply Will give QUITO
some time yet.
Such is barren outline of a most eloquent am
ingenious argument IL is far from satisfactory
A portion of it-viz the probable effect tina
would be produced by the falling Of comets o
meteoTs or any forms of matter into the sum
plausible enough Grant that there is a continu
Ous fusilade of such objects, striking the sun il
countless numbers, at velocity OF not less tina
sixty miles a second, and you must concede tho
an enormous amount of heat would be developed
The question, after all, is, Do the comets, &C., IA
into the sun DIR. Mayer has no evidence on th
point, which is the gist of the whole matter.
The hypothesis Of the ether, as we have said,
purely gTatuitous. Encke, trying to account tC
certain perturbatons in the movements of Ill
comet which bears his name, hit upon the idea
an tther as the best explanation. Herschel an
NInnr CNVt Nitl nVNhn aA
Encke's view, and attributed the change in h
com, is motion TO the gradual loss Of its tail. ]
accept the hypothesis of an ether Ut is said !
those who dissent from it, is to regard this m
-iestic universe as no better than an organic
chaos bearing within its own bosom the seeds
its destruction for, sooner or later, the whC
planetary system must find its grave in the su
if the theory of a resisting medium in the ceeSt
spaces be true. Many objections are brOug
against the theory that the sun is a molten ma
bur we have room TO state but one
If it is a liquid tre-as Dr. Mayer assumes
what explanation can be given of those shittl
black spots which are continually to be see
and which appear to terrestrial eyes ike glimps
OF solid orb caught through the riffs of a phOt
sphere That the body of the sun is solid; th
the luminous and heating properties Of the 81
may be confined TO its envelopes or Philosopher
created and replenishcd in conformity TO son
law not yet surmised; that we experience d
effects of light and heat only by virtue by o
peculiar atmosphere; that the sun Itself may
temperate ana pleasant place 10 uWell IN, h
the home of myriads of sentient beings, respo
sible, like man, TO the Divine Author of all
thee Conjectures, It is maintained, are quite
possible as DR.. Mayors and seem TO be INC
consistent with the Infinite wisdom and bene
eence Of The Creator.
Notwithstanding the objections which envir
this theory, il meets with much favor among I
advanced school of scientific iuqurers. The hyI
thesis Of a universal ether is regarded as higi
probable. But other philosophers starting FRI
the same by pOthesis, reach conclusions widely
variance with DIR. Mayors. Mr. Vaughan,
Cinciluati, In a paper read before the Brit
Association, takes the ground, and ably ma
tains IL, that the ether itself supports the co
buston Of the sun. Assuredly il might do it,