The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-09-16
sasIlrille AnluiI.
The sun.

AAC 8Ant
This glorious orb may be seen almost any
clear day, by looking intentiy liz its direc-
ton, through q piece OF smoked glass.
Through this medium it appears about the
size Of g large orange, and much the same
color. Il IS, however, somewhat lsrgef,
being in fact, Ss7 090 miles in diameter, and
containing & volume Of matter equal 10
fourteen hundred thousand globes Of the
size OF the Earth, which is certainly a INST
fer of no small importance. Through the
telescope is appears like an enormous glabe
OF fire, with many spots upon its surface,
which unlike those Of the leopard, are con-
tinually changing. These spots were first
discovered By a gentleman named Calico,
in the year 1911. Though the Sun is usual
ly termed aud considered the luminary Of
day, it may not be uninteresting 70 our
readers 30 know that it certainly has been
seen IN the night. A scientific friend OF
ours from New England Mr.. R. W Emer-
SOM while travelling through the northern
part Of Norway, with a cargo Of tlnWare,
ON the 2lst Of Juue, 1886, distinctly saw the
sun in all its majesty, shining at midnight
in fact shining ali night Emerson is
not what you would call a superstitiOus
man. bv any means-but he lett Since
that time many persons have observed its
nocturnal appearance IN that part Of the
country, az the same time Of the yesr This
phenomenon has never been Witnessed in
Ihe latitude OF San Diego, however, and il
D. very improbable that il ever viii be.
Sacred history informs as that distinguish
ell mili'ary man, named Joshua, once
caused the sun TO (" stand still;" how be did
10, is not mentioned. There can, Of course,
be no doubt Of the fact, that he arrested its
drogress, and possibly caused IL 70 "s'and
stills" but trsnslators are not al
inclined 20 the opinion that It might
have wiggled very little, when Joshua
was not looking directly at il. The state
meut, however, does not appear so very m
crtdiblei sVhap reflect that ea-faring
men are In the habit OF actually bringing he
Sun dorm to the horizon every dsy al u
Meridian. This they effect by means Of a
tool made Of brass, glass snd silver, called
q sextant. The composition Of the Sun has
long been a matter Of dispute.
BY close and accurate observation with
an excellent opera-glsss, we have arrived
at the conclusion that its entire surface is
covered with water 20 a very great depth I;
which water. being composed by a process
known al present only 10 the Creator Of the
Universe and Mr.. Paine Of Worcester, Mas
sachusetts, generates carburetted hydrogen
gas, which being iBhamed, surrounds the en-
tire BODY with an ocean OF fire, from which we
aud the oiher plenets, receive our llght ana
heat. The spots upon its surface are glimpses
of water obtained through the fire and we
call the attention Of our friend and former
school mate, Mr.. Agassiz 10 this fact as by
closely observing one Of these spots with a
strong refracting telescope, he may discover
O. new species Of lsh, with little fishes inside
of them. IL Is possible that the Sun may
burn out after a while, which would leave
this world in q state of darkness quite an
comfortable to contemplate; buteven under
these circumstances IL IL pleasant TO reflect,
that counting and love-making would proba-
uiy Increase 20 an indefinite extent, aud
that many persons would make large for
tunes by the sudden rise in value Of coal,
wood, candles, aud gas, which would 60 to
illustrate the truth OF the old proveTb, Its
au 90 wind that blows nobody any good
Upon the whole, the sun is glorious ere
alton pleasing to gaze upon Through
smoked glass, eleyating 10 think upon, aud
exceedingly comfortable 20 every created
being on o cold day ID is the largest, the
brightest, and may be considered BY far the
most magnificent object in the celestial
sphere though with all these attributes IL
must bc confessed that il IS occasionally en-
trely ecHpsed by the moon.