, 1866-01-15


times more actual weight Of gaseous fuel TO
Keep certain sized massof gaseona fame in
q state Of combustion, than the weight Of
solid fuel required To keep up masa Of solid
fire Of the same size. And &gain, Il NAV bs
asked, whouce would come The supplyi In.
addition to the fuel Decesaa.y to both these
theories, a supply OF oxygen gas vou,d bo
necessary To support the combustion, In the
case Of tczrestial fires, this Is obtained
from the ea1th's atmosphere, aud .s con.
sumed In prodgious quantities. In a recent
account Of the Dowlais iron furnaces, at
swansea, south Wales, It Is stated that ii on
an average $50 tuna of orc, fuel and limestone
sre thrown into cach furnace weekly, and
that TO enable these TO act upon each othsr. ,
not less than 2,Seo tons Of atmospheric a1r
asc driven In by the blast \; that u more than
tnfee times as much MI, by weight, Al of
solid matsta1s.'' >. -.
Heat Is produced In the case Of a common
coal fire somewhat as fo1lows: Tho oxygen
gas, which forms oue-ilfth Of the earth's
contains large amount of
latent calosic- As this gas chemically com.
btnes with PARTICLES Of carbon; It becomes
ca1bonic acid gus. In this form It cannot hold
IN lstent state as much caloric by 1925
degrees, as before; therefore this 1925 dee,
OF calordc, being set freq daring the process
Of combustion, becomes sensible heat, aud
being then In connection With the fuel of
which the fire Is composed, It satuzates 1t
with such quantities of heat as to render It
incandcsceut. It is upon this principle that
the above calculations are based, respecting
S7rn nfyrC frg 5y, I'm
theories suppose: for unless such combustion
wcre produced by diaeront kinds Of fuel com-
ing In contact, and combining Is they come to-
gether, It could not bo lasling; and II the fuel
of which the sun is composed existed together
tn proper proportion for combustion. instead
of having 10 come in contact In timely order
during combustion, 1t would all explode at
once Ike barrel Of gunpowder, OF mass of
gun-cotton. To keep such fire, as the sun is
supposed to be, continually burning, would
require shower Of planeis to fall into 1t as
thick and fast as hallstones fall on the Garth
during hail storm, and a globe. of atmos.
phere that would fill the orbit OF Neptune,
the diameter Of which is 5,s40, 900 900 miles,
would not last longer than year. Again, If
It we're true that Light and heat issue from the
sun In every direction, 1t is evident that the
few Struggling planets In the solar system could
Intercept scarcely the hundred millionth ofits
rays. and that the rest would pass OF into
space. This involves prodigallty entirely
at variance With the wise economy of nature.
We know that tho quantities. Of light aud
heat that each planet would receive would
decrease according to the square of the dis
tance each one would be from tho sun. Nor
curry would receive about seven times more
than the Earth. All Its waters would be dis
stpated, oll vegetable aud animal life destroy
cd, and 1t would move In its orbit, lifeless
void The temperature Of Mars would be
about the same as that Of our polar regions;
while the cold in Jupiter or Saturn would be
so ,lnsutIeEably great that We can form no
iden OF its severity and on them no known
kind Of animal, vegetable, or fluid, could
rxist.
Another theory, called the undulatory
theory, supposes light and heat to be only cf.
fects, the same ns sound and as sound re-
quircs naterial medium through which 10
transmit Its waves or undulntions, so the uu-
dulations which produce the effects of light
and heat require similar medium to trans
nit them. II is therefore argued that space,
e"noeu LUZ atWoepuele7 VI "of1os. Is ullea
with a mates'a! e'hcF1ai medium. But space
'oners no opposition to the earth's motion Of
e, 900 miles IN hour in Its orbit; whereas, If
1t were Tiled with ether, however attcnuntcd
such matter may be, 1t must oppose md re-
tard this motion. Again, comets, when re-
ccding from the sun, always trnvel with their
tails IN front Of their nuclenses. without any
change being produced In the form Of their
tails or IN their positton, whereas If space
were occupied by matter, however attenun-
ted, II must elect the very fimsy natter Of
which the extzemitics OF the tails of comets
arc composed.
In the foregoing remarks We simply repro
ducc the Arguments and Illustrations Of Mr..
Harrington, without intending to express m
opinion Is to their soundness- From some Of
the opinions taken in his lectures ve should
decidedly dissent, and his reasoning does not
always appear philosophical, but there can
he no question Of his Ingenuity and candor.
Ac discusses subjects upon which the Wtsest
man Will hardly venture to be dogmatic,
come OF his " Gaesses at Truth impress lis
With the conviction that they contain at least
the germ Of Important discoveries. Whoever
wishes TO read an expedition Of tho
theory Last mentioned will find It
In au able article On Tho Constitution Of tho
Universe" by Professor Tynda1 In the last