Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-01-06
ARR Iii ERE OTHER nABlIA.
BLE WORLDS.

tiil tuie shall end without receiNi ing
any decisive solution. Yet certain
interesting discoveries which have
been made of late have curious and
/ Instructive hearing upon a contro-
Versy which attracted much atten-
tion a few years since. Dr. w newell
one OF the parties to this controver-
y, in ''fhe Plurality of Worlds, y
maintained the opposite to the COM
alou hypothesis, founded Upon the
most general anaiogies. An article
rom ht. Pu'u's an English nnaca-
/ sine, reviews his position in the light
Ioi recent researches, SOME 4 sfi.
points eff " hi"h we shall bfg-fTs ts-
! state
In iu.intainidg that we have no
reason Ia infer that the other planets
of oiir sNstein are Inhabited, DIR
/ Whewtil urged that We knew moth
ing about their constitution, and
gr"babls never should. They might
= III possess a slngie element found IL.
| our Globe, and iic went 50 Tar >ts to
maiutain that Jupiter, Saturn ran
| us and Neptune are but universe
| clouds" OF, ''water and vapor pack
ed into rotating masses," aud the as
teroids ''were specks and shreds of
planetary NATTER At ihat time it
4
| should ever learn anything certain
about the physical constitution of
{ bodies 50 far distant from us Yet
such know ledge has actually been
| acquired BY Spectroscopic ANALYSIS.
| " hen Il ray of light is analyzed by
| the prism, the rainbow coiors result
! ing are found to he crossed by hun
| dreds OF distinct lines or markings
| Moreover, these lines arefoundto vary
| Ia position and character, according
/ to the substance consumed in the
flame. Thus iron, copper, zine, etc,
| each give distinct markings and the
| most delicate experiments show1hem
| TO be inVariable. Now when applied
| To the analysis OF the suns light
this discovery shows, beyond dis
! pute, that iron exists in large guam
titles in the solar atmosphere. So
also sodium, magnesium and calci-
| um and in lesserquantitiescopp
| zinc, and other terrestrial elements.
| ihe conclusion Is inevitable that the
| constituents of the sun are much the
| same "a those of the earth. When
this fact is shown of the great cen
ter of the system, the conclusion as
| to the other members is OF course
| greatly strengthened. Thus one diff
ficuity, which DR.. Whewell regard
ed rs insurmountable, has been par
tally conpassed.
| But we know more of the planets
| themselves than DR.. Whewell
| thought possible. He held it doubt
full whether they have an atnos-
phere like that of the earth The
| spectroscOpc seems to have solved
the doubt inthe ease of some of them
AS they shine onlyby reflected light.
| 1T might have been assumed that
nothing could be learned of them bv
tins instrument, for, Of course, il is
the suns light we .nalyze in this
case as in the other. But in obsery-
ing Mars, the spectrum was found te
be crossed 10y lines only appearing
! in that of the sun when near setting,
50 that his light passed through =
denser strata Of our atmosphere. 70
find whether these lines arose from
anything in the earth's atmosphere
the spectroscopc was at once applied
to the moon and nothing of the kind
WAS seen. Thus ii was shown that
Mars has an atmosphere loaded with
the very Vapors which are found in
| the earth :. The same has been
shown of Venus, Jupiter and Sa-
turn.
Dc. Wheweil ioubted whether
eVenMarSwaS - iikc the earth ashad
been supposed. Careful observation
| however, has shown that it has Ger
tain marrying fca lures, regarded a
lands ana seas, and maps Of these
have been constructed like those oi
the earth, and We have names and
boundaries for the Martial seas and
continents. White caps at the pole.
OF theplanet are fOundto increase and
decrease as snowmusiut thoSeregion
with the progress OF the seasons o
the planet. Changing masses are
observed in the atmosphere exactly
corresponding Ia clouds So we have
land, sea, SNOW, clouds and atnlos
plIere like the earth in the ease. a
this best known OF the planets.
mother of Dr. WheW ell's objec
| tiun&haa also been removed. IL,
claimed that the interior planet,
would be uniIhabitahle on account
of excessive heat, and the exterior oI
account OF extreme cold. Experi
nients made by Professor TYndal
show that thc temperature of a plan
1t will depend very much on It's at
fnospheric enN eiope. \ dense a,que
Ou4 atmosphere admits the hea
readily, but will not radiate. Il again
while dry atmosphere VIII radi
ate ii as readily ~ ii is admitted
|
than vapor Every one knows til,
effect OF the ratification OF TIA,
eafth's atmes phere in high regions
So that the Himalayas shoot ul
ltum tropic heat and bear eterna
SHOWS on their SUBMITS
Ligi Things of theglob, lar Kind Al,
often visible Tor sex erai seconds
they move iii "a strange, undulatius
manner often appearing to avoid
objects with hich their ,,oucs,
would, II unchanged, have brough
them into contact; and, at othe
times seeming to leave their cours.
through the attraction al objects IL
ing near ii. They have been evei
known 10 rebound lin appearance
from the earth, separate into seVera
small globes, and 10 exhibit othe
singular phenomena. Several iii
stances al the effects of lightning re-
! semble very closely those which -ar
aseribed to the object which eXplod
ed near the Urania Thus Arag,
: records that ON the 18th of J My, 793
the East India Company's ship tn
Good Hope being in 81 degrees, 4
minutes, south latitude, and / de
9rees, - minutes, east longitude
''was strack by lightning Of u globu
lar form. which produced a most vi
olent detonation, killed sailor in
: simultaneously, and seriously wound
ed another" and many similar in
stances might be cited.
No satisfactory explanation OF Tia
singular pheaomenon OF globe light
ming has Xtt been offered lhonpi