The New York herald., 1870-01-22
IN: CONSTITUTION or THE SUN.

Lecture by DIR. X. A. Gould, of Cambridge,
IIass., Rtfore the American Institute.
Or. R. A. Gould, or Cambridge, Mass, delivered
highly interesting lecture on the above subject under
the auspices Of the American institute last evening,
in the large hall OF the Cooper Union, which was
filed by q large ana intellectual audience.
On being introduced to the audience the lecturer
saa that the subject which he had ventured to seeo:
for that evening vast tnat for the short hour
during which he proposed TO claim the attention Of
the audience he could only undertake to speak ia
detail OF few OF the many points which II CON-
prised or give them not much more than bare
enumeration Of our recent additions to our knoWl-
edge In this direction. II there were any
symbol Of majesty and glory known to man
IL was most assuredly that Respondent iuminay
which was the source OF all light and heat, whose
splendor the unprotected eye may not behold. the
mere attraction o: whose meridian rays prescribed
the tropc and the polar climates and directed the
vlcissltudes OF summer and winter. The mighty
alterations Of day and night were but the dictates
OF tho SUMS presence or absence, while the e1ul-
Qence OF the fullorbed moon the brancy OF Jupiter
and Venus and the rays OF the comet which nits
the skies were but the reflections I'D leeoie
manner OF the SUMS light 1t was no wonder suat
In days gone py, then, tnat this mghty planet 70.
ceived the title Of Deity. What to tue disciples Of
science had found out 70 be an existing truth Well
did tne old philosopher Thson. the father o. hyPa-
tia, speak q ths great luminary a. the a'.vivnyns
heart Of the universe. We had every reason 70
believe that PythAgoras and his inmediAts
disciples taught the doctrine In Egypt that the sua
was the centre OF the universe. and that tne earth
revolved around him once year. Three and Q naI
centuries after this Archimedes determined the suns
diameter as between twenty three and twenty-seveA
minutes We determined tho measure OF distances
by measuring what Is called the parallax OF the SUM-
Mars and Venus being the planets nesress
determining suns parallax; Tor that reason many
oDservatons OF these planets had been usos at Wen
determined points on the earth distant rom eacn
other Tne sun was one hundred anu nine times Tue
diameter OF the earth; SO That the eartn, AZ seon
from the sun would appear but ss iite more tnan
the twelyethousandth part as large Is me sun ap.
| pearcd 70 us. IL we were 70 represent lnc
| would be represented on the same scale py Y
| elopa four and Q half feet In diameter to
1 q distance OF thirty rods But We
1 denoted the earth by Au orange OF tho average
size the sun would, on the same ecale appear Oh
| riobe twenty -Nve feet in diameter half mite on
ana SIXTY three and hall years in travelling around
| the sun Tho suns distance and size being thus
| known, the next question was a. regarded hid
| Weight or mass Is was easier TO weiRh the sur
| than 10 measure his distance. The weight o.
1 any terrestrial object was simply the attrno
| ton which subsisted between II and the
| earth. being measured by the force whiol
the mass OF the earth was little less than SIX sex
tions OF tons ana the SUMS total szc was tairleer
thousand times more than the earth, while his hea
| wes three hundred and thrty-scLcn times as much
| MAKING his specific gravity as Whole TO % one ant
| tni .eignh times tnat OF water Tho lecturer tnet
| proceeded TO exhibit photograph OF tne SUM-
eclipse on the 7th OF August iash taken o. surina