Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-01-31
TCommunjeated1
The Pl4nets-A Word in Reply to Nc
tacus.

- fN' "'th"91 Any Stuu) OF cA-
ira expense. We have only to take
up the Herald and "Notacusn or some
other cusS will tell as just as much
about tho distant planets and our
own, as the widest imagination can
invent.
Truly the Latin of "Netacus" is
not entirely obvious, nor the English
either. IL Is rather too ambiguous.
Typographical errors are SO frequent
that we are often left to guess at tho
intention Of q meaningless word.
Among the probable and possible 80
iuIions Of "Notacus" we fad Note
cass," Not a cusa," Knotty cuss,
Naughty cass,' "Naaticas" and
No take Us"
/. Is evident that "Notacus" has
enj3yed the acquaintance Of far
5clsnce IN her younger days, aa3
long SINCE turned his back upon her,
and nov only notices her to show
MS contempt and remind her Of her
youthful impsrtec.ions
Well, what does no tell Us? He
virtually scouts tho action That light
aud boat cmanate fl m the sun. ILo
loes no, quite admit that they are
transmitted ia straight lines from
one body 70 another. but says if il be
80, light and heat nu-t 30 material
range assertion truly Gravita-
ton IS entirely ignored. Is not all
matter subj9c to the law Of gravita-
ton? If 50, anything material would
he instantly def sctcd from = straight
line and describe curve.
Does "Notacus' wish us to believe
that sound is d material substance be-
cause transmitted IN straight lines,
Jr does he deny the promises? His
tremendous c0nnuudrums IN regard
TO the exceedingly minute and i'm
palpable atoms OF light and heat are
hardly necessary to demolish the old
add long abandoned theory Of their
materality. They only show that
"Notacus" has not taken note of the
many important discoveries, or the
great change in the appearance of
Science since his acquaintance with
her.
There is another sumner: 'If
light and heat are thrown off bg the
sun their density will be in proper
ton to the distance from the sun.
If SO, the remote planets must be in
a very hot place. The distance to
Neptune is about forty times that Of
the earth therefore the heat and
light must be forty times as great
and the climate of Mercury would be
too cold for anything but a white
bear In seeking an exit from this
paradox, we find Science misreprc-
sehted as saying their light and
heat would be in degrees proportion
ed to the squares Of their. distances"
This only makes the matter worse
for if the ratio between the distances
is 40, the ratio between the squares is
| 1000, and the climate of Neptune is
one thousand six hundred times
greater than ours, and the light in
the same proportion. Wont "Nota-
Gus" tell us how much farther we
should have to 60 out into the realms
Of space to find the light dense
enough to walk upon? But We sus-
pect that "Notacus" has q more cor
rect idea of the case than this, and
IN making the calculation will not
forget TO invert his proportions.
Again, he says, 1.-THE degrees oflight
ana heat can be measured by the
density or rarity of the earth'5 at
mosphere." Entirely at fault again.
Ha7 the gentleman ever tried the ex.
pertinent Of axhaGsting tue ar from
receiver containing u thermometer,
md does the mercury indicate the
tagrea Of exhaustion, or does the
thermometer become enveloped in
darkness wing to the rarity of the
ar? Does Il balloon that goe7 up
from the Gulf of Mexico 747I feet
encounter no greater degree of cold
chan is felt at the city Of Mexico
which is Of the same attitude and de-
gree OF atmospheric density We
Aardiy need TO try the experiments
TO be convinced that the density or
rarity have comparatively little effect
upon the degree Of light or heat
We next SEQ IT stated that tho den
-i'y may be determined by the dis
taace from the earth. Try this state
ment by the balloon case The diff
ference between the distances is just
747l feet the difference OF density il
nothing, while the difference Of tenn
peratures is as great as the dissimi-
larity between the fugitive thoughts
Of "Notacus" and the teaching of Sci
ence.
lie tells as sunlight and heat d.
minish with the increased distance
from the earth" This also is entire
| ly erroneous. 1t is true that bal
looms and mountain tops are cold
places, but it is because they are iso-
ated and not surrounded by objects
that can absorb and radiate and re-
fleet the heat Of the sun, while that
which they receive when radiated
or reflected is lost, with scarcely any
return 1t is absurd to suppose that
the direct light aud heat of the sun
are any less, or in other words that
the sun appears more dim from a
great elevation. IF SO. at what ele-
walton would the sun become entire
| ly invisible, and at what stage would
you first need lantern to take your
notes by? How can we see the sun
through so many miles Of "uncreated
night" if none Of its light can reach
US? How can you admit there is a
sun if we don't see it or feel its heat !?
What is the use of the sun anyhow,
if we have our own light and heat of
domestic manufacture How do the
satellites of Jupiter and Saturn cast
their shadows upon those planets
thus producing eclipses, and how are
those satellites so often eclipsed if
they receive no light from the SUP
Why, the whole performance would
be like blind negro in dark cellar
on dark night wInkiDg at blind
! rat all of which aDDeaTs aJOuL "a In