New-York tribune., 1873-01-28
CONSTITUTION OF THE SUN.

LECTURE BY PROF. c. A. YOUNG.
frIE TRANSIT OF VENUS AS A MEANS OF MEAS
uRTNG THE DISTANCE AND SIZE OF THE SUN
STRUCTURE OF THE SUNS sURFACE-CHAR-
ACrERIsTICs OF SUN sPOTS-THE CHRoMo-
SPHERE AND THE CoRONAL APPENDAGE.
The heavy storm of last night did not pre-
vent the usual audience that has been drawn ny the
American Institute lectures from gathering 10 hear the
last Of SERIES onr Present Knowledge of the Sun
by Prot. Young ~ Dartmouth College. He is RAPID
speaker rarely referring his notes attempt
lnr any eloQuence other than that which simple d'uo"
and distinct utteranoe confer. His manner mpresSe'
the belief that he is close thinker ."
well as a careful observer; slow 50 inAhe W
his mind and not the least in haste 70 acoe'
ful propositions; ibut when convinced pS 'iSi"''
demonstration, no longer open TO d"up'. ,,,-
lie rays these things we know Or ,a.tau q,
what am talking about" he oarres ooH' t'S.no
Truth 10 ms bearers not often atunpeN ~ -. 80.
,,ponnd modern discovery. He is at nome VII" -"
audience and from time 10 tmel giVesa i"oo
a, a., .r nort,ous OF description. that usually senus
,,poe of smiles across the hall, and not nhequeny
b,,uos down . round of applause. toi the ies' "
.outaet alert Dusy-looking man, VINO "o"iu 'e i"l
ore sely 70 be taken for an active merchant 'N ''i
s.eebrated astronomer.
THE LECTURE.
Decentralization I am sure can he required OF me III
.,.st,ns 10 Won who coming through such ram anu
storm are present tins occasion. am no" 10 ee'
before Won our present knowledge or the sun 1s pouS
A. moi only the center Of the solar system, aho ny S
great attractive power, the controller OF tne planetary
bodies more important source OF all energy "o"'
NV yigOr and vital power
Mooern science traces TO the sun almost the whole
,s,e o terrestrial activity We easily follow out
tbe solar action In winds and no less easily IN our
waterfalls The pumps that raise water to the nils are
h. the SUD The power that is expended In ntercepuhg
water in its downward flow at the expense OF the
POLAR fires In a remote way we may
tfnoe to the sun the steam power, which is
Gerved from fuel The power employed in building up
organic structures, taking the carbon and hydrogen
from the elementary compositions, and buldlng them
up into organic bodies, is derived from the SUM- Burn
inr stick Of wood. Stephenson said long SINCE Is
us4ng bottled.up at second hand-resuming the
mower derived from the sun SO all animal power Is
maintained by the Of organic food Animals can
not Re Kept alive on mineral food. The very foree
with which We move limbs. the sound OF our voices,
And will even 90 farther and say that the power ot
mud the impulses exered in forming thought IN eX-
,ung emotous-ths is sun-derived when traced to It's
ultimate source Not all but IN great part Each star
contributes quota and there are other slight sources
Of heat arges, portion Of all this power it sun
derived.
DISTANCE THK FIRST ELEMENT.
The whole scientific world, at least the astronomc
world engaged in investigating the sun ana Its rea-
tope 10 the earhits own nature and It's relations 10
terrestrial activities. The first point 10 be ascertaiDed
IL relation the indeed 10 any of the heavenly
lodles II It's distance. There is DO difficulty III deter
mining the relative distances OF the bodies iu the solar
system. Keper's third law supplies means OF deter
mining with accuracy, but approximately the
distances OF the bodies in the solar system and
oher methods have been long known But 20 ascertain
The actual distance in miles is problem which until
ihe last century dehed all the efforts of science The
suceuts invented curiOus methods, but they all failed
practically Tie method most relied on though there
are i've or six other methods used ana perhaps some OF
may the long turn out valuable as the
rely upon by means of the transit OF the
planet Venus. We Will show diagram on the screen
indicating the observations upon tins arranged
Two stations selected opposite extremites OF the
earth more than tw0-and the more the better
kETuop OF DETERMINING DISTANCE OF The sun