National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-03-27
aTHE Sun AND PLANETS 9
rnxxD L1erU1x OF IN. AsrRoSoH-
ICAL COURSE.

AAA0 00A A1SO A4dIN0AOs
EHxRD LECTURE OF fKE AsrROEoH
ICAL COURSE.
REMARKABLE FACTS CONCERNING ThA
eUN-THEoRIEs CONCERNING THE fLAN'
ErS-JUPIrER AND SATURN UNiNHAbIi'
ABLE-OTHER INTERESTING AND No'AI
FACTS.
About eisAt hundred people assembled ~
-Nveninx st Lincoln hall to hear the tnifc 'eossI
on astronomy BY Prof. Proctor. Inc I
-. rnon the Sun and his Planets" ana ths
suh,eot was treated in manner that sh0sse sp-
hlau,s and admiration from All VINO Mere aot
.eupsae enough to partaks O .ae ssisu'a"s 49,
TAs subject was treated - fonoWs' q
n ...m, 70 me desirable, m taking the sub3esl
-, ~,.nst. To consider them Zen khs potnt d
~ n NE in other worlds. Ahhcagh II u ~
~ ..v very great scientinex alue, The subJsee 4
crs ia which We all take interest A sinpl1
method will enable - to remember readily IN
various facts regarding the planets. divide tn
solar family into tive paxts-tm iptsrior fAniiyi
Mercury, Venus, the earth Ank Eoon, and Maxs
and the outer family, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranns
and Neptune. One Of the fAets u the utter divsf.
Sity Of character between these two fAAnise.
want to show that instead Of being regaroee :.
two similar families, they ought to % iooAee
mon ., two separate families, utterly unlike each
other. Whatever We think Of the outer ism,ly
OF larger planets ought to be derived nom tns
evidences We have, and not from the anaioey ..
our own earth. 1t 10 only the INNER ismuy "
PLANETS that We can Judge BY our own os.,n.
And even in this case we must not iah INV NV
Mistake that life on other worlds must % nAs
chat Of our earth. =.
Our earth itself gives rs some sucn lesson. :,
"a saw one part, and heard of but we're prevented
70, sss;ng the other parts, We might think that
In would not exist under the varying condittons.
N.s no know IL does. Even very recently there
"a a very striking case IN illustrataon.s We all
Thought that there could BE- no life at the bottom
ofihe sea; that in the deepest seas there was .
great darkness and . pressure which must pre-
Vent li(e At the depth Of mile or two the
pressure is % great that when wood 10 carried
down the water 10 forced into 1t, 90 that It VIII
never Goat again. We know, also, that light u
desirable quality for all living creatures We are
Acquainted with, and we came to the conclusion
that light could not exis. there. But Drs. Car
Senter and Thompson have let down their dredges
Ind drawn up, from the depth Of two or three
miles, living creatures-and not merely living
tcreatures. but having eyes and able 70 SO, net.
Mthsandins the daTknsss th ina nnssiars there
thai when these creatures were brought up where
the pressure was less they burst: There vas vas
quite enough remaining to show that they nsd
been alive, but had been torn apart when tho
Tha. was one example We might also consider
be be- to anybody in the temperate ZONES that NE
could exist there. How utterly uhlikeiy, sgGn'
that life shSSlG exist IT, p a the :0 IF
come to places where the atmospheric pressure Is
WV much dImiYished, and yssst. cold prevails
ID the sea level you would be certain NO life gould
Sxist there Il were not for the fact that We Visit
these regions and ascertain that nie does exist
there So that In dealing with the different plan
stswe need not eoncsrn ourselves to show that the
conditions are absolutely like those prevailing on
e: earth sS s b he s:; s, ea to
planets with what prevails on the earth.
In order to get ril Of those numbers, which viii
IN tss Is to the distancs
you call the distance Of the earth 10, then for
the distance Of Mercury from the sun you have
Hiameters Of those planetc We have Mercury 5000
hilss Venus, so miles; for the earth, 1900, and
IOr Mars, $500: You see We have an Increase up
Gs9s q al tSs.s .se ss
diathster Of 500 miles Ali these planets rotate
pn their axes in about d hours. They All ressm:
pie each other IL that respect: They All seem 70
matter Of about tho same density of this earth,
The density Of our earth being about ~ times,
sO@s say As much Is x times the density OF
ORBITS OF THE INNER PLANETS.
To begin with Mercury. the nearest Of all these
planets 10 the syn The feature which strikes US
hrst in dealing With Mercury is the great heat to
orbit To
beat from the SUP At certain times than at others.
Ehe quantity Of heat received by Mercury varies
shat is really 9 serious difference. Only imagine
What would happen to rs II the suns light and
beat were Increased four-foid, and then extend
your conception to an increase ten-foid.
LIFE IN TIE OTHER WORLD 1
Mercury is planet waiting for the time when
life may exist on Il; when the suns heat shall be
lufhcently reduced, and then life will be as oom.
Portable as it is on earth. Here are introduced
bf view Of life in other worIds Though liz now
bxists on earth there have been long SUGGESTIONS
d ages during which life has not been possible on
;1S hii SI
sil time. but fOI : small portion Of the pisnssS
II the earthi gravity were reduced to that in
Mercury all the planets would suffer; flowers
ssture. snsa M assoluseiy nssssssr g
Hon Is that Of uprightness should remain 90, and
angle Is SHOWN that Il tha. were not a tie Spss
GIu:tsd for the . lsEtIiI.a.isn Of Tie ssta: And
tho earth, from pole to pole, 10 engaged in keep
&ag the snewdrop, the crocus, &c, n their proper
In that al vHSd
3hahged. The same difnculty spplies to the
Ssrth.
TIE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLANET VENUS.
Vepus is the most beautiful, and We should
Imagine, from ordinary appearances, to DO the
noblest Of all except the sun and our moon.
Bot Venus, examined BY the telescope, does not
AL he wraII .s.-hA
pSet. She 4, too gloriously Illuminated BY the |
eun, and the application Of the telescope IS dis
Spposntinsd AGAIN. we never see Venus under
lion Of the illuminated surface. Look at this ia
kram. You have the path Of the earth here, and |
HsitSst to the earth the sun lies in the sams al.
Eeetiou, and therefore Venus turns her darksued |
I!ids and cannot be seen. When beyond the sun |
Venus can be studied is when she is on the tive |
OPPOSITE sides OF her path, and then she is seen
sIther Is z gibbons mSon or 2 half moon. We
knuch nearer to the sun than the earth IL, must |
have grea: deal more heat Her heat IL not 90
Escn heat as The earth has. In i1 other sssDee8
Venus is more like the earth. Although Venus |
has no moon, yet being nearer the sun she must |
those that exist On the earth.
The yoar Of Venus is about seven and half |
months. 1t must be remembered that this sun |
heat that 1t does to the earth. The change BE-
tween the two conditions Of winter and Gunner
would be even more serious than the two sxfremS |
heat and cold in either condition. In explanation
Of this let us take New York. You know the pole |
e raised about Il degrees. In spring the sun
Rises to hight Of about TO degrees above the hor.
Icon, In summer o degrees higher, in winter fe
rises % degrees lever at midday. Suppose in.
stead of . degrees the change amounted 10 50 de-
frees. Then you would have 1t the New York OF |
Tenus-you would have 1t 50 degrees higher in
summer, which would carry Il 10 degrees north Of |
the point overhead. The sun 10 cireling about the
pole, round and round. There would be day ali |
the time, and then there would be that tremen- |
dous sun, with all the effect Of tropical sunshine.
The accumulation Of heat In the summer BY We
nus must be enormously great. Consider the |
winter. There is the sun In the spring ffty de-
grees above the horizon, but In the winter Il il |
6fty degrees below. 1t does not rise at all above
the horizon. II if continual night, and that after
that extremely heated summer. These changes
are not agreeable TO our ideas Of the possibilities
81 life. They suggest the necessity-migration.l
This is absolutely necessary to certain classes OF
beings here on this earth. Now, lunar beings on |
the earth do not migrate, but the inhnbitants Of
Venus, II there are any, must migrate 20 as al
Ways to be in parts where the does not rise too
high. That would be quite possible: II NAV be an l
absolute essential condition there not for portion
Of living beings as here, but for all.
RELATIONS OF THE NOON TO THE EARTH.
Tnr earfh has a conna,tor a..