Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1874-01-28
About the Sun.

II this edith were represented by globo one
inch in diameter. then the SUM- globe would be
three yasds in diameter; and if the suns globe
were represented by one inch, the suns distance
would be three yards. That proportion was al
ways maintained. 1t had been calculated that a
bullet, fired from an Armstrong gun, travelled
at the rate of 400 yards second. and Hthat rate
were maintained for the entire distance between
the earth and sun, the bullet would take thirteen
years to traverse that space, while the sound of
the explosion would reach the sun half a year
later. Thus the prayers of those persons who
worshipped the sun, if there were some interme-
diate means of communication to carry on the
sound, would take thirteen and half years TO
reach their god. As another instance of the
great distance of the sun from the earth, the
lecturer mentioned that if a steel rod Connected
the sun and earth, the pull of the sun on that
would take 900 days before the strain reached
the earth. There was yet, he said, another con-
sideraton 10 illustrate this vastness of distance.
1t had been ascertained that feeling was convey
ed along the nerves much more slowly than the
passage Of light or sound, and under such q con-
dition of things the following illustration would
be more readily understood. If an infant were
born having an arm the rather inconvenient
lenght of $1,000 600 of miles, and were to burn
the tips of its fingers in the sum- that infant might
die and never know that's its fingers had been
burned. In fact it was necessary that it should
live to l35 years before the sensation of burnn g
at the tip of the finger could be conveyed along
the arm. Even light, which travelled 1872, 900
miles in single second of time, took eight
minutes in reaching us from the sun. Thus we
never saw the sun in the place which he actually
occupied in the eclipse but in the place which
he occupied eight minutes before. The force
of gravity was the only power which appeared
to overcome this vast distance and acted, as was
known, instantaneously. This was for long
time, however, denied, and even Newton said
that the man must be mad to assert that any
force could so act, otherwise than by direct con-
tact. The lecturer next invited the audience to
the consideration of the question how large the
sun Is. When informing audiences in England
on this subject, he was in the habit of saying to
them that they knew how large England was
and yet that, upon the SUMS disc, it would be q
small triangular spot which would not be re-
cogniZable. He was afraid that that illustration
would not do in this country, for there was no
use telling Americans that England was large
Laughter. But even America was so small,
compared with the sum- that if there were a spot
on the SUMS disc as large rs America il would
be invisible to the naked eye. The suns diam
eter was, in fact lO7 times that of the earth,
while its surface was il, 600 times gaeater. The
volume of the sun was go 900 times greater
than the earth, but its matter WAS not so much
greater being, it is considered, onefourth lighter
than that of the earth in proportion TO size, or
| $4,000 times actually greater. But the vast
difference which existed between the sun and
earth even in this matter could be understood
when it was stated that if this earth were to grow
in density Until it equRled the entire density OF
the sun, the lille hali-ounce weights with which
we are in the habit Of weighing letters would in
| their proportion have come 10 weigh four and 8
! half tons, and an ordinary man would weigh
| twenty thousand tons. Such. then, was the
mighty power which ruled this earth The lee
turer ext proceeded TO the consideration Of the
| suns heat and light. In reference TO the sum
| heat Sir John Herschel had experimental on
! the subject in South Africa. and had found O
temperature Of leo degrees Fahrenheit four in.
! ches below the soil. He found also that one
third Of the suns heat and light were cut off in
mid-ar. Filling in the area, he calculated thai
] FHn Gall IN mi In u
suffice % melt 26,O 600 tons Of ice. But then thC
earth presented a disc of 100000 square miles
IN extent and yet only 227-l. 0O0th part Of the
! suns heat was captured on this earth; all the
rest was apparently wasted. The heat given by
! the earth would be effected by the burning of /,
! 10000 tons Of coal, whereas 10 produce The
| heat Of the sun i would require the burning Of
! u so million Of millions Of tons ofcoal