The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1875-04-29
Home News by Way Of the Sun.

Home News by Way Of the Sun.
eco abroad to learn the news" is q
very old saying. Just now the study of
the suns constitution furnishes a remark
able verification of the correctness of the
proverb; that far.away orb affording q
better and closer view Of the early stages
OF the earth's development than could pos
slbly be gained at home, and furnishing at
the same time an altogether unexpected
means of estimating the relative character
of the earth's chemical structure as com.
pared with the other members of the solar
system.
1t is we'll known that the elements
which compose the earth and its atmos-
phere are very unequally distributed. OF
the part which we are acquainted with,
oxygen constitutes by weight fully one
half Silicon makes up quarter. Aluni-
mum, calcium, magnesium, potassium,
sodium, iron and carbon in decreasing
proportions constitute nine tenths of the
remaining quarter. There is left only one
tenth of quarter to be made up of the
other fifty-five non-metallic and me-
tallic elements. Nor are these various
elements uniformly mixed in the
parts OF the earth open to our investi-
CATION. The outer portions, being
mainly sedimentary strata, derived from
an original nucleus of primary rock, are
OF no assistance in determining the primal
distribution of the elements. For this we
must interrogate the basic rocks. These
are naturally divided into two great divis-
ions, holding on the whole definite re-
lation to each other. The upper mass con-
sictS IF op1 o+Lor -,
rich in silica, moderately rich in alumina,
and poor in lime, iron and magnesia. Be.
low are basaltic and volcanic rocks poorer
in silica, equal in alumina to the upper
series, and much richer in iron, lime and
magnesia, and containing also great va
riety Of other elements as occasional con-
stituents; the proportion of the denser
metals increasing downward. These rela-
lively precious constituents of our earth,
as we all know, reach the surface only
through veins which traverse the outer
layers.
How did it happen that a few Of the
elements are provided so plentifully for US,
while there is such scanty provision Of
the rest? And why are the useful metals
chiefly hidden in the depths!
Present conditions are because some
other conditions were; what were those
conditions? In pursuit of the answer to
this question scientific men stop at moth
ing short of interviewing" the universe.
Naturally the ruler of our planetary sys-
TEN is the most instructive witness in re-
gard to the genesis of his family, the
earth included.
1t appears to be pretty conclusively
shown by spectroscopic analysis of the
SUMS light that the following twenty ter
restrial elements with indications of per-
haps two otherwise unknown elements
which need not be taken into this account)
exist in the suns atmosphere:
Aluminium, barium, cadmium, calcium,
ccrium, chromium, cobalt, copper, hydro
gen, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese,
nickel, potassium, sodium, strontium, IT,
tanium, uranium, zinc.
These various substances are not indis-
erimlnately mixed in the vapors which
surround the sun, Thanks to the inter-
posing face of the moon in total eclipses,
it is possible to study the suns atmosphere
It appears that, by virtue of the high
temperature which prevails there and the
varying specific gravity of the different
elements, the latter are enabled to arrange
themselves in layers, in spite of the storms
and gaseous outbursts which would tend
70 disturb their positions. 1t is observed,
TOO, that in the main the number of elc-
ments increases downward. The outer
"coronap' atmosphere contains cooled
hydrogen. The chromospherc" shows
lncandcscent hydrogen, magnesium and
calcium. The reversing layer" which
lies next the philosophers, exhibits sodium,
chromium, manganese, iron, nickel and
The rest, with the probable exception of
aluminium, the place of which has not
been determined by observation, but which
most likely lies between magnesium and
calcium
Theoretically the metalloids should lie,
IS a group, outside the metallic atmos-
phere; and Mr.. Lockyer has submitted
some evidence to show that they probably
10, explaining why, under the conditions
which prevail, their record among the
Fraunhofer lines should be feeble one,
and insisting that, in the lack of such
lines, we have no argument against the
presence of some quantity of the metal
loids in the sun, although that quantity
may be small. As collateral evidence it is
proper to add in this connection that, in
the spectra of granite, greensboro and
lava, no trace of metalloids is seen, not
withstanding the (chiefy) non-metallic
CHARACTER OF CnOSe rocks.
Assuming, in accordance with the nebu.
lar hypothesis, that the earth was once in
the condition which the sun now presents,
we can readily understand why its chemi.
cal constitution should be what it is. From
the known behavior of the elements, it is
interable that, as the external metalloidal
vapors cooled, they would condense and
fall upon the underlying layer, forming
those binary compounds capable of exist.
ing at = high temperature, such as the va.
pors Of water and hydrochloric acid, sill.
ca, carbonic acid and others.
As the cooling went on, the precipita.
ton of these binary compounds would
give rise to numerous reactions, forming
silicates, chlorides, sulphates, etc. With
still further cooling, the condensation OF
water and the formation of minerals would
ensue, and the consolidation of the outer
she'll would begin. The condensation of
the metals would come much later and
nearer the center.
The same line of facts and reasOnings
give clew to the probable constitution of
the planets. Assuming the solar nebula
to have once existed as a nebulous star at
a temperature of complete dissertation,
and to have contracted with loss of heat,
throwing off the planets successfully, we
may infer that the outermost~wouid be
chiefly if not entirely metalloidal; the in
ner ones would be increasingly metallic as
their orbits approached the central portion
Of the nebula. Mr.. Lockyer considers
that.the low density and the gigantic and
highly absorbing atmospheres of the other
planets accord with their being more met
alloidal than the earth on the other hand
the high density and comparatively small
and notwithstanding atmospheres of the
inner planets point to more intimate re.
lation with the inner layers of the original
nebulous mass, and consequently more
metallic constitution. For the same
reason we should expect to find the metal
loids scarcer in the sun than in the earth.
The otherwise mysterious fact that the
moon is lower density than the earth and
the moons of Jupiter similarly less dense
than their primary is easily explained by
this, hypothesis.
The news which we have briefly sum.
married awaits confirmation, though (as
the newspapers say it comes direct and
kr,,c = t. Ss,1,