The Osceola times., 1876-08-19
SpcculatlOns Regarding the Sun.
NeHark Adxertiser.

Newark Advertiser.
Our knowledge of the orb of day Is yet
but superficial. Spots have been dis
covered upon its surface, but no one
knows whether they are riffs In its gas
eous atmosphere, showing the main body
beneath, or the products Of awful storms
and whirlwinds. The spectroscope has
detected traces Of some known minerals
in the rays of the sun, but that is only
of indirect value. Powerful Instruments
and acute observation have given TO the
world nothing but what lies upon the
surface, and everything that science has
really demonstrated can be put In .
paragraph.
The sun Is s56, 900 miles in diameter,
and it would take about 400, 900 worlds
like our own to make up its bulk. II
has, se far az we can learn, . surround.
ing envelope of fiery gases 60, 900 miles
in thickness, but there is no definite in
formation Of what lies beneath. Ger
tainly If there Is a fiery envelope Of that
size nothing solid, of q material charac.
ter, can maintain itself within, and no
life could be predicated rs existing.
And, according to some astromers, there
are appearances which in other spheres
would indicate volcanic action, tongues
of fame darting upward $4,000 miles,
and luminous matter often elected 16O,-
900 miles. A sublime and magnificent
globe, truly, but whence came 1t and
what supports it? II the sun Is ball
of fire requiring q constant supply Of
fuel, where does that supply come fromf
Sir John Herschell states that II would
require the combustion Of 100, 900 pounds
Of coal per hour on each square feot Of
the suns surface to produce the amount
of heat constantly radiated, q total for
the whols which no figures could
definitely present to the mind. Profess
sor Mitchell acknowledge that science
has given no satisfactory account of the
origin of solar light and heat. Some
astronomers think that the sun Is con-
stantly attracting to itself millions Of
wandering stars and floating nebulm,
stray masses Of solid substance which fall
into It's fiery embrace and die that stable
worlds like ours may live. Such theories
are, however, little better than wild con-
lectures. This luminous orb, the parent,
as science has almost proven, Of all the
other orbs that come within its influence
and belong to its system, has existed an
unknown and certainly very long
per0id, and to make 1t depend upon a
daily supply of material would not only
render is light and heat variable, but
would expose 1t to the possible catastro-
phe of sudden extinction. The mind
that created the sun, we may BE- sure,
left nothing To chance, and we know well
that the sun that shonc last week was
quite up to the mark of the luminary
that first rose upon created world.
A philosopher who lived more than a
century ago attempted TO solve the mys-
terry of the sun, but he did 1t after q
fashion 10 metaphysical that he obtained
but few adherents, and even his name Is
but rarely mentioned among the scien-
lists. He asserted that the sun Is pure
fire, by which he meant that 1t Is in
itself selfsustaining, and needs no ex-
traneous help for combustion. II Is, ac-
cording to him, the nearset visible repre-
sentative of what lies beyond in the
spiritual world, and corresponds to that
"divine love which warns the heart
and that divine wisdom which illumi-
mates the understanding" From this
he extracted many ingenious and fanci-
full theories, which we have not room 70
dwell upon, and which are not pertinent
to our subject. The question is still an
open one, the sun is still an unrevealed
mystery. Perhaps it is well that We
should grope in the dark. The world il
getting msterialistic quite fast enough,
and faith Is Of value a. we'll as knowl.
edge.