Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1877-03-09
THE BLUE LIGHT.

THE PHIL OsOPHY OF tan INTEREST
ING EXPLANATION OF THE THEORY.
&C. &C., &c.
In view of the great interest shown in
the blue glass experiments, e sent a re-
porter to one of the most prominent of our
physicians, who is, besides, a chemist of
great research. for an explanation of the
theory. In reply, we have received the
following, which will be read with interest
and instruction
Messrs. Editors Of the Viadicator:
A great deal has been said and written
lately in regard to the use of blue glass
sunshine! With a tentative appeal to the
credulity of the public, some have asserted
it's potency III relieving most Of the ills to
which flesh is heir I! On the other hand it
has been laughed at and ridiculed as an
absurd, meaningless and impotent measure.
The object of this communication is to
show that there is u nucleus Of truth
and reality in the widely diffused opinion
as to the potentiality of the suns light
transmitted through blue glass. Let us
contemplate the relation hat subs SITS be-
tween the current opinion entertained and
the facts in the premises: In so far as the
belief harmonizes with facts are we WAR
ranted in accepting the conviction as
truthful.
In order that we may test the truth of
the conviction it becomes necessary t. en-
ploy some facts, as familiar as household
vyor1a to TIN ctrldnnf of yltySJnl cajn,oa
which, however, are not fully apprehended
and appreciated by the general reader.
What is light? 1t is a mode of motion
The source Of light is the snn. The pull
~Sations OF it's vibratory, swinging atoms
give rise to waves in the almost infinitely
elastic ether which fills all space. just as
the air, the medium of sound. is thrown
into waves 10y a sonoriic body Zone giving
rise to sound) so the pulses If light are ra-
dated in waves through space, and reach
our earth where they are employed i'll pro-
ducing exact equivalents of vital and other
phenomenal! An act which is as real and
truly mechanical rs the breaking of the
sea waves upon the shore! Tie sun is
termed the fountain Of light it is equally
the source of heat and every other power
with which science has made us acquaint-
ed. BY the suns power the physical forces
of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, che
lulCOl lOICC, iHo IIoCtoLi II CIS1cpOu3
which are mutually convertible, SO that no
force is ever lost though PIoteuS like it
may change its dress OF form. The sun is
the real magician which accoinpliShes the
molecular work Of buildingup the vegetable
world and, through it, the animal. By the
action of the sun beam the earbonic acid
gas and water contained in the surround
ing air and earth are torn to atoms, the
plant approprlating as nutrlment the
az lo ,n1 IyrI vi md D1.nf / n ~ thn
Oxygen-the latter being essential to auimal
life. In darkness this process ceases, and
it ceases too in winter when the quantities
of light and heat are greatly reduced. Con-
versely it is active when the light and heat
have a maximum pc Ell, as in summer
and a like relation is seen i'll the fact
that plant life is most luXuriant in the
tropics, while it diminishes in the tempe
rate and disappears in the polar regions.
Every manifestation of action, organic
and inorganic, vital and physical, is at
tributable to the suns influence. BY his
warmth the sea is kept liquid and the at
mosphere Il gas. He lifts the vapors up to
the mountains which return in rain to re-
fresh the earth and ~enliven vegetation.
The winds, upon which the worlds COM
merce depends, owe their origin to the
suns power.
Indeed we may employ as rigid truth the
ldllS udSS VI lLtfOiStCi. oo UOt6uCIl ul'y a
pressed: Tue table of Prom ethcus is but
he overslladowlng of a philosophH truth:
where there is light there is organization
and lite; but where light cannot penetrate
there death forever holds his silent court"
The sun is the source OF almost infinite
power. III obedience to the fiat of the
Great Creator, who causeth the''day spring
to know his place" those mysterious
agencies are flooding out IN profuse album
RI ,,,,,0 FroI, th, c,, aaJ1cfNr 0rIyHn jpprf
matter to pulsate into life and beauty upon
every rolling orb within the solar realm.
And these agencies are INCREASINGLY at
work. Now, is there any one outside of an
asylum for the insane who can deny the
suns influence upon both vegetable and
animal life?
1t is impossible for living, organized
matter, composed IF complex constituents,
in ceaseless chemical activity, to be ex-
posed to d sun bath without measurably
manifesting its influence! Indeed We do
not transcend tile bounds Of truth in as
serting that it is impossible to expose IN
substa ce, however solid and persistent it
may appear to the influence Of sunshine,
without its under2 DING a molecular or
chemical change. Should the sun shine
uninterruptedly upon a granite block or a
bronze statue it would perish Independently
of any other destructive influence.
Now, as such is the acknowledged power
Of sun light, why resort 70 the blue glass
medium? There is "a good and sufficient
reason which we will endeavor to briefly
set forth. A triangular prism in the path
of the sunbeam bends the rays out of their
course, and by this means decOmposeS the
beam into n beautiful, hame-like chIomatlc
image. If this image is received upon Il
screen it will be found to consist of several
colored bands arranged as follo Ws-violet,
indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and
red, constituting the seven cGlors Of the
solar spectrum. A thermometer carried
along the spectrum will record the highest
degree of heat in the red band, for there
the heating rays of the sunbeam prepon,
derate. 1t a piece of paper covered over
with chloride of silver, which is purely
white, be placed in the solar spectrum it
will be most promptly decomposed and
blackened (by the liberation Of the chlorine
and deposition of the metallic silver) in the
region of the blue band, because there the
chemical rays are most potent and nu-
merous. The luminous rays are found in
the region of the yellow band OF the spect-
rum. Such remarkable phenomena teach
us that we have to deal with agencies in
the solar rays which are in their visible eff
fects very dIssimilar. That these three
functions Of the sun-beam-laght, heat and
chemical, all differ from one another. may
be thus proven
Apiece of black mica will allow no light
to pass through it, but offers no obstruc-
ton to solar heat.
A plate Of glass stained apple-green with
the oxide Of copper, is perfectly transpa-
rent to light but Opaque or impermeable to
heat.
Glass which has been stained yellow
with oxide If silver. allows a flood Of light
TO pass through 1t, but permits no permea-
ton of the chemical rays. And, on the
contrary, if we use glass colored deeply