Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-05-15


IN the formation Of distinct universes,
whose numbers, already revealed % fls
ere Of mans y not 70 Be cOunted hy ths
scores o. hundreds, but has risen 81
thousands, while every increase ot sea-
esccplc power Is adding by hunafeds %
their catalogue.
LEI us now explain these ''islanu un-
iverses, Is The Germans have apgly
termed them, and attempt appruxlmate-
" to circumsrribe their limits. and lnea-
sure their distances from . and rom
each csner. or miii,am nefaehei' 70
whom we are indebted TOT snis uepass-
ment % astronomy. conserved = plan Dy
witch 4 Vas possi1se appfo&A e skell &c
sound ne depsns q space ana 1e.sA
me Ni1nla seAn Hna1F, sns o'.ssnee
ana magniAA1s g sRs slassetp ana peo-
=. u :. ~ssss's' ss'e ~. vs.
10 convey some iuea Oa MS ihe.nou o.
condnctng tnese most wonaefiua re-
searches imagine 2 ievei pam, Q. m
aenni.e extern. ana along su~'gnt
noe, separated oy intetvals Q. one H'ie
eaen, iet posts DC placed bearing Dolses 2.
on wnicn eertain WORDS are PFinteu "a
letters OF the same size. Inc words
printed on the nearest ooaro. We wiii
suppose. can Just De read win the naked
eye. 10 ,eao nose 90 tne seeohu, Iel-
escoPic aiu 70 TequTeu, anu that Po"eL
wnlcn sumees 10 enaoie tne det.ers 10
oe distinctly seen Is exactly double inat
OF the unaided eye. Inc telescope re-
yealing tue letters az the distance o.
three miles Is tnreeioia more PoWeriul
man tne eye anu SO OF aii tue Otners'
In thls way we can PROVIDE ourselves
win instruments whose space Penstra-
ting power compared Win that OF 'ne
eye, can De readiiy Obtained.
NOW 70 appiy tnese principles 10 the
sounding OF the heavens. Inc eye,
without assistance, Wouio Iono" ano
perceive the bright star Sirius, Itremov-
ed back to twelve times its present dis
lance. After thls, as u recedes. u must
De followed by the telescope. suppose,
then, nebula Is discovered win tel
escope OF low power, and u Is required
to determine ITS character and distance.
The astronomer applies one power al
ter ahotheF, untIi ne nnatIy employs
telescope OF sufficient reach to reveal
the separate stars oi WhIcn the ooJect Is
comprehension SHOWS u 10 De Gus
ter; and since the sPace-Penetrahng
power Of this instrument IS known, re-
lative to that Of the human eye, in case
the power - lOO times greater than tnat
OF the eye, then would the cluster De
located IN space IUO times iaTther man
the eye can reach, or 200 times more
remote than Sirius, or at such distance
that ITS hight would only reach our Ear'h
after journey Of lzO,OOO years
such was HerscneFs methoa Oh loea-
ting these objects IN space. Some are
so remote as to De far beyond the reaen
OF the most powerful instruments ana
nc telescope and can show them other
than neoulous CLOUDS IL was "n"e
pursuing these gIano inVestigatlcns ina,
herschei was ieu 70 Ine GOncIus'on nsI !nsI
among tne heOui@ IL. wnlon "eIe ',s,O.e slD.
IN tns neSVens 'neIe Me'e sOIe ; IN
POSeu ol Sn:vue m@a nn1y, =. lu''.-
nous e nuIu' HHe ."a' 80 "n..u"S - -, ~
OUT IIo" SO"e'S y" 'e" "PP'O~N" ~
Tue sun r.
Hmons IneSe cnaouG NnaSSes Ie us
cS"eIeo souUs Ih when auS eutHSsS N:se,
COnueSd 81. PPI" =. >
WINE ~ OtneIs me- ue 'o"a Oi Us ~
OF ngh'' mItn OIIsnt "uc'IIS e.L :" 'ue L
SenlIe. ~ I[oceeu'"s rs ye. IsnI.A Is Ie -.
Iouna wehIIOr'nec s'aIs sulIou"u1u s' ~
Misty n~.o, wnIIn 'Iesen'su sn a"J
enSIaS'e, u', al ~ ,,e
70 Oe neOu = =. .no U.s..
iOFheo neOu'~ "s VI e"U' nuouS ~,
tent; and among tnose aTuany con-
aensed' sucn as tne neeu'@ WIN pane
taFy oiscs' many were iouno so VAST inat
tneir magniiuue "ouia nh .ne space oc-
cuP;eo Oy tne sun anu an ''s Piahe'S'
forming sphere WIN Giameter more
tnan o'VvO millions o. mics ohltng
tnese ana many otnef iae's' the gteat
astronomer wa: nnaily brought 70 pc
iieTe tnat worlds and systems OF worlds
might YET De IN the process oI lorna
ton by the gradual condensation OF this
nebulous fluid, and that from this cha
otic matter originally came the sun and
all the fixed stars which crowd the hea-
vens. This theory, extended, but not
modified, in the hands OF Laplaee, Is
made to account for nearly all the phe-
nemena OF the solar system.
For long time this bold and sublime
speculation was looked upon, even by
the wisest philosophers with Temarka-