, 1880-01-28

i!s most Interesting md Instructive lecture II
S9se BY m Inappropriate quotation fs9m blsgso T. M
stitutod between night and death.
TUESDAY LECTURE.
TIFF lMMEvsiTy OF SPACE.
Another lnrgc audience greeted Prof. Proctor
last nvonlng at Hershey Hull md listened to his
lecture m The immensely Of apacc." 1t waa
subject Of great 1lcngty, hO enfh, bccnslse ho
Ind to try to convey olear Ideas on n matter
nbout which he WIS very far from having clcnr
itlcas himself. Tie vaatness Of space was sonle-
thing VIC could talk about, but which was hard
To conceive Of. Thoro wcro ways, however,
| to present our Ideas OF space SO rs 10 gavO
n clear statement Of distances and tho scate to
ncas,,rc thou,. III the present lecture he should
| speak Of the vaatnesa OF tho central sun, the
vnstncss Of tho system travelling around It, and
tho rnstness Of the Bpac1 separating that Bysten
! from other systems at tho satnu kind.
| III order tn du this he must begin With tho
Garth, which furnished scalo Of mcastire,-
Its dnmetor Of 70eo miles. This, however,
was a Distance beyond our power to
conC1tvc, for no ono could clearly
conceive d distance greater than ten miles, Tho
greatest distance ono could scc was tue distance
ono could sec at once, such, for Instance, ns n
rlilo range, Representing q mile by mn inch,
5000 Inches, or about 20 yards or pRccs, would
represent tho earth's diameter. hut to consider
tho stze md distance OF the sun It WIS ncces-
sary to represent the earth by Il much smaller
scalc,-say mo inch In diameter. Tho suns
globe would then be represented by Au orb three
yarls in d!aTctcr. and tho SUMS distance by
about 40 ynrds.
erslblo iength to tho problem whose correct soiH-
tion hIls bcen nEttntlnR Astronomers for ngcs,-
the determination OF tho SIMS distance from tho
upon this subject, the delicate methods ro-
sorted TO IN R9lytnE the problem and thq results
Ge falriy saI, he ohsorve. that tho distance was
somewhere abntt G,90o,0Qu miles, and VIC
might H., be certain Tint II wasn't leS9t, &C.,
ascertaIntncnt Of this enormous distance, under
c!rc,,tnBtanccs so nnfavorablc, with such rcaao'1
triumph in tho science Of astronomy:
With tho Garth represented by IN Inch globe,
saa s y yag & SopFSs FSnS waa Sna Fl l. n
of conception. ned,icinS tho seaic, and repre-
.listnneo from The sun would be tbrco yarls, anu
Neptune's orbit SIXTY titnes TINT dlstnncc, or
lso yards,-a distance FchsII'y conceivable.
PASSING To THE eTAls,
the baso limo would be 185, ,000 0O0 mics, and the
nng'o 80 small that It was insufficient to satis-
factorily dotcrn,lnc tholr .aIstance. Alpha, tn
se .ss as%se q e 9hs s .a s sv %Ss
QUO Of miles, and tho angle In that case tho 4o9th
DSnr E tho ce Sf wes
iicas Of thu!r distances. which could only be
guessed Mt. In ghOrt, It Wns simply impossible to
ness ot theso distances, or tho enormous plan
upon which the stellar system wHs CONSTRUCTED.
sts ssa srG ut @ 's 'r puna H re-
years u travel to thts earth md that there wete
ulso stars whose light had bern travelling to-
whrt,s Us cyor snco thcy we're mado without yet
Tho bull was now darkened and tho illustrated
PSs9 e s sqes screen nsg ss gaP th @ py sw
midst tho mghtfcst mechanical work ot nnn,
but which, on the scuie q @ @neas,remon. above
takcm 10 ,ncasure tho distance, Of tho a,ln and
the scnle upon which tho universe was con-
.soyerai viows were then rapidly exhibited,
showing sc1lo nf tho distances Of tho Planets,
larger n Should Sp have " 6eei Sees saH se
aa os s.e il Ras0 vs% ha
a p!sas;,s t. ssp%.ssatey' showing thes con-; COM
% o. i photograph ~, Of the '''i III! hoeii' Esxss
which they xcro told was over a9o miles
rcd tint wherewith ho Is represented, whose
G nr99ossSs IF ,sn Tas anou
ths paac. brought to sh by tSo
nid Of the telescope, diseovGry which tho lcct-
re1e,a t. ~ one Of 'hs Sssst
estnsted ' by Tho @ a'aent 'o q sSs s whob CAMS ne
aaona tnen; tnor si aanietef neing pro3nahIy
somewhere between tir1 and ton miles, although
9 San Framcsen astIonoIncr had placed It ns
hiEh as luo mllcs. were snch the case+ thcy
would
. LOOK LIKE BLACK Spots
: through tbn lnrueat tnlesconrs whercas thov
cOuid scarcsly bS gcei,. x strikinr nre,iiarIty
otoltt thnse tntons tyns thctr verv i}fnr1.nt Ia
havor. They Hnncare,l IN ,nnvr IN onnnsIl
, directions. tHo outer iaoon risi1,E in ths Gast
and gctti1r III tho west in so,nethfnx I,ka tbrtS
ht.1rS ,ahtIn tha nonrnr va t..,tiIm. mn mnr1 ~
nucH1v..in MINT anScn hMssa AIUr Mn9
, 4 ni1nrtcr--Bremet r. rtse IL W.
; west nni snt In I'm naat 1,hIs ennnrcrt ,noti,i
was snilnr n I'm Hifccf nrf.{,s"nti III i.v thrc1
trims. InnyluT on thrsa par!ieI tr1,nks. md NJ
Ynr1,nt ~ VI ~ anno nnn tho 'u ~ ,u 1,
Sn,, nm thn trn}n ntsuynr ,bn h' f,1dlo . ~ IKE
suonosa ibn tratn On thn Ift movc NJ fbe n,fT
Of twenty 1iiles mn hour. tlat In tl,e - centro III" ri
~ 2, ~ % t as 9',, ~ w ~ Tx ~ s.1 r. Gs t.
on to rut whit, anocnr ~ Ia IN snSva as, H. shiis