The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-03-19
The Z,iiaeal Llrht.

Ga alm0s, any clear m0onless night uow
this phenomenon may be noticed 10 the
western sky In the caIly part Of such an
evening", after the twilight has disappeared.
a triangle Of faint light will Be seen ex-
tending up Into the fain; sky Is base
viii be fouad about the place on the hori-
4oa where the sun disappeared aud may
be Of considerable, though Of varying and
somewhat indefinite width Il vii. taper
upward aud gradually fade cut about half
way from the horizon to ,hc zenith, al
though j: has been observed eSteodius
through ninety degrees, aud even sutirely
across the SKY It's edges are 50 inde6BiIe
that DO two observers sill agree as 70 Jusl
Shat its limits are. Il Is not generally
noticed, because ii looks SO much ike al
extension Of twilight that it is misiak Ken
for that. But, a. has been sail, i, Is 90 be
seen whcu the twilight has entirely di-ap
pcared, and its shape Is So different that
any one can distinguish IT, Il is found to
lie along the eclip,ie, that Is, the sun
path in the heavens. The eeliptic is mere
nearly perpendicular to the horizon during
the evenings now than iarias the evenings
Of any other part of the year 4 glance
a, any celestial globe, or at terrestrial
globe having the cclip,ie marked upon il,
viii make this perfectly clear.
lfsuch Z globe BE- SCI for the Is, Of March
and for a northern latitude, then turned
over toward the west i, will be noticed a,
abou, eight O'Clock ,ha, the ecliptie is
nearly perpeniicuar to the horizon, and
passes close to the zenith, the point in the
sky directly overhead As the Eodiaesl
light always lies along the eclipIic, aud Is
close TO the sun, il is clear that about the
E lst Of March affords the most favorable
evenings for It's observation, it then ex-
tends far,hest up into the sky ln the
latitude Of the north United States Is path
does not run directly toward the zenith,
F for the ecliptic never runs through our ze-
NTH, but to a point little way south Of
that. In fact it extends up toward the
MONDAY position Of the sun in the longest
summer days The globe will also show
that at an hour or more before sunrise the
eeliptic is nearly perpendicular to the hor
lion, and hence rises hishes, in October.
The zodiacal light is thus seen best in the
early morning IN October Except at
these seasons it stretches along the sky Sc
near TO the horizon that it is generally un.
noticed The present is, then, the most
favorable time Of year for evening otsar-
yation Of this curious phenomenon, and for
several weeks any one may find it. 1t viii
not do to expect too close a resemblance
to the cuts Of the light usually given il
our text books They make it more dis
tiuot aud with sharper outlines than il
will be found to have in the sky, as vel
as too narrow for its ordinary shape. The
cause of the zodiacal light is still uneer.
tain. Kepler ascribed it to an atmosphere
about the sun, and this view was generally
held until Laplaee showed that its observed
limits were far beyond the point where
centrifugal force would balance the force
of the suns gravity, and that it could mol
be an atmosphere belonging to aud revolv
ing with the sun in any such sense as oul
atmosphere belongs to the earth Prof
Wright, of Yale College, has shown by
means of the spectroscope that the zodiaca
light is reflected sunlight. But this doe:
not determine the nature Of the rejecting
substance. 1t may be a cloud of gaseous
matter or possibly of small PARTICLES oi
solid matter, surrounding the sun and ex
tending out upon all sides toward the
earth's orbit. More probably it is due tC
immense swarms of meteorods surround
ing the sun, and thus rejecting its ligh
to the eye.
To take the woody taste out of a wooder
pail, FIJI the pail with boiling hot water
let it remain until cold, then empty it anC
dissolve some soda in lukewarm water, ad
ding little lime to it, and wash the insid
vol with tho Solution. after that scalt