Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-04-26
THE SUNBEAM,
AND the FORCES STORED WITHIN IT.
An interesting and Even fascinating Lee
turs, Last Night, at the Fourth
Street a. {. Church, BY
Bishop Warren.

ence, in an hour-and-a.haif lecture, OF
the "iorces of the sunbeam" Is no mild
task, one would think, especially II one
had any insight OF the question. let
Bishop Warren did it, at the Fourth
Street III. + Church, last night, ana
made it exceedingly, even fascinatIngly,
interesting. He had good audience 10
hear him and one that both unCerstood
and appreciated what he said. His Lecture
was a sort OF excursion into the fairy
land of science. picking up only the IL,
ieresting morsels by the roadside ana
leaving ont dry facts and rugged stalls
ties. He was past the teaching'oi science
period of his life and such talks as these
we're simply the recreations and 50 IN
d ed they proved. He has very pleas,
ant method OF explaining his points and
has also full stock OF pleasing illustra,
tons, so that although his talk Lasted
two hours, it was listened TO with I'M
tagging interest.
The sunbeam, which comes stealing
upon Us, is generally considered In It's
pleasant, genial sense, but such was not
the intention of the lecture, which was
to examine into the forces pent up In
the little ray oil light streaming in upon
us. The first force is the rapidity with
which it travels. "Puck" said he'd
"put a girdle round about the earth in
forty minutes" which is doubtful; but
light can do il in one-eighth OF asecond,
or eight times around in one second.
By q simple experiment the velocity oil
light is determined. When the earth is
in that point OF its orbit nearest the
planet Jupiter, one OF the latter's satel-
lites is eclipsed at certain time. But
when the earth is at its farthest point
the eclipse occurs l6t minutes later.
Why is this? The eclipse occurs pre-.
cisely on time, but the extra time is
caused by the light passing over the ex-
ira distance. The fact that light is occu-
pied l63 minutes in crossing the earth's
orbit, shows that its velocity is $4,000
miles per second. This can scarcely be
imagined and certainly not compared
with any velocity We are familiar with.
Take, for instance, what We call in
Simultaneous photographs. The light
shines on the chemical plate for only the
twenty thousandth part Of a second and
vet in that time 0 miles OF light have
poured into the camera. The sunbeam
occupies eight minutes in coming from
the sun and from the nearest fixed star,
in the Southern hemisphere, three
years; while the light we now see
streaming from the Polar star left it 40
years ago! Take an express train and
start il toward the sun. In one OF the
cars put baby at the start. The train
shoots on and on and he grows to man.
hood, reaches the allotted term and dies.
He is succeeded by another and another
until five have come and gone, and at
the end OF the $50 years, half OF the dis.
lance will remain untraveled. This
velocity OF light, 1856, 900 miles second,
is one OF the forces OF the Sunbeam.
Shoot a rifle, and the ball leaves the
muzzle with velocity OF 1000 feet the
first second; the next second it has 800
aud the third 200; and the next second
it stops. But the sunbeam keeps on
with the same velocity, though it travel
a thousand years. On starry night
look at the worlds sprinkled like dust
in the abysses Of space. Some OF the
light We see left the stars thousands OF
years ago, and some tens OF thousands.
This is another force of the sunbeam.
Light can perform one very miracu-
lous thing. Two rays can meet and
pass each other in the same space at the
same time. IL two railroad trains were
TO try this the result would he disastrous,
but the sunbeams do it constantly.
Take the new moon, for instance. In a
few days we will see it in the west and
We will notice the silver horns Of
the new moonsenclose the dim form Of
the old. As the old moon receives
none OF the suns light and has none OF
its own, how DO we see 1t. Why, the
light OF the crescent comes to our world
and is reflected back upon the old moon,
and in so doing the beams make back
ward and forward trips to and fro, but
never conflict or interfere, And this is
the third force OF the sunbeam.
But we have been considering our ray
OF light as one thing, whereas it is really
a regiment. Let us divide it. We adj
nit a pencil of light into darkened
room and dissect it with prism, and
we have the spectrum with its seven
colors, all marching along at different
step, and yet keeping close to-
gether. This is just as the
voices of a choir reach the end OF
a church together, though differently
started. The soprano starts out and the
air takes on 500 vibrations per second:
the deep bass only has l50 vibrations,
but they are longer, and the two reach
the ear together. So it is with the
seven colors. We rise in me morning
and we say the sun is red, but it is not
so. The rays OF light strike the smoky
atmosphere that stands like rampant
on the high hills. The weak violet and
blue and so on are caught and stopped,
but the bold, strong red pierces through
and We say the sun is red.
Well, there stands the spectrum he.
fore us and in those colors before us, by
the aid OF the spectroscope, many are
the wonders unfolded to our eyes. By
virtue of this little instrument, which is
valued by astronomers above the tele-
scope, il can clearly be learned what
substances are in process OF combustion
in our sun and other suns, the fixed
stars. Those many lines in the colors
of the spectrum are so many letters OF
an alphabet which Science is rapidly
learning to read.
Outside OF the forces represented in
the spectrum, are two others. The first
is that force-the active agency-bv
which photographs are taken; by which
plants are built up and which operates
by night as we'll as day. Take ray OF
light, spread out the spectrum and
screen it, and the other force will make
itself apparent in variety OF ways. The
other force is the great power, the great
est of all the forces locked in the sun.
beam. 1t is heat. It's power is appar-
ent everywhere. 1t lifts gigantic bridges
and holds them suspended during the
sunlight hours. AS the sun rises i'm the
east and gradually wears around toward
the west, the great Bunker Hill monu.
ment is moved to follow it. The exposed
side is expanded and tits the immense
shaft OF granite in an opposite direction,
first west, then north, then east, and at
night allows it to settle back to the per-
pendiculsr.
And another singular TACT connected
with the solar heat. Did you ever
mark how readily it passes through
glass? No other heat will do it, for if il
did what would be the effect? 1t would
be impossible to warm a room with win
dows, for the heat would pass through;
and III ordinary heat nassau off On avary