Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-16
The EARTR's Atmosphere.
The Utility OF the Atmosphere as a
Means OF Maintaining Heat.

The lecture Of last evening in the
Lowell institute course, by Professor
Langley, treated mostly Of the effect
of the planetary atmosphere in modi.
tying the suns rays. TIE impression
Is perhaps general, he said, that the
utility oil the atmosphere for the pur
poses Of life on this planet 10 In sup
plying oxygen to the body by mean
of the lungs. On an atrless planet
human lie could not DO sustained,
but many animated creatures do exist
/ on our planet without breathing ap-
paratus and IL Is conceivable that oxy.
gen might be supplied TO the blood by
other means than through the lungs.
A being who night be able to recall
the history Of the pact by ages, In.
stead, az We do, by centuries, would
DO able to relate many in.
stances of life being preserved
through long periods when there
was neither air, as VIC now know 1t, or
lunge to breathe 1t; but ne would not
be able to recall the time when life
and warmth we're not synonymous
terms. No form Of lie could be
mtiuted without the all.vivlfying Gle.
ment IF heat. The lecturer remarked
that, In what bad beon said on the
previous evenings he had mainly
spoken of scientific rcsultn, which had
been reached by the Investigations Of
other persons. He had now to speak
of results gained through certain re.
searches and experiments Of his own.
wherein the inquiry was directed tc
ascertaining what effect the sums di
rect rays have In maintaining heat
upon the earth. That effect is bat
comparatively small and a ready illus.
trat!on of the fact may bs had In con
sidering that on a certain day OF jan
uary, for example, or a particular
year, the altitude of the sun being
low at the noon hour, the mercury
stood at zero. In the follow.
ing year, on the corresponding
day of the same month the
Thermometer might register at noon
In this latitude Coz or 700 above
zero, yet in the effect Of the direct
rays of the sun must have been the
same on one occasion as on the other.
In fact, the suns rays are q little hot
ter In the winter than in the summer
time. Prior to considering the results
of this investigation 1t should be
borne in mind that heat, light and
chemical sction are but modes of one
common thing which lies beyond OF
exists prior to them. Thus by means
of the spectrum, which has to deal i'm.
medistely with the phenomena 81
light, an Inquiry with fruitful resultn
may be made concerning the action, OIL
the presence or absence Of heat. But
what is desirable to get is not those
facts which the spectrum as ordinar'
lily seen discloses, but such as are be-
yond the reach of the eyesight. The
object Ia to go down into the spec
trum, where the eye can not see, that
thus may be ascertained the amount
of heat produced by the direct rays OF
tho sun outside the line o.
the esrth's atmosphere. Thi.
can not be found out by any
| direct experiment, ga we Gel
not get beyond that atmosphere mol
SURVIVE If we could res ch that point /,
space. The method, as the lecture
proceeded to explain, Is by getting al
approximate, but 30 far IS 1t goes
sure result, and then estimate OF cal
cuIate what would be the result If tn,
method of approximation were carrie,
to the absolute limit. The plan adopt
ed was to make comparative measure
mems Ct heat produced by the sun
rays at the base of a high mountain
and at or near the top, the ditferenc
being q consequence of penetratin
through and getting rid of about thre
miles of the earth's atmospheric envt
lope. The place chosen was Mour
Whitney, which Is within the limits {
the United States, but near the nortf
ern boundary of Mexico. Ii VIZ
chosen because of it's situation in til
midst OF q vast desert region where tn
atmosphere has but a slight amount
moisture. The lecturer described an
illustrated on the white screen the al
para0cp UEcuf HiliSh AaN W pSi 6
far as the heat-deining and registe!
ing part of it 10 concerned, invente
for the purpose; and he also ehowe
upon the screen some pictures Of I'll
desolate mountain region to whic.
with his party, he asoenced. Anon
the curious results which ne lecture
enumerated was this: That II prove
that the SUMS rays at the heigi
named are blueish, and the conciusio
is that if the sun were seen from SON
intermediate point in space 1t woul
appear to be blue. The main resu
reached was proof that the heat /
which life is maintained on the earl
Is owing to the absorbing heat capacit
OF the atmosphere to human being
and to all animated creatures, whic
the atmosphere has, is In storing n
the heat which the sun throws q
From this it may be concluded tn,
Neptune having an atmospher
might be a warm planet, and Mercur.
having none, q cold planet.
MouAv for thu Hnmarrfad.