New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-10
THE LECTURE.

my business to speak TO you OF the methods OF nndhg
distance of the from the earth. etc. but tonight
pass consider the body Itself suppose there
no need say to you that although the sun Is
only private in the household OF heaven yetto
who live upon the earth and all inhabitants oil the
solar system IL Is incomparaby the most important OF
all astronomical bodies You all know, OF course that
the sun Is the handspring Of oil activity the earth
We can trace to its direct action almost everything in
the way power that upon the earth Take for
instance the water-wheel You 60 into mill and ma
the spndles running. The that drives them Is IN
the sun ia this way water runs down the channel Oh
the river because has been pumped up by the ACTON
OF the and dropped upon the NIL TOPS
and then finds it's way up to the again and is
pumped up again and dropped again, and again
to the sea, and, really, the power tna,
drives it the power that works those pumps Let the
stop lis radiation for few days and the waters OF
the hills would run into the and the ocean would
be filed and that would be the eud Of things Just as
the man who winds watch drives it through the next
day. SO the winds up the world. Take the wind'
again The currents Of the air are produced In that way
only in more roundabout manner and wecan trace the
power OF the steam engine where we get our energy
from the burning Of fuel, to the sun also.
suppose you know that the growth of plant IT, In
some respects vesy analogous the building OF tall
chimney The carboc acid In the air picked to pieces
and the carbon is united TO hydrogen and other mate
rails and built up into organic structure that we call
plant The work done in building up the plant Is anal
ogous TO that done by hodcrier 10 taking the bricks
from the ground to the top. When the building
comes down, If the bricks arc allowed
to fall they do In their coming Gown
precisely the same amount OF work that was done in
carving them up. So when burn tree built by c.
esta heat We are merely recovering again the bottled
sunshine that was stored that tree years ago
Coal is the sunshine Of the long past probably IN
fact animal power can be traced to the source II
speak, or move my hand, the energy tnat
does the work was stored away in my
hv he and that food
has built me up precisely the as plants are
made nothing but the actono solar springsso 10
speak, that enables to reach you with my voice to-
night There is hardly any work In the world that we
cannot trace this way the of the SUM- There
are some slight and few exceptions but is not saving
n word too much to say that if the sun should stop
shining TO-DAY, within month all activity on
this planet would practically cease. IL would not
only be unnhabitabe, but nothing would be going on
There would be complete stasnation Throughout the
whole universe that com poses the suns system.
MAGNITUDE OF THE SUN.
The body of the sun itself most marvellous thins
I have told you that its distance from us Ia about
$4,000 900 miles Knowing that it Is very easy to de
ter1nne its diameter which is very nearly one-tenth
part of its distance; and when we come 10 carry
that out in figures we fnd 1t means
about miles That is TO say that 1t is no times
the diameter of the earth There is curious coincidence
here, but 1 don't think it means anything. The
sun IS ITO. times as large as the earth'
Perhaps the remarkable demonstrations Oh the
SUMS great size may shown in this way Suppose II
were followed and We were put inside the SHINING
surface that gives light, and which woGd DC 10 Us
like our sky the itself would be so far away that
the moon woad circulate with perfect freedom inside OF
II only little more than half way out the surface
for the distance Of SUMS surface would be 10000
miles from u.s. while the distance of the moon as shall
have occasion to show you next week. is only Z4OOVo
miles, 80 that would almost be room Tor one oher
rovvft ingtd do
take million and quarter Of the earth TO make such
magnitude as that Of the sun.
So much for its size bat whom como 20 estimate us
weight we lind that It great relatively yet II IS
yerS considerably for il is about $4,000 times neayy
as the earth only. say only atHoign th9t Is an eot
NOUS MACS, immensely more than all the planetary sys
tenn put together, exceeding more man 900 lines IT'S
atTaction the controls it, 1tl0ug1 tee eaIh
lie moving more fifty times IA rapoIy as cannon
ball; for is pretty rapid eannonOal thiJ InaA
miles n second. In going that distance the
suns attraction bends it out Of its course enough
not 10 in thirty miles that is am but eougn That
requires pull the earth which II Is eqnlt 10 con-
ceve OF. suppose grayiiat0n 10 DC cOhcefeu u as
produced by natural pulling of telegraph wires we
should put the wire nine 10 the SQUARE Ihon
each as large as ordinary telegraph wires There would
moi be room enough Tor mouse TO move ABOUT OeLwee
have 10 be together. We are apt to think OF ne
force Of Sa s' Not sHn q Tae universe 9e would
have to be almost solid u ~ were t no no , DC Zen,
OF gravtaton The attraction OF the sun upon bodies
on its surface is twentyseyen ties
one pound here would there weigh more than twenty
seven pounds should weigh ABOUT Sa On 1hg sa @
OF be able to move. Yet notwithstanding he en9r
amount Of matter to the cubic foot, muen less
than the earth II IS only about oneourt9 part as
inference 1t can be neither SOLD nor q1ld 20 aax
considerable extent but must be almost WHOLLY eraa 1a
THAT there great deal OF iron IN the sun; aud II also
contains other material dense and heavy as c works
OF which the substa Of the earth Ia made II they
We're in liquid or SOLID stare we s d s W.T. W. tbe snn
woae secessariiy be greater thai OF the earth The
only possible, expansion ~ g OF s 10" Spe0'"0
Perhaps may properly in connection with this speak
taton we mad that if We watch the Spots
upon its surface, they cross Iron the e ts
sun upon its axis in the same way as that Of the
earth with some remarkable aersnceS IN He
days Tor the equator Of the sun to make M % t
sun. because tbefe thing with regard 70
1t: point upon the earth's equator moves ar9uu no
latitude OF NewYork Guy the revolution the same t
twentyour hours Bat IL We %dica he poi pon
the equator moves around IN twenty nye asgs; ot
sxven DAYS to 90 around Parts OF the surface drag,
or others expedited; at any rate they move ~
we ecu properly say tbat the surface |
the sun, but the spots which appear upon Us Ct
the Of the We find 1t s 30 more regular or
constant than own Understanding AL the uine,
from day day, from hour 10 hour an9 even Iron MN
ute to nnute In OF our observations the changes
showing the SUI to group OF friends say 10 lhein,
lyon see the form OF that prominence Is so ana So
ayes" And next says Yes; the tllid man
hesitaiingly Yes but the fourth wll say ny,
Irfessor don't It," And he does not. lOoa my
sell and and that in five minutes Il has all changed.
ITS POWER OF LIGHT AND HEAT
Bat after all perhaps the most remarkable thing about
the sun is its immense power OF light and heat Ex-
pressed in rough Of way its light Ia equal to sixty
three hundred billions Of billions (aud English billions at
thar of standard candles When compare 1t with art-
cai o,t there is nothing that's like IL Mt ALL Even our
electric light when compared with It, Is ike black spot
80 The ann surface The sun light Is hundred and