Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-06-07
THE sun WILL CEASE.
, TIME MUST CONE WHEN HEAT
FROM THE SUN MUST CEASE.

u,.,urins Mans Days to Come-rhe
great orb Of Light and Life May Last
kooo, 900 Years. but Not 10000. 900.
The secret Of the suns Heat.
II seems to be- worth while TO collect
together what may DO said on the sub
,ee, Of the duration Of life ON the globe.
n 4. a noteworthy fact that tho possi.
'biHty Of tho continued existence Of tle
human race depends fundamentally
upon the question OF heat. II heat, OF
VIA, "a equivalent TO heat. does not
lat. then man cannot last, either. There
/ no Striking this plain truism.
OF coufse " 80 obvious that tho avail
ti!e heat generally comes from tho sun.
10 far az the coal goes, wo have already
observed that ~ Il Is limited TO quantity
h can afford no perennial supply.
Doubtless there IA IA the earth some
quantity Of other materials capable of
esilsilon or Of undergoing other chcmi.
cal change, in tho course OF which and
Ia an incident Of such change heat Ia
evolved. The amount OF heat that can
possibly arise from such sources 30
,tdctly limited. There Is in the entire
earth Just certain number OF units Of
heat possible from such combinations,
but after tho combination has been Il.
lected ihora cannot bo any moro heat
frum this source.
Ttcn as 10 tho internal heat Of tho
Earth due to the incandcBcent state Of
IL interior. Here there IS no doubt q
large store Of energy, but still 1t Is Of
limited quantity, and II IS also ON tho
Wahe. This heats occasionally copious-
" liberated by volcanoes, but ordinarily
The transit Of heat from the interior 10
he surface and It's discharge from
thence by radiation Is o slow process.
It's, however, sufficient for our present
purpose TO observe that slow though the
.scape may be, II 10 necessarily going
pn There Ia only definite number Of
anita Of heat contained in the interior of
he earth ut this moment, and ~ they
are gradually diminishing, and as thoro
y no source from whence the loss can
BE- rcplenishod, there Is hero no supply
of warmth that can DO relied on peiiHI-
hcntly.
II goes without saying that the well
fare Of the human race Ia necessarily
connected with the continuance Of tho
suns bcneAcent action. II the sun ever
ceases TO shine, then must 1t be certain
that there 10 u term beyond which hu-
man existence, or indeed organic ex-
Silence Of any type whatever, cannot
any longer endure on earth.
But we have grounds for knowing rs
a certainty that the sun cannot escape
from the destiny that sooner or lator
oycriakes the spcndthrift. In his inter
lsting studies oil this subject Professor
Langley gives striking illustration OF
Tho rate ut which tho solar heat Is being
lquandercd at Thu moment. Iiorcmarka
that the great coal iioldsof Pennsylvania
contain enough Of the precious mineral
10 supply the wants of the United States
Tor 1000 years. II all that tremendous
accumulation Of fuel were to be- extract
ID ind burned In one vast conAagration
The total quantity Of heat that would be
produced would no doubt be gtupondous.
md yet, says this authority who has
Taught us so much about tho sun, all the
heat developed by that terrific coal fire
would not DO equal 10 that which the
sun pours forth In the thousandth part
Of each single second.
When We reflect that this expenditure
Of heat has been going ON not alone for
mo centuries during which tho earth
has boon tho abode OF man, but also foT
those periods which we cannot estimate
except by saying that thoy ARC doubtless
millions Of years during which there
has boon life on the globe, then indeed
we begin TO comprehend how vast must
llyo been the capital OF heat with which
Tho sun started on its career.
And yet we feel certain that the inces
lant radiation from tho sun must bt
producing profound effect ON its stores
n enorgy. The only why Of Teconoiling
1his with tho total absence of evidence
~ tho expected changes is 10 DO found
IN tho superstition that such is the
mighty mass OF tho sun, such the pro
uiiBious supply Of heat, or what is equiv
silent 10 heat that II contains, that the
grand transformation through which Il
y passing proceeds at u rate so slow thai
turing tho ages accessible 10 our obsor
sauona tho results achieved have beer
hnperceptible. But the energy Of TIT
'ystem Ia as surely declining ms the en-
trgy Of tho clock declines as the weigh