Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-17

vance. Ii then, Tor an instant considering
the terrestrial globe as unique in this in
fnity which surrounds it on all sides, you
should suppose that it might fall through
like ball in an abyss; this globe might fall
and fall, and would continue to fall inces-
sanity, without ever in the whole duration
of eternity reaching tine bottom of the abyss.
Space Has No Color.
We understand then that the sky Is moth
ing but empty, infinite space, which reaches
out in all directions and around the globe;
that the seven heavens Of crystal, in each of
which planet was supposed to have re-
volved, have had no existence but in the
Imagination of men, that the ninth heaven
itself belongs to the same category, that the
armament with its glittering sparks has
disappeared like dream; and that nothing
remains after all these constructions and
the 72 overlapping circles drawn in the
time of Alfonso x. but a space, empty and
infinite.
Around the terrestrial globe floats light
down, such as is seen on the cheeks of a
youth, or on the tender peach which no
rough hand as yet has brushed. 1t is the
azure atmosphere with which the earth is
surrounded; the clouds are rocked in its
bosom at moderate height; the concave
form which we notice in this apparent dome
is only the result of perspective. We live,
little microscopic beings more given
to reasoning than reasonable, at the bottom
of this aerial ocean, and the blue of the sky is
nothing more than this atmosphere itself
whose particles in all directions reflect the
blue rays of the spectrum of light On
rising toward the upward part of the at
mosphere, on mountain tops or in balloons,
we lose this celestial tint and recognize that
space is colorless A sojourn of few mo-
ments on the surface of the moon would
convince us still more clearly that the color
of the celestial sky is an attribute exclu-
sively of this atmosphere. The frozen orb
interminable days G5 times longer than
ours), instead of our beautiful pavilion, it
possesses only black and mournful i'm
mensity, peopled by a brilliant star, the
sun; by moon with variable phases, the
earth; and BY multitude of stars
Grasping an Idea OF the System.
tenn of worlds of which the sun is the
center. Picture to yourself cannon ball
falling in space. At different distances
about this ball, four grains of lead
Mercury, Venus, the earth and Mars; at a
greater distance, four balls-Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These grains
and these balls revolve about the bullet
Such, in fine, is the planetary system, only
the four grains of lead are as large as the
earth, or little less, the balls are from 100
to 400 times larger, and the bullet is
800, 900 times more voluminous than this
earth.
This system Is held in equilibrium in
space. What supports it? The invisible
skein of universal attraction. Is it at rest?
No. It gravitates or, which is the same
al io fol
infinite abyss The solar system is falling
with the rapidity estimated at two leagues
per second, more than 1000 leagues an hour,
more than !, 1000, 900 leagues a week, and
go, 100000 leagues q year. Whether the
line followed in this course be curved,
winding or straight, we have already seen
that we shall be able to fall throughout
eternity without fear of dashing against the
confines of infnity.
would like to lead you away into the
splendors of immensity: to show you that
this infinite expanse is peopled in all direc-
tions by billions of worlds, separated from
each other by prodigious distances; show you
their proper movement. and the universal
action of the great principle of Newton;
show you how the stars are weighed and by
what method their distances are determined;
give you an idea of these distances, by
proving that the star which is nearest us,
the one which we call our neiehbor, dwells
at distance of eight trillions, six.hundred
and three billions, two hundred millions of
leagues from here-a distance which light
will require three years and eight months
to cross-but we shall have already attained
our aim, if we understand clearly that the
material sky of the ancients does not exist,
that there are no other heavens than ths
limitless space in which ride the inhabited