Milford chronicle., 1895-12-13
rAe suN a eIe sLzoraIo ueAr.
It's Dazzling Brilliancy Caused by Glow
ing Clouds Of Carbon.


The light Of the great orb Of day eiaa-
mates solely from n closely fitting robo OF
surprising brightness. Tho great bulk Of
the sun which lies within that brilliant
mantle is comparatively obscure, and
might at first seem TO play but an unim-
| portant part so far as the dispensing Of
| light and heat is concerned.
/ With regard to the thickness Of the robe
we might hken this brilliant exterior, says
Sir Robert Ball, to tho delicate, fllmy skin
Of the peach
As tho ability OF the sun to warm and
light this earth arises from the proper
ties Of the thin, glowing shell which sur
rounds it, we want to ascertain what that
special stuff can be which enables tho sun
to be so useful to us jewellers of the EARTH
This great problem has been solved, and
the result is extremely interesting and in
struotive. 1t has been discovered that this
material is carbon.
A lump Of coke only differs from piece
Of carbon by the ash which tho coke leaves
behind when burned. As charcoal is al
most entirely carbon, so wood is largely
composed Of this same element
In the ordinary incaDdescent electric
lamp the brilliant light Is produced by
glowing fllament Of carbon. The power
full current Of electricity experiences so
much resistance as It flows through this
badly conducting substance that it raises
tho temperature Of the carbon wire so as
to make it dazzlingly white hot.
There is no known metal, and perhaps
no substance whatever, which demands so
high a temperature to fuse 1t as does tho
element carbon. A 1lanent of carbon,
and afllament of carbon alone, will remain
INFUSED and unbroken when heated by the
electric current to the dazzling brillianoe
necessary for effective illumination
Modern research has now taugi us that,
just as the electrician has to employ car
bon as the immediate agent in n ,Moing
the brightest of artificial lights down here,
so the sun in heaven uses precisely the
same element ms tho immediate agent in
tho production Of its trnnscendent light
and heat.
Owing to the extraordinary fervor which
prevails In the interior parts of the sun,
all substances there present, no matter
how difficult we may find their fusion,
would have to submit to be melted-nay,
even to be driven off into vapor.
In the presence of the intense heat Of
the inner parts of the sun even carbon It.
self is unable to remain solid.
Tho buoyancy Of carbon vapor is one Of
ltS most renlarkaDlo characteristics; ac-
cordingly immense volumes Of the carbon
steam in tho sun soar at a higher level
than do the vapors Of tho other elements.
As the buoyant carbon vapOrs soar up
ward through the suns atmosphere they
attain at last TO an elevation where the /
fearful intensity Of the solar heat has so
far abatod that though nearly all other
elements may still remain entirely gas
sous, yet tho exceptionally refractory car
bon begins to return to the liquid state
Under the influence Of chill the carbon
gapor collects into a myriad host of little
beads Of liquid.
Each Of these drops Of liquid carbon in
ihe glorious solar clouds has tempera.
lure and corresponding radiance vas.iy
exceeding that with which the nlament
Flows in the incandesoent electric lamp
Boston Globe.