The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-13
BY SIR ROBERT BAIL.
Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and
Geometry at Cambridge, England,
formerly Royal Astronomer
of Ireland.

copyrighted, 1895. by Sir Robert Ball)
The light of the great orb of day
emanates solely from a closely fitting
robe of surprising brightness. The
great bulk Of the sun which lies with
in that brilliant mantle is compare
lively obscure, and might at first seem
to play but an unimportant part SO lar
as the dispensing Of light and heat is
concerned 1t may indeed be likened
to the coal cellar from whence are
drawn the supplies that produce the
warmth and brightness of the domestic
hearth; while the brilliant robe where
the sun develops its heat corresponds
10 the CRATE in which the coal is con-
sumed. With regard to the thickness
OF the robe we might liken this bril-
liant exterior to the rind of an or
ange, where the gloomy interior re-
gions would correspond to the edible
~rtiOn of the fruit. Generally speak
ing the rind of the orange is rather
too coarse Tor the purpose of this IL
lustr~tiCu. 1t might be nearer the
truth to affirm that the luminous part
of the sun may be compared TO the
delicate nlmy skin of the peach. There
can be no doubt that if this glorious
veil were unhappily stripped from the
sun the great iuminary would forth
with lose its powers Of Shedding forth
light and heat The spots which we
see 50 frequently TO fieck the dazzling
surface, are merely rents in the bril-
liant mantel through which we are
permitted to obtain glimpses of the
comparatively mountainous interior.
Composition of the Solar Clouds.
As the ability Of the sun to warm
and light this earth arises from the
peculiar properties Of the thin grow
ehal1 which c1TrsrN1rrldc q rlrOl1lpr1
Of the greatest interest is presented in
an inquiry as to the material compo-
SitiOn of this particular layer of solar
substance. We want in fact to ascer-
tain what that special stuff can be,
which enables the sun to be so useful
to US jewellers on the earth. This great
problem has been solved and the re-
suit is extremely interesting and in
structive; il has been discovered that
the material which cOnfers on the sun
Its benefcent power, is also a. material
which is found in the greatest album
dance on the earth, where it fulfills
purposes of the very highest impor-
lance. Let Us see in the first place
what is the most patent fact with re-
gard 10 the structure of this solar
mantle possessed of a glory so indie
scribable. 1t is perfectly plain that it
Is not composed of any continuous sol
ID material 1t has a granular charac-
ter which is sometimes perceptible
when viewed through a powerful tele-
scope, but which can be seen more
frequently. and studied more satisfac-
torily. on a Photographic plate These
granules have an obvious resemblance
TO clouds; and clouds indeed, we may
call them. There is, however a very
wide difference between the solar
clouds and those clouds which float
in our own atmosphere. The clouds
which we know so well. are of course
merely vast collections of globules of
the mighty solar clouds do also con-
sist of incalculable myriads of glob- I
ules Of some particular substance float /
ing in the solar atmosphere. The ma
terial Of which these solar clouds are
composed is, however, I need hardly ]