St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-02-09
covINGToN ST TAMMANY PARISH

i, LA.sTiSATU]Rl'lDlAY7,f LlAa.siSAT[ . RI D'Al'1Y7,
!
wHs rsas THERE IN SPACE
Matter. 6et Ar. beyond tn. Power Of q,
Ilsman Mind to Grnsp.
There can b. ndssabjcct more eslcu
lated tOiimpvessla mans mind with his
own insi9nificance. com mpared,with thu
overwhelming power and glory offhis
Creator, than the study and contem'
plations of the armament in all its
boundless infinity. 1t is not to be won.
dered 1t that from. the earliest age.
the subject has never failed to exer.
else fascination over men, and that
those Hho.cby their genius and learn.
ing. kye most nearly succeeded in
solving its mysteries haye always been
reverenced and esteemed to be among
the wisest men of their day. More has
been dbne within the last fifty years
than ID Ill the rest-of the worlds his
tory toward the piercing Of the veil
which shuts. on from our eyes the
beauties and mysteries OF far-oA
realms; and doubtless, By means of the
spectroscope and increased size in the
lenses OF our, telescopes, we shall he
enabled before long to unravel still
more secrets of the universe and fur
ther 1dd to our stock OF information
regarfing the construction and condi-
tions bf other worlds besides our own.
Tho question as to whether space is
finiteIor infinite can never be satisfac-
torily argued out, or, indeed. even
thought of, for the human mind is in
capable of grasping the existence of a
limit to space, even in its most abstract
form: but the question of the infinity
of worlds and their distribution in the
-infinity of space lies more closely
within the scope of human intellect, for
we have many material facts and cal
culations to go upon in discovering the
probable answer to this most fasci-
mating question. .t..--; "a.
Only as far back as the seventeenth
century astronomers placed the mum
bcr Of stars in the universe as q little
over one Thousand: bnt this was absurd,
as the real number visible to the naked
eye il about seven athousand: and per-
haps treble that number can be seen
by persons with exceptionally good
eyesight. When the heavens. however,
are examined through a telescope, the
number of visible stars are enormously
increased: in fact, it has been calcu-
lated that the great Lick telescope. the
most powerful yet made. reveals rs
what is that vast number compared
with infinity? 1t cannot even be
likened to grain of sand on the sea-
shore. And yet, II we think the matter
out carefully. we shall see that the
number Of visible stars cannot really
be infinite, for If they were the heavens
would be a complete blaze of light.
This, of course. we know is far from
being the case: and, indeed. there can
not be any doubt that, in certain parts
of the heavens at least, the number of
visible stars is already known, for even
with the strongest telescopes there are
blank spaces which are absolutely de-
void Of stars below certain nagni-
tude. or even the variest trace Of nebu-
loos light ---,..s---.--. Isl s-i
These spaces are known to astron-
omers BY the name of coal sacks;''
they contain no stars fainter than the
twelfth magnitude, and, in fact, ap-
pear to mark those parts of the uni
verse which are comparatively thin.
On the other hand. in other parts Of
the heavens we have not by any means
aI I'D hn 1sv~,s4 ~ <A1
bility. 1t is curious. though. that these
dark ..holes" in tho bright
empyrean arc mostly to be found in
those parts of the heavens where most
stars abound. notably in the Milky
Way. These remarkably blank spots
have been a favorite theme of discus
2ion and argument among all astron-
omers. for whatever the real shape or
of that universe may be,
they point to the almost certain infer
sncc that in a particular direction at
least there is an actual limit to the
of stars, and If there is . limit
in one direction we have everv right to
suppose that such is the case in others,
and that we have only to wait for tele-
scopes strong enough to resolve those
parts which are still Unreasonable to
discover that a point can he reached
when all the stars of the universe arc
lnfolded to our gaze, and that. no
natter how keen the power of our me-
vision. we can find no more.
If, now. we admit that the number of
Tisible stars is limited. the next gues-
ion to he asked is. what ir-thc order
,r shape of their distribution?. Various
have had various theories
lbout this matter. Hcrschel was in
.lined to think that the visible uni
'erse was in the shape of a disk though
lis views in tins direction were consid-
,rably modified during the latter part
# his life. Struve considered that the
Universe was in the shape Of lithited
thickness, but infinite length-a theory
which is hard to support. as, unless the
extinction Of light in SPACE is,
believed in,. that part of the heavens
which lay toward the plane of the disk |
would necessarily shine with the bright |
less of the sun. The late Mr.. Proctor,
hough finding it impossible to define !
my particular shape for the universe,
IS whole. was Of the opinion that the |
brightest part of it-namely, the Milky |
Nay-was in the form of . spiral. This |
after theory also, however, has many |
objections to contend with. Other |
have had different theo- |
les on this question:; but all, or nearly |
II, appear to admit an ultimate limit |
o the size of the visible universe, or,
n other words. believe that the galaxy |
+ worlds which surround us form, in
act. but an islet in the vast infinity Of |
pace.
1t would appear at first sight that
ny attempt to solve the question of
he existence of external gslaxies and
heir distance was absolutely futile;
ct such is not the case. Some astron-
mers maintain that certain of the
as the Magellan Cloud.
Or instance, are really external gal
xies. We have no mathematical evi-
ence, however, to arrive at the dis
ancc of these visible objects, and in
Ii proba ability they belong to our own
alaxy. and are no farther distant
han the fainter stars. Profs. Lambert,