The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-20

toned missionary who tried to induce
a Persian fire worshipper to abandon
the creed of his ancestors. rs it not"
urged the Christian minister "a sad
and a. deplorable superstition for an
intelligent person like you to worship
an inanimate object like the sun!
MY friend" said the old Persian, you
come from England; now tell me, nave
you ever seen the sum-" The retort
was a Just one, for the fact as that
those of US whose lot requires them 70
live beneath the clouds and IN the
gloom. which so frequently brood over
our nomhern Iatitudes. have but little
conception of the SURPRISING glory OF
rhe great orb Of day as 1T appears to
those who know it in the clear eastern
skies. The Persian recognizes in the
sun not only the great source of light
and of warmth, but even OF HE llseH'
Indeed. the advances of modern science
ever tend to bring before US with more
and more significance the SURPRISING
,,Iorv with which Milton tells US the
sun is crowned. 1 shall endeaNor w
give in this article brlet sheuch -
what has recently been learned Ho 9
the actual warmth when the SUN 20
Nessses and of the prodigalIty WIN
which it pourS form ItS faui''ii'
ures. ,;,,4o,,,a,
number among my acquaintance
an 5nfelIieent gardener, who Is iona OF
speculating about things in the heaNen
as we'll as about things on the edIlH'
one dav he told me that NE felt certain
a. 1ras Quite a mistake to believe, as
most of us do believe, that the sun up
4l,a,-a IL "a hot glowing body NO.,
he said the sun cannot be source
of heat. and 1 viii prove 1t. II the sun
were a source of heat said the fura4
philosopher, then the closer you APP
uroach the sun the warmer you Would
md yourself But this is not the case,
for when you are climbing up noun
rain YOU are approaching nearer 70
the sun all the time. But, as every
body knows instead of feeling hotter
and hotter as you ascend, you are De
coming steadily colder and colder. In
fact when you reach q certain nelSut,
YOU find yourself surrounded by per
petIal ice and snow, and you may not
imprObably be frozen to death when
Won have got as near to the sun as
YOU can: therefore, concluded my
friend, t1iumphantly, cit is all non
sense to tell me the sun is a Scorchlng
hot fire"
l thought the best way to explain
the llIUlE QHluSlOn u1l4tL M4A4SAA TIC
worthy gardener labOred was to refer
him to what takes place in his own
domain l asked him wherein lies The
advantage of putting his tender plants
into his greenhouse in November.
How does that preserve them through
the winter2 How is 1t that even with
out artificial heat the mere shelter of
the glass viii often protect plants from
frost? I explained TO him that the
glass acts as a verItable trap for the
sunbeamS; jt lets them pass in, but it
Will not let them escape. The temporal
tuge within the greenhouse is cOnSe-
quently raised, and thus the necessary
warmth is maintained. The jewellers
on this earth live in what is equivalent
in this respect, to a greenhouse. There
IS a copious atmosphere above our
heads, and that atmosphere extends
to us the same protection which the
glass does to THE plants in the green
house. The air lets the sunbeams
through to the earth's surface and then
keeps their heat down here to make
US comfortable. When you climb to the
top Of "a high mountain you pass
through a large part of the air This is
the reason why you feel warmer on
the surface of the earth than you do
on the top of a high mountain. If,
however, ii were possible to go very
much closer to the sun: if for example
-Ii[ III w GIC ~ dJpIOdCn WlII1n mall
Its present distance, it is certain that
the heat would be so intense that all
life would be Immediately scorched
away.
1t will be remembered that when
ACKNOWLEDGMENT condemned the I'M
happy Shadrach. Meshack and Abed-
negO to be cast into the burning fierv
furnace he commanded in his fury that
the furnace should be heated seven
times hotter than it was won't to be
heated. Let US think of the hottest
furnace which the minions of Nebuch-
adneZzar could ever have kindled with
all the resources of Babylon: let us
think indeed of one of the most perfect
OF modern furnaces, in which even =
substance SO refractory as steel, having
llrSt ATTAINED a dazzling brilhance. can
pe melted so as to run like Warer. let
Us imagine the heat dispensing p~ver
OF that Slittering liquid to BE multi
phed seNenfOld: let US go beyond Neb
uchadneZzar's frenzied command and
imagine the efficiency of our furnace
70 be ten or twelve times IS great as
thaG which he commanded we shall
then obtain a notion of a lheat4gfviner
power corresponding to that which,
would be found in the wonderful celes-
tl3l furnace. the great sun. in heaven
PONDER also upon the stupendous
size Of that orb. which glOws al a1,a,,y,
l.
ing fervor l have indicated. The earth
on winch we stand is no doubt a MIGHTY
globe- measuring as it does s. OOO miles
IN diameter; yet what are its d.
nlenslons IN comparison with those of
.he sun? If the earth be representef5
oy grain of mustard seed. Then
on the same scale the sun shol,11
oe represented by a cocoanut. Per,1arc
however a more impressive concantio,
or the dimensions of the great orb n
Gay may be obtained in this v-az-
mink OF the moon. the queen of tn,
nlSnL which circles monthly aronnf
our heavens. pursuing. as she does :
majestic track. at a distance Of 9OA mn
miles from the earth. Yet the sun I.
SO vast that if it were hollow han
ana ii the earth were placed at III,
center of that ball. the moon. could re
NolNe In the orbit Which it now fol
lows. and still be entirely enclose,
within the suns interior.
tor every acre on the surface. of on
globe there are more than 10000 acre
on the surface of the great lunain9rv
livery portion of this illimitabl des
ert OF flame IS pouring forth torrents a
neat. II has. indeed. been estimate,
that II the heat which is incess9 MI,
nOWlng through any single square foo
OIL the suns exterior could be cOllecte,
and applied beneath the boilers of al
Atlantic liner it would suffice ia nro
duce steam enough to sustain in con
tnuous movement those engines of %
OOO horsepower which would enable
superb ship to break the record he
= o. 4