New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-02
IN INTERESTING DISCOTERI.
LORD RAYLEIGH FINDS HELTUM
4 SUBSTANCE HITHERTO BELIEVED TO ENI"T
ONLY II THE SIN AND FEW STARS EH-

sI-psTANcr HITHERTO BELIEVED TO ENIHT
ONLY N TIE SIN AND FEW STARS EX-
Tr,crrp PROM 4 NORWEGIAN MINERAL
Lord Rayoieh the first to iso'a'e from the air tho
cas argon. whose existence was mover known ANN
last vclr g. now said TO hay" made another very
Interesting discovery. Chemical analysts oi the
substance composing the oar'hs crust has thus
FAR revealed nearly s"yenty distinct Clements ana
su,ciroseoy study Of Tho sun has already dc''''''
ta. presence %: more than half ~ them III 'na'
body But tho-e arc Indications that the sun con
t,Ius a foN clements which are yet unrccoErized
In terrestrial matter For instance ther" Is a Inc
IN the green pdrt of the spectrum o. the ou'erost
solar enyciopc the corona which Is thought to rep
resent a Gas muon lighter than hydrogen Inc
line Itself j. numbered l.i7i In tho old klrchhon
scale but in Rowlands which Is the modern
standard f. IS fct down AT 53l6 The substance
Itself IS called "coronlum" Nothing Of the sort
has been found on the earth. Again. when the
spc-,roscopists examine the chromosphere. the
LAYER % gas next below the corona but lying aooFe
The luminous cloud-she Of the sun. they discover
IN the yellow brilliant Inc. which they USED 10
call "D3." hat which is situated at 5.sI5 IN Row
leut's scale 10 ure could be perceived al THIS
min, in ihe spectrum Of any terrestrial substance
and hone, the clement thus slgH.hed was Ike coro
u!ur, reesried 49, peculiar 70 the sun Indeed. snch
a siipposItion Is ofnbJ A!cI IN its name. hcllNm'
since the INST discovery % tho p3 line however
the later mas been recognized ia the spectra "' 4
f,U stars which ar. also suns. but many million
times 49, far away from US as our own. And now
comes no report mat Lord Raylega has Just FOUND
helum 10 "a rare mineral from Norway.
TIL. famous chemist Was testing a rock specl-
mon ,-.,rt.n, 20 "a hr!es cable dispatch TO The
Ncw-YofK sun" with suphurc acid such tests
- that particular mineral have been made before.
aoI 'hcy always yielded u gas. Heretofore the
l,t,er has bon believed to ." nitrogen merely.
Ia. feIr L Vet HTZon.
AaL what D., morr. that some other bAs Was COM
llr.i with IT, AZ this sort or experience b. pre-
glsoly uhAt ia him 20 make his brilliant discovery
Of last year on" can readily understand the zeal
WITH which he sought 20 ascertain the nature OF
OBJ. ,l..,,.r,rug ~. us further Investigation
lei him to IDENTIFY % with heiium' Another emf
mont expert Professor Crookes. has confirmed this
conclusion.
From ne rar,i,u lar region IN the sun In which
e.ium is found and rom rs immediate ana hu-
mate associations this gSs j. 'oonea u't h a. body
rossibly almost as hight as hydrogen. Missing. A
,,Ilug German astronomical spcctroscoplst' Is N
c.lucI 10 mink mat hrhuh .tsllcs 80 o,,,iI
upuer part ~ the chromOspheric sheet wnlch would
suggest lhe iea nat kt 'oI9m "onpnn Sy " has
even less than me gas III "h",e ,G,p"t az +. ~ 10
usually been hitherto. some researches OF tiIhcHe
wa,d in which Professor Young placed confidence
indicated mat possibly houm and coron.um we're
component OF hydrogen. and were partially DIS
70 h" rnrttu@iiy disposed OF by Lord RayieIgh' :
ability To- obtain the gas at ycrS ordinary teinpeA-
r.
ono ~ me rrirciples on which stars are classI-
fed Is that OF resemblance and difference between
their spectra. And in such c.dsslhcdtlons various
ottcurri4 have been made to indicate the stage or
advancement attained by cach particular orb IN
its NE history br. Scheiner whose book on stear
speciroscopy IL not only the latest but probably
,ie nblest work Of its kind eXtant puts those
sfnra whose sprctra contain the bright lines OF
hriur and hydrogen In the first sub-di' sion OF his
fir.t class In point of evolution. Beta yrae and
Gamma ttssiopciac are two such stars. lie ihnrieS
mar th.y nave ntmosphcrcs composed OF those
gases. enormously extensive a. compared with
= O. -
casr,us envelopes of their older companions. In
view of these theories one cannot Dut ask now
IouY IA rs since our world Ia the condition OF
U.ta Iyrac whether any heiium n0W nOats In our
ol,,.~ atmosphcre. how that particular portion
v.hirb tx NOW imbridcd In the carth's crust got
there and other similar questions Nhat"'cr be-
he answer Lord Kayleigh's discovery Will AT least
,rud new reason for believing In the unity OF the
material universe IN composition origin ana sub
scrv!ence 10 common laws.