New-York tribune., 1898-01-29
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
r.ocKYrR.s MErEoRIc HYPOTHESIS

r,zr s1YN.s PLACE IN NATURE: BY Sir NOT
man Lockyer X. c. b.. F. X s. Io,,b D,,ebo'IK Zen.
,n.ton inc and Professor OF Astronomical PHYSICS
in the Royal College of Science onrany III
Octave pp. 800. The Macmillan 'o"'p""'
The elder Herschel once remarKeo '"a' !"
forest one observed the young sapiihs' VI. i"
grown oaks and decaying trees. ana ne "o,ue'eN
,h.,nsr a parallel 10 these differences IN de-
',su, .or,a he found by a critical study
of the heavenly bodies The earlier ciass''''a'io"
=, tho STARS dealt only with their brightness OF
..roosr,tudes" Then the differences IN coioi
r,.re carefully noted, though without any speo'"'
,r.orerces being drawn therefrom at hrst. Less
.,o, FORTY wears ago however a new sys'ei" "a
.ro,,;,s was attempted. based upon rese''l-
S.roas and dissimiarities in the spec'ra az
,oraad hy the stars Rutherford 'oi ne" i'
u.cs tho frs. 10 propose such a plan Seccli u'
veloned II more fully. Vogel. Schelner anu W"
er,ng have amended the great ltanah pro-
sra,,rne more or less. And the ciassiica"'" 10
likely 10 undergo even further changes
rbs General principle observed In all this WORK
uos N Grade the stars according 10 'empei"'"
The white or blush white ones were 'ano "'e
sti,n regarded as the very hottest 'ne 'e''
stars Of which our sun and Arcturus are So
.-o,,,,es werc believed to be cooler; and the
red stars were iui eH@' N
scale Non-luminous bodies. ike the "oo'' anu
earth. Of course. are still coioer'
remnerature. moreover was held 10 De an '''''
80. ,,d,cat,on OF the age of a star win a
~. .s,eo,,,o, the nebular hypothesis OF La
,,.cs md Kant is pretty generally accep'eo ''
astronomers as explaining the evolution OF ea'"
a. the stars. And. as originally propounded 'h,s
...orv ossurned that the nebulous vapors "h'0"
.,,s,ed the raw material for those oou'eS
.v.r. ,ntensely hot-hotter. in fact. than any VI
>he more compact bodies derived 'ne'
m. most radical amendment yet oiieleu ~ -
beautiful scheme Of creation enana'eu
Nornan Iockyer. although ne ou "o. 49,
>,roe hear his present title. HIS so-oa
...r,,,c hvnothesis' carries the process oaN
.ten f,rther-a long step too lhere is p'e".'
~ evidence to show that interstehai ep
n.h,ted BY countless swarms OF n'e'eoi'' Y'
-o,d non-luminous bodies varying Ill ''N'
80 =, arst 70 a bowlder. and composed OF
material practically Identical with 'n'' ,.,our
corets are made few OF our pest "'''"
s ora now believed to be the
=. .oroe+s Sir Norman in book de-
-. a.. .h,s subject suggested eight or ten
80. aco that friction between the mo'"s
-,hers ~ a swarm gradually developer neat
-, 20 easily them and thus produce
.,,,,o u would follow from this notion 'n"'
...rs "a an ascending. we'll as oescenu"s'
+.mneratrre scale among the nea'ehiS '
and the volume which has just mace It's "pp
.nce from Sir Norman's pen is deVo'e' ~ Wv
>rrther development OF that theory speci"'
searches OF his own and the accuiiiui"'O"
-,uc, spectroscopic data by other ASTRONOMERS
sewing given him what he considers s'ro"s'
corrohorative testimony.
sAcchi had four prncipa! types hocN' nc
IanC G
.sven The director of the South hehs'i'e. .o"
Observatory agrees. in the MAN. "'' oe
astronomical spectroscopists IN assieii'e
],ho Dog starr. Beuatrix Gamma Orionis) ana
Spica alpha Virginis) to the ho''es'
ha nuts them at the middle stage OF develop
" -, h0,ca !, his fourth class. Each or
..hor tbree classes are divided into two.
,,,ho Orionis an orange hued orb. which o'her
s.rororers have cat least until recenty) oeeii
a,snosad 70 regard decrepit. superannua'eu GU
.h,rc &c thought by Lockyer to he IN lts you'"'
ard II goes into his first class. not MS se'en'
alnha Herculis somewhat hotter. ana 'ii' ms
;udemenO in the ascending scale goes ''i'o -. m
second class not the Sixth. Alpha Cyshi e'''
hotter but not SO hot as Sir'us' Is a'so "e'. "
ha IN the I'D grade and therefore is assigned u
.ha ,bira class. Our own and Arcturus' OF
the other hand are put into the oescenu'"e
sca,e and belong to Lockyer's MIN Class
Sir Normans method or disuhsu9'e
+ueen bodies which are growing hotter ana 'hose
which are becoming colder when OF aoou' '"e
same temperature is spectroscopic' he men
.,,s ,bree or four classes Of evidence wnich
satisfy him as to the difference. How 1ar 'heir
validity will be conceded by other spectroscops'S
,r 90 hs seen There are already ndlca-
.,ors that. 10 a slight extent at least two or
three or the best American authorizes are VIII
,ns ~ concede something to their British col
,eaeue but the meteoritic hypothesis Is sun lar
from having been accepted. Whatever he 'he
outcome OF the discussion, this volume must De
,ooked unon as a valuable contribution 10 as
economical literature. II should be noted ny
~. ,vov that this volume contains good deal
OF material not found in series OF lectures u,
ror,aa IN Mature" two or three years ago ana
h.ar,ng the same title Any one who desires 70
ca, The full benefit Of Sir Normans researches
erd on,nions should consult the book and not
the files Of Nature"
pOOEc Of THE WEEK.