The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-13

Through tho Gradual Cooling OF
Gaseous Sinttcr-Dr. Sec Asserts tho
cosmic Process TO Have been Quito
tho Reverse.
washington Post: Or. T. J.fJ. See,
the famous Missouri astronomer, In q
lecture before tho Lowell Institute,
Boston, Will announce tonight a new
lawSo temperature for. sun. stars and
nebufae. Prof. Secs theory, Is that our
sun and other gaseous heavenly bodies
arc growing hotter and hotter from
generation to generation.
The young astronomer has found
law which, Ut IS asserted, Is almost as
universal sas Newton's law OF gravlta-
tlon.&It applies 1 to oil gaseous stars
aad nebulae throughout the universe,
and shows how the Temperature OF
gaseousSworlds isiregulated. The, result
VIII be a radical revolution OF astrono-
mical: theories OF the ages of the stars.
DrSeei VIII ishow. FlbyII mathematical
demonstration thatiin the evolution of a
gaseous star the temperature OF the
? mass. varies 5inperselg os the radius.
The law isseven simpler than that OF
Newtonlanrgravltation. :
For more than5a century II has been
supposed that stars form from the con-
densattou of rehuiae. Lapiace outlined
the accepted theories. md gave the
first grand picture, of the process by
which the planetary system has de-
.Velopei. +, This new discovery by Dr..
See wtllradlcally modify the, old nebu-
lar hypothesis, II It does not completely
overthrow. It. 5; y
According to Laplace our planets
were very hot when first formed. Ac-
cordlng ito. Dr.. See the Temperature OF
these masses was then verySlSw Indeed,
almost absolute zero ofStpace.S clap
lace's theory. was. assumption, pyire and
simple, and was neverSveri6e though
adopted by all ASTRONOMERS for the
past century. 3 g
Laplace and Herschei assumed that
the nebulaei are alta great temperature,
and that the heatfof the stars arose
from the atlonjot this matter.
DIR. See shows. that the nebulae are. ex-
I cessively cold and have never been hot
. at any past age AS the anebulae con-
2 densed, the temperature rose at first
I very slowly. and at length more rapid.
, IL. the law being that the heat varies
sinversely as the radius. The greatest
heat occurs whea the radius Is smallest
and when the radius Is very great, as
in the case of the widely expanded
rs'bulac. the temperature Is at the afb-
solute zero OF space. The nebulae are
( thus involved in a death chilli while the
stars are enormously hot. Such stars as
& Sirius and Vega are Intensely hot, and
are far removed from the condition Of
nebulae. Prof. See says that Sirius
( and Vega and other stars OF the hottest
class are nearing the stage Of liquefac-
ton and that their, future cosmicai life
is Of short duration. When they begin,
{ to wane in lpster. their brilliant light
Will .5henceforth be shrouded In perpct-
ual ea-kness. These Views are diam.
Fetrlca!ly.pRposed TO those held by lead
ling European savants. s.',s
= DE-, See says the sun Is growing hot
ter from age TO age, rbut as the disk Is.
getting smaller on account OF sir;rli-
age. the earth will not In the future re.
cetVe-as mrclleheat from the sun as It
4 does now. Thus In geological ages the
earth Twas warmer than at present. AS
the suns temperature. determined by
experiments Is found to be about 5000
degrees 5centigraGis. 1t follows from the
newflaw of temperature that when the
earth was first separated from the sun,
sheE temperdture of the terrestrial neb-
ulaei mass was forty degrees on the
absolute scale, or go degrees below our
present, zero.i,, u. 80
Tbs earth was thus not hot, as lap
Z lace a nd the biologists claim. but in.
: tensely1 cold. AS the mass shrank and
= contracted. lt'Srew hotter according 10
Yrot See. The temperature Of the
earth was never higher than the melt
tnG' FONT OF lava as it issues from our
4 volcanoes; moreover, In descending to
( the bowels osthe earth the, TEN perature
does not Increase after certain depth
! is reached. but Is uniform throughout
the whole interior of the globe 1t IL
thought that these conclusions mus.
radically iaffect'geot theories
DR., See points out that the planets.
Jupiter and Saturn, 'anc still gaseous,
and therefore have never been hot In
the past, us 'Laplace supposed. but may
(. become hotter and even self-lumlnous
at some future ting. In consequence OF
this change of view all the theories of
Kant. .Follnor. and Proctor. who sup
posed that Jupiter and Saturn are
cooling down, will have to be abandon-
ed. The temperatures of all the great
planets nrs' rising. and Jupiter. Saturn,
! Uranus, and Neptune may eventually
give light of their own. When the solar
/ nebulae, extended to the orbit Of Nen-
I tune 1t was intensely cold and probably
{ gave no appreciab!e light.
Arguing by analogy. Prof. See. con-
= cludes ,that the heavens are full oil
nebulac which mortal eye has never
seen because these. cold masses are
{ wholly Invisible. There Will thus re-
= main other invisible worlds for astron-
z omers to search for.
Dr.. Sec. Is q native OF Missouri, n Phi.
y D. OF Berlin. 4 fellow Of the Royal AS
Z ftronom!cal Society, n member Of the
s Astronomiche Gcsellschaft, and Is per-
4 haps the most promising astronomer Of
( his age ID the world.
NO - ~
Otis Inactton.
4 LONDON. Jan 1.-THE Daily Mall
! publishes the following dispatch from
!; Hong Kong: