East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-07-12
The Unseen Universe
About Us

l do not speak of that which is
known as the spiritual world, but of
purely material things. Without con-
juring any ghosts, we are continually
surrounded by the "evidence of things
not SEEN" and the progress of science
is gradually revealing their existence,
sometimes in the most startling man.
ner.
We are accustomed to regard sight
and hearing in their normal state as
perfect senses. but their imperfection,
or rather the narrowness of their
range, becomes every day more evil
dent. If we could really see and hear
everything which the vibrations that
cause light and sound would reveal
to eyes and ears so constituted as to
translate to the brain the impressions
of waves of any length whatever, this
earth and this universe would be-
come far too wonderful for compre-
hension by existing human intelli-
gence.
The sunlight decieves us by its bril-
liancy. We fondly think that it shows
us everything, but in Its very midst
we are like blind animals in a cavern,
not aware of objects that stand all
about and impend over u.s. 1t may be
a mercy that our sight and hearing
have ranges so narrow. If we could
see with the X-rays a world of skele-
tons would surround us in place of the
world of beautiful surfaces, of which
alone we are commonly aware. We
may imagine that some among the
ST.
behold these Nightmares of which
science affords few gllmpses, some
of which make us shudder.
What is true of the face of the earth
| is equally true of the broad universe
| beyond. We do not know what we are
living amidst or what companions our
sun and his planets have. Many of
these things lie just beyond the ordi-
nary reach of our senses Such
| phenomenon is the marvellous solar
corona which astronomers are has
tening to watch during its few min
utes of visibility in Labrador Spain
and Africa next August.
Other material existences are more
| deeply concealed, and some of those
are being rendered partially evident
At the Potsdam observatory photo
graphs have recently been taken of
the Orion nebula, using a kind of light
that the eye does not see at all, the So
called ultraviolet radiation. These
photographs show that great glowing
cloud in a most amazing aspect,
stretching across vast areas that to
the eye and the telescope are mere
vacancies, and revealing contorted
masses of nebulosity that defy descrip-
ton and explanation. On every side
these strange invisible things are max
ing their presence known. They are
| probably more numerous and of
vaster volume than the apparent and
preceptiole contents of space.
There is a new kind of glass just
coming into use for optical instru-
ments. ultraviolet glass;" which
promises to utilize more completely
than has heretofore been possible,
those radiations of light that lie just
beyond the grasp of the eye at the
short-wave end of the spectrum. AS
tronomers are all agog to know what
this glass will unveil in the heavens.
AS he thus pushes aside the curtain
of the unknown and unrevealed uni
verse man may some time shrink from
going further, not because such knowl-
edge is impious, but because it is over
whelming. Omniscience must be a
fearful burden, not to be borne ex-
cept by an Intelligence that is at the
same time mnipotent.-Garrett p.
Serviss in San Francisco Examiner.