The Ordway new era., 1913-10-03
(OlOlllIl1.
NSWRlU
Last

rs that will-o'-the-wisp of the
NR physicist. the gas coronium.
IL e. at last in the grip Of the
M }. chemist, as was stated In
~ cable dispatch from London
~ the other day? Have Sir
William Ramsay and his
fellows actually found earthly sub.
stances from which this elusive and
extraordinary light element can be
produced7 II SO aviation. or more &C
curately the range of the dirigible bal
loon, will be enormously increased.
But this 10 only one aspect OF very
wide field Of possible services and sig
nincance.
The discovery of coronium ID an
other example of the astonishing reve-
lations which have come with tho 40
velopment of the spectroscope and its
union with photography. BY means
of this wonderful instrument physi-
cists have been able to detect ana
render visible the unseen Of millions
OF miles away. As Professor Menden-
hall expressed 1t a few years ago:
"By this device man IL put into com
munication with every considerable
body in the universe. including even
the invisible. The goings on OF Sirlus
and Algol, of Orion and the Pleiades
are reported to him across enormous
stretches of millions Of millions OF
miles Of space. empty save OF tne
ethereal medium ITSELF. by this mos.
wonderful wireless telegraphy. Ana
It 10 by the vibratory motion OF the
invisibly small that all Of this is re.
vealed; the Infinitely little has enabled
us to conquer the inconceivAbly big
But the spectroscope would be In
complete were it not for the exceed
ingly ingenious apparatus called the
bolometer. Invented by the late Prof.
8. P. Langley. The sensitiveness OF
the bolometer IL 30 exquisite that II
responds to temperature changes OF .
millionth Of degree. The bolometer
IL an eye that sees in the dark. To
quote Professor Langley:
Since 1t 10 one and the same solar
energy whose manifestations are
called light or heat according to the
medium which interprets them. what
is light to the eye IL heat to the
bolometer and what Is seen as = dark
line by the eye u felt ~ solid line
by the sentieut instrument"
Here is.an example Of how this ap-
paratus revealed to Professor Langley
what had been considered far beyond
the pale Of the recordable. He was
using the bolometer up ON Mount
Whitney and was working away at the
known spectrum. patiently measuring
- he AA
stumbled upon great discovery. "He
went down the spectrum. noting the
evidence Of invisible heat die out on
the scale Of the instrument until he
came to the apparent end of the invis-
ible, beyond which the most prolonged
researches Of Investigators up to that
time had shown nothing.
There he watched the indications
grow fainter and fainter until they.
too. ceased at the point where tho
French investigators believed they
had found the very end of the end.
BY some happy thought he pushed the
indications of this delicate instrument
into the region still beyond. In the
still air Of this lofty region the sun
beams passed unimpeded by the mists
of the lower earth. and the curve Of
heat which had fallen to nothing be-
gan to rise again. There was some
thing there! For he found. suddenly.
Unexpectedly. = new spectrum Of great
extent, wholly unknown to science and
whose presence was revealed by the
bolometer."
Thus the way was prepared for the
detection Of coronium.
During the solar eclipse of May 28.
1900, Professor Abbott. with the aid
of Professor Mendenhall, was able to
that was probably the arst time that
1t was really shown to exist Here.
again. the spectroscope. photography
and the bolometer rendered great
service.
The sun as ordinarily seen fs bound.
ed by the so-called photosphere and Il
really but small part of the true sun.
Outside the photosphere IL an envel-
ope composed mainly Of hydrogen. and
outside of this there 10 another envel.
ope which has been called the corona.
Tho beautiful photograph taken in
May Of 1900, which accompanies this
article. illustrates this part of the sun.
1t is estimated that the height Of the
corona in the suns atmosphere is q
matter of half q million miles; and II
is believed that toward the photo
sphere the heat is 80 intense that the
chemical elements are dissociated
into finer forms of matter. In the
a,r,n eo,uaoe oe naoro MI, a