Year: 1874

| NEW AOrE llmeS Report OF II Lecture pN
Prot. Proctor.l


If this earth were represented by !;
globe one inch i'll diameter, then the
SUMS globe would be three yards in
diameter and if the suns globe were
represented by one inch, the suns dis
tance would be three yards. That pro-
portion was always maintained. 1t
had been calculated that n bullet, fired
from an Armstrong gun, Travelled ut
the rate of 400 yards 4 second, and if
that rate We're maintained for the en-
tire distance between the earth and
sun, the bullet would take thirteen
years TO traverse that space, while the
sound of the explosion would reach
the sun half a year later. Thus the
prayers Of those persons who wor-
shipped the sun, if there were some in
termediate means Of communication to
carry on the sound, would take thir-
teen and q half years to rcac!, their
god. AS another instance of the great
distance of the sun from the earth, the
lecturer mentioned that if steel rod
connected the sun and the earth, the
pull of the sun on that would take 800
days before the strain reached the
earth. There was yet, he said, another
consideration to illustrate this Vastncss
of distance. 1t had been ascertained
that feeling was conveyed along the
nerves much more slowly than the
passage OF light or sound, and under
such a condition of things the following
illustration would be the more readily
understood. If an infant were born
having an arm the rather inconVenient
length of 92,00O,OOO of miles, and We're
to burn the tips of its fingers in the
sun, that infant might die and never
know that its fingers had been burned.
In fact it was necessary that it should
live to 135 years before the sensation of
burning at the tip of the finger could
light, which travelled 192, 900 miles in a
single second of time, took eight min
utes in reaching us from the sun. Thus
we never saw the sun in the place
which he actually occupied in the
eclipse, but in the place which he oc-
cupied eight minutes before. The force
of gravity was the only power which
appeared to overcome this vast dis
tance, and acted, as was known, in
simultaneously. This was for long
time, however, denied, and even New
ton said that the man must be mad to
assert that any force could SO act, other
wise than by direct contact. Tho lee
turer next invited tho audience to the
consideration OF the question how large
the sun is. When informing audiences
in England on this subject, he was in
the habit Of saying TO them that they
knew how large England was, and yet
that, upon the suns disc, it would be
small triangular spot which would
not be recognizable. He was afraid
that that Illustration would not do in
this country, for there was no use tell
ing Americans that England was large.


LauGhter.l But even America wa,
SO small, compared with the sun, tha,
if there were Il spot on the suns disc :ts
large as America it would be invisible
to the naked eye. The suns diameter
was, in fact, 1O7 times that oTthr earth
while its surface was ] 500 times great.
er. The volume of the sun was l. 2SO,-
600 times greater than thc earth, but lis
matter was not SO much greater, being,
it is considered, onc-fourth lighter than
that of the earth in proportion To size,
or 315 900 times actually greater. Bul
the vast difference which existed be
tween the sun and tho earth even in
this matter, could be understood when
it was stated that if this earth were to
grow in density until it cquaIlcd the
entire density of the sun, the little
half-ounce weights with which we are



in their proportion have come to weigh
four and a half tons, and an ordinary
man would weigh twenty thousand
tons. Such: then, was the mighty
power which ruled this earth. The
lecturer next proceeded to the consid-
Grafton of the suns heat and light. In
reference to the suns heat, Sir John
Herschel had experimental on the sub
ject in South Africa, and had found a
temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit
four inches below the soil. lie found
also that onc-third of the suns heat
and light were cut off in mid-air.
Filling in the area, he calculated that
as much heat fell on IL square mile as
would suffice to melt $4,000 tons of ice.
But then the earth presented Il disc of
$4,000, 600 square miles in extent, and
yet only 227-1 ,00Oth part of the SUMS
heat was captured on this earth all
the rest was apparently wasted. The
heat given by the earth would be
effected by the burning of 100000
tons of coal, whereas to produce the
heat of the sun it would require the
burning of II GOO million of millions
of tons of coal.