A Study of The Sun

1895

A FASCINATING RECREATION WHICH ANY ONE MAY ENJOY.

How It May Be Observed Without Danger. A Method of Getting a Perfectly Pure Beam For Inspection — A Lesson In Astronomy Couched In Simple Terms.

Every day a royal presence, attended by numerous unseen courtiers, sweeps across the sky. The sun looks us so boldly in the face that we are compelled to veil ourselves from his accursing gaze. Let us commence our now studies by contemplating his attractiveness.

A piece of well smoked glass will give us good service. If this be covered with another piece, with strips of paper at the edges to separate them and prevent rubbing, and other mucilaged strips to bind the outer edges, we shall have a respectable and lasting astronomical instrument.

The eye may now examine the dazzling orb without danger, and it will discover a disk which is apparently no larger than that of the full moon, but the fact that the sun is about 400 times farther away accounts for the resemblance in size. But the disk is not all of the immense world, for a very important envelope of vast dimensions is invisible except to special instruments. The limb of the sun is seen to be not quite so bright as the central portions, because the light from it has to penetrate a greater depth of atmosphere.

Occasionally we see a "spot" upon the solar surface, in which case it must be very large, but if we are fortunate enough to have access to even a small spyglass we shall many times see spots. There are years when the spots are very numerous (the writer counted 168 one day and more than 300 on a day in 1893), and years when none is seen for months, and this appears to be governed by a "period" of about 11 years.

If we use a telescope with our smoked glass, the spectacle will be curiously interesting, for the object glass — a very large eye — gathers many rays of light and bends them to a focus, producing a magnified image which is yet more enlarged by the eyepiece, which is a microscope. Now, the very grain of the sun, so to speak, is visible, the surface being completely flecked with gray white matter, while here and there huge masses of white protrude. These latter are called faculae and are usually associated with the spots which are depressions in the surface — deep, dark cavities, but dark only as contrasted with the shining regions, for they are brighter than the calcium light. Very recently the writer measured a large group and found that it occupied an area of more than 100,000 miles in length and about three-fourths as wide, into which could be cast 100 earths without crowding them. Still larger groups have sometimes been noticed. Watching the spots from day to day reveals the time of revolution of the sun upon its axis, about 25 days, which means that one day on the sun is as long as 25 of ours.

As yet the sun has not yielded the secret of its composition, and the telescope, unaided, is inadequate to solve the mystery. Perhaps in childhood we beguiled hours of church service, which were a trifle wearisome to little ones, by noticing the play of color in the "lusters" which hung in profusion from the old fashioned lamps. How little we dreamed that the sun was whispering through this simple medium intelligible messages of very high importance, for this three faced form of glass is called a prism, the change of direction of objects viewed through it being due to the bending (refraction) of the rays of light passing through it, and the color fringe along the edges of the images the primary rays of which white light is composed, which is easily proved by passing the colored rays through another prism, when they form a beam of white light once more.

The same color band, or spectrum, is shown by a grating of parallel wires strung in a frame, or by a close grained feather, or even by the eyelashes when the eye is half closed.

But we can easily improve upon these primitive instruments by employing a series of prisms of fine construction or a grating produced by ruling lines with a diamond upon a piece of perfectly flat and highly polished speculum metal.

To get a perfectly pure beam for inspection we let the telescopic image of the sun fall upon a delicate slit in a metal plate, which is in the focus of the object glass of a little telescope, whose duty it is to make parallel the rays to be examined, and which sends them through the series of prisms referred to or causes them to fall upon a grating. In either case they are viewed by another little telescope, and the beam of sunlight tells its story in a magnificent spectrum, far exceeding the rarest touches of world renowned artists.

Now for the precious secret! The beautiful color band is threaded with thousands of slender dark lines, which correspond with the bright lines, which are the sign manual of metals in a glowing state, and we need only to put a pinch of salt in the flame of a candle and let the light fall alongside the sun's image on the slit, when there will be two spectra, side by side, and the two bright yellow lines of sodium will exactly coincide with two black lines in the orange of the solar spectrum, and the crowning proof appears when the calcium light is permitted to shine through the candle flame, instantly turning the bright lines to dark ones. So with the lines of other metals.

We have learned from the sun's own messages, after a journey of 93,000,000 miles, that it is a gaseous body; that many of the metals of earth are vaporized in its awful temperature, and that the surface is probably a shell of luminous clouds surrounded by an "atmosphere" of gases thousands of miles deep, out of which spurt for hundreds of thousands of miles, with a speed in contrast with which the movement of whirlwinds on earth is a dead calm, jets of flaming hydrogen intermingled with the metallic vapors, which, becoming cooled by exposure to the cold of space, fall upon the surface and cause the depressions known as spots. — Philadelphia Ledger.

When The Heat Is Greatest

1901

When the heat is greater out of doors than indoors, it is a mistake to think that open windows will cool a room. Instead, in the early morning, after the room is dusted and put in order, the windows should be shut and the shades drawn down and kept so until the sun has gone.

When the sun shines on the window most of the day, it should be protected by an awning of some sun resisting color that will keep out all stray sunbeams. An awning, even with the shades lifted, will keep a room comparatively dark and cool.

When it is necessary to keep a sickroom cool, an excellent plan is to open the door and almost shut it as fast as possible for about 20 or 30 times in succession; nothing changes the air in a room so quickly or so well. Then wet cloths should be hung before the open windows or anywhere where a draft of air may pass through them. Plenty of cracked ice is necessary in hot weather within reach of the patient, and in the room quite a good sized block of it in a deep pan will help keep the temperature down. — Helen Tripp in American Queen.

Big Turnip Grown in Frigid North

1919

22-POUNDER IS PRODUCT OF ARCTIC CIRCLE.

Cabbage Heads That Children Hide Behind Also Claimed for Icy Regions.

OTTAWA, Ont., Canada. — A turnip weighing twenty-two pounds is a monster vegetable when raised anywhere. When raised almost on top of the Arctic circle it is an event.

A turnip weighing exactly that was grown this year in the Hudson Bay Company's garden at Fort Good Hope, a few miles south of the point where the Arctic circle cuts the Mackenzie River.

At Fort Resolution, in the same latitude as the extreme top of Labrador, potatoes as big as cantaloupes were raised which yielded six and a half pounds to the hill. In the mission garden at Hay River cabbages grew so large that a 3-year-old child could hide behind one of the heads. Onions, lettuce, rhubarb, peas and all the other vegetables familiar in gardens of lower latitudes grew in abundance and to great size.

Not All Desolation.

The story of the agricultural possibilities of the Mackenzie River basin brought back by Dr. E. M. Kindle of the Canadian Geological Survey, who spent the summer there, will doubtless surprise those accustomed to think of that part of the world as a region of frozen desolation.

"The Mackenzie River basin as far north as the Arctic circle," said Dr. Kindle, "is a good mixed farming country. There are fine vegetable gardens at every post between Athabasca and Fort Good Hope. The range of vegetables is the same as on down-East farms. Potatoes have been grown at Fort McPherson, within seventy miles of the Arctic Ocean. I ate fine tomatoes ripened in the gardens at Fort Providence, north of Great Slave Lake.

Wheat Grows Well There.

"The northern limit of wheat is a little past the sixty-first parallel. It will not ripen as far north as Fort Simpson, but for years it has been grown successfully at Fort Providence. For fifteen years it has been a good crop at Fort Vermillion, 600 miles north of Edmonton. It is a heavier crop in the Peace River country than in many parts of the southern prairies. The yield of the Peace River Valley, the Grande Prairie and Fort Vermillion districts this year was about 7,000,000 bushels. Barley ripens farther north than wheat. It grows well at all points along the Mackenzie as far north as Fort Norman and has ripened directly on the Arctic circle at Fort Good Hope.

"The explanation of the wonderful crops of the far North is the long days with their almost continuous sunshine. Actual records show that at Fort Simpson there are 570 hours of sunlight in June and only twelve hours less in July. In the four months from May to August there are 2,147 hours of sun, as compared with 1,805 at Ottawa. Nineteen hours of sunshine a day works magic in gardens and fields."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

How Water Causes a Fire

1901

One would hardly believe that a bottle of water standing harmlessly on a table could be the cause of a fire. Nevertheless such is the case.

In my laboratory the other day I detected the odor of burning wood and, seeking the cause, noticed a tiny wreath of smoke rising from the counter. Setting aside a flask of water that stood close by I sponged over the burning spot with a damp cloth. Shortly after I again detected the odor of burning wood, when, to my surprise, I discovered another burning spot on the table close to the water flask. The flask was standing in the sunlight, thereby concentrating the rays to a focus on the top of the table, acting in this case as a burning glass. A handful of highly combustible material was thrown over the burning spot, catching fire almost immediately.

I cite this instance merely as a warning to chemists and apothecaries, who may not realize how easily a fire may be started in their storerooms by the sun shining through bottles, flasks and carboys of liquid, converting them for the time being into burning glasses of great power. I have in mind now the instance of a fire originating in a storeroom from this cause. — New York Times.

Harvesting the Sun

1896

When we sit in front of a coal fire and enjoy its generous warmth, do we realize that the heat and light of the burning coal are really sunshine that has been stored up for ages? Such is the fact. Centuries ago the sun shone on the earth, the plants and trees grew, fell, and grew again; they were covered by geologic deposits, and acted upon by great heat and pressure, until in the course of years and ages these broad layers of organic matter were transformed into coal. The coal thus represents the work done by the sunshine years ago, and when it is burned the imprisoned solar energy is loosened again.

Our system of power production depends upon this presence of energy. But coal is a wasteful source of energy. Even the best engines do not utilize over 10 per cent of the calculated energy of the heat of coal. And, besides this it is an inconvenient thing in many ways; it has to be mined, freighted and stored. Can we not find some more economical way of using the sun's energy?

During the last few years the great progress in electrical science has enabled man to utilize the solar heat in a thriftier way. During its day's work the sun draws up a large amount of water from the oceans and damp earth. By the action of its rays plant life flourishes, and plants draw from the ground and evaporate into the air large amounts of water. Thus an oak tree of average size, with seven hundred thousand leaves, lifts from the earth into the air about one hundred and twenty-three tons of water during the five months it displays its foliage. This evaporated water, sooner or later, falls as rain, and by the action of gravity begins to flow downward. Thus the great rivers are fed. Round and round incessantly goes the water lifted by the tireless sun to fall when deserted by him, and again to fall and run seaward as long as it may exist upon this earth.


Peculiar to the Locality

Some interesting discoveries have recently been made about animal life on the Hawaiian Islands. It appears that all the land and fresh water shells are peculiar to the locality. Nor is that all. Fifty-seven out of the seventy-eight species of birds, and seven hundred out of the one thousand species of insects do not exist in any other portion of the globe.

The Legend of the Felt Hat

1874

There is a legend among the hatters that felt was invented by no less a personage than St. Clement, the patron saint of their trade. Wishing to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, and at the same time to do penance for sundry unexpiated peccadilloes, the pious monk started on his journey afoot. As to whether he was afflicted with corns or kindred miseries, the ancient chronicle from which this information is derived is silent; but, at all events, a few days' successive tramping soon began to blister his feet. In order to obtain relief, it occurred to him to line his shoes with the fur of a rabbit. This he did, and, on arriving at his destination, was surprised to find that the warmth and moisture of his feet had worked the soft hair into a cloth-like mass. The idea thus suggested he elaborated in the solitude of his cell, and, finally, there being no patent laws in existence in those days, he gratuitously presented to his fellow- mortals the result of his genius in the shape of a felt hat.


The English Language

In the English Bible and in the works of authors living in the times of King James the word "his" is employed in the sense in which we now use "its." Years ago Richard C. Trench asserted that, in the "authorized version of the Bible 'its' does not once occur." This statement is sustained by Webster and Worcester, but it has recently been discovered that Leviticus, twenty-fifth chapter and fifth verse, reads, "that which groweth of its own accord." This verse reads as above in the modern editions of the Bible, but the change may be one of those corrections that have gradually slipped into the text. An examination of the early editions only can settle the question.


A gentleman, while walking in his garden, caught his gardener asleep under a tree. He scolded him soundly for his laziness, and ended by telling him such a sluggard was not worthy to enjoy the light of the sun. "It was for that reason exactly," said the gardener, "that I crept into the shade."

A Sunlight Stove — Solar Energy For Warmth or Cooking

1878

A Sunlight Stove

It has been said that when we burn coal we really warm ourselves, or cook the dinner, by the rays of the sun which fell on the earth thousands of years ago — before the Pyramids of Egypt were erected, or Cleopatra's Needle cut out of the quarry. The heat and light of past ages are stored up in another form in the coal, which is fossil vegetation that when alive, as trees or gigantic ferns, owed its growth to the sun.

A successful attempt has now been made to store up the heat of the sun's rays for immediate and practical use. It was carried out in India, where the sun is, of course, much more powerful than here. The rays were first made to pass through glass fixed an inch away from the actual apparatus, which was consequently entirely surrounded by hot air. The enclosed apparatus, a copper receptacle, was blackened outside — a color which is well known to absorb heat, as any one may prove by wearing a black coat on a warm summer's day. The heat thus retained was further assisted by a conical reflector of silvered glass, and a quantity of mutton and vegetables placed within was perfectly cooked.

To further aid in retaining the absorbed heat when the apparatus was removed from the sunlight it was covered with a rug, as ladies place a "cosy" over the teapot to draw the tea. Since then the inventor has improved upon the process, and can now cook chops or steaks in the open air as quickly as by an ordinary fire, and entirely by the sun's rays. The most remarkable point is, perhaps, that the heat is kept in the apparatus for as long as three and a half hours.

In connection with this subject, just to test the power of the sun's rays in our own country, let any of our readers on a hot summer's day place their hand on the slate roofing of an accessible shed. Where they slope to the south, the slates will be found sometimes so extremely heated that the hand can hardly bear to touch them.

The Present Butterfly Decoration Craze

1912

The Butterfly Craze

There is at present a craze for butterfly effects. The design flutters on parasol tops, on smart veilings, and is worked in wonderful, iridescent effects on the new trimmings. The winged favorite is used also as shoe buckles, brooches, coiffure ornaments and beautiful designs are seen in enamels and simuli diamonds. Black satin and velvet butterfly bows edged with brilliants or colored stones are lively. The material is slipped into a frame, and thus any color can be added to the diamond's rimmed bow.


Men's Defects Sized Up

The ten chief defects of men, as decided by the votes of the women readers of Femina, one of the most popular women's weeklies in France, are egotism, easily first with 2,387 votes; then comes jealousy, 1,968; infidelity, 1,783; intemperance, 1,417; cowardice (or rather base mean-spiritedness), 1,350; immorality. 1,070; despotism, 1,057; anger, 1,051; conceit, 1,000; and idleness, 935.


Ideal School Described

M. Augustin Rey, a Parisian architect, has described his ideal school in a recent paper. He said that the beneficial effects of the violet rays were so well known that it was criminal to build in such a way that they could not penetrate to every part of a room; it was doubly important that this should be possible in schoolrooms. If there was a choice between heat, ventilation, and sunshine we should see that we had the sunshine first. His building was so arranged that the classes should meet in the east rooms in the afternoon after the morning sun had thoroughly disinfected them and in the west in the morning, since the afternoon sun would have disinfected the western rooms on the previous day. There should be plenty of ground and plenty of sand about school houses. It is better to economize in decorations than in sunlight and ventilation. He said that while this was his ideal school, he preferred the open air school.


Slow Coach

A gentleman was one day, in the old coaching times, traveling by a coach, which moved at a very slow pace. "Pray," said he to the guard, "what is the name of this coach?" "The Regulator," was the reply. "And a very appropriate name, too," said the traveler, "for I see all the other coaches go by it."

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 18, 1912, page 3.