Chapter 16

Some explore prophecy for the date of the grand transformation of matter by the coming of the Son of Man, for a new creation. A little study of nature would show that the date cannot be fixed. A little study of Peter would show the same thing. He says, "What manner of persons ought ye to be, in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming [Page 265] of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth."

The idea is, that the grand transformation of matter waits the readiness of man. The kingdom waits the king. The scattered cantons of Italy were only prostrate provinces till Victor Emanuel came, then they were developed into united Italy. The prostrate provinces of matter are not developed until the man is victor, able to rule there a realm equal to ten cities here. Every good man hastens the coming of the day of God and nature's renovation. Not only does inference teach that there must be finer men, but fact affirms that transformation has already taken place. Life is meant to have power over chemical forces. It separates carbon from its compounds and builds a tree, separates the elements and builds the body, holds them separate until life withdraws. More life means higher being. Certainly men can be refined and recapacitated as well as ore. In Ovid's "Metamorphoses" he represents the lion in process of formation from earth, hind quarters still clay, but fore quarters, head, erect mane, and blazing eye--live lion--and pawing to get free. We have seen winged spirits yet linked to forms of clay, but beating the celestial air, endeavoring to be free; and we have seen them, dowered with new sight, filled with new love, break loose and rise to higher being.

In this grand apotheosis of man which nature teaches, progress lias already been made. Man has already outgrown his harmony with the environment of mere matter. He has given his hand to science, and been lifted up above the earth into the voids of infinite space. He [Page 266] has gone on and on, till thought, wearied amidst the infinities of velocity and distance, has ceased to note them. But he is not content; all his faculties are not filled. He feels that his future self is in danger of not being satisfied with space, and worlds, and all mental delights, even as his manhood fails to be satisfied with the materiel toys of his babyhood. He asks for an Author and Maker of things, infinitely above them. He has seen wisdom unsearchable, power illimitable; but he asks for personal sympathy and love. Paul expresses his feeling: every creature--not the whole creation--groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, waiting for the adoption--the uplifting from orphanage to parentage--a translation out of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. He hears that a man in Christ is a new creation: old things pass away, all things become new. There is then a possibility of finding the Author of nature, and the Father of man. He begins his studies anew. Now he sees that all lines of knowledge converge as they go out toward the infinite mystery; sees that these converging lines are the reins of government in this world; sees the converging lines grasped by an almighty hand; sees a loving face and form behind; sees that these lines of knowledge and power are his personal nerves, along which flashes his will, and every force in the universe answers like a perfect muscle.

Then he asks if this Personality is as full of love as of power. He is told of a tenderness too deep for tears, a love that has the Cross for its symbol, and a dying cry for its expression: seeking it, he is a new creation. He sees more wondrous things in the Word than in the [Page 267] world. He comes to know God with his heart, better than he knows God's works by his mind.

Every song closes with the key-note with which it began, and the brief cadence at the close hints the realms of sound through which it has tried its wings. The brief cadence at the close is this: All force runs back into mind for its source, constant support, and uplifts into higher grades.

Mr. Grove says, "Causation is the will, creation is the act, of God." Creation is planned and inspired for the attainment of constantly rising results. The order is chaos, light, worlds, vegetable forms, animal life, then man. There is no reason to pause here. This is not perfection, not even perpetuity. Original plans are not accomplished, nor original force exhausted. In another world, free from sickness, sorrow, pain, and death, perfection of abode is offered. Perfection of inhabitant is necessary; and as the creative power is everywhere present for the various uplifts and refinements of matter, it is everywhere present with appropriate power for the uplifting and refinement of mind and spirit.

[Page 269] SUMMARY OF LATEST DISCOVERIES AND CONCLUSIONS.

_Movements on the Sun._--The discovery and measurement of the up-rush, down-rush, and whirl of currents about the sunspots, also of the determination of the velocity of rotation by means of the spectroscope, as described (page 53), is one of the most delicate and difficult achievements of modern science.

_Movement of Stars in Line of Sight_ (page 51).--The following table shows this movement of stars, so far as at present known:

| APROACHING. || RECEDING. | |------------------------------||-------------------------------| | Map. | Name. | Rate || Map. | Name. | Rate | | | | per sec. || | | per sec. | |-------|-----------|----------||--------|-----------|----------| |Fig. 71|Arcturus | 55 miles ||Fig. 69 |Sirius | 20 miles | | " 72|Vega | 50 " ||Fr'piece|Betelguese | 22 " | | " 73|a Cygni | 39 " || " |Rigel | 15 " | | " 69|Pollux | 49 " ||Fig. 69 |Castor | 25 " | | " 67|Dubhe | 46 " || " 70 |Regulus | 15 " | ---------------------------------------------------------------

_Sun's Appearance._--This was formerly supposed to be an even, regular, dazzling brightness, except where the spots appeared. But the sun's surface is now known to be mottled with what are called rice grains or willow leaves. But the rice grains are as large as the continent of America. The spaces between are called pores. They constitute an innumerable number of small spots. This appearance of the general surface is well portrayed in the cut on page 92.

_Close Relation between Sun and Earth._-Men always knew that the earth received light from the sun. They subsequently discovered that the earth was momentarily held by the power [Page 270] of gravitation. But it is a recent discovery that the light is one of the principal agents in chemical changes, in molecular grouping and world-building, thus making all kinds of life possible (p. 30-36). The close connection of the sun and the earth will be still farther shown in the relation of sun-spots and auroras. One of the most significant instances is related on page 19, when the earth felt the fall of bolides upon the sun. Members of the body no more answer to the heart than the planets do to the sun.

_Hydrogen Flames._--It has been demonstrated that the sun flames 200,000 miles high are hydrogen in a state of flaming incandescence (page 85).

_Sun's Distance._--The former estimate, 95,513,794 miles, has been reduced by nearly one-thirtieth. Lockyer has stated it as low as 89,895,000 miles, and Proctor, in "Encyclopædia Britannica," at 91,430,000 miles, but discovered errors show that these estimates are too small. Newcomb gives 92,400,000 as within 200,000 miles of the correct distance. The data for a new determination of this distance, obtained from the transit of Venus, December 8th, 1874, have not yet been deciphered; a fact that shows the difficulty and laboriousness of the work. Meanwhile it begins to be evident that observations of the transit of Venus do not afford the best basis for the most perfect determination of the sun's distance.

Since the earth's distance is our astronomical unit of measure, it follows that all other distances will be changed, when expressed in miles, by this ascertained change of the value of the standard.

_Oxygen in the Sun._--In 1877 Professor Draper announced the discovery of oxygen lines in the spectrum of the sun. The discovery was doubted, and the methods used were criticised by Lockyer and others, but later and more delicate experiments substantiate Professor Draper's claim to the discovery. The elements known to exist in the sun are salt, iron, hydrogen, [Page 271] magnesium, barium, copper, zinc, cromium, and nickel. Some elements in the sun are scarcely, if at all, discoverable on the earth, and some on the earth not yet discernible in the sun.

_Substance of Stars._--Aldebaran (_Frontispiece_) shows salt, magnesium, hydrogen, calcium, iron, bismuth, tellurium, antimony, and mercury. Some of the sun's metals do not appear. Stars differ in their very substance, and will, no doubt, introduce new elements to us unknown before.

The theory that all nebulæ are very distant clusters of stars is utterly disproved by the clearest proof that some of them are only incandescent gases of one or two kinds.

_Discoveries of New Bodies._--Vulcan, the planet nearest the sun (page 138). The two satellites of Mars were discovered by Mr. Hall, U. S. Naval Observatory, August 11th, 1877 (page 161). "The outer one is called Diemas; the inner, Phobus.

Sir William Herschel thought he discovered six satellites of Uranus. The existence of four of them has been disproved by the researches of men with larger telescopes. Two new ones, however, were discovered by Mr. Lassell in 1846.

_Saturn's Rings_ are proved to be in a state of fluidity and contraction (page 171).

_Meteors and Comets._--The orbits of over one hundred swarms of meteoric bodies are fixed: their relation to, and in some cases indentity with, comets determined. Some comets are proved to be masses of great weight and solidity (page 133).

_Aerolites._-Some have a texture like our lowest strata of rocks. There is a geology of stars and meteors as well as of the earth. M. Meunier has just received the Lalande Medal from the Paris Academy for his treatise showing that, so far as our present knowledge can determine, some of these meteors once belonged to a globe developed in true geological epochs, and which has been separated into fragments by agencies with which we are not acquainted.

_The Horizontal Pendulum._--This delicate instrument is [Page 272] represented in Fig. 82. It consists of an upright standard, strongly braced; a weight, _m_, suspended by the hair-spring of a watch, B D, and held in a horizontal position by another watch-spring, A C. The weight is deflected from side to side by the slightest influence. The least change in the level of a base thirty-nine inches long that could be detected by a spirit-level is 0".1 of an arc--equal to raising one end 1/2068 of an inch. But the pendulum detects a raising of one end 1/36000000 of an inch. To observe the movements of the pendulum, it is kept in a dark room, and a ray of light is directed to the mirror, _m_, and thence reflected upon a screen. Thus the least movement may be enormously magnified, and read and measured by the moving spot on the screen. It has been discovered that when the sun rises it has sufficient attraction to incline this instrument to the east; when it sets, to incline it to the west. The same is true of the moon. When either is exactly overhead or underfoot, of course there is no deflection. The mean deflection caused by the moon at rising or setting is 0".0174; by the sun, 0".008. Great results are expected from this instrument hardly known as yet: among others, whether gravitation acts instantly or consumes time in coming from the sun. This will be shown by the time of the change of the pendulum from east to west when the sun reaches the zenith, and _vice versa_ when it crosses the nadir. The sun will be best studied without light, in the quiet and darkness of some deep mine.

[Page 273] _Light of Unseen Stars._--From careful examination, it appears that three-fourths of the light on a fine starlight night comes from stars that cannot be discerned by the naked eye. The whole amount of star light is about one-eightieth of that of the full moon.

_Lateral Movements of Stars_, page 226-28.

_Future Discoveries_--_A Trans-Neptunian Planet._--Professor Asaph Hall says: "It is known to me that at least two American astronomers, armed with powerful telescopes, have been searching quite recently for a trans-Neptunian planet. These searches have been caused by the fact that Professor Newcomb's tables of Uranus and Neptune already begin to differ from observation. But are we to infer from these errors of the planetary tables the existence of a trans-Neptunian planet? It is possible that such a planet may exist, but the probability is, I think, that the differences are caused by errors in the theories of these planets. * * * A few years ago the remark was frequently made that the labors of astronomers on the solar system were finished, and that henceforth they could turn their whole attention to sidereal astronomy. But to-day we have the lunar theory in a very discouraging condition, and the theories of Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all in need of revision; unless, indeed, Leverrier's theories of the last two planets shall stand the test of observation. But, after all, such a condition of things is only the natural result of long and accurate series of observations, which make evident the small inequalities in the motions, and bring to light the errors of theory."

Future discoveries will mostly reveal the laws and conditions of the higher and finer forces. Already Professor Loomis telegraphs twenty miles without wire, by the electric currents between mountains. We begin to use electricity for light, and feel after it for a motor. Comets and Auroras show its presence between worlds, and in the interstellar spaces. Let another Newton arise.

[Page 274] SOME ELEMENTS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | Mean Dist. | | | | | | | from Sun. | | | | | | |-------------------| Mean |Density.| | | | | Earth's| |Diameter |[Earth] | | Name. | Sign. | Masses. | Dist. | Millions |in Miles.| = 1. | | | | | as 1. | of Miles.| | | |-----------|--------|------------|--------|----------|---------|--------| | Sun |[Symbol]| Unity | | | 860,000 | 0.255 | | Mercury |[Symbol]|1/5000000(?)| 0.387 | 35-3/4| 2,992 | 1.21 | | Venus |[Symbol]| 1/425000 | 0.723 | 66-3/4| 7,660 | 0.85 | | Earth |[Symbol]| 1/326800 | 1. | 92-1/3| 7,918 | 1. | | Mars |[Symbol]| 1/2950000 | 1.523 | 141 | 4,211 | 0.737 | | Asteroids | (No.) | | | | | | | Jupiter |[Symbol]| 1/1047 | 5.203 | 480 | 86,000 | 0.243 | | Saturn |[Symbol]| 1/3501 | 9.538 | 881 | 70,500 | 0.133 | | Uranus |[Symbol]| 1/22600 | 19.183 | 1771 | 31,700 | 0.226 | | Neptune |[Symbol]| 1/19380 | 30.054 | 2775 | 34,500 | 0.204 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | | Gravity | | | | | Axial | at | | Orbital | | | Revolu- | Surface. | Periodic | Velocity | | Name. | tion | [Earth] | Time. | in Miles | | | | = 1 | | per sec. | |-----------|---------------|----------|-----------|----------| | Sun | 25 to 26d | 27.71 | | | | Mercury | 24h 5m(?) | 0.46 | 87.97d | 29.55 | | Venus | 23h 21m(?) | 0.82 | 224.70d | 21.61 | | Earth | 23h 56m 4s | 1. | 365.26d | 18.38 | | Mars | 24h 37m 22.7s | 0.39 | 686.98d | 14.99 | | Asteroids | | | | | | Jupiter | 9h 55m 20s | 2.64 | 11.86yrs | 8.06 | | Saturn | 10h 14m | 1.18 | 29.46yrs | 5.95 | | Uranus | Unknown. | 0.90 | 84.02yrs | 4.20 | | Neptune | Unknown. | 0.89 | 164.78yrs | 3.36 | -------------------------------------------------------------

[Page 275] EXPLANATION OF ASTRONOMICAL SYMBOLS.

SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC

0. [Symbol] Aries 0° | VI. [Symbol] Libra 180° I. [Symbol] Taurus 30 | VII. [Symbol] Scorpio 210 II. [Symbol] Gemini 60 | VIII. [Symbol] Sagittarius 240 III. [Symbol] Cancer 90 | IX. [Symbol] Capricornus 270 IV. [Symbol] Leo 120 | X. [Symbol] Aquarius 300 V. [Symbol] Virgo 150 | XI. [Symbol] Pisces 330

* * * * *

[Symbol] Conjunction. | S. Seconds of Time. [Symbol] Quadrature. | ° Degrees. [Symbol] Opposition. | ' Minutes of Arc. [Symbol] Ascending Node. | " Seconds of Arc. [Symbol] Descending Node. | R. A. Right Ascension. H. Hours. | Decl. or D. Declination. M. Minutes of Time. | N. P. D. Dist. From North Pole.

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE ALMANAC.

S., South, _i.e._, crosses the meridian; M., morning; A, Afternoon; Gr. H. L. N., greatest heliocentric latitude north, _i.e._, greatest distance north of the ecliptic, as seen from the sun. [Symbols] Inf., inferior conjunction; Sup., superior conjunction.

GREEK ALPHABET USED INDICATING THE STARS.

a, alpha. | ae, eta. | n, nu. | t, tau. b, beta. | th, theta. | x, xi. | u, upsilon. g, gamma. | i, iota. | o, omicron. | ph, phi. d, delta. | k, kappa. | p, pi. | ch, chi. e, epsilon. | l, lambda. | r, rho. | ps, psi. z, zeta. | m, mu. | s, sigma. | o, omega.

[Page 276] CHAUTAUQUA OUTLINE FOR STUDENTS.

As an aid to comprehension, every student should draw illustrative figures of the various circles, planes, and situations described. (For example, see Fig. 45, page 112.) As an aid to memory, the portion of this outline referring to each chapter should be examined at the close of the reading, and this mere sketch filled up to a perfect picture from recollection.

I. _Creative Processes._--The dial-plate of the sky. Cause or different weights--on sun, moon. Two laws of gravity. Inertia. Fall of earth to sun per second. Forward motion. Elastic attraction. Perturbation of moon; of Jupiter and Saturn. Oscillations of planets.

II. _Light._--From condensation. Number of vibrations of red; violet. Thermometer against air. Aerolite against earth. Two bolides against the sun. Large eye. Velocity of light. Prism. Color means different vibrations. Music of light. Light reports substance of stars. Force of; bridge, rain, dispersion, intensities, reflection, refraction, decomposition.

III. _Astronomical Instruments._--Refracting telescope. Reflecting; largest. Spectroscope. Spectra of sun, hydrogen, sodium, etc. E made G by approach; C by departure. Stars approach and recede.

IV. _Celestial Measurements._-Place and time by stars. Degrees, minutes, seconds. Mapping stars. Mural circle. Slow watch. Hoosac Tunnel. Fine measurements. Sidereal time. Spider-lines. Personal equation. Measure distance--height. Ten-inch base line. Parallax of sun, stars. Longitude at sea. Distance of Polaris, a Centauri, 61 Cygni. Orbits of asteroids.

V. _The Sun._--World on fire. Apparent size from planets. Zodiacal light. Corona. Hydrogen--how high? Size. How many earths? Spots: 1. Motion; 2. Edges; 3. Variable; 4. Periodic; 5. Cyclonic; 6. Size; 7. Velocities. What the sun does. Experiments.

VI. _The Planets from Space._--North Pole. Speed. Sizes. Axial revolution. Man's weight on. Seasons. Parallelism of axis. Earth near [Page 277] sun in winter. Plane of ecliptic. Orbits inclined to. Earth rotates. Proof. Sun's path among stars. Position of planets. Motion--direct, retrograde. Experiments.

VII. _Meteors._--Size; number; cause of; above earth; velocity; colors; number in space; telescopic view of. Aerolites: Systems of; how many known. Comets: Orbits; number of comets; Halley's; Biela's lost; Encke's. Resisting medium. Whence come comets? Composed of what? Amount of matter in. [Symbol].

VIII. _The Planets._--How many? Uranus discovered? Neptune? Asteroids? Vulcan? Distance from sun. Periodic time. Mercury: Elements; shapes, as seen from earth; transits. Venus: Elements; seen by day; how near earth? how far from? phases; Galileo. Earth: Elements; in space; Aurora; balance of forces. Tides: Main and subsidiary causes; eastern shores; Mediterranean Sea. Moon: Elements; hoax; moves east; see one side; three causes help to see more than half. Revolution: Why twenty-nine and a half days: heat--cold; how much light? Craters and peaks lighted; measured. Eclipses--Why not every new and full moon? Periodicity. Mars: Elements; how near earth? How far from? Apparent size; ice-fields; which end most? Satellites--Asteroids: How found? When? By whom? How many? Jupiter: Elements; trade-winds; how much light received? Own heat. Satellites: How many? Colors. Saturn: Elements; habitability; rings; flux; satellites. Uranus: Elements; discoverer; seen by; moon's motion. Neptune: Elements; discovered by; how? Review system.

IX. _The Nebular Hypothesis._--State it; facts confirmatory. Objections--1. Heat; 2. Rotation; 3. Retrograde; 4. Martial moons; 5. Star of 1876. Evolution: Gaps in; conclusion.

X. _The Stellar System._-Motto. Man among stars; open page; starry poem; stars located; named. Thuban. Etanin. Constellations: Know them; number of stars; double; e Lyræ, Sirius, Procyon, Castor, 61 Cygni, g Virginis. Colored stars; change color. Clusters: Two theories. Nebulæ: Two visible; composed of; shapes; where? Variable stars. Sun. b Lyræ, Mira, Betelguese, Algol; cause. Temporary; 1572. New star of 1866: Two theories. Star of 1876. Movements of stars; Sirius; sun; 1830 Groombridge. Stars near Pleiades: Orion, Great Dipper, Southern Cross. Centre of gravity.

XI. _The Worlds and the Word._--Rich. Number. Erroneous allusions. Truth before discovery: 1. A beginning; 2. Creation before arrangement; 3. Light before sun; 4. Mountains under water; 5. Order of development; [Page 278] 6. Sphere of earth; 7. How upheld; 8. Number of stars; 9. Weight of air; 10. Meteorology; 11. Queries to Job; 12. Sun to end of heaven; 13. View of Mitchell; 14. Herschel. What is matter? Force? End of earth. Way to knowledge. Work of light. Transfiguration of matter. Uniformitarianism. A whisper of Him. Man for mastery. Each a type of higher. Survival of fittest. Uranus. Worlds and Word one language.