ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 337 



could occur. Hence the mention of a change of color in a star has 

 been regarded as anomalous, as an inconvenient fact having no rela- 

 tion to any popular theories and no appropriate |>l;u e in tin- onliuarv 

 systems. Hence observations on the colors and on the chant's of 

 colors have not been stimulated, but rather repressed by this complex 

 theory of the sun. 11 The progress of what i.s termed solar and stellar 

 chemistry will, no doubt, revive the attention of philosophers to the 

 above-mentioned phenomena. 



THE .STABILITY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 



The doctrine of the stability of the solar system is cousiden d by 

 modern astronomers to be a fact established on the most satisfactory 

 evidence. It is however, assailed by Prof. Gustav llenrichs, in an 

 elaborate paper in the American Journal of Science, No. 101). He con- 

 siders, in the first place, the effects of resistance, referring to the. 

 evidence of it in the case of Encke's Comet: and from his calcula- 

 tions deduces the following four laws: 1. That with advancing age 

 the nearest secondary planet approaches its primary ; 2. The entire 

 system of orbits becomes closer ; 3. The regularity and symmetry dis- 

 appear more and more ; and 4. That at corresponding ages similar sys- 

 tems must represent the same configuration. He next examines at 

 some length the laws of density and rotation, giving the result in fif- 

 teen conclusions. We give the last two : 14. If the laws of attrac- 

 tion are not fully identical with those of repulsion, the created matter 

 could already virtually contain the tangential force upon Avlrich the 

 duration of the whole world principally depends. This is simply an 

 instance of " throwing the first cause further back," since the transla- 

 tory movement no longer needs to be considered as a direct action of 

 the Creator, but as a design embodied and effected through some pre- 

 vious direct act. 15. It is probable that the force lost in resistance 

 is converted into magnetism. " I know that some, like Brewster, will 

 object to these and similar efforts ; yet we always feel the more deeply 

 convinced of the glory, power, and wisdom of the Creator and governor 

 of the universe, the more we perceive how simple his means, how 

 grand his design, and how multiform his effects. Unlike ourselves, 

 the Creator needs no tools, no constant effort for producing his ends. 

 His Almighty fiat created the universe, and his hand sustains it 



ever since. 11 



THEORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SUN. 



The following is a resume of a long memoir on this subject by M. 

 Emile Gautier, in the Bibliothfyue Universelle, in which he gives an 

 account of the principal observations and theories that have been 

 hitherto published. 1. The sun is a liquid, incandescent globe, com- 

 posed of elements similar to those which enter into the composition 

 of the earth, and probably into that of the planetary system. It 

 exists in a state analogous to the phase of liquidity through which the 

 earth has passed, according to the opinion generally entertained by 

 geologists. The high temperature by which its liquidity is maintained 

 considerably dilates its volume, and explains the feeble relative den- 

 sity of the globe in a state of fusion. '2. An atmosphere envelops 

 the liquid mass, and incloses in it, in suspension, vapors or emanations of 



