178 



THE PAST AND FUTURE OF GEOLOGY. 



They consist of* — 

 Aluiuiuium. Ceriaiu 

 Barium. 

 Cadmium. 

 Calcium. 



Chromium. 

 Cobalt. 

 Copper. (?) 



Hydrogen. 

 Iron. 

 Lead. (?) 

 Magnesium. 



Manganese. 

 Nickel. 

 Potassium. 

 Sodium. 



Strontium. 

 Titanium. 

 Uranium. 

 Zinc. 



Nor, with possibly two exceptions, does the spc ctroscope give any 

 indication of unknown elements. 



While these phenomena afford such strong additional proofs of the 

 common origin of our solar system, Mr. Norman Lockyer, basing his 

 inquiries upon these and other facts recently acquired on the constitu- 

 tion of the sun, has been led to form some views of singular interest 

 bearing on the probable structure of the crust and nucleus of the earth. 

 With his permission, I am enabled to lay before you some of the points 

 in the inquiry he is now i^ursuing. 



Observation and theory have both led him to the unexpected conclu- 

 sion that in the case of an atmosphere of enormous height, and consist- 

 ing of gases and of metallic elements in a gaseous state, gravity over- 

 comes diffusion, and the various vapors extend to different heights, 

 and so i)ractically arrange themselves in layers 5 and that in the sun, 

 where owing to the fierce solar temperature the elements exist in such 

 a state of vapor and of complete dissociation, the known elements 

 arrange themselves in the main in the following order: t 

 Coronal atmosphere Cooler hydrogen. 



Chromosphere \ Incandescent hydrogen. 



( Magnesium, calcium. 



^ Sodium. 



I Chromium. 

 Eeversiug layer ^ Manganese. 



I Iron. 



[Nickel, i&c. 

 Mr. Lockyer suggests, and has communicated some evidence to the 

 Royal Society in support of his suggestion, that the metalloids or non- 

 metallic elements as a group lie outside the metallic atmosphere. He 



* On aualyziug this list we find : One permanent gas, (hydrogen;) two metals of the 

 alkalies, (sodinm, potassium ;) all the metals of the alkaline earths, (ealcinni, stron- 

 tium, barium :) three metals of the zinc class, (magnesium, zinc, cadmium ;) all the 

 metals of the iron cla.ss, (manganese, cobalt, chromium, iron, nickel, uraniuui; two 

 metals of the tin class, (tin, titanium ;) one metal of the lead class, probably, (lead.) 



The metals of the tungsten, antimony, silver, and gold classes are entirely uiuepre- 

 sented, while, if wo accept the metallicnature of hydrogen, there is not a single metal- 

 loid on the list, although tliey have been diligently searclied for. 



tMr. Lockyer points out that this order is that of the old atomic or combining 

 weights, and not t'hat of the modern atomic weights, as the following table shows : 



Old atomic New atomic 

 weights. weights. 

 1 



Hydrogen 1 



Magnesinna 12 24 



Calcioui 20 40 



Sodium 23 23 



Alnmininm does not find a i)lace in the above list, because its order in the layers has 

 not yet been dcterniiMed by ol)serv:vtion ; but the principle referred to would "place it 

 between magnesium aud calcium. 



Old atomic New atom 

 weights. weights. 



Chromium 26 



Manganese 27 



Iron 28 



Nickel 29 



o2.5 

 55 

 56 

 58 



