FRINGE OF THE SUN JAMES 187 



however, that it may match one of the lines of the aurora borealis. 

 Thus it may well be that there is some connection between the aurora 

 and the corona, for both vary with sunspot activity. 



Another prominent corona line in the red has lately been studied 

 closely. It was first discovered during the eclipse of 1914, but it 

 would appear from later observations that it changes its intensity 

 in a marked degree. Most of the corona lines vary somewhat in 

 strength at various periods, as the testimonies of eclipse expeditions 

 indicate. This is what might be expected, for we have already noted 

 how the corona itself changes at sunspot minima and maxima. But 

 the change in the red-line intensity would seem to be greater than 

 the rest. A suggestion has been made that the origin of this line is 

 hydrogen. 



Sir Norman Lockyer's statement that coronium was possibly an 

 element lighter than hydrogen cannot be entertained in any circum- 

 stances in the face of modern atomic theory. It is impossible for an 

 element to exist that is lighter than the first element in the atomic 

 scale, although the discovery of helium in the Sun (the next lightest 

 element to hydrogen) before it was discovered terrestrially must be 

 attributed to Lockyer. 



However, to review the most recent research work, it is possible 

 that coronium may be diffuse oxygen in an unfamiliar ionized state, 

 although this cannot yet be stated with certainty. If such proves 

 to be the case, coronium, like nebulium, will have lost its status as 

 an element of mystery, and the solution of the problem will have 

 gone a long way to suggest that there is nothing new under the 

 canopy of heaven — only change. This postulate is a far-reaching 

 one. Discovery of the future will probably be directed more and 

 more to the proof of this statement. 



