1869.] The Scientific Year. 75 



that the meteor zone must be continuous, but that it varies in 

 density. The vastness of these accumulations, the clearly proved 

 periodicity of these star showers, leading to the conclusion, that a 

 considerable number of meteor belts are regularly crossed by the 

 earth in her annual rotation, are amongst the most exalting 

 exercises for the human mind to linger on. The meteor zone is 

 now regarded as an enormous oval hoop in space, extending far 

 out beyond the orbit of Uranus, and this zone, like an elastic belt, 

 has been sho^^^l to be disturbed by vast vibrations, probably the 

 result of planetary attractions. By one of these great undulations 

 the meteors have been brought unexpectedly into view this year, 

 when their return was not expected. Of the part played by those 

 small masses of matter in the phenomena of the universe, we know 

 nothing ; and we can only hope to establish firmly the hypothesis 

 of that seeming stratification, to which reference has been made, by 

 close observations extended over many years. The supposed re- 

 lation, too, of these meteoric belts to the orbits of certain comets, 

 opens out a vast field for speculation, and demands the most 

 cautious observations. The fine hypothesis, or rather j^hilosophic 

 speculation of Hock, on the phenomena of swarms of meteor 

 corpuscules, crowding from space into the sok^r system is, only 

 named to show how much we require to be guided by the severest 

 laws of induction in considering this tempting subject. 



The delicacy of Spectroscopic analysis can never fail to excite 

 a large share of attention. During the year the examination of 

 the nebulae with the spectroscope has given strength to the 

 reasons for supposing that the hght by which we discover the 

 gaseous nebulae is emitted from nitrogen and hydrogen. This 

 beautiful instrument has told us other truths. By it we are enabled 

 to measure the rate at which the earth passes through the waves of 

 light reaching it from any source ; and we have discovered, with 

 high probability, that the nebulae are not moving towards or 

 receding from us, but that the bright star Sirius is approaching the 

 solar system at the rate of nearly 29^ miles in every second of time. 

 Of all the discoveries of the year, however, no one is more remark- 

 able than that addition to Solar Science, (which is certainly pecu- 

 liarly the science of our own age,) so recently made by Mr. Lockyer 

 and M. Janssen, which informs us that the red prominences which 

 have been observed during several total eclipses of the sun are 

 luminous gaseous matter, giving in the spectroscope the fines which 

 belong to burning hydrogen, with an indication of some other sub- 

 stance, probably new to us, although there are suspicions that it 

 may be carbon. It is nearly thirty years since several experi- 

 mental photographers drew attention to the fact that the solar 

 spectra obtained by them gave evidence of some peculiar protecting 

 influence existing around the edge of the sun — that is, that hght of 



