1891. | VEEDER—ON THE ZODIACAL LIGHT. I4t 
ably containing a solid nucleus, and that it is not entirely liquid or 
gaseous as some have supposed. At certain points in this mass, there is 
something akin to volcanic action in progress. On the earth such action 
is attended by electrical phenomena, and this is probably the case upon 
a much grander scale on the sun. Indeed, the evidence is conclusive 
that these solar eruptive forces are concerned in the production of dis- 
turbances of terrestrial magnetism, at intervals of about twenty-seven 
days, as well as in eleven year cycles, and at more or less irregular 
intervals. The next step is to inquire how these solar electric impulses 
are conveyed from sun to earth. 
It is a well known principle, that when bodies in a condition of 
electrical strain with reference to each other are.put in motion they 
become the seat of currents of electricity. Thus, in the telephone, a 
thin plate of metal is adjusted in proximity to a magnet so as to be 
held in a condition of strain. When put in motion by the sound of the 
voice, this plate vibrates to and fro, varying its distance from the con- 
trolling magnet, and as the result electrical currents are generated. 
By means of a wire these currents are conducted to a second instrument 
in which they modify the attractive force of another magnet in such 
manner, that it causes vibrations in a plate under its control, entirely 
similar to those imparted at the outset by the sound of the voice. It 
is motion, therefore, which under proper conditions generates electrical 
currents. Thus the motion of the sun on its axis, carrying forward at 
an enormous velocity the electrically excited portions of its surface, 
generates currents which tend to propagate themselves, as is the rule, 
along certain lines of force. It is for reasons connected with these 
peculiarities of magnetic induction that disturbances at the eastern limb 
alone are capable of conveying the strongest electrical impulses earth- 
ward. In the conduction of such impulses there is not an actual con- 
veyance of material substance from one point to another, but each 
particle intervening, that is capable of serving as a conductor, tends to 
become a magnet and arrange itself with reference to every other 
particle in its vicinity, in accordance with the principle of polarity, as is 
seen when iron filings attach themselves to a magnet. In the case of 
the telephone the varying stress or strain is conveyed by means of the 
conducting wire, the particles composing which are magnetized, or in 
other words, tend to become magnets. Without such conducting 
medium there can be no conveyance of currents, even for comparatively 
short distances, to say nothing of ninety-five millions of miles. 
Now we have in the disc-like extensions of the solar corona, which 
become visible as the zodiacal light, such a distribution of ferruginous 
