SUN 



SUN BIRDS 



Uinl, the total eclipse of May 12, 1706. Since re- 

 corded at nianv Eclipses (q.v. ), they arc now daily 



studied through tin- o|>en slit of the sj>eetn>scorie, 

 a method devised by Lockyer and Janssen in 1868, 

 and improved in istiil liy Zollner and Hiiggin-. 

 They form two well -marked classes, 'Cloud anil 

 ' Flame ' prominence-. .\ Cloud' prominence 

 resembles a terrestrial cloud, but, as seen by this 

 inethiMl, of an indescrilwibly delirate rosy line, often 

 connected bv slender stems to the chromosphere. 

 Such are relatively j>ermaiieiit, lasting usually a 

 few days. ' Flume pniniiii' erujitive, 



often connected with spots. and suliject to violent 

 changes even in the space of a few minutes. 

 Delicate clouds of hydrogen arc sometimes seen to 

 form and disperse, ,;/ sit it. in ami close aliove, the 

 prominence region, exactly as clou. Is in our air, 

 pointing 'ut the fact that not even here is to l>e 

 found the limit of matter ejected from or retained 

 bv the sun. The existence of the mmim confirms 

 tlii>. Its appeal auee during a total eclipse may 

 be gathered from fig. 3. Its shape varies, 



Fig. 3. Corona during Total Eclipse of the Sun, 12th 

 DeceiiiluT 1*71. Kroiu plate engraved from photo- 

 graphs taken at llaikal, nn the Malaliar coast nf India, 

 by Sir Davis, Lord Crawford's assistant I sec Memoir* 

 ofih'. Agronomical iiocitty, vol. xli., 1879). 



yet a general agreement in form is preserved. In 

 period- of sun-spot maximum it is more fully 

 developed than at miniioum periods, and dillcr 

 enlly shapi->l. At a -pot minimum it is smaller 

 and most developed towards tin- solar [wles. At 

 a maximum it gathers in great rays aliove the 

 spot -region of I lie surface. As yet only to l>e 

 studied during tin- short jieriod of a total eclipse, 

 the true nature of the corona is not determined. 

 On one theory it has been thought to IK- like the 

 Zodiacal Light n|.v. i; on another it was supposed 

 to consist of streams of meteorites ; on yet another 

 of eonietai-y mutter ; and in a fourth it was 

 regarded as chiefly terrestrial atmospheric glare. 

 It is now generally admitted to consist of tenuous 

 gas, hydrogen, and helium, possibly also some 

 hydrocarlxm and clouds of finely -divided dust, 

 while electric discharges similar to an aurora play 

 an important part in its illumination. It is hoped 

 that yet a method may be devised of -in. King it 

 independently of eclipses, when more definite know- 

 ledge of its structure will s|>ccdilv l>e obtained. 



See O. K. (liaiubvrn' Iteteriplive Ailronnmii (4th ed. 

 1889-90) ; HIM Clerko's Hat. of Alt. in the IWi Crnt. 

 The Sun, by ProfeMor Young (1881; new ed. 1888); 



Lf Snlril, by Seochi ; Herachel's Outline* of Attmmimii ; 

 Proctor, The .Sun (1K71 ) : Lockjrer, Chemiitri, ,,f the .Sim 

 (18H7); Sir R. & Ball, The Storvof the .Sun ( 1WM); for 

 the age of the sun and the probable duration of iti heat. 

 Siemens' roiurrm/ion nf Solar Knrrtjy (18KM; Lord 

 Kelvin's Mathematical anil I'hyiical fajxri (1882-90), 

 lie. ; for the assumed connection of the cycles of sun- 

 spot* with Indian famine*, papers in Nature, vol. xliii., 

 kc. ; and for the euniicrtiuii nf vulcanic dust with tli 

 phenoineiia of sunsets and afterglows, see the works 

 cited at KHAKATOA. 



Si N wiiiisiiii'. In early philosophy throughout 

 the world the sun and moon are reganle<l as alive 

 and credited with sex, as brother and sister or 

 husband ami wife; but their worship cannot be 

 said to lie universal among the lower races, licing 

 more especially characteristic of the higher levels 

 of savage religion, of tillers of the soil rather than 

 nomads, of temperate rather than torrid climates. 

 Thus, it was the main worship of the old pastoral 

 Arvans. a.- may still l>e seen in Brahman rites, and 

 it appears in the 1'ersian Mithra, the Creek Helios, 

 the Egyptian Ka. It flourished in Tartan', in the 

 fullest development in ancient Peru, ami widely 

 among the North American Indians, while in 

 Africa it is hardly found except in Egypt, and in 

 Australia and Polynesia it is seen much more 

 plainly in myth than in religion. And the ritea 

 of worship of earthly Fire lead naturally upwards 

 to the religion of heavenly Fire in its great per- 

 sonification, the Sun. Hut while we give its place 

 to tin- great nature myth of the Snn staying the 

 Darkness of Night and Winter, we need not read it 

 into everything.' in mythology after the fashion 

 of the ingenious vagaries of |>rofc--ed solar 

 mythologists like Max Midler. Cox. and A. de 

 Cubermitis. The worship of the sun lingered long 

 even under the shadow of Christianity, which was 

 skilful to turn it- rites to profit. Thus, these sur- 

 vive disguised in the Easter bonfires, a- do its great 

 Festivals in the Yule Log bonfires of Christmas 

 Day Dies Xatali* Solitlnvicti the Roman winter 

 sol-t ice-festival, identified as early as the 4th cen- 

 tury with the birthday of Jesus, but on no adequate 

 historical evidence, and in its pendant at Mid- 

 summer, with its fire-wheels and bonfires. See 

 APOLLO, BELTANE, Cinusi \i \s, /KND-.AVKSTA, 

 FOLKLIIIIK. MYTHOLOGY, PARSEES, SOLAR MYTH, 

 and ZolioAsTKK. 



Sun-animalcules. See HELIOZOA. 

 Snnart. LOCH, a picturesque sea-inlet in the 



\ve-t of Argyllshire, winding 19J miles eastward. 



Sun-bath. See BATH, Vol. I. p. 792. 



Sun Bear. See BEAR. 



Slinbirds ( Kcctariniidte), a family of Passerine 



birds related to the Honey -eaters (q.v.), having 

 tcnuirostral l>eaks and a protrnsihle and deeply- 

 cleft tongue. In general appearance and habita 

 they resemble the Iliiinmitig-birds of America, 

 witli which, however, they have no real affinity. 

 They arc birds of brilliant plumage, glittering wiih 

 metallic lustre. They are confined to the hotter 

 regions of the Old World, l>eing particularly 

 abundant in Africa and southern Asia and cxlend 

 ing to North Australia, but, the species commonly 

 have a limited range. Captain Shelley in liis 

 monograph on the Sunbirds (Lond. 1876-80) sub- 

 divides the family into three sub-families, ( 1 ) Neo- 

 drcpanin.-e, (2) Sectariiiiime, (3) Arachnotherimc. 

 They are all of small si/.e, although none are so 

 small a- the smallest humming birds ; they rival 

 humming-birds in brilliancy of plumage, and like 



them they feed on the juices of flowers, which they 

 suck by their long bill, occasionally hovering in 

 the air ^before a flower when feeding, but generally 

 hopping alKMit or clinging to the smaller twigs ami 

 flowering branches. They have a feeble chirping 



