CHAPTER XII. 



THE SUN AND SUNLIGHT. 



Professors Thomson, and Tait, on the Sun. The Sun a huge furnace. 

 Herschell on the waste heat of the Sun. Temperature of space. 

 Our view of the universe. The solar system an inhabitant of it. 

 The Sun a stomach. The atmospheres, the flesh and bones of the 

 solar system Movements regulated by Magnetism. The Sun an 

 inhabited world. How Sunlight is caused by Magnetism. The Sun, 

 Earth, and planets, Magnetic batteries. Sun the main battery and 

 head office. Planets telegraph stations. Sunlight caused in a 

 similar way to the spark at the poles of a battery. The "Journey to 

 the Sun." 



HAVING explained how ordinary lights are caused, and what 

 our views of light are, we now proceed to discuss the character 

 and phenomena of daylight. 



We do not profess to be astronomers, and would not wilfully 

 run counter to the grand discoveries which eminent men such 

 ;is Newton, Kepler, and Herschell, have made in connection 

 with astronomy, but as our system clashes with theirs, and as it 

 is impossible for us to see how daylight is caused by a huge 

 roaring furnace ; it is essential that we lay down a system, in 

 accordance with natural law, as understood by us. 



Before doing so, let us examine a few of the statements made 

 by teachers in physics. Professors Thomson and Tait, in 

 an article on "Energy" in "Good Words," 1862, give four 



