50 THE BORDERLAND OF SCIENCE. 



zones, though they showed but faintly compared with 

 those we had seen earlier, and remained visible but 

 a short time. When they were most clearly seen 

 they could be traced outwards into the less luminous 

 atmosphere, which we could now distinguish to a vast 

 distance from the sun's surface. This outer atmosphere 

 was not irregular, as we might have judged from the 

 earlier appearance of the radiations ; for we could now 

 see that those radiations had been wholly within the 

 limits of this exceedingly rare atmosphere. We could 

 trace the envelope to the distance of about eight 

 millions of miles from the sun on all sides ; at which 

 distance it appeared to have a definite boundary. But 

 outside, as well as within its limits, the irregular 

 streams and sprays of whitish light could now be seen 

 with greatly enhanced distinctness, and could be traced 

 to a much greater distance from the sun. It had become 

 perfectly obvious to us that these whitish streaks were 

 due to myriads of meteor systems existing in the sun's 

 neighbourhood. We had long since observed how much 

 more richly these systems were congregated close by 

 the sun ; and the nearer we ourselves approached his 

 orb the more surprising was the richness of meteoric 

 aggregation. We now encountered, not systems of 

 meteors, but systems of meteor systems ; while amidst 

 these systems, and seemingly associated with them, 

 were countless thousands of those relatively minute 

 comets which have been already referred to. That these 

 comets glowed chiefly with their own inherent lustre, 

 we could not doubt ; but the meteor systems shone by 



