RECENT SOLAR RESEARCHES. 91 



fault, since it would be difficult to find a parallel in tlie 

 history of modern science to the munificence of the 

 grant which has been made this year for expeditions 

 to observe a phenomenon whose interest and impor- 

 tance are purely scientific. 



(From Si. PauVs, October, 1869.) 



RECENT SOLAR RESEARCHES. 



SINCE the great eclipse of August, 1868, our knowl- 

 edge respecting the constitution of the sun has been 

 steadily progressing. One discovery after another has 

 been made, and there really seems to be no reason for 

 believing that we have as yet nearly reached the limits 

 of the knowledge which spectroscopic analysis is capable 

 of supplying. Indeed, the invention of a new form of 

 spectroscope the ingenious automatic spectroscope of 

 Mr. Browning promises soon to be rewarded by a 

 series of discoveries as important as any which have 

 hitherto been made. "We propose briefly to indicate 

 the present position of our knowledge respecting the 

 great central luminary of our system. 



The spectroscopic observation of the eclipse of 

 August, 1868, had shown that the strange prominences 

 seen during total eclipses of the sun are vast masses of 

 luminous vapor hydrogen-flames, we may call them, 

 considering how largely hydrogen enters into their 



