The Sun 



changed; the flame had become fan-shaped and 

 formed of very bright jets, terminated at their 

 tips by tongues of fire. At 9.49 there was a 

 considerable extension in width and height, 

 forming a movable sheaf of fireworks. On the 

 left an enormous mass of parabolic rays was 

 to be seen falling back on to the sun. Some 

 bright masses, suspended above and completely 

 isolated from the chromosphere, looked like 

 rockets which had just burst. At 9.56 these 

 masses still continued to rise, but the light was 

 decreasing; three principal jets could be dis- 

 tinguished. Several tongues of fire formed from 

 broken streamers remained isolated in the upper 

 regions; the maximum height of the vertical jet 

 was about ten diameters of the earth. At ten 

 minutes past ten all was finished, leaving nothing 

 but two little flames, and nothing fresh occurred 

 during the remainder of the day/' 



Thus the eruptions betray the activity of the 

 chromosphere, whereas agitations of the photo- 

 sphere are manifested by variations of the spots 

 and faculse. It is natural to inquire whether 

 these two phenomena are not due to a single 

 cause. It was remarked long ago that both 



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