The Evolution of the Sciences 



developed by the general rotation of the sun, 

 which, acting perpendicularly to the polar 

 axis, must necessarily tend to incline the coronal 

 rays in its own direction and to increase their 

 length in the equatorial regions, where it acts 

 with greater intensity. 



So the observed facts are woven into a web 

 of hypothesis a web still very delicate, which 

 the smallest adverse fact will destroy. But 

 that is of little consequence. The very men 

 who have imagined these hypotheses are the 

 first to wish them controlled by facts. It is 

 therefore clear why each eclipse of the sun is 

 awaited with such impatience, and why such 

 careful preparations are made for observing 

 it. It is no mere repetition of determinations 

 already carried out, but it enables the facts to 

 be observed in the light of new hypotheses. 

 They are then either condemned without appeal 

 or provisionally confirmed until future eclipses 

 give an opportunity of submitting them to new 

 tests, and of gaining piecision regarding their 

 various points. 



Thus, little by little, the harvest of new 



facts drives back the undefined zone which 



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