CHAPTEB LXXXIX 



Woo THE SUNLIGHT 



IT comes from a ball of fire 81,000 miles in diam- 

 eter, 2,700,000 miles in circumference, 1,300,000 

 times as large as Earth. Of this fire is born the 

 Solar System. The eight planets are the Sun's 

 children; the retinue of moons revolving around 

 them, his grandchildren; the hundreds of comets, 

 the thousands of clouds and streams of meteors, the 

 by-products resulting from the evolution of his 

 Family. 



Weigh this ball of fire; it tips the scale at 2,000,- 

 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons two octil- 

 lion, 750 times as much as the weight of all the 

 planets and moons combined. Its pull on the Earth 

 by gravity is 3,600,000,000,000,000,000 tons three 

 quintillion six hundred quartillion. A man weigh- 

 ing 150 pounds on Earth, would weigh on the Sun 

 two tons. He couldn't stir. 



Pile 1,900 pounds of anthracite coal on each 

 square foot of the Sun's area. The layer surrounds 

 the Sun at every point sixteen feet thick. Burn 

 its every atom in one hour. The amount of heat 

 generated equals only the amount of heat radiated 

 from the Sun's surface every hour. 



At 93,000,000 miles away, the Sun's heat is yet 

 sufficient, at the equator, to melt a layer of ice 110 



300 



