Fkbiuakv, 101 J. 



KNOWLHDGl-:. 



must al\va\s be acting, yet in sucli a seething mass 

 as the Sun there would be mixing currents continu- 

 ously acting ; these would tend to bring the heavier 

 elements to the solar surface. Yet the centre of 

 every free mixed gaseous sphere will ever consist of 

 elements heavier than the surface. 



If we consider the photosphere to be the exterior 

 limit of statically-supported mixed gases, and were 

 the temperature to remain constant, the gases would 

 double their dcnsitv by pressure in one-eighth of a 

 mile. That is, at a depth of a mile it would be 

 two hundred and fifty-six times the densitv of the 

 surface. Clearly, no matter how rapid the increase 

 of heat, the statical surface of mixed gas would be 

 quite definite. Were there no meteoric bombard- 

 ment the surface would possibK- be much smoother, 

 and the dvnamical rigiditv of the Sun would largely 

 prevent convection currents. Thus, the Sun would 

 cool much more slowly than it does as it is. It 

 would also last much longer. The detonating action 

 of bombarding meteors, as it were, pokes the fire 

 and makes it burn much more fierceK- and causes 

 it to give off much greater radiation. 



The photosphere is consequently the verv brilliant 

 surface of solar equilibrium disturbed and rendered 

 brilliant b\- convection currents due to impacts ; the 

 molecular speed of its dynamical rigidit\- being used 

 to produce convection currents that bring the internal 

 heat, produced b\- continuous compression, to the 

 surface. 



Till-; Ki:vi'.KSiNi; Lavkk. 



This is largely mixed metallic vajwurs and gas 

 probably projected upwards by convection volcanoes, 

 chiefly produced bv the small meteors of the 

 Zodiacal light, aided also hv the violent ejections 

 produced by comet ic meteors. 



The reversing la)er is about six hundred miles 

 thick. Such thickness, if aerostatically supported, 

 would acquire in its lower layer an inconceivable 

 density. Yet it would appear its density is not many 

 times greater in its greatest depths than it is near its 

 exterior surface. 



A mean velocitv of ejection of ten miles a second 

 would be ampl\- sufficient to give a dynamical 

 supporting power of six hundred miles. 



It is probable that the chief absor[)tion that pro- 

 duces the reversed lines of the solar spectrum lies 

 mainlv at the outer surface, where the mean velocity 

 would be small. .Ml the time the convection tongues 

 were rising the lighter gases would be escaping from 

 them : but practically all the mixed elements of the 

 flame would reach the height the flame would be 

 carried to by its velocity. Thus the apparent levita- 

 tion of the reversing layer is the high kinetol it 

 possesses in its emergence from the photosphere. 



It is extremeU- probable that the bombardment of 

 escaping electrons and radioactive emissions may 

 help also to support the layers of the Sun outside the 

 photosphere. It may also be aided by the pressure 

 of light. 



Tin-; Chkomosi'HKKe. 



The surtace of the reversing la\er is the outer 

 region of the mixed kinetol. .\tom-sorting has been 

 acting on its outer surface, and the high kinetol of 

 the light elements will cause them to escape. These 

 gases are the chromosphere. It seems to be chiefly 

 hydrogen. The mean kinetol of this gas, as 

 calculated, is four times that of helium, if both are 

 in the monatomic state. Yet this is not necessarilv 

 true, for both helium and calcium are abnormal 

 elements. They almost certainly dissociate into 

 fragments ; the evidence that calcium does so is very 

 great indeed. .-\nd it is probable that these proto- 

 elements, as Lockyer calls them, give especial 

 spectra. 



The chromosphere has a thickness of four or five 

 thousand miles. Clearly it is dynamically supported. 

 It is almost certainlv supported by the high kinetol 

 of these light elements or proto-elements. 



I think that what is called the dusky \eil is 

 probably condensed material that has travelled to 

 great heights and has radiated its heat, and 

 temporarily assumed a cloudy form. 



Revikw ok Lavhus. 



Thus, the photosphere is the natural statical surface 

 of the Sun broken into rice-grain faculae, spots, and so 

 on, by the detonation action of meteoric bombardment, 

 these impacts liberating in turn the solar energy. 

 The reversing layer is an ensphering shell of material 

 carried up by the kinetol of these convection cur- 

 rents. 



The chromosphere is light gas tinted with hydro- 

 gen, and supported by the high kinetol that light 

 gases possess, compared w ith heavy gas at the same 

 temperature. 



The Corona. 



The glorious radiation halo (see Figure 5J) that 

 shows itself as surrounding the Sun during a total 

 eclipse is probably an electrical phenomenon, as I 

 believe the tails of comets and the aurora also to 

 be radiant beams induced by the electricity developed 

 b\- the friction of the volcanoes of impacts and the 

 convection currents so produced. 



This induced electricity, acting on cosmic dust, 

 lights it up. The character of the corona alters so 

 regularly with Sun spot frequency as to leave no 

 doubt the two are connected. Something like forty 

 years ago, I published a paper in The Philosophical 

 Magazine on a new relation between heat and 

 electricity, that led me to the conclusion that the 

 Sun is an electrified body. The disturbance of this 

 by volcanic friction, I imagine to be the cause of the 

 corona. 



SfN Spots .\nd Tekkestkiai. M.\g.\etism. 



Terrestrial magnetism is probably due to induced 

 currents of electricity produced by the Earth's 

 rotation acting on solar induction. This is a constant 

 action that is slightly increased or lessened b_\- the 



