Sept. 29, 1882.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



291 



lower down, which is a sort of clothing for the earth, 

 keeping the heat from escaping. Now if the air of Venus 

 were very rare, something of the same sort might happen 

 on thit planet. Just as people who live in torrid zones 

 seek the high mountain slopes in the hottest seasons of the 

 year, and tind there a temperate climate, so the inhabitants 

 of Venus might find it possible to bear the sun's intense 

 heat if the air of the planet were rare like that above the 

 snow-line in our mountain regions. 



But it seems that, on the contrary, the air of Venus is 

 even denser than ours. And it seems also to be a moist 

 air, which is just the kind of air that keeps the heat in 

 most. The air of Venus is, in fact, so dense and moist 

 that the planet would be very uncomfortable (quite apart 

 from the intense heat) for creatures like ourselves. 



The density of the air of Venus has been shown in 

 several ways. Perhaps the most satisfactory proof is that 

 which was obtained during the last transit of Venus across 

 the sun's face, on December 9, 1S74. 



On that occasion, when the planet traversed such a path 

 as is shown in Fig. i, a phenomenon of great physical 

 interest and importance was observed. 



Fig. 4. 



When the planet was at A, entering on the sun's face, a 

 bright arc of light was seen round the part of the planet 

 which had not yet entered upon the sun's face. This arc was 

 not a mere faint light, but strong sunlight, as bright as that 

 derived directly from the sun's disc. When the planet was 

 at C, a similar arc of light was seen, as shown in Fig. i. 



horizon, it is the air which really brings him into view, by 

 bending his rays round the curved surface of the earth. 



So we are quite certain that there is air of some kind on 

 Venus. And we can even tell how much there is. Pro- 

 fessor Lyman, of Yale College, America, has made obser- 

 vations of this kind (not exactly the same as are illustrated 

 in Fig. .5, but depending upon the same bending power of 

 the air on rays of light) ; and from what he has seen, it 

 appears that the air on Venus is about twice as dense (at 

 the planet's surface) as the air on the earth. 



Remembering that the sunlight has passed through this 

 air, -we can understand that the light which comes to us as 

 in Fig. 5 may tell us what sort of air it has passed through. 

 The spectroscope can tell as certainly — though the observa- 

 tion is, of course, more delicate — that it has passed through 

 the vapour of water in the air of Venus, as the rainband 

 spectroscope on our own earih can tell us of the presence 

 of aqueous vapours in our air. That is what astronomers 

 learnt in December, 1874, when the globe of Venus was 

 passing, as in Fig. -i, between our earth and the sun. 



There cannot be moisture in the air of a planet unless 

 there are seas and oceans on the planet's surface. Xo 

 doubt, then, Venus has her continents and oceans, her 

 islands and promontories, and inland seas and lakes, very 

 much as our earth has. Then there must be rivers on the 

 land, and currents in the ocean ; there must be clouds and 

 rain, wind and storm, thunder and lightning, and perhaps 

 snow and hail. 



Whether the planet is an inhabited world or not, it 

 would be diificult to say. Perhaps it is a world getting 

 ready for use as a home for living creatures. Most 

 physicists believe that the sun is gradually parting with 

 his heat. If, millions of years hence, the sun should only 

 give out half as much heat as he dees, Venus would be as 

 comfortable a place to live in as our earth is now. But at 

 present it may safely be said that if Venus is inhabited, it 

 must be by creatures very diflerent from those inhabiting 

 the earth. 



{To be continued.) 



WAS RAMESES II. THE PHARAOH 

 OF THE OPPRESSION? 



By Miss A.melia B. EdwvVkds. 

 X.— PA-RAMESES. 



OUR first step when seeking to identify the sites of 

 Pithoni and Raarases is to collect such scattered 

 mention of cities bearing these famous names as may be 

 gathered from ancient Egyptian writings. These references 

 are, perhaps, more numerous than might be e.xpected. 

 The name of Pa-Rameses occurs much more frequently than 



Tkere is only one way in which this arc of light can bo 

 accounted for, and that is by the action of air upon Venus 

 bending the sun's ray.s, as shown in Fig. Ti, so that the sun 

 is seen round the corner. Our air shows us the sun in this 

 vay, whea he would be quite out of sight if there were no 



the name of Pa-Tum. We meet with it in several documents 

 of contemporary date (that is to say, in papyri of the time of 

 Ranuses 1 1, and his immediate successors), and also in one 

 important lapidary, or stone-cut, inscription. This last is 

 found in the great rock-cut Temple at Al>oo-Sinibel in 



air; for when we see the sun's disc just touching the I Nubia, and covers a large tablet built up between two of 



