of the spectra evidenced in the ttvo cases. At the time, however, when 

 Frauenhofer made these observations, the interpretation to be derived from 

 those lines, as to the constitution of the different heavenly bodies, was not 

 known. But we now know that many of those dark lines indicate the 

 existence of certain chemical elements, and thereby afford indirect evidence 

 of the existence of such elements in the most distant bodies of the universe, 

 such as the fixed stars. This exalts our idea of the universality of the 

 laws of Nature ; and surely there is nothing in that which can be at all 

 opposed to anything we may have learned from Revelation. Indeed, I think 

 we may take a precisely contrary view, and say that the notion that there is 

 any such opposition to the teachings of Revelation would rather savour of 

 the saying of the Syrians of old, that the God of the Hebrews was " God 

 of the hills, but not God of the valleys." From the stars I now pass to our 

 own sun. We have here an abundant quantity of light to work with, and 

 can apply the spectroscope to a greater extent, while working with a purer 

 spectrum. The result of that application is to show that chemical elements 

 exist in the sun, similar, in many cases, to those we find existing on our own 

 earth ; but this is not all. "What I would at present chiefly dwell upon is 

 this, that the character of the spectrum indicates that those elements are in 

 a state of incandescent vapour, — a fact that will aftbrd us some idea of the 

 enormous temperature of the central luminary of our system. To think that 

 iron should exist as a vapour, as an elastic fluid resembling the air we are 

 breathing in this room, so that the temperature of the sun must be 

 considerably above the boiling-point of iron, will help us to acquire some 

 idea of what that temperature must be ! This fact is, of course, utterly 

 iuconsistent with the idea of the existence on the sun's surface 

 of any living beings at all approaching in character those we see 

 on earth. In former times astronomers speculated on the possibility 

 that the luminous part of the sun was confined to an outer 

 envelope enclosing a nucleus which was at least comparatively cool ; 

 and some of them had even gone so far as to speculate on that nucleus 

 being cool enough to permit its habitation by living creatures. 

 There were great difliculties, in connection with the theory of heat, in our 

 at any time adopting such a view ; but, whatever may have been the sup- 

 position formerly entertained, I think it may be considered that nowadays, 

 through the researches made with the aid of the spectroscope, this theory is 

 utterly exploded. Here we have a body of gigantic size, as compared with 

 our own earth, and in a state totally unfit, so far as we know, for the habita- 

 tion of living beings. But is there any real difficulty in this conception ? 

 Are we to regard the whole of that vast mass as a waste of material ? If we 

 turn to the animal creation, we find that as we ascend in the scale of animal 

 life the specialisation of function becomes more and more apparent. Take 

 the case of the structure of mammals in general, and let us, from the lower 

 mammals, ascend to man. The general structure of the skeleton is still the 

 same, but the forelegs cease to be used, in the )iigher type, for purposes of 



