66 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



have more effect against the Earth than if actually on the opposite side of the 

 line, because nearer, they will attract with greater power, and the direction of 

 their attraction will be the same as that of the Sun and all the planets. 



True, our little world, an atom in the Universe, will whirl in lonely voids, 

 with no planet near to aid her against the united power. Our home will be liter- 

 ally isolated in space, and all the forces of nature are now conspiring for a grand 

 opposing effort on the day before the summer solstice. The effect on the Earth 

 will be the same, nearly, as though the Sun on that day should be made heavier 

 by the addition of a weight equal to that of all the planets and satellites. In this 

 note the influence of the Asteroids will be ignored, as their masses are too small 

 to effect any conclusion that may be made. 



To make the matter plain, we have drawn up a diagram of the solar system 

 as it will appear on the day in question. For want of astronomical type and char- 

 acters, we have substituted initials : 



SOLAR SYSTEM, JUNE 19th, 1 88 1. 



SN. — Real place of the sun. 



AS. — Apparent place of the Sun among the fixed stars, as seen from the 

 Earth. 



My. — Real place of Mercury. 



MY. — ^Apparent place of Mercury as seen from the Earth. 



VS. — Real place of Venus. 



V. — Apparent place of Venus as seen from the Earth. 



E. — Real place of the Earth. 



AE. — Apparent place of the Earth as seen from the Sun, or in heliocentric 

 longitude 268° 30'. 



MO.— Real place of the Moon. 



MOO. — Apparent place of the Moon among the stars as seen from the Earth. 



MS.— Real place of Mars. 



M. — Apparent place of Mars among the stars, as seen from the Earth. 



JU. — Real place of Jupiter. 



J. — Apparent place of Jupiter among the stars, as seen from the Earth. 



SAT. — Real place of Saturn. 



S. — Apparent place of Saturn among the stars, as seen from the Earth. 



UR — Real place of Uranus. 



U. — Apparent place of Uranus among the stars, as seen from the Earth. 



NEP. — Real place of Neptune. 



N. — Apparent place of Neptune among the stars, as seen from the Earth. 



P. — North pole of the heavens, or axis of the Earth produced. 



PL.— The Pleiades. 



A. — The star Aldebaran. 



C. — The star Castor. 



The outside circle ruled to degrees, and divided into twelve portions, is the 

 concave surface of the celestial vault, or that part of it called the Zodiac. The 

 printed page of the Review is the plane of the ecliptic, or the plane of the 

 Earth's orbit extended to infinity. The Zodiac is 16° wide, hence the reader must 

 imagine 8° below and 8° above the surface of the paper. The twelve signs read 

 all the wiy round, beginning at Aries, and reading from west to east. All the 

 interior circles are the orbits of the planets. It will be understood that the orbits 



