94 



THOUGHTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF ETHER 



little from the plane of the sun's equator, so as to give it the character of a hollow cone, 

 the sun's centre occupying the apex of the cone. 



The fact of the zodiacal light being seen more than ninety degrees from the sun, I re- 

 spectfully submit, may now be adduced as evidence that the current extends beyond the 

 earth's orbit. 



If there be reality in the conditions I have endeavored to portray, it follows that our 

 planet must, twice in every revolution round the sun, pass through the ascending current 

 of ether; and if, at the distance of the earth's orbit from the sun, the current retain a 

 portion of heat above that of the surrounding medium, we should, while passing through 

 the mass, look for an increase of temperature in all parts of the globe, where special causes 

 do not affect the climate too forcibly to permit the influence of the ether to be observed. 

 In order that the temperature of our planet should be affected by that of the surround- 

 ing medium, it is not necessary that the temperature of space should, by any means equal 

 that of the coldest part of the earth ; and for the following reasons. All bodies radiate 

 heat to the objects and the space in their vicinity, and the amount of caloric which any- 

 body loses by radiation, is dependent in a measure upon the capacity for receiving heat 

 possessed by the bodies in its vicinity. Thus, if while passing through the ascending 

 current of ether, the earth lose a less amount of heat by radiation than in other parts of 

 its orbit, a larger portion will remain to affect our senses. 



The exact position and direction of the ascending current becomes a subject of absorb- 

 ing interest. The only data we possess for determining these points are the causes believed 

 to be concerned in its origin and propagation. We are, therefore, forced to pursue the d, 

 priori system of reasoning. 



As has been already stated, the ascending current of ether takes its origin from a vast 

 zone of the sun's surface, extending many degrees on each side of the equator, the larger 

 portion being to the north of that circle. 



If the equator divided this zone into equal parts, and if, indeed, the maximum heat of 

 the sun's surface were on the line of the equator, then a very simple course of reasoning 

 would teach us that our planet must pass through the heated mass at the points of its 

 orbit intersected by the plane of the solar equator. We should, therefore, look for sea- 

 sons of warmth about the sixth days of June and December. 



Inasmuch, however, as the sun's northern hemisphere is hotter than the southern, and 

 as the line of maximum heat lies 1° 29' 6" north of the equator, the problem becomes less 

 simple; highly interesting complications are developed, and we find our attention drawn 

 to a subject which, as far as men's published thoughts go, is a new field of research. 



Before progressing further in this investigation, it is indispensable to call to mind the 

 precise relations of the sun's equator to the ecliptic. It is inclined, according to M. Arago, 



