404 Scientific Intelligence. 



at a low red heat exhibits this line distinctly. From this it follows tl 

 in those flames which exhibit the sodium line, metallic sodium, as su 

 produces the line in question, and since sodium has almost the greatest 



' ' uggests that these ex] 

 line the affinities of the elements at the temperature 



affinity for oxygen it follows that all spectra which are produced by oxyds 

 are metallic spectra. The author further suggests that these experiments 



enable us to determine the affinities of the elements i ' ' '••" 



of the sun's atmosphere by the spectral analysis. If, i 



should have to conclude that at the temperature of the sun's atmosphere 

 the metal in question has a greater affinity for chlorine than potassium or 

 sodium, since these exist as metals in the sun's atmosphere. Moreover 



1 compounds which exist in it, 

 approximately high teroper- 



Froni the fact that free potassium and sodium exist in the sun's atmo- 

 sphere, it tbllows that no free electro-negative body like oxygen, sulphur, 

 &c., can be present, and not even enough to combine with all the sodium. 

 Consequently all metals which are reduced from their compounds by so- 

 dium must exist in the sun's atmosphere in the free state.* The absence 

 in the solar spectrum of the lines of a particular metal does not prove 

 the absence of the metal itself, since it may exist in combination with 

 some element, the compound itself exhibiting no spectrum. The many 

 new lines recently discovered in the spectrum and to which no elements 

 are known to correspond, may prove to be the lines of compounds of the 

 first order of metals already known. — Pogg. Ann. cxvi, 499. 



2. Researches on the Solar Spectrum, — After much delay we have re- 

 ceived the long expected memoir of Kirchhoff on the spectrum, a work 

 which has already passed to a second edition, and which can hardly fail 

 to become the standard authority on the subject. The memoir in ques- 

 tion is taken from the Transactions of the Royal Society of Berlin, and is 

 accompanied by two plates of the spectrum and one of the apparatus era- 

 ployed. The plates are unfortunately not colored, and are lithographed 

 instead of engraved. They represent only the portion of the spectrum 

 which extends from the line D to the line G, the author being preventeit 

 by the condition of his eyes from revising other portions, the survey oi 



, cblorids, Ac. 



argue that because oxygen is the must abundant terrestrial, it must also necessan y 

 be the most abundant solar element, yet such is possibly the case, ^"""^j^^^y so- 

 dium must exist in the sun's atmosphere in a free state, because t'^® .!"^*j*j^^ ^ Judg- 

 ing of the affinities actually controlling combination. . the 



There arTfew'bmnches^of 8ckn'i%WchVrtm1L°morrma*'gDkyt"m^^ ^^^f^ 

 •pectral analysia, but few which wiU reanire more cautious reasoning or more guar" 



* Thi3 conclusion does not appear to us justified upon chemical < 

 it may ba that the oxyds, sulphids, chlorids, Ac, of sodium and V'^^^^'^'^^J^' 



consequently sodium, potassium, oxygen, sulphur, chlorine. 



