﻿:? 
  

  

  THE 
  

  

  AMERICAN 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  SCIENCE 
  

  

  [THIRD 
  SERIES.] 
  

  

  Art. 
  I. 
  — 
  The 
  Solar 
  Corona, 
  an 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  Newtonian 
  

   Potential 
  Function 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  Repulsion 
  ; 
  by 
  Professor 
  

   Frank 
  H. 
  Bigelow. 
  

  

  [Read 
  before 
  the 
  National 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences, 
  Washington, 
  April, 
  1891. 
  Com- 
  

   municated 
  to 
  the 
  Academy 
  by 
  Professor 
  Simon 
  Newcomb.] 
  

  

  The 
  term 
  Newtonian 
  Potential 
  Function, 
  first 
  employed 
  by 
  

   Neumann, 
  is 
  now 
  generally 
  accepted 
  by 
  writers 
  on 
  scientific 
  

   subjects. 
  It 
  expresses 
  the 
  law 
  of 
  the 
  attraction 
  or 
  the 
  repul- 
  

   sion, 
  as 
  the 
  case 
  may 
  be, 
  of 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  material 
  sub- 
  

   stance 
  in 
  the 
  universe, 
  the 
  discrete 
  parts 
  acting 
  mutually 
  upon 
  

   one 
  another. 
  The 
  approximate 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  attraction 
  between 
  

   any 
  two 
  rigid 
  bodies 
  may 
  be 
  obtained 
  by 
  assuming 
  that 
  eveiy 
  

   particle 
  of 
  the 
  one 
  body 
  attracts 
  every 
  particle 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  

   with 
  a 
  force 
  directly 
  proportional 
  to 
  the 
  product 
  of 
  the 
  masses 
  

   of 
  each 
  pair 
  of 
  particles, 
  and 
  inversely 
  proportional 
  to 
  the 
  

   square 
  of 
  the 
  distance 
  between 
  their 
  centers. 
  The 
  true 
  value 
  

   is 
  the 
  limit 
  approached 
  as 
  the 
  bodies 
  are 
  subdivided 
  indefi- 
  

   nitely. 
  From 
  this 
  case 
  follows 
  the 
  whole 
  subject 
  treated 
  as 
  

   the 
  attraction 
  of 
  gravitation. 
  If 
  we 
  substitute 
  in 
  the 
  defini- 
  

   tion 
  the 
  word 
  repulsion 
  we 
  derive 
  the 
  expression 
  of 
  the 
  second 
  

   case, 
  and 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  formulae 
  in 
  the 
  mathematical 
  discussion 
  

   can 
  be 
  interchanged 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  cases 
  by 
  a 
  proper 
  use 
  of 
  

   the 
  plus 
  and 
  minus 
  signs. 
  Electricity 
  and 
  magnetism 
  depend 
  

   upon 
  this 
  function 
  for 
  their 
  analysis. 
  

  

  The 
  mystery 
  underlying 
  the 
  physical 
  condition 
  of 
  matter 
  is 
  

   as 
  yet 
  insoluble 
  either 
  by 
  metaphysical 
  speculation 
  or 
  by 
  scien- 
  

   tific 
  investigation, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  significant 
  that 
  this 
  Newtonian 
  

   Potential 
  Function, 
  using 
  both 
  algebraic 
  signs, 
  should 
  reach 
  

   to 
  all 
  the 
  phenomena 
  known 
  to 
  us 
  up 
  to 
  this 
  time. 
  While 
  I 
  

  

  Am. 
  Jour. 
  Sci— 
  Third 
  Series, 
  Vol. 
  XLII, 
  No. 
  247.— 
  July, 
  1891. 
  

  

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