460 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
(copyhigiit secured.) 
BLOWING BUBBLE S. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Blowing bubbles will always be a favorite amusement. 
Children make theirs with soapsuds and a clay pipe ; 
men and women use various contrivances. Every few 
days we hear of some new and wonderful scheme for 
getting rich, some way of restoring health, or some In- 
fallible method of enjoying pleasure— these arc the bub- 
bles which older people make and chase. They are as 
bright, as fleeting, often not half so satisfactory as the 
beautiful globes that the little girl can expand with her 
breath from the dish of suds. There is much to be learn- 
ed from soap hubbies. Philosophers have studied many 
things connected with them with great interest. They 
have carefully computed the thickness of the film com- 
posing them, finding it less than one ten-thousandth part 
of an inch. Sir Isaac Newton experimented with bco- 
bles in pursuing his researches concerning the laws of 
light. The beautiful colors displayed on their surface 
attracted his attention, and he wanted to know the reason 
of their appearance. People who saw this grave old man 
apparently playing like a child thought him crazy. 
Spots on tlie Sun. 
With a good telescope, and sometimes by the eye alone, 
dark spots may frequently be seen upon the face of the 
eon. They vary much in size, some of them covering 
thousands of square miles in extent. Recently a very 
remarkable one has been noticed, extending over an area 
larger than the whole of the earth's surface. It was in 
shape like a letter Q, and the long curled part was sur- 
rounueu by an immense number of smaller spots less 
dark in color. Many theories concerning these spots have 
been given ; one view quite generally held by astron- 
omers is, that the sun is surrounded by a luminous atmos- 
phere, and that the dark spots arc places where this atmos- 
phere has been disturbed and torn asunder, so that the 
body of the sun becomes visible. As yet there are no 
means of knowing the exact truth in the matter. We 
only know that by some wonderful arrangement light and 
heat for the solar system are continually supplied, and 
that agencies almost inconceivably vast must be em- 
ployed to produce the immense force exerted by the sun. 
There are many Premiums for Boys and 
Girls, and many hundreds get them each year. You 
can get one this year for yourself or your home. 
