[March, 
j 2 6 The Heat of the Sun. 
counterbalance the effeft of the increase of f^eloree 
Moreover, as we recede from the Sun the att 
diminishes, according to the well-known law of the squa 
nf the distance, and therefore the density of the im 5 y 
^housand^years theTeigh/of the atmosphere of pure : oxygen 
consumed would be 13,240,000 miles high as uming t 
density the same as that which it would have at the J 
% th/snn. If, however, we consider, since pure ! ox ^ en ’ 
a most unlikely substance to exist in such quantity, that t 
soto afmosph y ere consists of the same materials as U, 
aTmosplmre — aif ^l^he nm^e, and 
° f We^heVefore see that, examining the theory in thls ^y 
(which the author believes to be a novel one) we are called 
upon to assume the existence of a solar atmosphere ,e xte ^m 
up to the planet Venus, and possessing a density thiity times 
ns m-eat as that of the Earth at the sea-level. And this 
immense volume is required for the com paratively short 
period of five thousand years. 1 ak mg Croll s esti t 
the aee of the Earth as 20,000,000 of yeais, we must extena 
the atmosphere about a hundred times as far as the 01 bit 
which the^ most remote member of the planetary system 
revolves. It is needless to say that such a state of thin^ 
is impossible, for the retardation which the planets would 
sufferwould most assuredly have been discovered long before 
this, and it is probable. that owing to such retardation one 
or more of them would have fallen into the Sun. 
I have selected this method of viewing the combustio 
theory because the conclusions drawn from it are so obvious y 
imnossible It can, however, easily be shown that, at the 
rate of burning necessary, a block of pure carbon of the size 
of the sun would be burnt out in about five thousand years. 
We can also ask, What becomes of the products of com- 
bustion ? Where is the carbonic anhydride stored away . 
These and other questions impossible to answei compel u 
to at once put aside the combustion theory as not only ui - 
tenable, but impossible. ,, v t u:«. 
Many modifications (it we may so call them) of this 
