. McClure's magazine. ating in the solar material of which these solar cloudsare composed is, however, I need hardlysay, not water, nor is it anything in theremotest degree resembling water. Someyears ago any attempt to ascertain theparticular substance out of which the solarclouds were formed would at once havebeen regarded as futile; inasmuch as sucha problem would then have been thoughtto lie outside the possibilities of humanknowledge. The advance of discoveryhas, however, shed a flood of light on thesubject, and has revealed the nature of thatmaterial to whose presence we a
. McClure's magazine. ating in the solar material of which these solar cloudsare composed is, however, I need hardlysay, not water, nor is it anything in theremotest degree resembling water. Someyears ago any attempt to ascertain theparticular substance out of which the solarclouds were formed would at once havebeen regarded as futile; inasmuch as sucha problem would then have been thoughtto lie outside the possibilities of humanknowledge. The advance of discoveryhas, however, shed a flood of light on thesubject, and has revealed the nature of thatmaterial to whose presence we are indebt-ed for the solar beneficence. The detec-tion of the particular element to which allliving creatures are so much indebted isdue to that distinguished physicist, Dr. Stoney. In the whole range of science, one of themost remarkable discoveries ever made isthat which has taught us that the element-ary bodies of which the sun and the starsare constructed are essentially the same as i88 THE SUNS THE SUN S CORONA. From a photograph taken by Professor Schaeberle, at Mina Bronces, Chili, in April, 1893, andkindly loaned by Professor E. S. Holden, director of the Lick Observatory. those of which the earth has been discovery was indeed as unexpectedas it is interesting. Could we ever haveanticipated that a body ninety-three mill-ions of miles away, as the sun is, or a hun-dred million of millions of miles distant, asa star may be, should actually prove tohave been formed from the same materialsas those which compose this earth of oursand all which it contains, whether animateor inanimate? Yet such is indeed the are thus, in a measure, prepared to findthat the material which forms the greatsolar clouds may turn out to be a sub-stance not quite unknown to the terrestrialchemist. Nay, further, its very abundancein the sun might seem to suggest that thisparticular material might perhaps prove tobe one which was very abundant on theearth. I had
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