ROUGH ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 4294, 30 November 1876, Page 1

ROUGH ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

December, 1876.

aboveS?]JS3Kf H^h Su^-be^ I5!l - S. declination, 2Cdeg. 27« in 28sla. a “ ft Jft** ■c. i, JI HABES or the moos. • Poll Moon, Jd. lOh. 34m. p. m . S aarter * M - lh - 53mp. m ■*ewMoon. I6d. fib. 44m. a.m. Firat Quarter, 23d. Oh. 12 m . p,m FuU Moon. 31 d. 9h. 29m. a.m In Perigee, 3d; 3h. p.m. In Apogee, 19d. 9h. a.m. The Moon is in PerWn «<«,;„ erlning sSfand SSffiS? WW*' Bat " rn ie « stars towards the end. P of themonth?” 17 areeronin sr Tf 4Q H^ MEC n AHIC V , ‘ THEOET OP ORAVXTATXOH acton oneanot ex^nt l thi^^h o*’ 0 *’ of this medium, the sorted ether A P fflrflt tention has been paid of late t« A,! aeft * substance, by men? and th?tooXd^ bl ? its nature which has been aconi™? i? 0W o<3ge of siderable.lthough far known, however, to give proS tw In??** 1 18 chanical forces in natur*^ 8 be brought under its control n n tima^X w? £ -a-»»vs transmit transverse undu atious only** f? cupies a niche which ordinary compressible; but we have’no snhafi Sl< * an , d . n . an .- JSiSJS wS.» SkSa » -o«ld tall o. ih e rettofaSl‘SSdSiSS possible, however, that the attraction, refraction, reflection, Ac.Twirt wSI them, it we only knew how to set ft fn the n( fhJ°L A l gnst , a ,«"*** estimate was mSo the density which ordinary matter would have if it were uniformly diffused throito IJSf being that it would be abfut K trillion tunes less than the density of air at sea ieveh ho account was taken of the ether but it 1? than many thonsaud times denser than that, without in any sensible degree imnedinofrnV^t 10113 of ,.. be , d . ies - . Tt is aoubtful whether, from its constitution, it could impede motto at all, whatever m!ght be its density, and it is highly probable that it very far exceeds in , aU ? ther substances together. We cannot account fonts enormous power without assuming it to be present in considerable quantity; thus there appears to be no limit to the distance tlmt water will ascend capillary tubes, if they are toy fine, enough and that 'in vacuo, as well as It:;i, 8? * ka m atmt)3ph s ric prtssuie has nothing to do with it. The same force causes liquid drops to e J b L SpllerlCa i f T m fc and waviSition i^sup. posed to be a residual effect of this molecular force. Every particle of ordinary matter compresses and distorts the ether within and around “ inducing a state of strain which, owing to the mid nature of the ether, extends i.i all directions producingwhat is technically called lines of eS When two such lines, of equal intensity and in on-’ neutralise one another, and the result is attraction. Attraction is not a happy term, for the particles are in reality pushed towards each other, port of the stress being destroyed between them, while elsewhere it remains intact. This action may be illustrated in a rough way by two marbles on mercury. Each marble produces a distortiou of the suriace, which extends all round to an indefinite distance, the surface being nearer level the farther from the marble. At a point midway between the two, the surface is truly level, but slightly depressed below the general level: the consequence is that the direction of the force which rt , s the marbles is not vertical, but slightly tilted towards the middle point, and they both move towards this point. The only difference of the two cases is, that the mercury nets on one side 9 u |y- whlle tbc ether acts all round; but the result is the same m both. If the marbles produced no distortion of the surface, but lay in cups fitting the immersed parts, they would not approach one another. Similarly, if bodies did not distort the ether there would be neither gravitation, capillary attraction, refraction, nor reflection of light, and consequently, no vision. Light is not reflected by the surfaces of bodies, but by the condensed ether about the surfaces; all the light which reaches the surface is either refracted or absorbed. The mechanical theory may bjj said to rest chiefly on this maximlf bodies produced no strain in thh ether, the ether would not transmit force, because it would have none to transmit.

Day * °if Merid> Rises - Sets. 3 66® 16' 11 k. m. h. m. 10 67 4 J f 54 7 36 17 67 30 2 2 S i\l 745 21 67 33 0 7 45 1 on I 31 67 13 Oil 10 JS