LECTURE ON ASTRONOMY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2673, 16 June 1894, Page 2

LECTURE ON ASTRONOMY.

, The Rev. Geo. Barclay delivered a ) lecture on the subject "Are rational t beings confined to this planet" in the Presbyterian Church last Wednesday i evening. The lecture was illustrated by > | magic-lantern slides and diagrams. The » slides, which were worked by the Rev. Mr ' Dickson, were very interesting. The first was the Bolar system, showing all ■ the heavenly bodies in motion, the next 5 the sun showing the transit of venus, and ■ other glides showed eclipses, the earth's ; rotuudity, the cause of tides, the signs of the zodiac, etc., Mr Barclay giving a brief ' explanation of each. The church was then lighted, and Mr Barclay proceeded with his lecture. Speculation as regards the probability of other planets being populated by intelligent beings were very old. The Chaldeans and Chinese thousands of years before Christ, the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, and Jews all held theories as regards the probability 1 of intelligent beings occupying other planets. Anaximander was the first Greek philosopher to conjecture on this subject; next came Anaxagoras, who speculated on the question as to where the light of the moon came from, or what caused earthquakes and tide. He had a strong conviction that other planets were inhabited. In Christian times the Apostolic 'Fathers held the same views. Sir D. Brewster and Sir R. Ball favor the same idea. The first fact to consider was to ascertain whether there was anything special or peculiar about the planet we live on. The rev. gentleman, then produced diagrams showing the relative sizes of.the planets, their relative distances from the sun, etc., and produced on a blackboard Bode's figures regarding the laws of distances. This, he said, was most peculiar. People were speculating ou the laws of distances without satisfactory results, when it struck Bode to put down the following figures : 0 3 6 12 24 48 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 10 16 28 52 The lowest of the three lines of figures represented the exact distances of the planets, but no one has yet explained the matter. In this calculation there was one planet missing, and Bode said it would be found one day. Piazza, an Italian, discovered in the beginning of the present century a large number of small planets exactly where Bode said it would be found, and it was supposed they were pieces of a planet which had been once broken up. There was, therefore. r nothing peculiar about the position of ' the earth, neither was there any singularity about its motion. It had an anuual and a diurnal motion, and a third motion which was moving it off no one knows where. He would omit the questions of density and gravity, and come to the more interesting one of physical constitution, that is, the staff of which it was made. The nebular hypothesis supposed all the solar system to have been covering all space in a gaseous or some other form at one time. In the course of time these vapors or gases began to gather towards the centre, and in doing so left pieces floating through space, which became planets. The first piece that broke away from the mass represents the farthest planet iu our system, and so on to the end. The sun was at one time, largor than at present ; it was diminishing every hour, and would possible waste away altogether in the course* of time. Now this nebular hypothesis showed the homogeneousness of the whole system, that is, that all were made of the same stuff. When the nebular hypothesis was first suggested it was objected to on the ground that it did away with the creation. It did nothing of the kind. It only interfered with the formation of the planets, and made it plain there was some groat power behind thorn all. Again thoy must consider the meteorites which had fallen. Meteorites have been falling from the remotest times. In 1402 one weighing 2601 b fell in Germany, and boing regarded as a miracle was placed in a church there, where it is still. In 1795 one weighing 50lb fell iu Yorkshire, another fell in IS2O weighing 7Jlb, and in 1864 ore fell in Franco. Thia was the most extraordinary of all, for it was found to contuiii substances denoting the existence of animal or vegetable life where it cauie from. Now ho leaned to the theory that these metcoritos wore parts of other planets, and as they contained exactly

the same elements as our earth went to prove that all planets were composed |of the same stuff. The rev. lecturer then proceeded to show the effect of looking at rays of light divided by a prism through a spectroscope. If one saw the light of a candle through this means certain effects were produced, but if certain chemicals were added the colors changed. In this way the chemical constituent's of the source of the light could be told. Our earth was composed of 60 different chemical elements, and 38 of these were discovered for an absolute certainty to exist in the sun, while eight more were doubtful. It was so with the light of the stars, showing that the whole solar system was composed of the same elements. Mars was seen to be composed of land and water like ours, and in winter the extra whiteness at the poles denoted the existence of snow. All this did not mean that the inhabitants of each planet must be exactly alike. We have extraordinary diversities of animal life on this earth of ours, and there was no reason why animal life on other planets should not be so created that it could exist in its environment. It may be that some planets were preparing for occupation, while others had passed the occupying age. Our earth was once so hot that nothing could have lived on it, and it was supposed its centre was still blazing. This explained volcanoes, hot springs, etc. The rev. gentleman then wound up a most interesting and instructive lecture with, a reference to its religious aspect. Some raised the objection that the existence of other intelligent beings on other planets did away with Jesuß Christ. It did not. If God saw the necessity for it he could find for them a Saviour as he found one for us. At the close of the lecture several other limelight views were shown, and a most enthusiastic vote of thanks to Mr Barclay was carried on the motion of the Rev. Mr Dickson. We have no hesitation in pronouncing the lecture as the most delightfully interesting, and the most instructive we have ever listened to. Those who did not hear it missed one of the greatest treats that has been offered to a Temuka audience, and we should suggest that it should be repeated in some one of the secular halls.