THE WONDERS OF THE SUNBEAM

LIGHT AND ITS MARVELS

THE WONDERS OF THE SUNBEAM

BY SAMUEL PHELPS LELAND, PH.D., LL.D.

There is a large family of forces grouped under what the old philosophers called "imponderable substances." These are light, heat, electricity, magnetism, gravi­tation, chemical attraction and repulsion, ner­vous and muscular action, sound, the correla­tion of forces, and many other activities. Not many years ago these were supposed to con­sist of transmitted particles, so small that they were without perceptible weight and occupied no space susceptible of measurement. It is now known that these forces are undulations or vibra­tions of particles of matter. In light, and some other active forces, these vibrations are mathe­matically minute, and their velocity is marvelously rapid.


The undulations of light are supposed to be on a rarified condition of matter filling the spaces
between molecules of a coarser character. It must be understood that what we deem solid matter is far from it. We speak of iron as solid, but Professor Faraday tells us that the particles com­posing iron are no nearer each other, in propor­tion to their size, than would men be with one man on each square mile. Sir Robert Ball asserts that the diamond is so loose that the molecules are_ con­stantly beating against each other, and thrilling and bounding with the shock. It is difficult to grasp such facts. Matter is capable of inconceiv­able attenuation. Let a few facts illustrate this. Our atmosphere has a weight of about fifteen pounds on each square inch at the level of the sea. On lofty mountain tops it is too rarified to sup­port life; and at fifty miles above the earth it is but a gas. And at a million miles above the earth —ay, fifty million miles—it is so attenuated that no sense could detect it. It is ethereal then. A grain of musk will scent the air blown through a room for a hundred years. This is done by giv­ing off parts of itself into the air. The rooms of long-dead queens are still filled with the scent of their perfumery. And such condition of matter favors the rapid transmission of vibrations.

The, undulations, or vibrations, are the result mainly of combustion or condensation. The burning of a lamp or the blazing of a furnace is com­bustion, and heat and light are emitted until the material is consumed or driven away. The smit­ing of a cube of iron a succession of blows on an anvil sets the molecules in motion, and the attenu­ated particles vibrate rapidly and the iron be­comes heated and then glows with the succession of the colors of the spectrum, if the beating be continued. This is condensation.


As has been said, light is the minute and rapid undulations in the ether. Delicate instru­ments have been constructed with which these vibrations have been measured and counted. It has been ascertained that the human eye is fitted to be affected by these only when their number reaches 388 trillions in a second of time; and when more than 776 trillions are reached the eye fails to be affected by them. It is thus seen that the visible spectrum is very narrow and the eye lim­ited within a small range.

It must be understood that the different colors in the spectrum are expressive of the rapidity of the light waves that reach the eye. When only 388 trillions reach the eye in a second of time the color is red; and between this and 776 trillions, where we pass into the invisible, are every shade and tone of color possible to be seen by human eyes. The universe is full of light, and were our eyes more delicately constructed, we could behold beau­ties and wonders now undreamed.

Telescopes, by the shape of their lenses, are so constructed as to gather in the waves of light over a large area and concentrate them into one line, which is directed to the eye. In this way the waves are so intensified as to enable the beholder to see objects at great distances. The microscope intensifies by multiplying the number of waves and centralizing them on a near object with mag­nifying power. In photography the active light waves are gathered in and intensified with force sufficient to break down the globules of silver salts on the prepared plate or film and engrave the im­age of the object presented.


What has been said of light applies equally to the whole family of forces. (The End)

This is another article from a 1914 almanac. I just love reading these and pondering the time difference. There are times when I wish I could go back and live in that bygone era. Especially when I go to put gas in the car. In those days there was a lot less government intrusion in our private lives. A man took care of his family and himself with out someone telling him how to do it. Or taking his money so he couldn't do it. I guess I better not get started on this subject at present.

Sleep tight, sleep save my friend, for all is well down on the farm.

The Old Farmer