240 THE FIERY FOUNTAINS OF THE SUN.

of that kind of appearance which is shown in fig. 5.

‘They differ from the jets by thetr greater magnitude

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(about double), by their long existence, for they are seen
in the same place for several days together, by their cloud-
like summits, and by their occurrence away from sun-
spots and over all parts of the solar globe. Sometimes
their tops separate from their bases and form clouds which
float over the solar sky, and sometimes they are found
contorted and interlaced as shown in fig. 6.

FIG. 6.

It is pretty evident that the jet-like flames are pro-
duced by violent eruptive forces in the sun which hurl
outward, as from a voleano, the luminous gas of which
the jets or fiery fountains are mainly composed; and it
is also tolerably clear that the contortions which they
exhibit are due to other forces acting, like winds, side-
ways upon the jets, and sometimes twisting them into
fanciful spirals and graceful convolutions. We could
give a score of pictures of the fantastic shapes which
these most stupendous of pyrotechnics display; but we
have a special case of outburst to illustrate, so we must
ask the reader to be content up to this point with the
typical illustrations already given, to which, however, we
cannot resist adding the view of two terrible-looking fiery
reaping-hooks, depicted on the 9th of March last year

FIG. 7.

(fig. 7) by an astronomer at Palermo, and another view
of an awful arch of fire seen by the same observer on the
22nd of the same month (fig. 8). The total height of
this flaming gateway was more than 20,000 miles; the

Fig. 8,

opening would thus be about 10,000 miles high. If the
portals of hell were ever suggested by any thing visible
to mortal sight, surely they should be by that fiery arch
here depicted—upon a scale, however, that can give no
adequate idea of its terrible magnificence !

We have had to quote large figures in assigning
dimensions to these tremendous gas-flames. But the
numbers hitherto used are small in comparison with
those which we shall have to cite in describing a solar
eruption lately witnessed by an American observer, to
our remarks upon which the foregoing observations and
illustrations have been in some sense preparatory. Such
a solar paroxysm as we are about to introduce to notice,
though highly wonderful, is doubtless by no means an
uncommon occurrence, and is chiefly remarkable from
the fact that it is the first of its kind that has been
actually observed under circumstances sufficiently favour-
able to do it justice.

The astronomer who enjoyed the grand sight was
Professor Young, a famous spectroscopist, of Dartmouth
College (U. S.). On the 6th of September last, while
watching the prominences around the solar profile, he
noticed a long low, quiet-looking hydrogen cloud, in no
way remarkable except for its size. The next day, the
7th, there was the same cloud in the same piace, and with
much the same appearance as yesterday. At 12.30 it
was somewhat like fig. 9; the upper, or cloud portion,

FIG. 9.

was composed of nearly horizontal filaments, and it was
connected with the chromosphere by several vertical

columns of more vivid appearance; the whole being 7%