ye-piece should be drawn out about half
an inch beyond [Page 96] its usual focusing for distant objects. The
farther it is drawn, the nearer must we hold the screen for a
perfect image.

By holding a paper near the eye-piece, the proper direction of
the instrument may be discovered without injury to the eyes. By
this means the sun can be studied from day to day, and its spots or
the transits of Mercury and Venus shown to any number of spectators.

[Illustration: Fig. 37.--Holding Telescope to see the Sun's Spots.]

First covering the eyes with very dark or smoked glasses, erect
a disk of pasteboard four inches in diameter between you and the
sun; close one eye; stand near it, and the whole sun is obscured.
Withdraw from it till the sun's rays just shoot over the edge of
the disk on every side. Measure the distance from the eye to the
disk. You will be able to determine the distance of the sun by
the rule of three: thus, as four inches is to 860,000 miles, so
is distance from eye to disk to distance from disk to the sun.
Take such measurements at sunrise, noon, and sunset, and see the
apparently differing sizes due to refraction.

[Page 97]
VI.

THE PLANETS, AS SEEN FROM SPACE.

"He hangeth the earth upon nothing."--_Job_ xxvi. 7.

[Page 98]
"Let a power be delegated to a finite spirit equal to the projection
of the most ponderous planet in its orbit, and, from an exhaustless
magazine, let this spirit select his grand central orb. Let him with
puissant arm locate it in space, and, obedient to his mandate, there
let it remain forever fixed. He proceeds to select his planetary
globes, which he is now required to marshal in their appropriate
order of distance from the sun. Heed well this distribution; for
should a single globe be misplaced, the divine harmony is destroyed
forever. Let us admit that finite intelligence may at length determine
the order of combination; the mighty host is arrayed in order.
These worlds, like fiery coursers, stand waiting the command to
fly. But, mighty spirit, heed well the grand step, ponder well
the direction in which thou wilt launch each wailing world; weigh
well the mighty impulse soon to be given, for out of the myriads
of directions, and the myriads of impulsive forces, there comes
but a single combination that will secure the perpetuity of your
complex scheme. In vain does the bewildered finite spirit attempt
to fathom this mighty depth. In vain does it seek to resolve