Page:Gods Glory in the Heavens.djvu/31

Rh snow at the poles, and the general outlines of his continents. The Earth next appears with its surrounding blue atmosphere. Her continents and oceans are seen dimly down through the openings in the clouds that float in her atmosphere. Belts more or less distinct, corresponding to the trade-winds, will also be detected. We pass, in rapid succession, Venus, Mercury, and Vulcan; and we probably find that Vulcan is only one of innumerable asteroids that form a zone between Mercury and the sun. At last we reach the goal, and find ourselves in close proximity to the sun. Conceive of our sun expanding, so as nearly to fill the whole concave of the sky, and we shall have some conception of a comet's approach to it; and, in their daring course, comets sometimes almost graze its surface. Here the diamond would flash into flame like gunpowder, and the hardest metals would, in an instant, be volatilized, so intense must be the heat. Here, too, we may closely survey those mysterious rose-coloured flames, seen in total eclipses, that have so puzzled observers. Through the luminous envelope we see down into these perforations, which appear as dark spots from the earth. These minute specks are now seen to be gulfs, down which the earth could be projected with the greatest ease; and so capacious is the sun, that it could engulf all the planets of the system, and yet shew no appreciable difference in size. Millions of meteorolites and comets have probably been engulfed already, and