Latent Solar Light

Author(s): Clara Lanza

Source: Science, Vol. 2, No. 57 (Jul. 30, 1881), pp. 354-356
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2901001
Accessed: 17-09-2016 23:28 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

American Association for the Advancement of Science is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
preserve and extend access to Science

This content downloaded from 182.232.182.58 on Sat, 17 Sep 2016 23:28:40 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 354 SCIENCE.

LATENT SOLAR LIGHT. * quite cold. With trembling hands he seized the stone,
not doubting in the least that it was the famous philo-
Translated from the French, by the Marchioness CLARA LANZA.
sophical one, of which he had so long been in search-
A remarkable stone, which plays quite an important still less did he doubt, when he observed afterwards,
role in ancient histoty, is the carbuncle, literally trans- that only the fragments which were exposed to the sun
lated, glowing coal, which shines and glimmers in the or broad daylight were brilliant. Alchemists in those
dark. Lucien relates that in the Temple of Hieropolis days called the sun a golden planet. In their works they
there is the statue of a Syrian goddess in whose fore- employed an identical sign to designate both the lumin-
head is placed a stone called lyc/hins or lamp. This ary and the metal, and they firmly believed that the rays
stone was moderately brilliant during the day, but at of the former penetrated the latter, as water is soaked
night it illuminated the temple from one end to the other. into a sponge. This mysterious connection is clearly
Shakespeare, in Titus Andronicus, savs, while speaking indicatecl in a brief opuscule cliscovered during the mid-
of Prince Bassianus' body: dle ages, no one knows exactly wvhere, and of which
Upon his bloody finger, he doth wear there exists nowv only a Latin translation, the original,
A precious ring, that lightens all the holc, however, douibtless having been found in some Egyptian
Which, like a taper in some monument, tomb. It is called "The Emerald Table of Hermes
Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks.'
Trismegistus," an(l among other things it is therein stated
It is said that formerly dwarfs and gnomes wore one that "' the father of the Philosopher's Stone, is the sun,
of these stones upon their heads as miners carried their its mother the moon. Separate the earth from fire, and
lamps. We have likewise been told that certain birds you will obtain the wonder of the world, all shadowvs
knew where to find thenm ancl make use of them to will flee before you." These obscure words were ap-
illumine their nests. The tendency which has been plied to the new lumninous body called phosphorus, and
remarked in birds, notably crows, to pick up brilliant the phosphorescent stone of Bologna, excited the young
objects, has naturally given rise to numerous legends I clisciples of chemistry, to the highest pitch of interest.
and anecdotes among all people, andl it is declared that Although this substance (lid not at once realize the
in America numbers of birds light up their nests by great expectations set abroad concerning it, and not-
placing therein fire-flies. The carbun-cle has stiil another vithstancling the fact that it wxas obliged to renounce
secret property, for it renders the object it adorns, invisible entirely the rntc of philosopher's stone, it nevertheless
both to man and beast. 'rhe question may therefore caused its discoverer to make a considerable sum of
properly arise, howv dicl man happen to discover this money, for men seeking knowledge and instruction came
treasure which bircls alone were apparently able to dis- fromn all countries to Bologna, and purchased this natural
tinguish ? Poetic fancy, we may say, has answvered this curiosity to a great extent. Poets likewise wrote lauda-
query. The invisibility is caused by a ray of light which tory Latin verses to the now celebrate(d shoemaker, com-
blinds the eye. A mirror, however, does not become so paring him to Prometheus who stole fire from heaven,
easily dazzled, ancl if, while walking along the edlge of a an-d placed it on the earth. Enormous enthusiasm was
brook, you perceive the reflection of a nest in the water, manifeste(d everywhere for this remarkable stone. Vol-
while with your naked eye you are unable to discover umes were w-ritten about it, and it was even stated that
it, you may be sure that the stone is there. The legend the sun and moon were nothing more than huge masses
of the carbuncle first arose in India, the land of precious of Bologna phosphorus. For a long tirrm it was thought
stones, and it was founded upon the remarkable capacity that the stone existed nowhere but at Bologna, but later
possessed by many diamonds and a few rubies of sliin- lt was discovered that it was composed principally of
ing. for a long time in the dark after being exposed a fewspar or sulphate of baryta, which was to be found in
moments to the sun or merely broad day-light. This numerous places.
phenomenon appears to have been studied and experi- Alchemists gathered fresh hope in I674, when Chris-
mented upon for the first time in Europe somewhere tian Balduinus, intendant at Grosenhain in Saxony ob-
about the seventeenth centurly, by the celebrated natu- tained an analogous luminious body by the calcination of
ralist, Boyle. In Incdia, however, the knowledge of it nitrate of lime. He called it hermetic phosphorus or
can be traced b ick to the furthest antiquitv, as canl be solar gold, an(d in several works he declared that this
proved by referring to a passage in the f'amous drama was indeed the veritable philosopher's stone whose
called Sakintala, whose author certainly lived long be- properties he was engaged in studying. The only Ger-
fore the beginning of our era. The passage is this: man Naturalistic Society at that periodl was the " Leopold
"Among the just whose souls enjoy the most complete Acaderny of Natural Curiosities," an-d this organization
repose, there is a hidden radiance, which illuminies them received the new inventor into their midst under the
with its faint glimmer. 'Thus shines the precious sun honored title of Hermes, which has ever remained in the
stone, as soon as anl outwar(d ray of light strikes it."
chemical world. Siince then, it has always been supposed
At Bologna, which, as we know, is a well-knoxvn that the hermetic or philosophical stone must be lumin-
scientific centre, there lived at the beginning of the ous, and D)ickinson, physician to Charles II, of Eingland,
seventeenth century, a shoemaker named V incenzo Cas-
relates in his " OId 1'hysical Truths" (1702) that Noah,
cariolo, who like many other men of his tir.ie, (leterminedwhom he regarde(d as one of the aincestors of hermetic
to discover primitive matter in the shape of the philoso- science, ha(l placed a large gleaming stone of some sort,
called fohlir in Ilebrew, upoIn the top of his ark, so that
pher's stone, and by means of it,change the v ilest an(d most
worthless metals into pure gold. He hiadl already exper-he might hlaxve perpetual light during the night, and that
imented with fire an(I water upoIn all possible substances,moreover the scientific knowledge of this same Noah had
organic and inorganic, when in I604, some writers say cause(d him to nourish every animal in the ark with an
I612, he found, one day upoll I\Iount Padlerno, close to extract niade frmin the meat or plant which the creature
his own dwelling, a grayish-wi-hite stone, of a fibrous preferredl, thus economizing space anid doing away with
structure, and whose weight being considerable, made the necessity of removing from the ark such bones, leaves,
him suspect some unusual property. He calcinateci a skins, etc., -which might otherwise have been there.
portion of it with some coal, and night falling while he Chemical researches advanced with singular activity;
was engaged in the operation, he saw with utter stupe- for about the same time that Balcluinus was performing
faction, that the entire contents of his crucible, shone his experiments, B3ra nd, ot Hamburg, an obstinate in-
with a ruddy glow, although the furnace had become vestigator cliscoveredl a substance which produced lumin-
ous vapor, and condensed itself into yellow drops that
* This article was originally writteni in G;ermlan andi ptlblished a shortshone irn the dark without being exposed to the sun.
time ago in the Gai-ten/aube. Professor Kirebmayer, of Wurtemburg, announced to

This content downloaded from 182.232.182.58 on Sat, 17 Sep 2016 23:28:40 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 SCIENCE. 355

the world emphatically, that the lonig sought for the influence of a slight oxidation. This explanation',
"perpetual light " had at last been found, while an- however, is false, and only during the last century was
other enthusiastic novice wrote a work upon the the true one made known by a celebrated German phy-
Phosfhorus irabilis and its marvellous brilliancy. siciani named Euler.
Here again the future did not justifv all the hopes which It is generally believed that the planets, the tops of
might have been expected. This substance, however, mountains, and all celestial bodies,. are visible, simply
which still goes by the name of phosphorus has become because they reflect the rays of the sun. This is also
one of the necessities of our age. false. Brilliant surfaces alone, more or less, reflect light,
Phosphorus gradually entered the scientific period. In others absorb it on the contrary, and cause vibration
1768 an English chemist, Canton, obtained a new kind just as a musical sound makes all the objects which it
by calcinating oyster shells with sulphur, and it was strikes vibrate. Certain surfaces, however, can only re-
finally discovered that thie best absorbents of light were produce certain vibrations (blue or red for example) of
combinations of. sulphur, calcium, baryum and stron- solar light, which is composed of the vibrations of the
tium. However, other metallic sulphurets and various seven prismatic colors, and when these vibrations are re-
substances are equally capable of making in the dark peated in our eye, the surfaces appear to us blue or red,
what is called solar, magnetic or electric light. The as the case may be.
method of preparation, of course, has considerable in- In the same way that consecutive vibrations can be
fluence and lights of divers colors can be obtained ac- determine(l after sound, so phosphorescence succeeds
cording to the process employed. By calcinating sul- the action of light. Euler affirmed that the greater
phates vith organic substances, or carbonates with sul- number of bodies would present these luminous vibra-
phur, a very brilliant phosphorus can be obtailned, con- tions if they were observed immediately after they had
sisting principally of baryta, another of lime, less lumin- been exposecl to the sun, and if a continued sitting in the
ous and a third of strontium, which gives forth a very dclrk had rendered the eyes of the observer very sensible.
feeble light. Sulphate of baryta gives a phosphorescent Tne French physician, Becquerel, constructed an instru-
product of an orange color. When the stulphate is pre- ment about twenty yeats ago called the phosphoroscope,
pared artificially the light is greenish. by means of which be demonstrated that most sub-
Later, Ozarm obtained other luminous bodies by cal- stances, paper, stone, oyster shells, etc., shone for a
cinating lime with sulphate of arsenic or sulphate of anti- short time after being exposed to the light, that is to say,
mony, while another chemist, Bach, by heating sulphur a second or the fractioni of a second, and that solar phos-
with calcinatecl oyster shells which had probably been phorus was only (iistinguishable from other bodies by
washed with a solution of ammooniac and realgar, pro- the persistence of this property. But whether this as-
cured a phosphorus so brilliant that its light was even sertion be true, generally speaking, or not, the subject
visible during the day. itself is not by any means simple, and there are a mass
It is by this means, or others which are similar, that of circumstances of which we must take account.
the luminous flowers are preparecl which lately have ap- Modern physics teach us that a number of bodies, nota-
peared to such an extent. They are coveredl with soml e bly colored organic matter ancl some metallic combina-
phosphorescent substance which makes them glimmer in tions, become phosphorescent, but only when they are
the dark with a beautiful bluish light. The luminous lighted. This sounds like a paradox, but facts can prove
matter is pulverized and appliecl to the object by means the assertion. There are certain substances, both liquid
of a varnish or anything else that will stick. By employ- and solid, which by reflected light appear to have another
ing phosphorus of different colors very pretty effects can color than the one transmitted. A peculiar emission of
be produced, bouquets of all shades, glittering butterfles, rays can also be observed upon the surface. Petroleum,
luminous inscriptions, etc. But the mnost interesting of solutions of sulphate of quinine, decoctions of Indian
all is undoubtedly luminous photograplhy, which is made bark, etc., emnit bluish rays; the etherized extract of green
by placing a paper coveredl with phosphorescent powder leaves, blood red rays; uranium glass, which is pale green
behind the glass negative of a photograph. Heat brings and usecl principally in the manufacture of Rhine wine
out the luminous qualities as well as light, and very pe- glasses, emits reddish yellow rays. If any of these
culiar and beautiful effects can be obtained by writing lichroic subtances are selected and placed in a dark
upon such a paper as has just bDen described with a room lighted only by an electric current traversing a glass
pointed piece of heated mnetal. tube, they will shine brilliantly, each one in its particular
Unfortunately these interesting amnusemeents are rot color, certainly with more splendor than the electric light,
eligible as regards trade, for as soon as it is exposed to and yet only while the latter illumines them. How is this
the air sulphuric luminous matter gradually loses its curious phenomenon to be explained ? How can a feeble
properties and acquires the disagreeable odor of spoiled light produce such a brilliant one ?
eggs, while the object by the end of a week or two is It has been said above that white light is composed of
not phosphorescent at all. On the other hand, it can be seven colors, or, more properly speaking, of an infinite
very well preseived by putting, it into air-tight glass inumber of colors, which after their dispersion from the
tubes, and phosphorus of all colors thus prepared can prism separate one from the other and form a long band.
be had from Geissler's establishmeent in Bonn. It has The red rays are those which vibrate the slowest, and the
been proposed to make inscriptions of these tubes for the violets those which vibrate the most rapidly. But just
night bells of hotels, physicians' houses and druggists' as there are in addition to the red rays others which
shops, the daylight being sufficient to make them very vibrate slower still and are manifested not as luminous
luminous at inight. Another idea, conceived by Gustave rays, but calorific ones, so there are besides the violets,
Ullig, is to make the faces of watches and clocks phos- uiltra violet rays which vibrate so quickly that we cannot
phorescent, as the glass covering them would be a pro- directly perceive them., although they are known by their
tec ion. against destruction. energetic chemical action. This is notably the case in
As to the physical explanation of phosphorescence, it photography, and for this reason they are termed chemi-
was thought for a long time that the light was composed cal rays, or invisible light. A pale, electric light, is a
of little eddies or whirlpools of subtile matter, and that peculiarity of these rays, and the latter give to certain
sunlight became condensed and accumulatecl in them. bodies that remarkable dichroic radiance which has been
Later, when it was known that light is only a vibratory called fluorescence, because it was observed for the first
movement, and that the phosphorus on the end of time in fluor-spath. However, if on one side these rays
matches only burns because it is united with the oxide produce a light which cannot be perceived by our retina
in the air, it was thought that in all the old phosphor- owing to the extreme rapidity of their vibrations, on the
escent substances the light was produced alone under other, the bodies thus illuminated should be able to

This content downloaded from 182.232.182.58 on Sat, 17 Sep 2016 23:28:40 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 356 SCIENCE.

diminish the rapidity by vibrating themselves more slowly, DRAPER'S SELF-RECORDING, MERCURIAL
and thus render the rays visible. Ultra violet rays could BAROMETER.
consequently be transformed into violet, blue or green;
blue ravs into yellow or red. What generally happens,
however, is that they change red rays to purely calorific
ones and thus make them invisible.
We must here make several important observations.
1
First of all, violet rays do not only produce the greatest
fluorescence, but also the greatest phosphorescence. Red
rays produce neither the one nor the other. Luminous
or dichroic substances give a light differing from that
which they receive. It has been demonstrated, finally,
that the closest relationship exists between the two phen-
omena-That fluorescence can be considered as an in-
tense phosphorescence which can be seen in broad daylight,
but which dies with the light which gave it birth, while
phosphorescence is only a feeble but persistent fluores-
cence.
" Solar phosphorus " generalty reproduces luminous vi-
brations even when it has ceased to receive the latter,
and it can transform calorific rays into luminous ones. A
diamond acts in this way, also fluor-spath, and nearly all
artificial phosphorus. One of the last named gives forth
a light of various colors, if it is heated to different degrees
after being exposed to the light. Sulphate of strontium
produces a deep purple light at 20, a violet light at I5?,
blue at 4o0, bluish-green at 70?, greenish-yellow at I00?,
and reddish-yellow at 200?,
Moreover, phosphorescence, like fluorescence, can be
produced by means of an electric light rich in chemical
rays. If you expose to such a light a flower, a butterfly
or any other object covered with phosphorescent powder,
it will assume a magnificent appearance. The English
chemist, Crookes, prepared diamonds and rubies in this
way, by enclosing them in an air-tight glass ball placed
in the immediate vicinity of the negative pole, from which
a luminous current issued. The effect was superb, recall-
ing all sorts of fairy stories. Some African diamonds We are indebted to Dr. Daniel Draper for preparing an
shone with a brilliant blue light, and a large greenish one abstract of his weekly Meteorological report for this
produced such an intense radiance that it almost looked journal, the third of which appears this day in another
like a lighted candle. In fact the light was quite suffi- colunmn.
cient to read by, and the history of that famous stone in Dr. D. Draper is director of the Meteorological Obser-
the Temple of Hieropolis seemed really probable. A col- vatory of the Department of Public Works, Central Park,
lection of small diamonds from various countries, placed where all observations ate made by self-recording instru-
in any receptacle that is air-tight, will produce parti-colored ments, especially designed and arranged for this purpose.
fiery lights, blue, pink, red, orange, yellow, green and pale The great object Dr. Draper had in view when design-
green, all mingling together. ing these instruments, was to combine simplicity of
In a third recipient, Crookes placecl a quantity of un- construction with perfect efficiency. His great success
cut rubies, which, when the electric light fell upon them is well known to all familiar with Meteorological Science,
shone with such a gorgeous red flame that they appear- and we propose in the course of a few articles to fully
ed to be incandescent. Artificial rubies prepared by describe these instruments, and illustrate the subject
with excellent wood cuts.
Feil in Paris gave as brilliant a light as the real ones,
and white crystals became rose-colored or deep red. We commence the series with a description of the ap-
Such wonderful carbuncles would have astonished even paratus for recording Barometric observations.
the authors of the old legends. " I was led to construct this form of barometer from the
fact that with the photographic one it cannot be told
A CURIOUS thing occurred lately in the works of M. what the atmospheric fluctuations are until the next
Fleury, at Cette (Herault). The feed-water of the boiler morning, when the photographic plate is developed.
giving much incrustation, M. Fleury was advised to put Even then, if there has been much variation in temper-
into the boiler some fragments of zinc as a de-incrustant, ature, it alters the sensitiveness of the collodion film, so
and did so. In a few days, spite of oiling, the steam- that it is very difficult to read the tracing. The con-
engine began to work very badly, the piston catching a great struction of the pencil instrument is as follows:
deal, and it soon became necessary to stop and make exam- In the pencil barometer the glass tube is 36 inches in
ination. The piston was found to be covered with a thick length, the upper portion being of larger diameter than
adherent layer of copper. It was put on the lathe, and at the lower; it is held firmly in a fixed position, and filled
certain ovalised points, the metallic layers were so thick
in the usual manner with quicksilver; its lower or open
that the tool worked in copper alone. The explanation
end dips into a tube or reservoir containing the same
given by M. Fleury is this: The boiler was connected with
metal. This reservoir is suspended on two spiral steel
the engine by copper pipes. Particles of zinc carried off by
the steam would form with the copper numberless small springs, and has freedom of motion up and down. When
galvanic couples; hence the transpert of copper to the the pressure of the atmosplhere diminishes, a portion of
piston, which would principally attract them by reason of the mercury flows out of the tube into the reservoir;
its motion, and of the heating produced. It is remarked in this becoming heavier, stretches the steel springs, causing
Les Mondes, that the eminently electric properties of ex- the ink pencil fastened to them to mark downwards. If
panding steam may have helped in development of the the pressure increases the reverse movement takes place.
phenomenon. The ink pencil makes its mark on a ruled paper register,

This content downloaded from 182.232.182.58 on Sat, 17 Sep 2016 23:28:40 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms