every individual case this form is greatly modified by abnormal
streamers at some point or other.' The corona surrounds the Sun and its
other envelopes to a depth of many thousands of miles. It consists of
various elements which exist in a condition of extreme tenuity;
hydrogen, helium, and a substance called coronium appear to predominate,
whilst finely divided shining particles of matter and electrical
discharges resembling those of an aurora assist in its illumination.

[Illustration: FIG. 7.--The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883.]

We possess no knowledge of the physical structure of the interior of the
Sun, nor have we any terrestrial analogy to guide us as to how matter
would behave when subjected to such conditions of extreme temperature
and pressure as exist in the interior of the orb. Yet we are justified
in concluding that the Sun is mainly a gaseous sphere which is slowly
contracting, and that the energy expended in this process is being
transformed into heat so extreme as to render the orb a great fountain
of light.

Milton in his poem makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any
of the other orbs of the firmament, and, in all his references to the
great luminary, describes him in a manner worthy of his unrivalled
splendour, and of his supreme importance in the system which he upholds
and governs. After having alighted on Mount Niphates, Satan is described
as looking

Sometimes towards Heaven and the full-blazing Sun,
Which now sat high in his meridian tower.--iv. 29-30.

He then addresses him thus:--

O thou that with surpassing glory crowned,
Look'st from thy sole dominion like the god
Of this new World--at whose sight all the stars
Hide their diminished heads--to thee I call,
But with no friendly voice, and add thy name,
O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,
That bring to my remembrance from what state
I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere.--iv. 32-39.

On another occasion:--

The golden Sun in splendour likest Heaven
Allured his eye.--iii. 572-73.

In describing the different periods of the day, Milton seldom fails to
associate the Sun with these times, and rightly so, since they are
brought about by the apparent diurnal journey of the orb across the
heavens. Commencing with morning, he says:--

Meanwhile,
To re-salute the world with sacred light,
Leucothea waked, and with fre