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210
The Fairy-Land of Science
·
Arabella B. Buckley
37
Do
you
think
we
have
now
rightly
answered
the
question
-
What
is
a
sunbeam?
We
have
seen
that
it
is
really
a
succession
of
tiny
rapid
waves,
travelling
from
the
sun
to
us
across
the
invisible
substance
we
call
"ether",
and
keeping
up
a
constant
cannonade
upon
everything
which
comes
in
their
way.
We
have
also
seen
that,
tiny
as
these
waves
are,
they
can
still
vary
in
size,
so
that
one
single
sunbeam
is
made
up
of
myriads
of
different-sized
waves,
which
travel
all
together
and
make
us
see
white
light;
unless
for
some
reason
they
are
scattered
apart,
so
that
we
see
them
separately
as
red,
green,
blue,
or
yellow.
How
they
are
scattered,
and
many
other
secrets
of
the
sun-waves,
we
cannot
stop
to
consider
not,
but
must
pass
on
to
ask
-
What
work
do
the
sunbeams
do
for
us?
They
do
two
things
-
they
give
us
light
and
heat.
It
is
by
means
of
them
alone
that
we
see
anything.
When
the
room
was
dark
you
could
not
distinguish
the
table,
the
chairs,
or
even
the
walls
of
the
room.
Why?
Because
they
had
no
light-waves
to
send
to
your
eye.
But
as
the
sunbeams
began
to
pour
in
at
the
window,
the
waves
played
upon
the
things
in
the
room,
and
when
they
hit
them
they
bounded
off
them
back
to
your
eye,
as
a
wave
of
the
sea
bounds
back
from
a
rock
and
strikes
against
a
passing
boat.
Then,
when
they
fell
upon
your
eye,
they
entered
it
and
excited
the
retina
and
the
nerves,
and
the
image
of
the
chair
or
the
table
was
carried
to
your
brain.
Look
around
at
all
the
things
in
this
room.
Is
it
not
strange
to
think
that
each
one
of
them
is
sending
these
invisible
messengers
straight
to
your
eye
as
you
look
at
it;
and
that
you
see
me,
and
distinguish
me
from
the
table,
entirely
by
the
kind
of
waves
we
each
send
to
you?
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