reflected rays being indicated by dotted lines.  The reflector and conical heater are sustained by a flat hub and eight radial spokes bent upward toward the ends at an angle of 45 deg..  The hub and spokes are supported by a vertical pivot, by means of which the operator is enabled to follow the diurnal motion of the sun, while a horizontal axle, secured to the upper end of the pivot, and held by appropriate bearings under the hub, enables him to regulate the inclination to correspond with the altitude of the luminary.  The heater is composed of rolled plate iron 0.017 inch thick, and provided with bead and bottom formed of non-conducting materials.  By means of a screw-plug passing through the bottom and entering the face of the hub the heater may be applied and removed in the course of five minutes, an important fact, as will be seen hereafter.  It is scarcely necessary to state that the proportion of the ends of the conical heater should correspond with the perimeters of the reflector, hence the diameter of the upper end, at the intersection of the polygonal plane, should be to that of the lower end as 8 to 6, in order that every part may be acted upon by reflected rays of equal density.  This condition being fulfilled, the temperature communicated will be perfectly uniform.  A short tube passes through the upper head of the heater, through which a thermometer is inserted for measuring the internal temperature.  The stem being somewhat less than the bore of the tube, a small opening is formed by which the necessary equilibrium of pressure will be established with the external atmosphere.  It should be mentioned that the indications of the thermometer during the experiment have been remarkably prompt, the bulb being subjected to the joint influence of radiation and convection.

The foregoing particulars, it will be found, furnish all necessary data for determining with absolute precision the diffusion of rays acting on the central vessel of the solar pyrometer.  But the determination of temperature which uninterrupted solar radiation is capable of transmitting to the polygonal reflector calls for a correct knowledge of atmospheric absorption.  Besides, an accurate estimate of the loss of radiant heat attending the reflection of the rays by the mirrors is indispensable.  Let us consider these points separately.

[Illustration:  Fig. 2.]

Atmospheric Absorption.—­The principal object of conducting the investigation during the summer solstice has been the facilities afforded for determining atmospheric absorption, the sun’s zenith distance at noon being only 17 deg. 12’ at New York.  The retardation of the sun’s rays in passing through a clear atmosphere obviously depends on the depth penetrated; hence—­neglecting the curvature of the atmospheric limit—­the retardation will be as the secants of the zenith distances.  Accordingly, an observation of the temperature produced by solar radiation at a zenith distance whose secant