By this mode of viewing the solar spots we may easily ascertain their diameter and magnitude, at least to a near approximation. We have only to take a scale of inches, and measure the diameter of any well-defined and remarkable spot, and then the diameter of the solar image; and, comparing the one with the other, we can ascertain the number of miles either lineal or square, comprehended in the dimensions of the spot. For example, suppose a spot to measure one half-inch in diameter, and the whole image of the sun 25 inches, the proportion between the diameter of the spot and that of the sun will be as 1 to 50, in other words, the _one fiftieth_ part of the sun’s diameter. Now, this diameter being 880,000 miles, this number, divided by 50, produces a quotient of 17,600 = the number of miles which its diameter measures. Such a spot will therefore contain an area of 243,285,504, or more than two hundred and forty-three millions of square miles, which is 46 millions of miles more than the whole superficies of the terraquous globe. Again, suppose the diameter of a spot measures 3/10 inch, and the solar image 23 inches, the proportion of the diameter of the spot to that of the sun is as 3 to 230 = the number of tenths in 23 inches. The number of miles in the spot’s diameter will therefore be found by the following proportion: 230 : 880,000 :: 3 : 11,478; that is, the diameter of such a spot measures eleven thousand four hundred and seventy-eight miles. Spots of such sizes are not unfrequently seen to transit the solar disk. By this mode of viewing the image of the sun, his spots may be exhibited to twenty or thirty individuals at once without the least straining or injury to the eyes; and as no separate screen is requisite, and as the ceilings of rooms are generally white, the experiment may be performed in half a minute without any previous preparation, except screwing on and adjusting the eye-piece. The manner of exhibiting the solar spots, in this way, is represented in fig. 82. [Illustration: _figure 82._] 5. _On the space-penetrating power of telescopes._--The power of telescopes to penetrate into the profundity of space is the result of the quantity of light they collect and send to the eye in a state fit for vision. This property of telescopes is sometimes designated by the expression _Illuminating Power_.