"
"At how many degrees is the temperature of the interplanetary space
estimated?" asked M'Nicholl.
"Some time ago," replied Barbican, "this temperature was considered to
be very low indeed--millions and millions of degrees below zero. But
Fourrier of Auxerre, a distinguished member of the _Academie des
Sciences_, whose _Memoires_ on the temperature of the Planetary spaces
appeared about 1827, reduced these figures to considerably diminished
proportions. According to his careful estimation, the temperature of
space is not much lower than 70 or 80 degrees Fahr. below zero."
"No more?" asked Ardan.
"No more," answered Barbican, "though I must acknowledge we have only
his word for it, as the _Memoire_ in which he had recorded all the
elements of that important determination, has been lost somewhere, and
is no longer to be found."
"I don't attach the slightest importance to his, or to any man's words,
unless they are sustained by reliable evidence," exclaimed M'Nicholl.
"Besides, if I'm not very much mistaken, Pouillet--another countryman of
yours, Ardan, and an Academician as well as Fourrier--esteems the
temperature of interplanetary spaces to be at least 256 deg.
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