Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1838-05-03

Jfo"t A4SotS"s "ho Sdu COuCClSO IUuntS
and jeers, and smart sayings which were
made at the expense Of the mad Philoso-
pher. But "he did snatch the lightning
from Heaven" established its identity with
what was conceived to be another agent,
and stranger than all, from knowledge of
its properties. brought it, to some extent,
within tho control Of man. What more
hopeless, al first view. than this effort ofour
great countryman, and what siuglc act of
his varied and useful life, has shed around
his name higher lustre.
When Galvani first directed his attention
TO that strange principle, which has been
called aller him, Galuanism, who would
have thought that Davy would arise at
future time, and from a knowledge nf its
laws demonstrate, that if copper instead Of
an iron nail were used in fastening tho up
per sheathing Of ship, the destructive cf-
fects Of oxidation would be in srca, mea-
sure prevented!
But VIC have said more than we at first
intended. Our simple purpose was, in a
few words, 10 impress upon the reader the
Importance of physical science, and to de-
clare the opinion that no field holds out
richer rewards tlian Mcteo:ology. There
is such thing as telling before hand
(which way the wind blows" aud ma
ture speaks language even in the most
tickle of all things, morning cloud.
We wish MIR. Espy success in his glorious
cause. and are not ashamed to express the
humble opinion, that the time will come
when rains aid storms and tenpests and
waterspouts, SC. &c. may be predicted
with as much certainty as other natural
phenomena. A long series Of observations,
conducted upon philosophical principles,
will be necessary to bring this period to its
full consumma,ton, but the rapid advances
which have already been made in a very
few years, place the matter beyond question.
Mr.. Editor,
On the night of the 22d oc April about
3O minutes after 10 O'Clock, splendid phe-
nomenon resembling a shooting star, ap-
peared ir the Constellation Hercules, com
mencing few degrees west of vega, Lyra,
shooting in perfectly straigh, line, and end
ing abruptly in the remarkable ncbula he
tween mu and zeta Hercules. The light was
so brilliant as TO throw around the spectator
a glare equal to that of candle. In its
flight it exhibited the appearance of ball
Of fire, whose rapid motion through space
left i long luminous train behind. bur the
instant the ball stopped, the train, from the
velocity acquired by the previous motion,
was reversed by being proje cted beyond the
ball or nucleus, forming two streams of
diverging light. very much resembling the
figure fthe Comet ofISll. A bright streak
near the point of explosion 8 or 10 degrees
in length, remained visible SO or 60 seconds
after the body had disappeared.
There are some facts connected with this
|phenunenon which, think, distinguish il
from the ordinary occurrence of falling or
shooting stars, aud from which propose to
offer Il few observations.
1t is general law Of meteoric phenome-
na that in their fight they describe curved
lines with a downward tendency to the
earth; bu, the motion of the body in ques-
ton was in strai sht line diverging up-
wards from line parallel to the plane Of
the horizon, and forming with it an angle
of some or 10 degrees. The nebula or
cluster Of stars which, with the suddenncss
of thought, arrested its progress and gradu-
ally absorbed its light, is one Of the most re-
markable in the Heavens. When viewed
through good Telescope it exhibits n count
less number of stars crOwed together in a
| space apparently not more than two or
three times Us large as that occupied by the
Moon. Now is it not probable that the
phenomenon of the 22d, was Comet whose
centre Of attraction was some one or all of
the stars composing this cluster, and by
gradual approach to it, and undergoing n
consequent diminu'ion of centrifugal force,
finally yielded to the superior attraction of
the great body TO which il fell, and by which
it was absorbed.
Extravagant as this idea may seem, it is
by no means al variance with the expressed
opinions of some Of the most distinguished
modern Astronomers. Professor Encke, of
Berlin, by series of observations upon the
motions and periodical returns Of the Comet
which bears his name, has discovered that
at each successive reappearance, it is near
er to the Sun, Of smaller size and more
feeble light. Sir John IIerschell is of opn.
ion that Comets are bodies of exceedingly
small density, and that their trains which
are nothing less than portions Of their masses
thrown behind 10 the distance of millions of
miles by their rapid motion in space, are
gradually detached and dissipated, g. hence
he accounts for their diminished size and
splendor, when, by their greater approxi-
nation to the Sun, it would seem their ligh,
and volume should be increased. And in
remarking upon the phenomena of Encke's
Comet, the same distinguished Astronomer
adopts the generally received opinion that,
by the process of diminuion which that
Comet is undergoing, and consequent di-
minution of centrifugal force, it will ul,i-
matcly fall to the Sun unless previously