New-York tribune., 1841-12-14

! amosphere-lt least, that none u dlscernlole by
The most delicate tests. Now II differing IN 80
many char,cteri.;ics, there be one IT which s
comets agree it j. this-that they are cnyeloPed IN
a thick and dense atno,phere-so thick and dense
that w. can never see The SOLID nrceus OF head. II
they nave any.
The next question Is this Is il possible FOR the
Earth ever 10 become the satellite OF comet.
THIS qA-ry /, extr- mely interesting. because II
Wild be curIOu, and not unmportsni move
ment II comet should enter the Solar system
and snatch away the Earth Science at once an
swers that il Is possible Ii comet sufficiently
large should enter the system under certain known
conditions the Earth would revolye around II a.
moon and accompany th- comet around the Sun.
Suppose the comet Of 1850 had been sufficiently
heavy and had come Sufficiently near the Earth
whud have revolyed around it Ike Moon. and
the comet would have carried 1t 20 near the Sun
that lis climate wosd have been 20O0 times lot
ter than red het iron and on the other hand II
would have rhrIed 1t away to 80 great distance
into space that it would have lost this heat.
These occurrences rest upon physical circum-
stances. tell you what science says: but she
also tells that the chance. against tins are
$4,000 zoe to one in lis favor.
Before | dismis, the real Influences OF comets
aad pass 10 the imaginary will mention ana CIR
cum,tance which mas attracted much attention
among philosophers. | nave alluded to the posi-
blitv OF such an impact Of comet as should
chang. the axis of the Earth: so that places be-
fore within the topics, should be thrown into
arctic or polar rcgions. Facts have been dis
covered which make it probable that such an
event has actually taken place. The conjecture OF
Laplace have already mentioned but indc-
pendent OF this let me cite one or two facts. In
l77l at a place in Siberia found embedded
in ice The body OF rhHoceros. the sknigamentS,
&c of when were in a state OF perfect preserva-
ton La I77g, ut another -Iace near the mouth
OF the LENA tue body OF an elephant was found
also IN the ice and - perfectly preserved that the
dogs of the discoveries eat the flesh; now II IS m
possible 10 say now many Thousand year. these
bodies have been there. These are animals that
exist only near the equator: how they got their
northern location has presented many difficulties
Some maintain tina, they were carried up ana
l.dged IN the c- by ocean currents. But had TINS
been the method OF their emigration they would
certainly have been decomposed before they we're
frozen; hat their perfect preservation l. fatal
objection to tins theory. 1t l. then maintained
by many that thcy existed in these places III their
natural state that by a sudden charge IN the
Esrths equator they were frozen up and thus
preserved Inc thirt superstition 10 which Arago
learns. Is that. difficult 1t is 10 conceive II,
thee animals might have wandered from their
homes 10 these remote regions and fallen into the
cliffs of ice where they were found. This 1t would
be extremely difficult admit were II not tor the
disposition of men and of philosophers especially
TO assign events TO natural instead of extraordinary
causes.
will now say few words upon the cometic
Influences which purely imaginary, having no
ground either in fact or in theory. 1t Is hard TO
speak of them seriously make ourselves believe
that they were ever credited 10y thinking persons
One OF the most popular is tnat the comets inilu-
ence the seasons-increasing by their presence
the temperature of the year. But as explained
At the last evening this matter has been inyesti-
gated. and the belief found TO have good oun-
daton. have made an extract from the Gentle
mans Magazine for 1918, show The extent OF
creduliiy-or TO familiar languagc-thc mag
ntude of the stc1ll0w of the English. may pre-
mise that there intention OF IRONY IN the
srtice. With reference 20 ,he comet Of 1911, it
.ay. that {" it produced mild winter, moi,tsprlng
and cool summer. There not sufficient
sunshine to have ripcned the fruit: but through
the influence Of the comet, the harycss we're most
abundant Some species OF fruit as iiss and mel
ons were not only abundant, hut unusually pleas
ant and delicious 1t was also noticed that caSPS
appeared but rarely, and flies became blind al an
early period in the and died. In the neigh
borhood of London it was observed that greater
number than was common OF ladies' blessed their
husbands with TRIMS indeed it actually occurred
in one case, that the wife Of shoemaker pro.
duced four children at brrtn all which Is
imputed to the influence of the comet of 1911
Ii ma. be said that the Gentleman's Magazine,
although an old and respectable work, was under
the supervision OF no men Of science. Ihoug
there IS truth in this i OF little importance,
as will nov bring forward a more recent, and
which i not liable this objection. In 1929.
work was published. which Is frequently quoted
BY Araso entitled Foster on Epidemic Diseases.
These are almost all ascrbed to comet. these
poor bodie. are held re- ronsnc for almost every
change of temperature, and for every maady which
attacks not only man. but the lower animals also
He states that they produce both hot and cold tenn
perature tempest.. volcanic cruptons, hail, snow,
rata famine. swarm> OF iocu.;s. influenza, plague,
dysentery and host OF dlses he traces the
health reports ofevery month and shows that there
is AWAY. d comet FOR every calamity, and calamity
for every comet. | have been AMUSED 10 .es now
hard pushed he frequently is to find suitable ca
amitv Tor MS comet. He felt bound to lind ca
au,ity Tor the conet Of 1850; he finally discovered
that il produced the warm winter In Germany. In
1868, he found comet which produced the great
plague in London; ne gave reason, however
why il di not produce az great plague in Edn-
bursh or Liverpool. The most extraordinary feet
OF all Is put down for the comet Of 1861 itcaused,
he soemnly declares, a terrible nluesza among
the cats in Westphaa This Is mentioned not as
Joke, but in a serious book, published in 1923.
In concluding this portion OF the Lecture DR..
Lardner said that as soon as ne understood that
Astronomy would be subject agreeable to
the people VINO would attend Ms Lectures ne
had set abost preparing s. moving Disrama in
which all the stars visible in the armament should
be laid down with their proper magnitudes, and in
THAR proper positions, together with the double