The Democratic Whig. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-03-30

erntl0Ds Az ooPPSSSS $40 A1tt@ "a NNttk1-
ets 10 be-. streams &c elersrical light.
!; The, DR.. supports bis opinion,by these
arguments 1, ga spectator at q dis
: tancs frem the earth would see the au..
! rora bofedlis iu the form of a tail OPP
posite TO the sun, as the tail Of a comet
lies. The aurora boreaiis has no eff
feet upon the stars seen through il !;
nor has the tail ola comet. The at
] mostphere is known to abound with
electric matter. and the appearance Of
the electric matter 10 vacuo resembles
exactly that. of the aurora borealis,
which from its great altitude may be
considered in as perfecta vacuum as
we can make. The electric ma tier
in vacuo suffers the rays Of light to
pass through without being affected by
them. The tail Of comet does not
expand itself sideways, nor does the
electric matter. Hence he supposes
the tails Of comets, The aurora boreaIis
and the electric fluid 10 be the same
kind of matter" Ii may be added in
confirmation Of this hypothesis, that
many astronomers have observed an
undulatory motion in the tails of com
cts, similar TO what is sometimes seen
in the anrora borealis. About the close
Ofthe revolutionary war, the aurora
borealis was most extensive and bril-
liant in the. United States. This, with
vast undulations, covered the whole
northern half of the hemisphere, collec-
ting into beautiful centre in the zenith
To spectator on a distant planet,
this might give the earth an appear
ance, rese mbling in some measure the
blazing efulgence OF a comet"
The opinion advanced by DR.. Hamilton, and
adoptedby Vose, may be very much strength
ened by attaching a small ball to the prime con-
ductor ofan electrlfying machine, with wire
two or three inches long, after attaching the
ball as above directed by turning the machine,
divergng streams of electricity will be thrown
off in manner very much resembling the lu-
minous tail of a comet. THIS part of the sub
Ject Will however, leave for those 70 inveSti-
gate who have more time, and wiser head
than | have
There Is another way IN which this comet
may have affected our Globe, and produced this
UNPARALLELED GOODNESS which we have been ex.
per.e1c;ug for the last month. Which is by
elevatng the South pole ofthe Earth. lfthen
the body or tail of the comet be electricity. ell
Their in a positive or negative state, and
the Earth in an opposite state to that of
the comet, that the earth would be attracted
as the comet Apr cached it, for nothing in
nature has greater ait nifty than the two states
of electricity. But some are ready to ask the
question:, how is it possible for two bodies at
as grea! distance as the Earth, and comet, to
exercise an attractive influence! In answer
to this interogatory ] would say that it is an
estahlis ed law of nature that all attract We
bodies which are free to move, mutually APP
proach ach other.
But we have farther proof f this attractive
influence in the GsceE5Gtl0nS 0f Saturn and Ju-
pjfer Whea Herschel observed these oscel-
lastJns pendulum Ike motions Of Saturn and
Jupiter by analogy he inferred that this phe-
noIpenon was produced, by the influence of
pIlnct stiil more remote q SupposltIon " hich
he after yaIdS contifmedhv telescope exper-
iincat, in the discovery Of Uranus, now called
E4ssrtel II then tIerecbel at his immense dis
lance from Saturn and Jupiter could exercise
such an tTactive Infiucace 0Ter them, as 10
produce an oscillation may re not suppo e that
this comet not half SO Tar from las could cause
4 sufficient elevation OF the South pole TO throw
tic rays OF the sun upon us with greater OBJ
iiquity than they otherwise would have been at
this season 0! the year.
! hose who ave noticed particularly the ap-
proach of the comet towards the earth, and
other circnn stances connected with its ap-
proach, together with the manner in which it
Is now reced:ng from us, can at once see thai
It's descent was over the South eastern part OF
The earth. From the time Of it's appearance
until the 18th, il met the hnrison much earlier
than the stars which it appeared even with at
sunset, which circumstance proves that IT was
desc ending towards the EARTH. Since the 9Th
! the stars meet the horizon sooner than ii does,
! which according TO parity OF reasoning proves
! that it is now ascending.
! The following diagram viii illustrate the
) views Just advanced.
! q. q. The apparent relation Of the Sun
to the Earth on the 2lst of March. at O'clock
A. NJ and P. M.
2. The apparent track Of the Sun.
E.E. The Earth, also the equator
s. South pole.
N. Norm POLE.
j. The Earih's orbit.
3. The perihelion OF the comet'e orbit.
4. The comet as seen on the 18th.