The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1847-06-23
NO. H..

denominatcd Hallcy's Comet, from the astro-
nomcr who first calculated its peIiod. 1t
revolves round the sun in about seventy five
years, its last appearance being at the close
Of 1885. Another, called Enll's Comet,
from Professor Enke Of Berlin. has been
found 10 rcvolvc once in 1907 days, or 8
- years; but in this case: the revolving
body is found. at each successive approach
to the sun, to be little earlier than on the
previous occasion, showing ttri""tt its orbit is
gradually lesscnng, so that it may be ex-
pectcd ultimately to fall into the sun. This
fac, has suggested that some part of that
space through which the comet passes must
be occupied by a matter presenting some
resistance 10 the movement Of any dcnser
body; and it Is supposed that this matter
may prove to be the same which had been
described as constituting the zodiacal light.
1t is called resisting mulium and future
observations upon 1t arc expected TO be at
tended with results of Il most important ma
ture, seeing that, II there be such a matter
extending beyond the orbit of the earth, that
planet, in whose welfare we arc so much
interested, will be exposed TO the same ulti-
mate fate with Enks Comet. The third,
named Bcilas Comet: from nj. Bella Of Jo-
scphstadl; rcyolvcs round the sun in Sd
years. 1t is very small, and has no TAIL
In 1882; this comet passed through the
carth's path about a month before the arr-
val of our planet at the same point: If tho
earth had been month earlier at that point,
or the comet Il month later in crossing it,
the two bodies would have been brought
together: and the earth, in all probability,
would have instantly become unfit for the
eXistance Of the human family. Comets are
often affected in their motions by the attrac-
tions OF the planets Jupiter, in particular,
has been described by an astronomer as
perpetual stumbling block in their way.
In 1870, comet got cntangled amidst the
satellites of that planet, and was thereby
thrown out Of its usual course, while the
motions Of the satellites were not in the least
affected Comets often pass unobservcd,
il consequence Of the part of the heavens
in which they move being then under day.
light. During total eclipse of the sun,
which happened sixty years before Christ,
large comet not formerly seen, became
| visible, near the body Of the obscured lumi-
nary. On many occasions, their smallness
and distance render them visible only by
The aid Of the telescope. On other occasions
they are of vast size. The comet now called
E1alley's, at its appearance in l456, covered
a sixth part Of the visible extent of the
heavens, and was Ekcned to Turkish
scymitar. That of 1880, which was OBJ
served by Sir Isaac Newton, had a tail CAL
culated to be l23, ,O0O0 900 of miles in length,
a space greater than the distance of the
earth from the sun There was comet in
liza, which had six tails, spread out like
fan across large space of the heavens.
The tails of comets usually stretch in the
direction opposite to the sun, both in advan-
cling and retiring, and with slight wave in
the outer extremity, as if that part expert
enced some misunderstanding Gazette.
VIOLATING THE EpARoLE.-Gen. Canalizo,
a famous Mexican General, in addressing
"the enemy" takes occasion to say that his
force will be strengthened by the brave defen-
dcrs, ",oho so heroicly de|ended Vera CrmS."
These expected reinforcemcnts were the
troops dismissed on parole by Gen. Scott
after the surrender of that city. 1t will be
remembered that after the battle Of "the Gth',
Gen La Vega refused to take his parole,
because, he said, his government, "would
not respect It." The Mexicans are not
more honourable now than they were then,
and to presume that they will respect par
ole is ridiculous This fighting them, ta-
king six thousand prisoners, and letting
them off: to fight us again, seems to give
prospect OF interm,nable warfare. If break
ing a parole is punishable, the laws should
be executed with singular severity against
the Mexicans. We have got into this war,
and unless the government is prepared to
carry it on with all the rigors necessary to
end it, our troops had better be Withdrawn.
At Cerro Gordo many soldiers were recog.
nized who had been captured at Vera Cruz;
among the dead were discovered officers
known to have been released on their par