The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1857-06-04
Comets.
FROM TIE NATIONAL ISrELLroEsoER.

aune next, oil our ciiaste and staid old mat
ron earth, by that saucy hirt of a comet.
supposed to be skulking about somewhere
IN her neighborhood, il may be not unpro6-
table TO inquire somewhat into the proba.
1Ie character and belongings Of the fonder.
has he any freight Of character9 Does he
act upon P7ncipte' What seems to he his
means OF support? Is he substantial Has
he been trained up in the way he should
goi Does he come now indicating that he
has any stability Of purposes In short, is
he one whom we have no misgiying in 70.
celving into communion with our common
,nother ], Tor one protest against the Gal-
NANCE Tor the reason that tie fellow isn't,
III my private opinion, bit better than he
ought to be. Full juries of savans have
already decided him to be essentially gassy.
To be a ragabond and particular SMELL
TINS last especially, while under favor of ad .
mission into the immediate presence of his
soverelgn-the sun. charge him with be-
ing, besides, cheat, with making preten
sions to accomplishments which he never
had the least ability to accomplish. He
! claims rather his vouchers claim for him
that he has travelled quite extensively in
ioreiRn parts. but am established firmly
in the faith that he has never SO much as
looked at a part outside of the point at
which he was born. Neither The force nor
The germ of force was given him at birth
sufficient to turn his face, much less his
whole body, puffy as this was aud is. out
ward from that point. The act which
started him into being was an act of driy
ing him inward; and he must continue 10
TALL inward until lie has brea,hcd ou, his
bret existence, or until he is caugh, in the
hug of tie sun. So, instead of Luppiuo
he'll get hugged. very likely,
lou have gathered, of course, from my
banter, that do not subscribe To the re-
celred doctrine rs TO the nature and mo.
tIcns of comets. Such doctrine canno;
stand the test of its own working. II
proves itself false, as will show in small
space.
The doctrine fixes for its basis the gene
raj proposition that all revolving bodies are
held IN their orbits 10y the balancing of cen
tral and tangen,al forces. In the cases of
comets, the force which draws them TO.
wards their centre Of revolution is asserted
to be the attraction Of the sun, he being at.
tracted by them at the same time: while
the force which sends them off in tangent
Is declared 10 be the impetus acquired as
an effect of their descent. The tendency
inward of each comet is recloned 10 be
measured, taking now no account of dis.
tance, by the excess Of attractive power
which the sun has above that of itself
which excess is calculated TO correspond
with the surplus Of the suns quantity OF
matter above It's own quantity. Now, il is
allowed that the amount of matter contain.
ed IN any one Of the comets that have pass
ed IN the vicinity Of the smallest planets
and satellites has not been sufficient To cause
the slightest percevable DETECTION of such
planets and satellites from their courses.
Then, the attractive power Of the sun upon
The comet Is 10 that oft up on him as intini.
ity is TO zero, making the force which draws
1t inward infinitely strong. How is it TO
gather It's balancing infinitely strong centri.
tngal forcei It's means for gathering such
force are just according to its capacity for
attracting thc sun. This capacity is TO the
attractive capacity of !he sun rs the comets
mass is TO the mass Of the sun; that is, as
zero Is 10 infiuity. Then, the comets capa.
bilty TO press itself outward TO its apheion
is TO the power which holds il To its periheli.
on as zero Is to intinity, making the distance
through which it is possible for it to return
from its centreward tour not Il single iota
greater than the distance through which it
attracts the sun towards itself in passing
him at perihelion, nor :han that through
which 1t would jar the sun from his place
IN the event that ii should fall and strike
upon his disc. 1t follows that no revolu
tIons of the comets, such rs are claimed TO
be ,heirS-in fact, that no orbtaI move.
ments OF any kind-are, upon the premis.
es, possible.
have not at command data sufficient
from which 10 elaborate anv theory of nv
own respecting comets. However, ven.
tnre to throw out simple suggestion TO
the effect that they are nothing more nor
less than sorts of nuclei, composed Of the
attennated matter which serves Us "a reilec.
tor to produce the phenomenon known as
the Iodiacal Light. At the moment when
the precipitation Of the matter constituting
u nucleus commences, this nucleus begins
to fall towards the source from which
1t came, IN vaporouS fornI originally
namely, from the burning sun-and con.
tlnues It's iail TIL 1t is absorbed again 10y
the sun; this unless it is re converted into
vapor before II reaches its destination In
either case It's life as IA comet is short; its
course Is always inward; its track is never
circular, though little curved. The nu.
cIeds may take its start from certain Of the
planets coming in conjunction one with
another; these, in rotating, cause whirlimg
IN the suspended matter at the point OF
conjunction, SO that the portion Of it which
lies at such point is pressed to condensa
tion and falls under the solar influence.
Also, the supposed periodical return Of a
comet may DC new precipitation, merely
brought about through regularly recurring
union Of planets.
| conclude with expressing tho hope that
some one Of your readers, who is better in.
formed in the history of comets than others