The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-04-26

TORY or OoMHrS.
As the eighteenth day OF June is rapidly approacfs
when we are told by the French and German sstronop.
that comet will In contact with the earth and essr
dislace from is orbit consume with fire. we have
collected from such works astronomy within sr
reach the following observations upon comets, which
this tme when comets visible, may not be UNI
teres,ing 10 readers The wonderful characsrh6s
which marks the fight of comets through spaceshedr g.
gsr form and terrific appesrancerendered these bOds,
n the early ages, objects of terror and dread Supess
ton regarded these wandering Gerry worlds with awe, and
looks tpon them Of war, pesence and famine
All the great and caamitOus events OF. nations
ascr,bed their appearance; but at the present eaXg,
ened period the appearance Of comet Ia prs
Dizzy and has no more influence upon the fate OF
nations, than the appearance OF the MOON As far %
serva,on has gone they subject 10 the laws
the planets revolving about the SUMS orbit path v
this difference that their orbits eccentric or d.
fer much from circles than that OF the pne<s snA
thus while they approach much nearer to the sum- rhsv
recede CORE pondinsiy further from It.
The following among the most remarkable OF WHICH
we have any account AZ the time Of the birth Of Mra-
dates 10 years before Christ, have account a
come, whose magnitude must have been far beyond s
thing subsequently, seem its splendor is ssd 10 have
surpassed that Of the In the years 248 ga aud -
of the Christian era remarkable comets recorded b
have appeared and in the year 1905 Is described -
presenting frighiful aspect exhibiting enormous
curved TAIL In the form OF scythe The appearance &
the comet of 456 spread CONSERVATION throughout Eop
The same comet returned again in 1881 and 1907 and
recorded that, in 1880, wonderful comet Appeared,
which by its spendor and swiftness excited the deepest
interest throughout the world Newton examined this
ms-Sabe comet with great attention. and WAS led, by -
general laws Of the motion OF bodies in free space vca
n 49,
the orbits OF comets must Like those of the pAnets
be ep,es having the sun In focus but far more &C.
centric aad having their spheons, greatest distance
from the SUM- FAR in the regions Of space The Ida
thus thrown out by Newton also the observations upsa
comets made by Tycho Rshe taken up by Dr. Hsl-
lev who colled the observations which had been maAs
touching the appearance and aspect OF comets from he
primitive ages down 10 his own time, and found that wt
but few exceptions they had passed within less than As
ears shortest distance from the sun, Of them VIA
in less than third Of IT, and others about one half Hs
examined with much tho comet OF 1882 and dios-
yered wonderful resemblance between and the oouets
oe 1896 1891 and 1907 The Tune OF the appearance Of tie
comets had been NJ nearly regular intervals the average
period being between 76 and 76years Their distance from
the sun when In pevheon varied but little from each o,hr
The nchnaoas OF tstr orbAs 70 that Of the esdk a.
also been nearly the samebetweeu II and 10 degrees,
rc,hc< Dr. HALEY 70 the osncuson that The counes
of ls 1884, 1907 and 1852 Of one snf
the same comet The variation In the time OF il reS,n
ton around The having been something like Mr.
MONTHS WAS accounted Tor by him upon Tho SUPPOSE
that the form Of lis orb had been altered by the s,srse
ton Of the remote planets Jupiter and Saturn aad passa
near them; and he hercupon predicted that il ncrt a,
pcarance would bc In the year 1857 l,Ss aud IL ac
re- sppe~rancs the beginning Of 1860, according 10 ~
prccoe established the fact dectsiycly thai hey vsrs
regular and permanent bodies ooeyng the general sss
OF msiior The ooly difficulty which remained in arryin~
a, greater degree OF accuracy in calculating The rs.rv
OF comets was aooounS OF The disturbance 70 xbl
they exposed from the Other bodies Of solar sy,
tenn This overcome, In good measure, ai,er a,s
death OF Ir Haley, by te calculations Of DAembess
rrcke and Carsu, In regard 10 the length OF time IN.
come. would be retarded by The attraction OF Jup,,sr
The L,,cS Professor drsui read his invest cations up,-
ts point the Academy Of Science In Novembc~ liza,
and in little than month afterwards HAey's CONES
made lis appearance, snd reached is perhelon on The
Iih March, i7se-besng thirty dsys earlier than be h.h
calculated Subsequent calculations enabled him 70 "a
duce TIE error days. The periheuoo passax,
of the same it, return In 1885, was pr,~kun1
within nlnc days OF il actual most as,ouA
ing approximation 70 truth, when IL Is rcmemberc<
,si this body, far pcnetrs,e Into space never eve
at the rcmolas pon, OF Us orbit, escapes from tho sensible
influence OF the planet Jupiter.
Besides uIe comet or 1852 of which there haye b~c,
i've authenticated returns there several otlsrs e
which something Ike return may be traced at long u
teryak. One Of these passed ~ peribe,ioa Mt si,os 8
ocock on the morning Of 9th II JAY 1884; and again Z
little past O'Clock the evening u the .is, OF AuN
1855 Thus period u sbou, 2os years. Anoshe~ a.
peucd in 1861: and again In 1851 having thus period q
about Ies years. The return Of thai should have
pcaranoe neither Of them resebled The one OF ieps
While The periods OF most OF the comcs examined ~
comparatively short those Of others have beeo aoesaansl
To extend to many thousand years. The great Gomez q
1911 remained visible for upwards OF mouths and v~s
considered oue or The mott brilliant 81 modern bn.s
After careful investigation ~ Arve,snder axes is po~sd
Of revolution sss yesr Tho periodic time Of she ~
turn OF the come, of 1907 eScd by Besse, ., La
years
A comet deoo-ninaied Eacke's comet ,ap,carcd 4,
1873 and Fnckcs observations upou " enabled him :,
iden,ify with the described by Messicurs Mch~s~r
and Mes~ien In i7se; also, with The come, discovered =
1875 by Mis- Hersche, and he one os 1907
Eocke predicted ia rcsppsarance 1sz, and his pr~-
dnuou realized by Va beng discovered on the n sr
June Of usi year by Tos. Brie; and return wSs -
ced again In 1875 and iszs and attracted much stentn
from the astronomers Of thai day.
Another coms discovered by Bella on the c-uh q
February, 1879 which rcvovcs around the In sbszo
elk ycurs and seven senths In isss ataraosl
good deal OF attention account OF its having been a.
covered by Lieut. Msury, Of The Washington Ooservssy.
ths what hsd hi,hero appeared single BODY vus
actually compcd OF Two distinct and separate comes n
the same year Of the comets which now visible wus
supposed 10 be dcuca with The third come, 81 $780, dAs
covered by BrorSeo and which IL the second whsch
has made appearance this year ~ return pcribcxa