The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-05-02
The Comet Of June 18th, 1857.

J. nal which announced as the prediction of
y German astronomer the destruction of til
world by comet on the 18th of June mex
r This ridiculous news, repeated by echoe
n great and small, has spread over Europ
c with amazing rapidty. 1t is now the uni
g versal topic Of conversation in every class q
society. What is there-not to speak G
t truth, but-of probability in this prediction
relative to the comet said to be expected ol
] the 18th Of June: Nothing-absoutel,
nothing. In the first place, what is tn
name of the German astronomer who ha
undertaken to warn the world of its prema
ture end? No one was able to cite th
name although lately something has Leaked
, out on this subject. 1t now appears tina
the prophet Of evil of Matthew Iensberg
But Matthew Lansburg is neither Ger
man nor an astronomer. He is Belgian
and cannon of Liege. His sole title to re-
putation is his having compiled the frs,
Liege Almanac. Moreover what is this pre-.
dicted comet. Is it something new, or is a
comet already known, Of which they forete
the return? If it is new comet, we know
well that an unknown comet cannot be pre-
dictcd; for to announce beforehand the ap-
partition of such body it is necessary TO be
true prophet. If the prediction relates
only to comet previously observed, the
orbit of which is known, let them give US
the elements of this wandering star, let them
produce its progress day by day, and let
them publish the calculation which demon
strates the possibility Of its collision with
the earth. From the moment that it be-
comes question Of 4 comet known 10 pro-
fessed astronomers, it is to these astrono-
ners and their observations that we are to
look for the oracle. But all the observato-
ries are silent, and they are silent because
they have the certitude that there exists no
comet at all menacing the earth and des-
tined TO strike 1t on the 18th Of June this
year.
An influential journal has unwisely enter
tanned Its readers, in the midst Of these Chi
mercal terrors with an account Of the com
ct Of 1864, which so much alarmed the En-
peror Charles '. when it reappcared in 1866.
But this comet accomplished its revolution
in 2S2 years; It was, therefore, in 1S4S that
it should have shown itself in the heavens;
but IT was no where perceived al that period.
Planetary perturbations may have, without
doubt, retarded in in its course, so that It's
apparitlOn may yet be expected, if indeed, it
did not, in loiS, arrive at its perihclion, in
visible to us-a circumstance that happens
sometimes to this kind Of stars, which at
hinder Us from observing when they should
otherwise be accessible to our sight Let
us admit, nevertheless, that the comet Of
Charles Y. is yet TO appear.
Never, certainly, has any astronomer tho't I
of making II 4 cause Of alarm to the inhabi- .
tants Of our globe. The inclination of its .
orbit on the ecliPtic Is more than 80 degrees;
it is, then, far from following the same track .
as the earth. Moreover, many astronomers, /
Mr.. Hind amongst others, have recently /.
traced the epheruerides Of the comet; thy
could, then, tell Us exactly in what point OF
space, and what distance from the earth this .
comet ought 70 be found on the 18th of .
June, 1857. But to ask them such qucs-
tons would be TO give an air Of seriousness
to 4 ridiculous prediction. With respect to
the question so often discussed as TO the
possibility of a conclusion between a comet
and the sI,,sH earth, we cannot do better than
Arago, which gives all that can with reason
be advanced on the subject. Arago has cal
cula;ed the chances which exist of the shock
of comet against the earth in considering
the conclusion with the nucleus
of the comet. and that which would result
from contact with the fluid mass which sur
rounds or follows il, commonly known as
the tail.
For a shock by the neuclus Of comet,
SAYS AragO, which might destroy the earth,
We have found one likely chance for 23l,-
900. 600 of unlikely chances. For the con-
tact with the tail of a comet the chances are
10 or 20 in 2Sl. 900, 900. Admitting for
moment that the nucleus Of comets striking
the earth would annihiate the human spe-
cies. the danger Of death which would re-
suit to each individual from the apparition
of an unknown comet would be exactly
equal to the chances he would run if in an
urn he had but one white ball in a total Of .
2Sl 600, GOO balls. and his condemnation to .
death would be the inevitable consequence .
of his drawing this white ball the first draw.
Every man who makes use Of his senses .
must laugh at a danger so remote"
Although comets occupy immense /
space in the heavens, surprising millions of
leagues, yet by reason Of the absence of at
mosphere in those regions, permitting fluids
to be definitely raritied, the matter of these
bodies is reduced to the most feeble proper
tons Laplace SAYS on this subject" Al /,
though the dimensions of the tails Of comets
be myriads of miles, yet they do not sensi
bly, affect the light of stars seen through
them. They are, then, of an extreme rarity.
and their mass is probably inferior to that
They cannot, then, by their contact with
the earth, produce any sensible effect, and
and it is probable that they have frequently
envelopod the earth without being perceiv
ed" 1t is this which explains how many
comets have passed in proximity to certain
planets without producing the least physical |
influence.
Delambre tells US that the comet of 1870 |
passed between Jupiter and his satellites with !
out causing any sensible perturbation. Thus
the comets, even to astronomers are but OBJ
iects of curiosity Sir John Herschell goes
still further, and says in express terms that
the "tail of large comet, as far as we can
form any idea of it, is composed Of a few
pounds of matter, and perhaps only of
few ounces"
What have we then to fear from the shock
from body of mass so insignificant? We
will add, in conclusion, that NJ. Babinet, one
of the greatest Authorities of the age in
physical astronomy, has gone so far as to
saw, 1.-The earth, in coming into collision
with comet, would be no more affected in
its stability than would a railway train com
ing in contact with fly"
The author of the article in the infuen-
tial journal to which we have alluded has
not hesitatcd to give lesson to NJ. Babinet
on this subject, in reminding him that
matter even impapable as a mist of vapor,
when moving with immense velocity. is ca
pable of producing the most destructive ef-
fects. The anonymous author of this arti-
Gle forgets that comets are not endowed
with much rapidity of motion, except when
very near the sun: at distance from the
sun equal to that of the earth they have al
ready lost all their velocity, at still greater
distance they are comparatively motionless;
and in any case, as NJ. lie Verrier has very
we'll observed, the comets are part OF our |
solar system and the Creatrr of the universe
has taken into account their mass and their
movements in establishing the laws of our
planetary system-laws which have been
Il oil cEnniucac XhA |