The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-05-11
tFor the Daily E.rchanqe.)
iIIATGl;Fh'S fQEFT

The appearance of comet visible to the noI-nd
eye, at this particular time when the country is
c1nVuised with an approaching civil war, is, to saw
the least, strange coincidence 1t nav be Of some
interest to the readers Of the Ecctanqe to knory
where to lind the strange visitor to our skies known
by the name OF Thatcher's Comet; for ALTHOUGH il is
nightly increasing in briancy, it is as vet not
very conspicuous object. The short pararranhs
last day or appeared in daily papers within the
49, =, IL Dpper ot'ar the star-gazer to tho
the comet has moIjp paP ar a. oc9Ped as they
! hIeu stars IN the twenty-tCur hours among Us
! Ihatcher,s Comet is now (the 10Th instantly :,
t"e constellation oil Leo and about six or eirht d.
greeS to the north OF the planet Jupiter. II a.,
eas''V DC louhn by drawing q line from the JatfeI
! orEnt pody directly north, and at the d;sIonoe
ABOVE mentioned Il nchuous star batNaan 40 49,.
ana second magnitude is readily perceived W;,I
an opera-glaSs its nebuious chsfaeter i ,nnnb ~
apparent. Inc planet Jupiter is a little past thr
Iehth 1t sunSet, and AS it is the brightest oti ~ ~
the nocturnal sky, there can BE- no d1tT;nnitr wi
ever IN discovering this paint d'apnui The et.r :,
t"e south OF Jupiter is kaguius the chief star !;
tle c"HSte"%aoA 81 Leo, and the star st! further
south on line with Regulus and Jnnitar i 49,
planet Saturn. E''''' Is Inc
whether this new comet is return of that on.
expected during the last two three wears known
oy Tue name 81 Charles the Fifth's Comet, we hav
not sufficient data at present TO determine ~;
IL in =, ~
ana is supposed to return in every tl,rns ba,I :,
years. But on account of the iaaccuracv IF n "
observations Of Fabricius, the astranoroo - ''.1
rnaIIeS :he rith, ~ BONNIE by immense caicu-
iaIoh, discovered an error of two yeare ,ooro 49,
less, 50 that this long expected carat sbh',Ia %
pear in 1861. 'i''''o APP
a lev words on comets in general. NAV not ha
Inappropriate at the present time N'' '9
Ihe appearance of comat visibI, 20 .L,
eve d Phehomen2n $" rare, that in thu arcs of
ignorance, IL was always source Of terror PSI
iEloe' famine, wars, eva! troubles, the death If
%lh-s a&d 9reAt men, We're ascribed to It's inhn.nca
port this hypothesis. KEEPER the immortal AZ
coFerer OF the laws III melton goyerr,inr flo ,'.
D@heved IN the magn influences Of comets ~ -,
.,us'.l"Is 'ahclS bacon and more med I'm s.v2nts
muGt as lyn3hhdm, Lnbinietsk and Forster, haye
riI'eh pnhaerous volumes, demonstratiDor tn. rar
hlc!ous influences attributed to comets f''
NJ Arago, the great French astro,omo- h.,
Justly remarked that during the peri d a Gomez il
:pp, uae.ng me earth, every calamity that occurs
Is paced to the credit of the STRANGE visitor F.
'he simple tact that it is unusual; but we ali I.n
mat pesuence, earthquakes civil war. innnd,tions
&C, often happen when no comet is visible 49,
II comets exert any Influence it is frequently n an
entirely opposite character. For instance II 1con
very bright comet g as accomnarisd ~ - tooo
COZ" GaRfer and rery hot summer Int dn-;nr ~
progress there were no extraordinary pbenomena
Il" pesuItnca, no volcanic eruptioIs no aarth'
quakes. When the ancient authors fnund .bot F.
nm all ,l
ADMIT mat comets only sotced in heir paasn,,s ,o
Of GREATS 'chlch were dcreiopeH later. - '''"'o
me belief in cometary influence has no other
foundation than IN the monstrous pride of man.
KIND, pride which is increased in nronortinn -
cur lgnorence, and which leads us to btliarn tb =.
me organization of worlds is modified exnraI f
u.s. Even In the darkest times some great mind
rose ABOVE the mass Of superstition and ipnoranca
~ wien 'hsF were surrounded. Such was Sene
ca who died in the year G5 of the Christi ara
ne dared to maintain that comets wera ctarS -
Cleu 10 .ie same laws as planets whilst his cnr
tenPorarles regarded them as Inete9rs apynnarad
- - ~, ~ aeihoSpnere: lie made eloquent apneaJ
10 the Judgment OF future ages ..pnsf.r; Xxi ''
astonished, said he, ''that we cand Ia y wiz oe
of matters so simple so SHorda1
The celebrated Danish astronomer. Ircbo proho
was the hrst to demonstrate that the re@on !,
which comets revove is situated bavord ~ "n III
OF our atmosphere. But the glory az d;Sn, -,-:a's
me laws Tor the motions Of comets was rrServed *
Newton. HALEY, by applying the method IF col
cuiation proposed BY New ton Determined h. va.
ni' .. 'he comet OF 1852, and predicted its return
sook we name OF Haley and it is the most imnor,
ant OF All the comets actually known t. re-a
pears IN every sixty-six years
EsGn OF TIE appearances Of Haeys comet was
s'gHE.Zeu Dy Interesting facts. la 837 UaIlar,s |
comet inspired the unfortunate Louis tho DL
mare with terror He lived for three years i; .m
most ahject melancholy, building churches and an.
loving mfnasteries, Ia order to turn aside the !
rhroo4
ened. The last revolt OF his son. l. uis le GermSn
!que appeared to Justify the dark preseutiments If
TINS unfortunate prince VI |
III, III lVoo the same comet was regarded as an an
heoncenient OF the success Of the great enfarnrio
OF William the Coaqueror. "a C t.sSl PRISE
smg such was then the general orinior ~
LOO us re-aPpearance caused terror anong ,ba
odriS,lahs ana turks, who at that time ,y4ra ~
\. : 81 ~ . ueadiT c"o1ict. IN The public PRAYERS
II that Gay the Turks and comet were both ra9
erred to. 'o'i re-
when new comet appears the public is orto,
gltated as to whether it NAV come in contact Win
ne earth or not. Many astronomers, and esDe
aiIy Arago, have discussed this question and Tho
esult OF their investigation is that il is almost an
that such collision should take place
rago has calculated that there are 2Sl millions
haoces to one that the earth will not come in con-
ACT with comet. In other words using the in
enlous comparison of the ilIustrious astronomer.
mere Is no more chance of Il contact between the
arth and comet than there is Of man being
oemned to death who must pick, bIind-foId. one
lack pail out OF 28l million white ones
but even supposing such thing were TO occur
nat would be the result? The most skilliul as
,onolners, amongst them Sir John Herschell. have
o'su 'nae the matter of which comets ia corn
- :. excessively attenuated, much less dense
,mnared - Imposing our atmosphere. The earth
mpafeu 10 the sun aud stars ia hpt rra: 81
and, out compared to a cnmet - -; : a4h VI
mass winch would be affected in mn pisa eA' mus
'ith those ETHEREAL bodies. A fv rnsb;! oohtact
locomotive would have more effect unan i t th
comet could have the earth P'n II ehan
The present comet visible in opr sL; m
rooaollty soon become very conspcnops ot - al
ueFe are thousands OF superstitious p.ople i, So
Drntry who wilt insist on some c0nnectcn I h
Heen me war about to be insugurated and tho
.le<tial visitor. To disabuse the minds of sncb i
sufficient apology for the foregoing remarks '
Baltimore, May 10, 1861. J.B w $
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AWFUL TRAGEDY r Kite his I;ttla d,rcb