The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1869-08-25
Worlds on Fire.

Worlds on Fire.
HUGE BLAZING ORBs OF FIRE FLYING
THROUGH THE REALMS OF SPACE.
On the 18th Of May, 1866, great
conflagration, larger than that of Lon
don or Moscow, was announced. To
use the expression Of distinguished
astronomer, a world was to be found
on fire. A star, which till then had
shown meekly, and unobtrusively in
the Corona Borealis, suddenly blazed
into luminary of the second magni-
tude. In the course of three days from
its discovery in this new character by
Mr.. Birmingham, of Tuam, it had de-
clined to the third or fourth order of
brilliancy. In twelve days, dating
from its first apparition in the Irish
heavens, it had sunk to the eighth
rank, and it went on waning until the
Goth of June, when it ceased to be dis
cernible except through the medium
of the telescope. This was remarka-
BILE, though not All unprecedented pro-
ceeding on the part Of star, but one
singular circumstance in its behavior
was that after the lapse of nearly two
months, it began to blaze up again,
though not with equal ardor, and after
maintaining its glow for a few weeks
and passing through several phases Of
color, it gradually paled it's fires and
returned to its former insignifeance.
How many years had elapsed since
the awful confagration actually took
place it would be presumptuous to
guess; but it must be remembered that
the news from the heavens, though car
ried by, the fleetest of messengers,
light, reach US long after the event has
transpired, and that the same celestial
courier is still dropping the tidings at
each station it reaches in space, until
it sinks exhausted by the length of its
flight. Now, when this object was ex-
amined as it was promptly and eagerly
by Professor Miller and Mr.. Higgins,
they found, to their great wonder, that
it yielded two spectras-the one i'm
posed by the other, though obviously
Independent. There was the prismatic
ribbon crossed by dark lines, which be-
longs to the sun and stars, generally,
but there was another in which four
| bright lines figured /; and these, accord
ing to the. canons of Interpretation
previously mentioned, indicated that
some luminous gas, Tor gases) was also
pouring out its light from the surface
of the orb 4 sessavio %
Two of the lines spelled out hydro
gen in the spectral language. What
the other two SIGHTED did not then
appear; but, inasmuch as those four
streaks were brighter than the rest Of
the spectrum, the source from which
they came must obviously have been
more intensely heated than the under
lying parts, or photosphere, from
which the normal stellar light proceed
ed. And as the star had suddenly
famed up, was it not natural sup
position that it had become enwrapped
in burning hydrogen, which, in conse.
quence of some great convulsioD, had
been liberated in prodigious quaint.
ties, and then, combining with other
elements, had set this hapless world OF
fire7 In such q fierce confagratior
the combustible gas would soon he
consumed, and the glow would, there.
fore, begin to decline, subject, as il
this case, to a second eruption, which
Loccasioned the renewed outburst O
light on the Goth Of August.
By such a catastrophe it is not Who'll
ly impossible that our own globe may
sometimes be lavaged, for if wore
from the Almighty were to unloose tol
a few moments the bonds of affinity
which unite the elements of water-O
the ocean on the land and the monster
in the ARA single spark would bring
them together with filry that woult
kind;e the funeral pyre of the human
race, and be fatal to the planet and al
the works that are therein. It canno
but be a startling fact for us that II
yonder doomed and distant world VI
have probably seen in our day reali
cation Of the fearful picture sketche'
by Peter, "when the heavens Tor at
mosphere) being on fire shall be dis
solved, and the elements shall mel
with TIE fcrvent heat" And if we re
gard it as the centre of q system, it
impossible to think without horror Q
the fate OF the numerous globes aruun
, it when overwhelmed by this sudde
deluge of light and caloric. BIRTHS
Quarterly Review.
al -.o~~-~~AAS-
! A PROMPT REPLY.-Rev. ROWAN
+ Hill used to ride to and from church
Q a carriage. This gave offence, to on
!, of his members at least, who went 6
: far as to hand in among the motto,
e one requesting the "prayers of tn
: congregation for the pastor. who, yiel(