The New York herald., 1871-11-09

the comeCs perturoauons may point 70 the neces'
CATION OF the OF Jupiter from his influence on
the comet also pursued by Encke, resulted in con-
nrmatlon OF the weight OF that planet deduced bY
But In the course OF these researches the famous
calculator found that the comets motions were sub
ect TO disturbing influence certainly not plane
tary. A close examination OF the observations made
OF successive returns 70 the neighborhood OF the sun
revealed the startling TACT that these returns were
regularly accelerated by small but certain interval
OF time. Each circuit, each run OF the body round
half less than the last. How could this be ex-
plainedf solution forced itself upon Encke. The
SoneTs 20 so m1vemenh ne argued must be resisted
resistance must give the SUMS attraction greater
power ne viii put the comet little closer TO bim,
run in a shorter time. And so came demonstra-
tion OF what had for centuries been but fancy
namely, that nature, In her abhorrence OF vacuum,
bad filed even interpIanetary space with q subtle
something. This resisting medium has no percepri-
oe enect upon the ponderous planets and whether
ANY otner comets feel 1t we do not know their Or
pts accurately enough to ascertain. The evidence
rom inns one OF Enckes is all that we have at pre-
turn OF the comet, for each proves the acceeraton
10 be still progressing. Astronomers accept this
with slight IN cr
nomers are the last men to adopt p,'i..aa
Jacis proof. II the medium does exist and goes
On resisting the comets motion and giving the sun
more and more power to draw It inwards, the
time may come when the contracting spiral course
1t in,O the solar furnace, catastrophe from whcn
neither the sun any OF his planetary family has
much to fear; for rhe comet must be mere g0sSa-
mer tuft TO be affected as 1t Is by medium so ethe-
real as that OF which 1t mantfests the existence.
Ino nlgh interest attaching to this comet Is Suft-
ctcntly evident from what we have already stated;
but there are curious questions open to solution con-
cernlng the body ITSELF and irrespective Of Gs move
ments, OF which only we have hitherto spoken. Its
frequent return to our sight should in time teach US
whether cOmetary bodies increase Ia bulk by gath
erlng matter to them, or, on the other hand disst
pate by leaving their substance behind them-an
alternative that the disappearance OF some known
comets seems to support. One strange, though
not unparalleled, Circumstance In connection with
Enckes comet Is, that 1t has been observed to con-
an enormous degree; for In 1888, on October O. Its
nebulOstty was 2s1, 900 miles in diameter whie on
December II, when was four times nearer the sum-
tnat diameter was only 5000 miles. whether this
was due to condensation or TO loss OF matter no
one can tell; for upon the constitution OF comets
we are but little wiser than our IOrefatherS, and
no opportunity for studying them Is to be passed
over. There is good reason to hope that important
knowledge would be gained by spectral ANALYSIS OF
comets lights. little has already been learned
on this head from one or two very small comets,
and these were Startlingy discovered to exhibit the
kind OF light emitted by the highly heated vapor OF
carbon. Within the time that this analysis has been
available we have had no fine comet upon which 1t
could show Its full power; there has NOT even been
3 favorable apparition Of the one under notice.
mis- however, may be anticipated upon the present
occasion, and 1t Is to be hoped that the comet Will
snow ITSELF in its fullest brightness. We might hope
that he would "bring his tail behind him. but
comets do not, as rule follow their caudal append
ages, for these are almost invariably projected IN
opposition to the sun, whatever the decton OF the
comets motion.