The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1872-04-18

Ndture, the able scientific publication OF
London, quiets the apprehensions OF the
puclic with regard to the Apocryphal comet
Of the Geneva astronomer, after the manner
following: "We have reason TO know, II
says, that many weak people have been
alarmed, and many sill weaker people made
positively i'll by en- announcement that nas
appeared in almost all the newspapers. TO the
effect that Professor Pantamour, oil GENEVA,
has discovered comet Of immense size
which il to collide as our American trends
would say, with our p!auet on the 18th OF
August next. We fear that there Is no
foundation whatever fo- the rumor. In the
present safe OF science nothing could be
more acceptable than the appearance of
good large comet, and the nearer it comes TO
us Tie better, for the spec:roscope has a long
account to settle with the whole genus, which
Up 10 this present time has eluded our grasp.
Bu, it ia not too much to suppose that the
laymen in these matters might imag line that
the discovery would he TOO dearly bought by
the ruin Of our planet Doubtless, if such
ruin were possible, or, indeed, probable-but
let Us discuss this point. kepler, who was
want 10 say that there are as many comets IN
the sky as fishes in the ocean. has had his
opinion endorsed in later times BY Arago,
who has estimated The number of there bod
les which traverse the solarsyste at ia ,5O0,-
000 But what follows from this? Surely
that comets are very harmless bodies, or We
should have suffered from them long before
this, even il we do not admit that the earth
is as old as biologists would make it. But
this is not all. IL is well known that some
among their number which have withal put on
! very porteniioUs appearance, are merely the
celestial equivalent Of our terrestrial wind.
bags'-brought down TO their proper level
they would have shrunk INTO very small di-
mcnsionS indeed. But there is more COM
fort still. The comet OF 100 positively
got 50 near 10 Jupiter that il got entangled
anon. his moons, The diameter Of the
smallest of which is only some two thousand
miles; but the moons pursued their courses
as if nothing had happened, while the comet
was 50 discounted by the encounter that II
returned By another road. c, astronomic-
ally speaking, rs orbit WAS entirely changed.
While, last Of all, IN our correspondence
this week, will be found one fact the more
in favor of the idea that, in 1S6ls we
actually did pass through a comet. We
have a suggestion for those weak people who
are still alarmed by these celestial portents,
and steadily refuse TO acquain. themselves
with the most elementary work on astronomy,
which would convince them how groundless
their fears are. In India, during the last
eclipse, the priests reaped magnificent har-
vests from the offerings of the faithful. In
England, possibly, il would be considered
incorrect TO make snch offerings to the priest;
but let them still be made-to the Royal As
Economical Society. In this way the
English Phiiisline would approach nearer
the standard Of his less civilized brother;
science would be benefited, and doubtless
the omen would be averted-at all events
they always have been.