American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-07-18
The Hairy Visitor.

| THE comet now hanging in the vicinity
of the earth and coming constantly near
er Will be the sensation of the season. 1t
is Il large one, and will be SO distinctly
visible that no one can help seeing it
without trying The appearance of an
object so rarely seen and so strange nat
urally cXcites curiosity and sets specula-
ton in il culver of excitement. 1t will
be remembered that for ages the appear
ance of comet was thought to bctoken
wars, or plaques, or earthquakes, or some
other dire calamity. 1t was the forerun-
ner of disaster 1t was the advance
courier sent forward to herald approach
ing evils and warn men to prepare for
the worst. Exactly why the influence of
comets was always considered balcful it
is not easy to understand, except that,
unable TO account for any unusual APP
pearance in the heavens save by the in
reference of supernatural powers, men
took counsel of their fears rather than
their hopes, and attributed Il malignant
design in whatever was out of the natu-
raj order of things. The fact that war or
pestilence or Il volcanic eruption or any
other calamity occurred within year of
Il comets appearance was considered Il
sufficient proof of its baleful influence
and mere coincidence was mistaken for
ii necessary consequence. The telescope
and the facts it has revealed and the cal
culationS it has led to have completely
revolutioniZed the old theory of the
heavenly bodies, and given even comets
Il place in the vast and grand order of
which our solar system is AN insi gnificant
part
But there are still great many people
who associate calamity with the appear
ance of Il comet, and when the hairy
visitoy comes trailing its fcathery flakes
of lightacroSS ii quarter of the heavens
they are disturbed if not alarmed. There
is nothing so adhesive Il superstition
that has once got fairly fastened to the
human mind. Perhaps one reason why
this old notion keeps its hold so long is
the difficulty of explaining the origin
and orbit of comets to uncducated peo-
pie in an Ineligible manner. Indeed,
very little is certainly known respecting
them, even by astronomers Newton
thought their orbit was elliptical, while
modern astronomers generally hold that
it is parabola What substance they
are composed of is still uncertain, us the
instruments and processes of the
spectrum analysis were not sufficiently
perfected to enable astronomers to sub
jcct Donatis comet, which appeared in
1853, to Il scientific test; and Biela'S
comet, which has appeared since,
was too inSi gniticant and remote to
throw any light on the subject. That
they are composed of anything more sub
stantial than the lightest gases is exceed
ingly improbable What are the chemi
cal constituents of the gases is still
matter of mere gucss-work. The rcla
ton of the nucleus or head to the tail
which spreads fan-like so far is not I'M
dcrstood, and the law of their existence
has yet to be determined. One reason
why the coming of the present comet is
specially welcome is that it will enable
astronomers to study it with new and
more powerful instruments and learn
something specific and satisfactory re
speeding its composition and probable
destiny 1t will call the attention of in
tclligent observers anew to the demon
strated facts and unsolved problems of
the astronomic universe, and lead them TO
forget for awhile the petty cares and
frivolous eXcitcmcntS of our world in
contemplating the wonders of the hcav-
ems and the mystery that still enshrouds
their ongoing.-N. Y. Gr"phic.