The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-09

.ha,l have sotv61 & osstion whetAer'
~ tafl irh0llO9 ~ - = 1Adlased struct.
nre - what y ~ ooa1eifntion. Of the
vsy n which ~ IN - Il Il nos safe
vet to speak WITH ds1Alstuess; for a.
,hough' II the tan wese straight. We
.honld be almost certsin1y near the mid
ale Of it on July -. yet its curvature
will probably delay 1.-TWO or three days,
and even until the caFth has passed Pc
vond it's path. Taking the best value !
can from the records Of previous comets,
I should expect the earth on July ~ to
be wholly within the eastern edge of the
comets tail, and / will assume this to be
the case. The comet will then disappear
to us; but then the inhabitants of the
Southern Hemisphere, who may be ig-
norant of the cause of the luminosity of
the evening sky, will see it gradually rise
and pass away, and will be amazed by
the sudden apparition of comet of ex-
traOrdinary size and unusual brilliancy,
which will burst upon their vision as un-.
foreseen as the great comet of 1851. The
gradual diminution and final disappear
ance Of the comet will be SO nearly the
converse of what we shall have wit
messed here that it needs no description.
What will be the effect upon the earth.
dare not predict the effect upon the
minds Of men, especially Of the ignorant;
but do not anticipate any appreciate
physical effect further than possible elec-
trical phenomena like the aurora. 1t
will, of course, leave US portion of its
atmosphere when it departs, but, proba-
bly,, not enough to affect the barome-
ter, or to come within the cog.
nizance even of scientists. But there
may be, by possibility, one permanent
effect Of scientific interest and curiosity.
If the earth should not entirely escape
the moon will also probably be involved,
| and it will also retain portion of the
cometary substance. As the amount of
the atmosphere upon the moons surface
is now 80 small-if, indeed, there is any
at all-that it is unacceptable by the
incest astronomical scrutiny, perhaps
| after the passage of the comet we shall
find that henceforth the moon will have
an atmosphere of greater or less density,
which will materially modify the phe-
nomena Of OSCILLATIONS and solar eclipses.
| will add that Venus is safely out
of the way, SO that the transit expedi-
ton will not be interfered with by the
| great comet of 1874"
Mr.. Parkhurst's speculations in regard
to the comets leaving part of its tail
10 form an atmosphere for the moon
seem to be little aside from observed
facts All spectroscopic analysis of the
| matter of comets tails has hitherto
seemed to point to the conclusion that
they were some attenuated form of car
bon unknown to terrestrial chemistry
1t has even been asserted that if all the
matter Of comets tail were reduced to
the same density as the carbon we know,
in the form of charcoal or coke, it would
not exceed few ounces, or might be
carried in the waistcoat pocket. Whether
it would be proper to speak of such a
substance as likely to form possible
atmosphere" for the moon is open to
question. However, all Mr.. Parkhurst's
speculations are matters of extreme in
terest, and we hope that this whole SUBJ
ject will receive rigid investigation at
the hands of our scientists.-N Y.
Grdphic, June &c.