National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-03-25

Z. s s u 6 ~
There u rather sssiou tase b ssanseein vitA
the history Of tAs Tseneh ssvsl6tiea. Dlsnqai .
Ifspablisan, was inpgiDoaad, aAd ~ teek u Into
his Asad 10 vEits sbs1t eeasts, snd ssosthing
naae HIN loek - Jupisss - . sost q policeman
and - dee9ibea JupitG - bslnG always pessoi-
Ing on IL watsA for eomsta Whs. hey eene
near he drove them into the peeiloas straass ano
was ven for the comets II thsy ossld sseaps from
from that time forth.
bat san thsrs u one point about this comet Of
Laxsll worth notice. Il hsd gsae inte the midst
Of Jupitsr's antsllitea The satellites are not
large objects, snd II the comet hAA aAy nass be
could disturb then; but instead q that al thess
sassiiit.s are SIN travelling the path they had b.
foee that comet had arrived and W leaxn, there
fore, that that comet Ct any rate was mere vapor.
had no pswsr and 70 weight, although II was
much larger svsa than Jupiter. Il had ~ power,
NO weight or attractive influence 70 disturb these
little satellites which Jupiter manages % easily.
Now We come 70 a1etAer eo0st-that seen IN
1sss, which 10 really interesting % travelling On
the shortest period Il any comet We know Of, .
psriod Of three years and four months It q note
| 800 SSSS2oss eoos sAaAs AAssAO WV
seems to b getting closer and closer to the san,
travelling always on Q shorter and shorter period,
It IL apparently retarded BY the influence Of some
matter occupying space. Il may seem . strange
fact to say that Il 10 retarded end yet II ID trsve-
ing moro and more quickly. But that Il the eAect
Of rstardstion in any Instance. II our earth u to
b retarded, the effect Will b that our earth VIII
travel more and more rapidly, because the effect
o. the retardation would Be to get the earth
nearaP and nearaP In tia auD and All the time she
u Oeiu8 retaIueo " IesDssuee nsseenso " tns
pail Of the sun drawing her inward, and when ahe
arrives % that she travels on the path o. Venus
sns VIII travel - tass ~ venus ana wnen Havei-
ing the pain Of mercury ehs VIII tfsvel % isst ~
Mercury, then faster and hstef end nster until
In the couis. Of tine she WI Ai On the sun.
Tnis comet ntrsvsiing issser ana is'sF u
smaller and smaller orbit.
/ s COMET or lsss.
su, 1,.,. e,o, ,h.. .,s ,o ~ an. III. s.et, n.
VAILED hv mich m, smo.r thu mort ouriou,-I
mean the comet vhict MAS discovered in lsas. 1t
vas carafnIlv vatchsd and IL VA than found
that this comet had been seen before BY Caroline
/ Hsrshel and others. and \ path was assigned to
II. having n psriod Of six years and eight
month";. Now. this comet was In the nrst place
REMARKABLE. because its path crossed the earths
path: and indeed ON the next return, in lisa, a.
tronomers announced that that comet would
Il 2CIunlly
that thst meant that there would b collision,
and great alarm was excited. A member Of the
Paris Academy said II was inpfudsnt for astroao-
msrs to mako such an announcement for In l7u
| announcements made In that way had frightened
| the people out Of their wits. .-r
In I'M, . hundred years ago, tickets were Of.
fsred for sale purporting to be reserved seats In
Paradise, and people sctually bought those tick
eta rLauGhter.l In lss2 they were not quite %
k>A 49,. ~.
many unfortunate circumstances happened In
France On account Of that fact. They required 70
b. sold-snd then they were mot comfortsd-thst
the mere fact that the comet passed the path Of
the earth would not interfere with the earth: that
the passage across the path Of the earth would
not injurs the path, for the path was not nsss-
rial thing. The people were frightened, and they
were not certain that astronomers had calculated
the path % exactly that there would be NO col.
lision. But that passed away, and nothing more
was heard until lSle, md tH1A the comet vss
found fS&yelinf IN M sSsI nath and to the srsat
sstou,shmsut Of astronomers II vss Announced
tba, tbe comet had divided into two parts. each
having = distinct head and nucleus, II vss NO.
ticed bv Cant. Maury. At the Observatory st
Washington; but strangely enough, on the night
when No observed the comet hao doubied the
e0ores o. Ios oermAa ousessseosy sno"oo tns
comst 70 20 sinsie' sno !" "ooAo sPPssh sns1e-
iofs, 'nss 1ne sIesset sie.lness sns ss"otpnste
IN AmenS ma snaoieo MN 70 feSosniAs 'as
enrS S ue,o " 1919. no'' s - L .
Inc separate eomsts usssieo sions sos "
eide, ana the strange eireunstsnee was noted that
they mIefenaneeo hSnts. nomstlmes one sno
sometimes the othef "ss ofleateI, - Htnofe wefe
communicauon between tnem. Insy ware , kinc
OF siamese Twins. Iney passed INTO space, ana
astronomers thought they could waten the comets
again, ana ASCERTAIN nov they wete separated;
put tne comet was never seen again. Inc year
1855 came around, and astronomsrs calculated the
pain OF tne Gomez. tney iooxeo ior H. iney *
amined the path over the heavens great ois-
lance on either siae' out they iaiied 70 recognise
the comet. itoio you tnAs oomet Pssseo tne pain
Oh the eartn, ana tnefe arc otner syHems Nnicn
ai'o eioss 'ns p..a y. ING e.l.n. sesses.eo
tnst the comet mao sneountereo nsseof sy.tems
ana spnt up. ana was again ana ageM spnt ep'
ana 20 Vanished. lou WIZ ~ tnefe ~ an m
portans connection oetWeen that ana Mnat We
nave learned nhcs soou' tne comeIs history.
The year lslz came, ana that comet was again
looked ior. otne. csieoistions were maze - 70
Ns pam. twas iooAeo iof more esieiuly, out IN
lS12 II was not seen. ieAse hs history iof the
time, presently 10 return ton.
WHY SOME TAILS ARE STRAIGHT AND OTHERS
CURVED.
rbsrs "a. . eomet seen in TAXA and e.Iled
non.t f.. .om.t H.,o n a n,cturc of n. comst
A ,een IN ENGLAND. and n Iooks ITte plume. but
m Am.r,c. tb.t comet v.s oh,.rvsd 10 have not
msr.ly IN, plune-,hapsd body. but also : per.
f.ctly str.irbt tan. and IN some pictures two
.trsisbt t.ii. TO n, IN N. 0rst ri... ds.l
vtth th.t com.t whv sbonld tha tail a. /. comet
h. curv.6, ina nositio, on 4 comst,s tan n dne
to repulsive action. and n that repulsye action
III. nI.ce n "A ouite clear he tan
AZ str.ipht line. no mattar how placed. IL would