Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-07-22

I
comet at N, 300, 100000 miles ahead of
the main body at A, and in 1872 We met
like fragments at N, 100000 miles
behind the main body, which should have
been at b. Thus the fragments are strewn
along the comets orbit, probably in clus.
ters, for at least 500, 900 miles. Il
My story of Bielas comet and of its
fragments has covered 100 years. Do we
get any glimpses of its earlier life, and
can we guess how it grew into its present
shape? Yes, we may make our hypothe-
sis. But we must not forget that to tell
others how God must have made the world
is bewitchiug TO many minds, and that of
the thousands of trials at world. building
almost all have been grievous failures.
With this caution let me give you plaus.
bic form of this early story of the Biela.
Once upon time hundreds OF thous-
ands Of years ago, this comet was travel
g in outer space, among the fixed stars,
too far oway 10 be attracted by the sun,
What | mean by this outer starry space
may be told In them the earth's distance
from the sun is 10 inches, and the comets
longest range about 5 feet Upon, the
scale Of these figures only few feet near
est fixed stars, perhaps two or three, only
would he within TIE State Of Connecticui.
In this starry space the comet was travel
ilg. What had happened before | do not
try to guess How, when, by what chang
es, its matter came together and, had be-
como solid, do not know, nor whether, in
fact. it had not always been solid. laar r
In the course Of time its path and the
suns path through space lay alongside of
each other. and the sun drew the comet
down toward itself. If the comet had met
no resistance as it ran round the sun,
whether from the ether that fills space, or
from the suns atmosphere, and if it had
not come near any Of the planets, it would
have gone off again into outer SPACE when
it came. Some such robbed it Of little
Of It's momentum, and it could not quite
rise out Of the suns controlling force, but
itcame around again in an elliptic orbit to
remain thenceforth member of the solar
system. may or it may not have been
great comet, like Donati's lin 1859. II
was probably small one. 1t may have
made its circuit of the sun in tens of thou
sands. N 94I As4'.9+ N'n02 10
AT some time, probably in the early
historic ages, 1t came near the huge planet
Jupiter. When it had gone cut Of hi"
reach it had just momentum enough left tog
go around the sun in its present orbit Of
6S years. 1t went away from Jupiter an
entire and single comet. AS it came rear
the sun, his burning heat acting upon the
cold rocky body Of the comet cracked off
and scattered in every direction small am
gularbits. AT the same time very thin
vapor, shining by its own light, was set
free. 10 this vapor both comet and sun
had an unaceountable repulsion. 1t was
driven off first by the comet every way.
But soop that which was sent toward the
sua was driven back again, and it went
streaming off into space to form the com.
cts tail and process ably set forth BY
Prof Norton. aa.h GO 3Hl'' 4o' p'o1o'9
This matter which made the tail Of the
comet never got back. 1t had. moreover,
nothing whatever to do with the meteoroid
stream. The meteoroids are solid frag-
ments. 10 them the sun. at least, had
little repulsiop. The comet was SO small
that perhaps the force with which boy
can throw stone would have sent the.
bits Of stone entirely off the comet, never
to come back. Those which were shot
forward from the comet near P.
went up along the orbit with greater
velocity and rose higher from the sun than
han the comet did neal d. Having q
longer road to travel, they took longer /
time to come around to 2. in each cire,,it.
On the other hand, those bits which we're
shot backward followed the comet with
less velocity and could not quite rise to
d., and so having shorter rord to 90 oy-,
er came sooner back to p, gaining on the
comet at each circuit. Thus the stream
grew longer slowly, and new fragments
being thrown off at each circuit, the me- 4.
ieorold stream grew in length to its hun /,
dreds ofmillions of miles. At times, the,
main comet has broken into two or more.
parts, giving us the double comets Of lS45,
and 1852 the Pogson comet of 1872, and
the double meteor stream Of November,
1872. "
"A Frenchman having heard the word
MN.