Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-11-06
PERIHELION AND PESTILENCE.
What May Ensue During the Next Seven
Years--A Period of Suffering and
Science of Health

If there is anything in astrological
crlology,' we are approaching one of
the most pestilential periods of the
ment Of the Christian ara TIE perihelia
of the four great planets of the solar
system-Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn and
Neptune-have not been coincident.
But this is about to occur, and, in the
language of DR.. Knapp, who has traced
the history Of the greatest epidemics
that ever afflicted the human race to
the perihelia of these planets, there
will soon be ''hvely times for the doc
tors" The theory is that when one or
more of the large planets is nearest to
the sun, the temperature and condition
Of our atmosphere are SO disturbed as
to cause injurious vicissitudes, terrible
rains prolonged drouths, etc., resulting
in the destruction of crops, and pesti-
lence among human beings and do
mestic animals. ''.' lrr,aa
DR.. Knapp has collected a mass Of
statistical data, all going to show that
perihellon data nave always been
marked by unusual mortality, and that
sickness and death have invariably cor
responded with the planets in peri
helon at the same time. The revolu-
ton of Jupiter around the sun is accom-
plished in little less than twelve years;
of Saturn in little; less, than thirty years;
Of Uranus in about eighty-four years. If
| it be true therefore, that. the perihelia
Of these planets occasion atmospheric
conditions unfavorable to life, pestilen-
| tial periods should occur once in a
dozen years, and aggravated and still
more widespread epidemics latilonger
intervals. In tracing the history, of ep-i
idemics for more than 5000 years, Dr.,
Knapp finds the facts in all cases to
validate the theory. Thus in the
sixth q and sixteenth centuries,
three of these planets were
coincident in perihelion,. and those
were the most pestilential times of the
Christian era. .- -~''3G
I But soon we are to have, for the first
time in two thousand years. all four of
these planets against us. They will be
at their nearest approach to the sun in
or soon after 1880, so that for a. few
years, say from 1880 to 1885, the vitality
of every living thing will be put to a Sc
we're and trying ordeal. Some persons
think they see in the signs of the times
evidences of the great disasters in the
immediate future. The excessive heat,
the unexampled cold, the prevalence Of
flood disasters atsea, the general failure,
of the potato crop, the widespread chill
fever among human beings, and the
equal presence of the epizootic among
animals, are mentioned as among the
premonitions Of the. rapidly approach.
ing perihelion. .z@ -{Fl NJ aautro
| Well, "to be forewarned is to be fore
armed Accidents excepted, we know,
very well that the persons Of more Wig
orous constitutions and more hygienic
habits will have the better chance to
survive whatever adverse influences the
extraordinary perihelia will occasion. 1t
is well known to physicians that in al
pestilences, plague, typhus, smallpox
cholera, murrain, etc., the incorporate,
the dissipated, and those whose. osani-
tary conditions were bad furnished the
victims. So
We do not write to alarm any one,
nor to make sensation We state the
facts which all history attests. Readers
can judge for themselves what impor-
lance to attach to the subject. That the
conjoint perihelion Of the large planets
of the solar system, one, of which, ,Jupi-
ter, is a thousand times larger than the,
earth, must disturb our atmosp here and
temperature very considerably, is prob
able; that this disturbance must be in
furious to health and life is certain, and
that these periods have heretofore been
pestilential is a matter eff record How
much we shall suffer, during the next
dozen or fifteen years, depends very.
much upon how nearly we live life in
accordance with the laws Of life. q +Ie
g EMPLOYEES of the Custom Houses of
the United States whose work is done
outside are obliged to wear uniforms
of blue cloth, with regulation buttons,
and indications of the rank Of the
| wearer.