, 1879-08-09

and, while tl,cy rcrc very close to such p1anet,
he would be able to drag them quilts out Of their
former eonrsc. This the plnnct Uranus seems
to haye done, and whom, pursuing hls own
course, he agatn rot too far off to INFLUENCE
them sensibsY, they found md themselves moving
cordingsy began the now orbit round the sun,
whtcl, corresponds to the sltunsion into which
they have been brought. autl the direction and
moderate speed Of their new mutton.
They seem to have pRsscd Uranus while they
were still u small, compact cluster. Never
thclcsa those members OF tic group which
happened to be next the planet Us tfes swept
iurco tlan tho rest, tic farlcst members oi tic
group With tho icast. The result OF this must
inevitably hare been that, when the group wcre
auon nftcr abandoned to themselves, they did
not flnd themselves 10 closely compactca rs bo.
fore, nor moving with On absolutely idonsicai
motion, but With motions which differed, al.
though perhaps verY little, from one another:
These arc conditions which would havo atartcd
them In those slightly different orbits round tho
sun, which, rs We hayo seen, would cause them,
rs t!Ino wore On, to be drawn out into tho ling
stEeatn IN whtcl NC now, after seventeen cen-
turies, find them.
What Is hero certain Is, that there was
delnlte time when the metcors eutertd upon
the patti thuY arr now pursuing; that this time
WA the end Of February or beginning 0f March
tn tic year 123 IL still tnntter of probability
Sn e 4 "a s q aFeesSs eo%a e1es4;
hut astronomers arc hot yet H. position to
usscrt that it is nsccttaInetl, slnce ono
llnk 'n tho, co'n;fete chain Of nroof
IN possession Of this link ii our ancestors had d
made sufficiently full observations; md our
poster!ty will hasc 1t whou they compare the
observations they can u,ake With thosc which
wo aro now carefully placing Oh record fur their
uso. They viii then know whether the rate ut
whtcl, the stream is lengthcntng out Ia surh us
to indicate 1hat a. D. LII WIS thu year In which
this process begun. II SO, lie Vcrr!cr's hyposil*
c6Ea will be fully proved.
Another episouo
IN THE EyENTPuL nIsronr
| OF these tnctcors Is also known with considera-
| blo probability. 1t has bcen already mentioned
that comet Is travelling a!ong tho same patl! ns
| the meteors: 1t Is moving a vory H.
cnt lust ar the lisal OF she process
sion which they make through space. Another
comet IL similarly moving In thu truck OF ihn
great elliptic ring OF August n.otcors. III l8G7
lie lecturer yen,nrcd to suggest au ialnortant
Junction whief. tI,csv comets scsna to have tlls-
| charged. Picture to yourselves mass OF Cas
before 1t hoca,nu connected With t!u solar aya.
tenn, travelling through sDacc at distance from
the sun Or aliy 0tlIer stnr. Motcors would Low
nnd then pass III various directions, n,,d with
yariu,.s yclocit!cs, through its substance. For
The 1Aost part they woull e, entirely through
and pass out agatn; but In every such case tic
nlotsar would leave the comet with less yctueity
than T. Ind when appuachlug It. And in sona
cases ths reduced velocity would he buet ulat
thu future patn of the netsor would 1a MI o.
ltpso rouul! the cosuet. Whenever this WAS
once brought to pass, tic mstsur would iuryltA-
bly return agAn n'nl a:sal,l to tho comet, cnch
tEIlu passing through some part uf lts sl,stauee,
and Ut every .paasaEo losIn. hpce!i. After each
loss Of srocd tho cltpse \ would next Proceed
until At last tile lnotoor would siuk entirely
tuto tits gas md be fugulfcsi by Il. ln this way
meteor after meteor wnu1d settle down through
tho comet, nnd, In tho end. iust such clustst
Eould ho formed o. catno across the p!htle1
uraous IN ting ycur f2', or, II such cluster ex
listed originally w,thtu Tho .nnss Of gas, IL would
In thia war 10 augmented. As tho
COMET sw2pT FAST rlIk PLANET,
Its outlying parts would sceul to have Erazetl
biz Bonlewh4t more rckartlol than tho nlete0rs
and IN tho centurGs which AaTc since elapsed
tho ,aetcora have gone so much ahead Of the
comet tt'at !lcy are now trca.!lnE on his heel.
an.l on ,hu poiut Of oyertakng him. while prob
ably tho u! has again brought together sinai!
er cluster Ut lneteors.
Ilse question now arEses, How tho lcscrts o
spaec which extend from star TO atar cu&llo 10 be
tal!autel here nI,d .iero hy patch of "a. or al
occasional metcorital Light has beun throw
OIL this Inquiry by discoveries mado with thu
spertEoAcopuin modern tfniasand BY observation
during ellpzes. Tllcse have revealed to II
the fact tllat violent outpurdts occa
upon tho sun. md doubtless on osl.e
stars, 80 swift that sts ulrrush must sometime
carry matter etcar away into outer space. I'm
asino such .lass consisting in part Of axe.
yas and IN part Of toa1auaable vapors oIectet
from sums star. AZ IL travels fofwartl tho VI
pora cool Into neteoritcs, whila tits liked ~
Spreads aar'ad llks sreat nut, to entany!
o,hcr metaprs. lu SOME eases both might travc
t0yothts; III otlerb ttie gaseous portion wou
ho retarded before 1t passed. beyond tbs ucigt
borM,ol of thn star, and thu acnser meteor
would gel ahead Hut even 50 III THE lupse u
ages ofl!sr mutuoEs would be caught, 81 t!lat /
anT eYe,lt 4 cluster would at lengih be lor!nv]