Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1880-07-24
FOUR PLANETS IN PERIHELION.
From the London Telegraph

%" |
Astronomers tell us that we are
upon Il period when An &C.
will take place in the hea-
vcns which TAI not been known for
more than eighteen centuries. The
our largest of the planetary bodies,
Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune,
are approaching their perihelion point
i'll space, are sweeping in their gigan-
tic orbits nearer aud nearer 10 the
sun, and their simultaneous approx
nation TO the central mass OF the
solar system has inspired some minds
with fears as TO the possible results
10 that particular planet OIL which We
dwell. There Is no need for any
anxiety, however, as such an event
has happened several times before,
and probably will happen often again,
without causing the smallest iucon-
venience to any human being. The
perihelIOn of a planet being that
point III its orbit where it comes
nearest to the sun, and all the planets
being at different distances from that
l%ulninary, it follows that some of
them approach the sun-or are in
perihelion mor frequently than
oIlICle NOPtuu0s JuC t1Ook AAoo0uL VI
all, takes one hundred aud s~ixty-four
years to complete it's movement round
the sun; while Jupiter, i'll size. the
king of planets, he whom the Greeks
called Phaeton, and the Egyptians
'.Brilliant," sweeps round in less
than a twelfth part OF that time. The
last occasion when a stellar phenome-
non similar to that which is about to
happen was at the beginning of last
century, when all four Of these wan
dering worlds neared the sun almost
simultaneously. That was. in 1708
and the following years. and, if there
were any ground for surprising that
earthquakes and plaques attended
these unusual events, history ought
to inform US of dire calamities at that
time affecting the globe. Yet there
is no satisfactory proof OF the earth
having been disturbed about that
period /; on the contrary, she scenes
To have adopted an attitude Of per.
iect indiff, renee, in spite of the prox'
unity of the major planets. The
great plague happened in the year
1868, aud can hardly, therefore, be
put down to the malignant influence
of planetary %perlhelia more especial
~ as it can be accounted fOrb by Other
causes such as u~nsanltary conditions
of life, and all absence of q sufficient
amount of fruit and fresh vegetables
in the popular diet Of the age. L
there are any who would attribute
The war of the succession to these
resplendent heavenly bodies, they
should, III common fairness, to Jupi
ter aud Neptune, remember that tht
peace OF Utrecht, which ended TIT
contest, was happily cemented il
l7l3, at y time when, according Il
.~siro!Ogy, not only ''the dogs q
war;" but the more terrible wolves o
famine, to say nothing of earth
luakes and tempests, ought to hav'
been reVellug in slaughter all owe
the world. Why should we asGrib
baleful powers to any conjunction O
the countless host of heaven? Their
is really Ito shadow Of ASTRONOMERS
ground for believing hal the othe
planets exercise any sensible swa
over the meteorological condition
under which we live. The perturt
ing power of these bodies is limite
TO slightly altering the eliptical orb
Of the earth, and beyond that the
have assumed toward our sipalle
f planet an attitude of perfect con
placency.