Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1880-04-02
The Terrors of PcrihelIpn.

OF the law, but certainly it is only ON
step from it for public journals to her
aid with display headlines, and in higl
: colored sentences, the terrible calami
Sites u follow the coming perihelion o.
the Planets. One would think that
scfence itself had decided that the two
years Immediately in the future were
destined to be filled with war, famine,
fires, plaques and genera! destruction,
whereas all this talk is the sheerest
hSrbeAce, I'D which no man of science
would for a moment indulge. 1t was
started by lingering faith in astrolo-
gy, and making a startling paragraph,
it has gone the rounds of the press,
nowhere meeting with the condemna-
ton it deserves. 1t is discouraging
sekswhch Journalists, whose high cali
IND il to teach the people, who look to
1hlln Tor dailysfood, sacrifice the truth
to the love of the wonderful and start
ling. ~ ~ ~
Now, ittnay be said that the state
ment that wonderful and unusual
changes occurred at the time Of peri
helions, is utterly without foundation,
or that any planet has ever been dem
onstrated to have more decided in
fuence at one time than another over
mankind. That the planets have such
influence we do not dispute, but that
it is SO great as to cause a mighty or
ganic or spiritual changes, is baseless
assertion. That passing planet may
influence the earth may be quite pos
sible, for the earth is much less in size
than any of the exterior orhs, but
their influence on the, sun, and thus
indirectly on the earth, is quite an
other consideration, and when we re-
gard the Insignificant size Of the plan
cts in comparison with the sun we
perceive that the cause Is wholly mad
.Sqaatc TO the effect. Besides the fact
that at perihelon it is always possible
'f0r the planets to be at their furthest
from the earth, renders the idea Of
their greater influence on our orb un-
tenable. #
The planets are usually balanced in
their orbits around the sun, as their
periodic times arc various, and rarely
ever reach their pcrihclion, or in other
words the nearest point in Their orbit
to the sun at the same time. The
resder will better understand this sub
joct il he will remember that the plan
cts do not revolve around the sun in
circles, but in slight ellipses, and the
sun is placed out Of the center to-
wards ore end oil the elliptic orbit
Ibis brings the planes at one point Of
nj revelation nearer the sun than at
sIyFsthora Jupiter, The largest Of the
rrts, rsyolves around the sun in
eleven years ten months and nine days
and once in that tins approaches
4d,S04, 900 nearer than at the other
half Of its long year, when instead OF
being 452,744,000 miles, it is 49S,-
638, 900 miles distant
Now the influence of Jupiter, what
over it may he, is more than all the
rest Of the planets combined, for if we
take the mass Of the earth as ! 900,
that Of Jupiter is 500, $50, and that of
all the remaining members of the solar
system except the sun, is only l2l, 243.
But when we compare the combined
mascot Sthd planets and asteroids with
shat OF the sun, it will be seen that it
forms y very insignificant factor, tor
while the masses of the sun, taking
the earth as 1000, il $4,000, 900,
that of all the planets and asteroids is
only Az, l03. This proportion, ex-
pressed jim popular terms, would be
|O&pt that sustained by a poa to
good sized orange
In case of the earth, it is seen that
although in perihelion it is about three
millions of miles nearer the sun than
in sphelion, and as this takes place
every year IL certainly should have
been observed to have some effect on
organic beings. That none such have
been observed is almost conclusive
proof that no sensible influence is d.
rectly erected
All that has been said of Jupiter
holds good in regard to Saturn, only
in greater degree, for Saturn, s.l-
xh0uA 700 times the volume of the
With, Il only 90 times greater in mass.
It's greatest distance from the sun is
920,973, 900 miles, and least S7l,973,.
600, or 100000. Its mean dis
~ {therefprr, Is nearly ten times
\ Ethsn that Of the earth. It is
III sesident that although Saturn
would, if placed in the earth's orbit,
exert ninety times greater influence
6Ah that orb, yet at its remote bounds
sjta e$frts no more on the sun than
'd6es me earth. Intlis case as in that
Of Jupiter the difference in attraction
Ietween aphelion and peiihel;on wculsl
not be sufficient to cause any alarming
cbsugss either in the sun or in tie
earth. Certainly ii we find 10 change