, 1880-02-01
PROF. PROCTOR.

Els LAST TWO LECTURES on ASTRONOMY Al
HERSHEY HALL.
Prof. Proctor delivered lecture In Hershey
Music-Hnn yesterday afternoon upon - Comets
and Metcore,' "a subject which. he remarked In
opening, was one Of very great difficulty, not
less to the astronou1ic students Of to-day than
to Those Of ancient times. 1t was true that
science had discovered many interesting facts
regarding these bodies, but this had increased
the difficulties connected with their study US 1t
had added to the mysteries which surround
them.
The lecturer, whose remarks wero illustrated
by number Of largo paintings, opened his alIu-
sions to cou1etary pecuiarities By describing the
successful efforts made by Hcrschcl to define the
course Of the comet of 1880 as that which Now
ton had luid down for it. Newton predicted that
this comet on its rcAppearunce would pIss very
near the sum- and the result showed him to be
correct, the body pnssing within l60, 90 miles Of
tho sun. the rcpulsSe power Of tho latter over
year 1Us2 provided Newton's pupil, HALEY, with
an opportunity to deal more thoroughly with the
question Of Rr,lvity as affecting the movements
Of comets, and, after considering 1t thoroughly,
he predicted that the comet would rcappcAr Id
the year 1i59, date long after his death. In the
meantime other Astronomical mathematicians
had to deal with the subject, and they, realizing
TINT the force of the disturbing influences Of the
plnnets Jupiter and Saturn would delay the
comets renppearance, placed the date Of Its
made, and the comet rcappeared within the time
covered by them. The question Of what formed
the tnil Of the comet was treated at considerable
length by the lecturer, who indorsed Herschcls
theory that It consisted Of clouds Of vnporo1s
nlatfer which the power OF the sun drove from
tho head of the comet. Other theories had been
formed. and one by Prof. TyndalI, which the
lecturer explained fully with fumiiiar ilustra-
ton. that the tuif WIS negative shadow Of the
head Of the comet, had attracted great deal Of
attention, though it had not been received By
astronomers as correct Considerable interest
attached to the recent discovery that there Is a
connection between comets and motcors,-hodies
so small that the astronomer kepler was indig-
tects for astronomical scrutiny. The textbook
from which tho lecturer studied when q boy
disposed of the question of meteors in
short order, but, while the information
it conveyed was given in q confident manner,
the only comment to be made regarding It was
showers of meteors was referred to. the grcat
displays recurring ut an interval Of from thirty
three to thirty-four years, thus showing that
the meteors take about one: third Of n century
beltve this at first, because this period implied
that the meteoF5 had an orbit which carried
them twenty times more distant from the sun
than is the cnr1h, but the discovery that tho
showers OF meteors are cnincfdent with the
tracks Of the comets showed them to be the re-
PEELED particles of those bodies whose orbits
they followed The lecturer stated II number OF
further interesting facts and discoveries cpn-
nected with what Humboldt described as
pocket planets" and In his conclusion again
been accomplished In this peculiar branch Of
research, the field Of study was,
and would probably remain, practically mex
haustible. In the evening the scholar1y Pro-
fessor delivered very interesting lecture on
- The Great Pyramid: It's Purpose and Mean