Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1881-07-30
PROCTOR ON THE PLANETS.
The Noted English Astronomer Says ths
World ia Not 10 be Disturbed.

World is Not 10 be Disturbed.
When Professor Proctor and his
newly-married wife were in Chicago,
short time ago, reporter visited the
celebrated English astronomer, and the
following interesting conversation en-
sued:
Chow much truth is there, Profess
sor," asked the reporter, in all the
worry that the human family is having
Just now about perihelion and floods
and the stars in gencral?"
"Not bit-not bit, laughed the
professor.
"Well, how about the comet some-
body by the name of Swift discovered
the other day?"
"Swift? Is it so? Has he discov-
cred another comet? Well, 1 didn't
know it, Tn sure. Tn the worst per-
son in the world TO come to to learn
about such things now; Tn so busy
travelling and lecturing, you know.
But it's telescope comet, suppose
little fellow-don't amount to much,
probably. But let's take seat, and
I'll tell you about some of these
things"
And, seating himself, the professor
fixed his eye on til office tagging and
turning over the card meditatively be-
tween his fingers, kept gazing at this
and this spot on the stone floor as If
he had constellation in the range Of
vision.
"It used to be thought" said he
"that the stars had an influence on the
weather, on floods, pestilence and all
that sort of thing, but science has dis
proved it. The truth is that the infu-
ence of all the planets together is not
equal to the difference between the
greatest and the least influence which
the moon exerts in year. And if all
the giant planets-th those outside the
earth's orbit-were to come into con-
junction and perihelion, all at the same
time, they would not exert as much in
huence as that very small ratio of the
moons influence, namely, the mere
difference between it's greatest and least
influence"
"Then the world is not going to
pieces this year?"
"Not at all. Why, some of the planets
are coming into conjunction every now
and then all the time. Two of them
came into conjunction on the nineteenth
of last June. Let's see-nothing hap
pened that day, did there?"
"And there will be no more trouble
this year because so many come to-
gether?" queried the reporter.
"There is no more reason to expect
it than that Jupiter has effect on the
sun spots"
The reporter said that somebody had
stated that the developments of astrono-
my We're more and more demonstrating
that there was after all some ground for
ancient astrology. Did the professor
think so?
"On the contrary, if anybody reads
the works of ancient astrology," said he,
"they will see what mistake that is.
The astrologists claimed, not that the
relation of the planets to each other
had any effect on the destinies of men,
but that the position OF the planets in
the sky that is in the canopy above the
horizon-had such effects. For instance,
the ancients thought the stars in the
ascendant-which means those coming
up from the horizoa-were those tina
would influence the career of child
born during their ascendancy but that
had nothing to do with perihelion and
conjunctions."
Well, what about Jupiter's influence
no sun spots, which you spoke of mo-
ment ago."
"Why it has been said that sci entists
admit that Jupiter affects the suns
spots, but the truth is, scientists have
only thought such thing possible, be-
cause Jupiter's period is ten years and
ten months, or about that--of course,
one can't carry all these things in ones
head-and the sun.spots' period is ten
years and one month. But nine months
makes great deal of difference"
"What do you think of the idea that
the sun-spots affect the weather."
81 think they do not do so at all. I
have watched the sun-spots through
cold and warm winters and through hot
and cool summers, and could not see
that they had any effect whatever upon
one another"
Farm and Garden Notes.
Kerosene oil il sure death to insects
of al! kinds and in every stage of theii
development, according to Professor
Dill