The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-10-06
GRAVE YARDS ABOVE the
CLOUDS!
Dead Worlds Still Revolving
'roud the Living Ones!

"Ibave been watching the star called
the Winking Demon" said the %astrono-
mer, as he extended his hand to pull
the reporter up on the roof. These
autumn mornings are a little chilly,
but the air is SO deliciously pure and
clear that one doesn't mind if it bites a
little. Besides, it is worth the risk OF
catching cold to see the Demon wink.
You are just in time to watch him as
he gradually reopens his eye. Ii you
had come u few minutes earlier you
might have seen him shut it.
Where is this remarkable demon
star r.
There, almost overheard at this
hour. If you want to point him out to
your friends you have only to observe
that he is a little south of that bending
row of stars hat marks the constell :
ton Psrseus, and that there is a little
group Of smaller stars near him. Now,
you see, his light is pretty faint, but
not so faint as it was a few minutes
ago. In three or four hours his eye
will be wide open again, and be will
shine as q star Of the second magni-
suds. These winnings of AIgol, or the
Demon, occur a little oftener than once
in three days.
What causes themf'
"Ah, now you come to the strangest
thing Of all. Is there anything in tie
appearance OF the sky, all giltteiing
with stars, that suggests to your mir d
that it may be a vast cemetery! No,
ridiculous! you say. Very we'll. You
Ill vnnt ,,,,t tt,t th, a,rtb - ,r-nI
is, from ons point of view, only a great
burying ground, which contains the
remains not only Of countlc 8 genera
tions Of men, but of whole races and
tribes of various animals auu plants.
Just 80 in the heavens about Us the
dead are mingled with the living. 1t is
to my mind the most suggestive disco
cry of modern astronomy that the uni
verse is full of dead suns-suns whose
light has gone out, whose fires have
been e%xtinguished, and which no lon.
er shed life-giving and life preserving
rays upon the world that may be imag
iacd yet circling il GOODNESS and gloom
about them. What has this to do with
tho Winkiug Demon3 Why, every
thing. | believe it is generally conce-
led, though, Prof. Newcomb seems to
dissent, that tue variations in the light
Of A:gol are caused by some huge dark
body revolving arOund it at a %frightful
rate of speed. There are other variable
stars whose phenomena can be account
Ell for in the same way. In the case Of
Algol there is evidence that the dark
body is rapidly approaching the star.
drawing nearer with every circle.
When it strikes, if it is to strike, who
can picture the extent of that catss.ro-
phei Then, indeed, that mysterious
dark body will become visible, blazing
with the light Of q hundred suns, and
unable to escape from the fiery destruc-
ton that it has brought upon the
stars
Are there any other dark bodies
like this known to astronomers -
"Oh, yes; the great star Sirius is
accompanied by a huge body Of the
kind. 1t il not altogether dark, for
with large telescopes it can occasion
ally DE seen slimmering faulty close to
there before they got a plimpse Of it,
for it caused disturbances in the pro
per motion Of tho star. Another Of
these dark bodies which astronomers
~ sure exist, although no human eye
yer saw it, is DIGGING the star Procyon,
one of the brightest in the sky. You
may see the star Now low down IN the
east. north OF Sirius and below the
Twins. The invisible body that hovers
about it is evidently Of large size, for
it causes considerable pe~rturbations In
the stars motion. It may once have
been 4 sun as brilliant as PTocyon it
self. but now not a ray comes from 1t.
Still. astronomers can point out the
change. in its position, rs its attraction
pulls the stal now this way and nov
that.
II space j. filled with these mys,e
rious dark bodies, collisions btween
them and living, or light giving. suns
are not impossible, You know that
ouI sun is i'll rapid motion, carrying his
family OF worlds along with HIM in his
flight. So all the stars are instinct
with notion. Our lives arc go short
and their distances are SO great that We
can hardly aDpreciate thasa motions