Charlotte home and Democrat., 1882-01-13
The Mystery of the Weather.
Il Neso Theory by Hon. Ihos. L. Cling
man of North Carolina.

The Mystery of the Weather.
Il Neso Theory by Hon. 7hos. Z. Cling
man of North Carolina.
When in this city few months ago l
remarked to you that as your paper had
contained several articles on the remarka-
BILE weather of the season, | wished to
suggest something for the consideration of
the astronomers. was called away from
the city suddenly, however, and l now
present the question.
1t strikes me as not improbable that the
extraordinary weather of the year that
has Just passed away is due to one or more
of the comets that have been observed.
| Though there is much doubt as TO many
of the features and qualities of comets, yet
there are some of their characteristics
which are unmistakable.
In the first place, they often exhibit
tails of great length. For example, that
which was seen in March, le43, must have
had tail of nearly a hundred million
miles in length. Near the comet the tail
is brightest-in fact, often having the ap-
pearance of solid mass. AS the tail re-
cedes from the comet it becomes less dis
tinct, and after appearing as faint haze,
gradually becomes invisible to the naked
eye, but may be seen with the aid Of tele-
scopes at a greater length. There can
scarcely, however, be a doubt but that
the tail is longer even than the best tele
scope discovers it to be- If the visible
tail be twenty million miles in length,
then let it, for illustration, be assumed
that the density of the tail nearest the
nucleus or head of the comet is 100, at ten
million miles is so, and at the outer visi-
BILE portion 10, owing to the diminution of
the number of particles contained in it.
There can be little doubt but that this tail
extends much further than it is seen to do.
In fact, there might be large amount of
matter, in minute particles or in gaseous
form, which would not be observed.
Even in our clearest weather the air con-
talns an immense amount of minute par
ticles. You may remember that Sir j ohm
Tyndal has made some interesting publ
cations on this point.
Again, if comets consist of matter so
much heated as to be self-luminous, there
can be no doubt that great quantities of
gaseous matter would be found in the pro-
longations of the visible tails. It seems
not improbable, therefore, that if the visi-
bic tail of a comet should extend twenty
millions of miles, the invisible portion
might reach to thirty or forty million
miles.
If the earth in its revolution about the
sun should pass through the tail or por-
tion of the tail of one of these comets, its
outer atmosphere would receive heat. If,
for example, comets and their tails consist
Of heated matter, Of course the earth
would acquire some of that heat. But
suppose we adopt the other view that the
matter of which the tails Of comets are
composed is cold, then the same result
would follow. If the cometary matter
consists of minute particles, it would re-
semble those small meteors which are Of
ten observed, and which are consumed in
the atmosphere before they reach the sur
face of the earth. The earth is moving
through space at speed nearly one hun
dred times as great as a cannon ball moves
after it has gone one mile from the gun.
The particles of the comets tail tharnforo,
swrepfng through the earth's atmosphere
at this speed, would be, by its friction,
intensely heated, and, of course, this heat
would be absorbed into our atmosphere
Whatever, therefore, be our opinion as to
the different theories with respect to the
nature of comets, the passage of our earth
through the tail of one of them would re-
suit in the attraction to it of more or less
heat.
Again, with respect to the height of the
earth's atmosphere, the old opinion of
Newton must be abandoned. In an article
on the great meteor of 1860, which /
published about ten years ago in Apple
toms Magazine, the facts there stated
make it evident that the atmosphere must
extend much more than $50 miles above
4 ho ~fo
that time Prof. Newcombe told me that
he regarded that article as furnishing the
best evidence of the height of the earth's
atmosphere that had been given. If, then,
our outer atmosphere should get into con-
tact with portions of the tail OF comet,
we might not at the time perceive it. If
portions of the upper air of the earth thus
became heated, that air, being thereby
rendered still lighter from its expansion
through the heat impaired, would remain
for a time in the outer portions of our
atmosphere. Gradually by mixture and
cooling it would get nearer the earth.
When this air came down to the regions
of our higher clouds, what would be the
effect produced 4? We know that clouds
are formed by the cooling of the air
saturated with moisture, which thus causes
particles of cloud to be formed.
We often see this illustrated about the
surface of the earth. In the morning the
valleys show fog in the summer This
fog is caused because the moisture which
arises from the warm streams, when it gets
up into the air, cooled during the night, is
condensed into vesicles or small particles
OF water. When, however, the sun rises
and the air is warmed, this fog is recon-
verified into vanor Of wafer and hocouos
invisible. But along the sides of the
mountains, where the air is still cool, the
fog remains for time. Toward midday
it is only seen about the tops of the noun
tains or at great elevations, where the air
is still cool. Now, it is obvious that if the
upper air were as warm as the lower no
cloud would be seen. Hence, if one of
these comets had warmed the upper at
mosphere of the earth no cloud would be
formed. In fact, if one formed lower down
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