, 1882-11-04

at an earlier time, though perhaps earlier
only by a few hours. Doubtless the oval
form of the nucleus was due to an enve-
l0pe, which, first thrown upwards towards
the sun, had already begun to yield to the
repulsive force, and may go to swell the
splendOr ofthe comet for tomorrow. This
explanation of the formation of a comets
tail, due to ObberS, is the only one which
is i'll the least satisfactory. Its only diff
Guilty is it's failure to account for the rever-
sal of the ordinary action of the sun,
which i'll every other known case is at
tractive.
But the comet is not alone interesting
on account of its splendOr, or as a repre-
scnta tive of a class of bodies which has
excited the prOfOundest emotions in man
kind from time immemorial; men of sci.
ence all over the world are observing it
with the deepest interest. That it, with
one other alone, has exhibited in the spec
troscope lines characteristic of iridium
yapOr, instead of just such a series of
bands as we may observe in the spectrum
OF the blue band of a lamp or gas flame,
and which we had come to regard as char
lcteriStic of comets, is doubtless Signif-
cant, but we may readily overrate its i'm
pOrtance. What is OF prime Importance,
however, is its near approach to the sun
and its relation to certain other comets.
According to elements of the orbit, cal
culated at Washington and published on
the oath, the nearest approach to the sun
was on the 18th, at which time its dis
tance from the SUMS centre was only
100000 miles, somewhat less than the
diameter Of the sun computations at
Cambridge, founded on later observations
and published on the Goth, reduce this
EISf1npp tn 2HT O0O. 1pilnC - .1;r+o,,.n. o-i
IDENTITY 100 small, because less than the radi.
u8 Ct the sun.
As soon as three observations of comet
have been obtained astronomers are able
20 compute an approximate orbit, the
approximation depending upon the accu-
racy OF the Observations. This done they
not only can predict the position Of the
comet for some time in advance, but they
are then first III a position to tell whether
1t resembles any other known comet, for
these bodies assume such Pr0tcau shapes
thai they can be recognized by the forms
of their paths alone. Professor Boss, Of
the Dudley observatory at Albany, was
led to PROFOUND the theory that, owing to
the essential rcSemblanceS in the orbits,
the comets of 1913, of 1880 and this one
are identical. Whether he is correct or
not remains to be proved by further ObScr-
, N' AOAo Stliu NAoOOIdlC CIlCuIulIOlISt Uub
whatever Professor Boss proposes is sure
to be received with the most respectful
consideration by all astronomers. If his
theory is established We have evidence OF
d most extraordinary resistance to the
motion OF the comet somewhere in its
course, probably when near the sun, and
a further study may teach us much con-
corning the conditions obtaining near the
sun which we might hope in vain for
otherwise.
There is one other point III this cOnnec-
ton, Which, though purely hypothetical,
has sufficient FEASIBILITY to render it inte-
resting. If Prof. Boss is correct in his
VIEWS, 1t is clear that the comet cannot
long escape its ultimate fate of falling
INTO the sun. Have we not some evidence
that this fate has in part already come
upon 1t! Let us see what evidence lies at
hand: There are now on the sun Il num-
Der OF enormous spots, which, on the 18th,
were on that portion of the sun nearest
the comet at its nearest approach. The
formation OF a sun spot is attended with
enormous disturbances in the philosophers,
and, in all probability, any great distur-
bances III the philosophers would betray
itself in the formation of spots. The decay
OF a comet is known to produce a stream
OF meteors; and, if Prof. Boss is right,
this comet has long since commenced to
decay, for 1t Is now no new comet to our
system, and no comet can belong to us
without loss of its integrity. Nothing,
then, can be more natural than to conclude
that certain outlying fragments of the
swarm of mntnnra uhioI, 1noEn ~. +lo