The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-06-26
ORIGIN OF COMETS.
proctor on the Difficulties of the
Accepted Theory.
Many of the Known Comets and Meteor
streams We're Expelled from tho
Earth; tho Rest from Other
Planets and the Suns.

A late number of the Nineteenth
Century contains an article on the orr
c;n of the comets, written by Proctor,
Which opens up some new ideas on the
subiect. He considers that the labors
of Schiaparelli, Adams and Tempel
render it probable that every meteoric
stream is or has been associated with a
comet (such train having nothing to
do with the comets tally, and that all
meteoric bodies, from those which ex-
list as dust particles to the largest
known, may be regarded as bodies Of
the same kind, though they may differ
in constitution as much as they do in
mass. But the frst-named idea (due
to S%chiaparelli) does not by any means
carry with it the theory that meteor
. flights are travelling amid the star
depths like fish in the ocean. The giant
planets of the solar system have GER
tainlv forced comets into closed paths,
and caused them to travel around the
sun, but mathematical analysis shows
that a flight of bodies large enough to
produce any Of tho %well-known meteor
streams would have its components
widely scattered by the disturbing &C
ton of the planet, instead of being
forced into one orbit. But there are
about four hundred of these streams
which pass near the orbit of the earth,
and she encounters many millions OF
meteors each year. On the generally
accepted theory of origin and distribu-
ton we must believe that there have
been millions OF millions of comets in
remote times, to account for SO many
CHANGING to cross the earth's track;
with this startling circumstance to be
considered in addition, that ninety
nine out of a hundred of those whose
paths did not cross the earth's track
have entirely disappeared, while a con-
siderable proportion Of those which do
cross that track (and which, therefore,
have been exposed for millions of years
to an extra risk of .destruction) re-
main.
This idea we may safely reject. But
if we do, then we have to account for
a special embarrassing family of
comets and meteor-streams, without
going outside to look for the origin of
such bodies; for the moment we 60
outside we encounter the difficulty
which has driven us from any merely
casual Interpretation. In other words,
we must look to the earth herself to
explain the great majority of these
embarrassing systems, and we have
actually no possible way Of explaining
the terrestrial origin Of any meteors
but in volcanic outbursts. Moreover
we are obliged to set the time when
such outbursts took place very far
back in the past, seeing that at present
the volcanic forces of the earth. even
as manifested at Krakatoa recently,
possess nothing like The power neces-
sary for the election of matter beyond
the range of the earth's back-drawing
power. Looking, however, at the
immense extrusive power Of the
volcanoes Of the tertiary era,
when basaltic. lava covering
hundreds of thousands Of square miles
to q depth Of from one thousand to
fourteen thousand feet was poured
forth, we can conceive the still might
Ter energies of volcanoes in the sec
ondary era, their still more tremendous
power in the primary era, and so, pass
ing backwards to millions Of years be-
yond the first beginnings Of life on the
earth, we can even picture to ourselves
volcanoes ejecting matter with veloc-
tiles Of ten or twelve miles per second.
With such velocities flights of elected
particles would pass beyond the earth's
attraction, and if she were the only
body in the universe such elected mat
ter would travel away from her never
to return.
But, although such expelled bodies
would never return to the earth they
would not escape from the solar sys-
tenn. To drive them forever away
from her the earth would have to inn
part a much larger velocity-an aver
age Of about t~wenty-six miles per sec
ond. The greater number Of tho ex-
PEELED bodies would travel thenceforth
ON an orbit round the sun. crossing the
earth's track at or near the place
where they were first sent forth from
their parent planet
One may almost say that this origin
OF many meteorites and meteor systems
Is forced upon US BY the evidence.
Still It would be negatived If we found
that volcanoes do not eject matter at
all resembling meteorites in structure.
The reverss, however. 10 the case.
Ranging the products Of volcanic ejec.
ton in order according to To amount
pi iron they contain, and ranging !
WN ItNf MHGfME aNft Hf - AM N.