The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-05-25

early training was not the logical prepare
ton. The very difference between the ex-
preston OF the countenances Of college bred
men and business-bred men tells the story.
The Wonders Of Celestial Journey.
Recent researches on periodical comets
have brought into stronger light the rela-
lions OF the solar system with the contents
of surrounding space. A comet has not only
come to be regarded as simply compare
lively compact mass OF meteors, which,
through the effects Of solar and planetary
attraction, is gradually scattered along its
orbit; but the latest Investigations lead back
to LAPIACE's conclusion that comets are
visitors from interstellar space, and that it
is only through the interfering attraction Of
the larger planets that they are turned into
permanent members Of the suns family.
For those that thus fall under the
dominion of the sun Is reserved the
fate OF gradual dlsintegratlon into swarms
of meteors. The sparks that everybody has
seen darting through the sky annually in
August and November are but the scattered
relics OF great comets that may once have
affrighted the world. Within fifty years
man has actually beheld the destruction of
a comet and the process Of Its transforma-
ton into a meteoric swarm. We refer to
BIELA's comet, which was first split in two
In 1916. and afterward entirely broken up,
so that it has disappeared as q comet al
though regularly recurring meteor showers
at the crossing point Of its orbit and that OF
the earth show that the substance Of the
comet has not been destroyed, but simply
dispersed. A piece Of this comet that fell
in Mexico few years ago is one Of the most
precious possessions OF astronomers.
But If a comet drawn into the solar sys-
tenn from outer space approaches the sun
near enough, 1t may suffer disaster from the
encounter. even though it should escape
capture and fly off again into unknown
depths. The great comet Of 1882, which was
for a few days so bright that it could be
seen at MONDAY skimming close to the sun
like a white bird, was torn asunder In its
perihelion passage. There Is no certainty
that this is a periodical comet; and II it Is
not. 1t Is now sailing through space in a
dishevelled condition, as result OF It's meet
ing with the solar giant that guides the
destines OF our planetary system.
The more one considers these celestial en-
counters, the stranger seem the adventures
stupendous voyage through space. 1t Is
hardly necessary to remind our readers that
this voyage Is an actual one; that the sun Is
really carrying us with him toward the
northern quarter OF the armament at least
two hundred million miles every year.
railroad train does not more certainly whirl
us to our destination than by this great
solar migration we are swept on through
the abyss of the heavens toward the con-
stellatlon of Hercules. Only in the one
case the rate Of speed Is more accurately
ascertained than in the other. The widest
imaginings of the Eastern story tellers. with
their magic carpets and enchanted horses,
appear spiritless In comparison with what
science tells OF the wonderful flight In which
the inhabitants OF the earth all unconscious
ly are engaged. A. celestial eye that closed
In the slumber OF the gods while beholding
ADAM enjoying the delights Of Eden, If sud-
denly opened now, would look In vain for the
pleasant fields and woods OF Paradise. They
would have disappeared with their unfortu-
nate inhabiant; and even the earth that
bore them would be gone, vanished, leaving
only the emptiness of space where that
vision OF happiness had been. The
blazing orb that shone upon Eden
would likewise have departed; and the
sleeper awakened would find himself
plunged In eternal night and the awful cold
OF sunless space. During his sleep the
whole system would have passed on, leav-
ing him behind millions Of millions OF miles
like an abandoned traveller in the desert. II
there were no intervention OF Divine knowl-
edge, the sudden sounding OF the judgment
trump would produce most strange spec
tacle in the universe when troops OF de-
parted souls thronged in the wake OF the
flying earth searching for the bodies that
they had left when the globe was in far dis
tant regions of space.
But, as we have said the greatest attrac- |
ton of this story OF astronomy for the mind |
lies in the certainty that it is absolutely true.
We are actually going on this celestial jour
ney in vast spiral track, the direction OF |
which Is governed by the combined influence |
of the suns attraction and that amazing I'm |
pulse, whatever its origin may be, which |
keeps the sun itself ever flying northward. |
And as we go what adventures we are hav- |
ing! Out Of the pro'undty Of surrounding |
space as We plough through 1t, come comets |
rushing sunward, and then rushing back |
starward, trailing the electric splendors
OF their trains across the sky. In past ages
they affrghted the nations; now the astrono-
mers with mathematical precision predict
their motions, and when they have disap-
peared tell us whether thcy have escaped
for good, or if not, in how many years they
will be back again. The increase in the
power OF telescopes and In the number OF
observers has resulted In the discovery that
"A va lus - L.