Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-04

The comet and the end of the world. Like
blossom and flower, they belong to each
other in the mind of man.
By basing deduction on astronomical fig
ures that are strictly exact. 1T is possible to
deduce that in the last two thousand years
alone a quarter of million comets have
traversed our solar system.
We know too that our earth has passed
through what were remnants. at least OIL
comet swarms even In our own day.
From this we should have to conclude
that the danger of collision between earth
and comet does indeed hang over us ike
a sword of Damocles.
But let us consider the matter in the light
of another solidly founded science.
We can count at least six thousand years
for the history of our human species IN
the sense of history of culture. Ihese
six thousand years are only a tiny 1racton
of the time during which man mas exiSteu
on the earth And again, this greater pc
riod of time is insignificant when compared
with the tremendous lengths of time dur
ing which animal and plant life developed
on the earth before the Creature HAL wa"
even possible.
There is a drastic way to show the Won
derful contrast between the mlihons Oh
years of world history and the few thou
sands of years of man history.
Suppose that the millions OF years since
the world began were represented by one
day of twenty four hours. In that one DAY
the prmordial history of the world woulo
occupy twelve and one-half hours. from
midnight until half-past II noon. the 1oi.
lowing epoch during which the present coai
layers were green forests and the fish de-
veloped themselves to lizard fish. sataman-
ders and lizards. takes up the succeeding
eight hours and five minutes-till about
half past s in the evening. Then come the
iDIt h,nu rion hpir
to quarter-past II at night.
Now we have left only three-quarters OF
an hour. That time. with the exception OF
only two minutes. is occupied by the devel-
opment of the tertiary world-the world OF
the monster mammals. And the two min
utes that are left-they are the time of the
whole life of the creature man from the
glacial epoch until now And only the last
5000 years are history Of civilized man
in other words, the last five seconds of
those last two minutes!
Let apply this to the question Of the
terrible comet.
In those "fve seconds comets have
passed through the path of the earth at
least 500 times: in whole solar system
there were, no doubt. hundreds of thou
sands. perhaps many three-quarters
of million. Now calculate: so many in
five seconds means how many in twenty
four hours?
One gets a new idea of the heavens.
No Catastrophe in Eons.
And yet in all those twenty-four hours
one hundred millions of years-there has
not been a serious collision between the
earth and any meteor. Never have there
been devastating catastrophes on this
planet. Never has the steady evolution of
life on earth been interrupted. Never could
the thread have been torn between the old
est. primeval bacillus and the man of to-
day. Had 1t been otherwise man could not
be here now. Not the tiniest vestige in all
the geological layers of those almost end
less epochs hints at the wild fall of any,
thing from the sky at rude encroach-
ments on the chemical substance of our at
mosphere
This permits only two conclusions In the
millions of years during which comets
swarmcd through the planetary system by
millions and more millions there either
has never been grave collision between
earth and comet or the earth has passed
through so many hundreds of thousands OF
comet tails comet heads. comet parts OF
every kind-and they puffed themselves
into harmless star showers on striking
our atmosphere.
In either case there appears to be nothing
in the scare about comets. If ,lie planets
appear as the big, protected childi en- of the
sun. the comets are like gaudy soap bubbles
that play around the children's heads. Who
is afraid to run into a soap bubble with his
hard head?
But suppose the sun were some day to
eat her child. the earth.
Suppose the flight OF the earth were to
lessen Immediately the attraction of the
sun would become predominant. the earths
path would change from circle to
spiral. The great power would pull the lit
tie planet to its heart. A shocK-and the
earth planet goes up in steam. turns into
flaming gases. The sun. which. perhaps.
gave birth to the world uncountei millions
of years ago, has taken it back. An awful
mystery play
If the Sun Dies.
Or, some day the sun becomes dark.
Not as the result of a harmless eclipse
Its spots have been growing alarmingly.
In that day the veil will not lit at all. A
cold rind has formed the kissing
hearth of the giant
Then. to the eyes of distant observers on