Putnam patriot., 1908-10-30
Donati' Comet.
REV. ]. r. IRoW BRIDGE.

"The Comet He ts on his way,
 And singing as he flies,
 The whizzing planets shrink before
 The spectre of the skies,
 An, well may regal orbs burn blue,
 And satellites turn pale,
 Ten million miles of shining head,
 Ten billion leagues of tail.'
 Just fifty years ago, in these beauti- ful October nights, Donati's Comet was visible 10 the inhabitants of New Eng land. A more glorious sight had never before been seen in the sky by those who were then living, only n small pro- portion of whom are still on the earth 10 tell the story of their vision. It won the closest attention not only of the astronomers but also of the common people. The writer of these lines--then youth of eight years-saw if from the summit of n high hill in eastern Con necticut, here his fathers farm house was situated. Night after night, as Inc darkness drew on, the comet ap- peared in the northern sky and moved in n southeastcrly direction across the heavens. It's most glowing colors be- came visible about the middle Of the month when the comet itself was, ac- cording io Prof. Hond's computations, only nfty-two million of miles away, or but liiile more than half our dis- tance from the sun. The tail of this wonderful iumiuary was of delicate rose color; but it's length, curving some what after the fas hion of an immense quill, was not as great as Dr. Holmes stated 1t to be in that humorous poem written at ihe time the hrst stanka of which k placed at the head of our ar ticlel for astronomers estimated it al six million miles. It's velocity, how ever, too rapid for all comprehension, was al the rate of ion,o0 miles per hour; "whizxingn Is no word for such speed. And yet the greater wonder to the scientific mind was that the tail managed to go ahead of the comet H. self, as the path receded from the sun. Through the vast depths of nebnlous matter which composed this mighty appcndagv the faintes, stars shone witb almost undimmed brightness.
 Although this comet was named in honor ef the great astronomer, ponati, there Is wide difference of opinion as to its identity. IL Is \ very difficult task to fix the identity of these cratic bodies. Their orbits and the periods of their circuit are varied by the influence Of the planets which they happen 10 approach, and their forms change in fact ss well as In appearance. Rielas comet, for example, which was seen in America in isae, with only one head, appeared again In iss6 with two, So as 10 be seen like two comets coursing through the sky side by side. Some astronomers in iSas believed that their unusual visitant of the heavens was the comet generally known AS "the comet of Charles V, which was seen in laos with such brightness that il WAS visible in the daylight. IL disappear ed on the day of Pope uroan's death, aud the Roman church understood, in that age ef superstition, thai il was sent ,o warn the world of The ap- proaeh af that event. When, there fore, il appeared again in iAae, Charles S. of France, supposed that il meant he was about to die, and he accossi- ingly aesiicated his throne, and pre- pared ,te leave the world when the comet should retire from human Si- sion. But he survived several years notwithstanding.
 ] Comets in those days were asaally regarded as portents oi the greatest