The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-05-10
THE FARMER md MECHANIC

l "1lt&t4 !
has been preserved, in spite Of the
TACT that we now have scarcely anv |
rear OF comets and still less Of
Turks.
Eyesight OF the Imagination.
This comet, 70 rmo is no ex-
ception to the general rule that these
mysterious stars have had the gift of
exercising on the imagination an in
1luenc which plunged it into ecstasy
or ma Swords of fire, bloody
crosses flaming ~daggers, lances,
dragons, monsters Jaws. and other
eplthets of the same kind are Iavished
upon them in the Middle Ages and in
the Renaissance. Comets like that of
1870 actually seem to justify, by their
strange forms, the title with which
they are generally saluted. III most
serious writer's cannot shake off his
terror. Thus, in a chapter on Heav-
emily Monsters, the celehsated surgeon,
Ambrose Pare, depicts in the most
vivid and ~rightfu colors. the comet
of 1923: This comet was 50 horrible
and so ~frightful, and it produced such
great terror among the common peo-
pie, that some died Of fear; others
fell sick. 1t appeared to be OF excess
slve length, and was the color of
blood; at the head of it one could see
the outline of a bent arm, holding a
large sword in its hand, as if it had
desired to strike. At the end of the
EoiIit tIlSIe were tIIee stars ol DOtll
sides of the rays of this comet there
were seen a great many battle-axes,
knives, swords stained with blood,
among which there were a large num-
Der of hideous human faces with
boards and hair on end
1t is evident that the. m agination
has good eyesight when it sets about
it.
Even the scientist BernOuilli was
not free from the superstition, and
he perpetuates it by saying that if the
body of the comet is not a visible sign
of the wrath of God, the tail might
we'll be one. It is to this comet that
Winston attributed the deluge, relying
on mathematical calculations as alb
stract as they were weakly grounded
in their premises.
Comet and the DeIuge.
This EngliShman, contemporary of
Newton, both theologian and ~astrono-
mer, published in 1896 "a Theory Of
the Earth in which he proposed to
explain by the motion of a comet the
geological revolutions and the events
in the Book OF Genesis. His theory
was at first entirely Hypothetical, not
applying to any one comet in particu-
lar, but when Haley had assigned to
the amous commet of 1880 an clip
teal orbit traversed in SIS years, and
Winston, going back in history, had
found as the date of q former ap-
pearance one of the epochs fixed by
the chronologists as that Of the de
luge, the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. hest
tated no longer; he stated his theory
and gave to this comet not only the
role of exterminator of the human
race by water, but also that OF incen-
diary in the future.
when man had sinned," he said
"a little comet passed very near the
earth. and, cutting the course of It's
@rh;t nh1inlJa1U i'm nQ rtl1 to If a rG-
tary motion. God had foreSeen thai
man would sin, and that his crime:
arrived, at their height. would cal
for a terrible punishment; in conse'
quence. he had prepared, at the Yer!
instant of creation, a comet, whicf
was to be the instrument of His ven
geance. How did the catastrophe
come about? Here it is:
Either Friday, November %, Of tn
year of SIM. 2349, or the second o
l December 1920, the comet cut tn
plane Of the earth's orbit at a pom
, farther distant thar 3,G14 leagues
The conjunction occurred when i
l was noon under the meridian Of Pc
: kin. wher Noah. it seems, lived be
fore the deluge. Now what was tn
u effect of this encounter? A prodig
Gus flood spread not only over tn
waters of the oceans, but also owe
II those which were below the soli'
crust. The mountain chains of Arme
. MIA. the Gordian mountains, Whlc
a were nearest to the comet at the mo
ment of conjunction We're shaken an
opened up. And thus were dls
tnrbed the foundations Of the bot
tomIess pit" The disaster did nc
stop there. The atmosphere and Ia
: of the comet, touching the earth an
its own atmosphere, preclpltated tor
y, rents upon it, which fell during tort
DAVIS. and thus were opened all tn
g. cataracts of the sky The depth {
=, the waters Of the delrSe, ACCORDING I
WINSTON. was nearly ten thousan
y metres.
70 Setting Us On Fire.
lie Now. how will this comet Whlc
a first deluged the human race, be apl
10 70 cot 10 on fire at a second encOuT
,e terp Winston is not embarrassed