The Detroit times., 1910-04-14

IL 1886 took place under peculiar ana
interesting mor, and political con.
dtiors The Christian nations Of Eu-
rope had long oeen AT Wal with tHe
followers II Mahomct and the sudden
appearan ON the comet filed ali
Europe with CONSERVATION and alarm,
and seemed 70 fJrbOde the entire sub
jugation u the Christian nations POPS
CaliAtus H.. terrified a. The appalling
81. ectacle presented by the comet. an
aroused Dy Wha. seemed 20 De- the IA.
eytable rate OF Christianity directed
the maled.ctions OF the church against
he enem 80 OF the faith. both terres'
trial and celestial
In June. 1856. ,he comet approached
within about C0,00O.C 600 miles OF the
earth. and had a tail reaching from
tbs zenith nearly 10 the horizon, aud
spread terror throughout Europe. At
the time OF its nearest approach L.
the earth Il was far from the plane, or
The earth's orbit aDL its tail whatever
5. ~ glssgsa y III a. r.
ITS length may nave been. could not
approach the earth within many mil
lions Of miles although its appear
bnce in the heavens would be equally
imposing and magnificent
The present return OF the comet
takes place under conditions very sim
liar 10 hat OF l5G, inasmuch as =;
appears a. abOu. the same season OF
the year and trayerses nearly the
same pa, OF the heavens But the
present return differs in many i'm
portant respects from all preceding az
peartnces OF the comet II approaches
comparatively near ~ the earth az the
time OF its conjunction with the sun,
and will actually pass over the sun
disk at local noon IN eastern Asia and
Australia
Its distance from the earth will then
te about l4.00J00e miles AZ that
TIM, the earth viii be passing through
The comets tail with a relative see
,Ocity OF about 10 miles per second.
and should the tail be 100000 miles
in breadth the earth would be- about
Fix hours IN passing through H.
Serve as Buffer.
Tie most recent explanation Of the
nature Of comets tails supposes them
10 be- composed of articles OF matter
smaller than atoms which are driven
away from the comets head by tin
impulsion OF fight This seems TO be-
the most satisfactory theory of a COM
cts tail that has yet been proposed
IL is correct il certainly relieves Us
from all danger OF physical violence
arising from the pa sage OF the earth
through the comets tail for the
, artt's atmosphere viii serve a. but
feI and prevent The rapid fall OF the
cOmetary matter which would othcf-
wise TAX place We may therefor
dismiss the fear Of any great calamity
happening 10 the earth and its inhaDl-
lants du-lng tho coming passage 81
the earth through the tail OF Haley3
comet on May 1918
on the morning o. May IS we may
expect 10 see the comets tail extend
ing from east 10 west through the
heavens ~ the las, time. and on the
evening o. May IT, We shall see 70 stint
ilarly extending FROM the west towar.
the east for the frs time The comet
will then pass to the east through tho
heavens AT the rate OF 40 miles per
second, gradually growing fainter as 10
Tecedes from the earth and sun. bar
VIII remain visible iu the evening dur.
Zig the remainder Of the summer. ami
supply thu means of making important
ions couce rning the physical
nature OF cometary bodies.