CHAPTER VI. STRANGE WANDERERS THROUGH SPACE. Sudden Appearances-Unusual Phenomena-Great History of the Heavens-Bodies Governed by Solar Attraction-Elongated Orbits-Marvelous Comet of 1680-Period Estimated at Three Thousand Years-Thousands of Miles in a Minute-Sir Isaac Newton's Prediction-Halley's Comet-A Frightened Emperor-Shocking Calamities Supposed to be Foreshadowed-Visitation During a Bloody War-Hideous Faces and Bristling Hair-Byron's Graphic Description-Substance of Comets-Thin Vapor-A Comet Enveloping Jupiter-The Poet Conder's Apostrophe. HOSE tailed bodies, which suddenly come to light up the heavens, were long regarded with terror, like so many warning signs of divine wrath. Men have always thought themselves much more important than they really are in the universal order; they have had the vanity to pretend that the whole creation was made for them, whilst in reality the whole creation does not suspect their existence. The earth we inhabit is only one of the smallest worlds; and therefore it can scarcely be for it alone that all the wonders of the heavens, of which the immense majority remains hidden from it, were created. In this disposition of man to see in himself the centre and the end of everything, it was easy indeed to consider the steps of nature as unfolded in his favor; and if some unusual phenomenon presented itself, it was considered to be without doubt a warning from heaven. If these illusions had had no other result than the amelioration of the more timorous of the community one would regret those ages of ignorance; but not only were these fancied warnings of no use, seeing that once the danger passed, man returned to his former state; but they also kept up among people imaginary terrors, and revived the fatal resolutions caused by the fear of the end of the world. The history of a comet would be an instructive episode of the great history of the heavens. In it could be brought together the description. of the progressive movement of human thought, as well as the astronomical theory of these extraordinary bodies. Let us take, for example, one of the most memorable and best-known comets, and give an outline of its successive passages near the earth. Like the planetary worlds, comets belong to the solar system, and are subject to the rule of the Star King. It is the universal law of gravitation which guides their path; solar attraction governs them, as it governs the movement of the planets and the small satellites. The chief point of difference between them and the planets is, that their orbits are very elongated; and, instead of being nearly circular, they take the elliptical form. In consequence of the nature of these orbits, the same comet may approach very near the sun, and afterwards travel from it to immense distances. Thus, the period of the comet of 1680 has been estimated at 3000 years. It approaches the sun, so as to be nearer to it than our moon is to us, whilst it recedes to a distance 853 times greater than the distance of the earth from the sun. On the 17th of December, 1680, it was at its perihelion—that is, at its greatest proximity to the sun; it is now continuing its path beyond the Neptunian orbit. Its velocity varies according to its distance from the solar body. At its perihelion it travels thousands of leagues per minute; at its aphelion it does not pass over more than a few yards. Its proximity to the sun in its passage near that body caused Newton to think that it received a heat 28,000 times greater than that we experience at the summer solstice; and that this heat being 2000 times greater than that of red-hot iron, an iron globe of the same dimensions would be 50,000 years entirely losing its heat. Singular Prediction of Newton. Newton added that in the end comets will approach so near the sun that they will not be able to escape the preponderance of its attraction, and that they will fall one after the other into this brilliant body, thus keeping up the heat which it perpetually pours out into space. Such is the deplorable end assigned to comets by the author of the "Principia,” an end which makes De la Bretonne say to Rétif: "An immense comet, already larger than Jupiter, was again increased in its path by being blended with six other dying comets. Thus displaced from its ordinary route by these slight shocks, it did not pursue its true elliptical orbit; so that the unfortunate thing was precipitated into the devouring centre of the sun." "It is said," added he, "that the poor comet, thus burned alive, sent forth dreadful cries!" It will be interesting then, in a double point of view, to follow a comet in its different passages in sight of the earth. Let us take the most important in astronomical history-the one whose orbit has been calculated by Edmund Halley, and which was named after him. It was in 1682 that this comet appeared in its greatest brilliancy, accompanied with a tail which did not measure less than thirty-two millions of miles. By the observation of the path which it described in the heavens, and the time it occupied in describing it, this astronomer calculated its orbit, and recognized that the comet was the same as that which was admired in 1531 and 1607, and which ought to have reappeared in 1759. Never did scientific prediction excite a more lively interest. The comet returned at the appointed time; and on the 12th of March, 1759, reached its perihelion. Since the year 12 before the Christian era, it had presented itself twentyfour times to the earth. It was principally from the astronomical annals of China that it was possible to follow it up to this period. An Emperor Terribly Frightened. Its first memorable appearance in the history of France is that of 837, in the reign of Louis le Débonnaire. An anonymous writer of chronicles of that time, named "the Astronomer," gives the following details of this appearance, relative to the influence of the comet on the imperial imagination: During the holy days of the solemnization of Easter, a phenomenon ever fatal and of gloomy foreboding, appeared in the heavens. As soon as the Emperor, who paid attention to these phenomena, received the first announcement of it, he gave himself no rest until he had called a certain learned man and myself before him. As soon as I arrived, he anxiously asked me what I thought of such a sign; I asked time of him, in order to consider the aspect of the stars, and to discover the truth by their means, promising to acquaint him on the morrow; but the Emperor, persuaded that I wished to gain time, which was true, in order not to be obliged to announce anything fatal to him, said to me: "Go on the terrace of the palace and return at once to tell me what you have seen, for I did not see this star last evening, and you did not point it out to me; but I know that it is a comet; tell me what you think it announces to me." Then scarcely allowing me time to say a word, he added: "There is still another thing you keep back it is that a change of reign and the death of a prince are announced by this sign." And as I advanced the testimony of the prophet, who said: "Fear not the signs of the heavens as the nations fear them," the prince with his grand nature and the wisdom which never forsook him, said," We must only fear Him who has created both us and this star. But as this phenomenon may refer to us, let us acknowledge it as a warning from Heaven." The Comet Supposed to Bring Awful Calamities. Louis le Débonnaire gave himself and court to fasting and prayer, and built churches and monasteries. He died three years later, in 840, and historians have profited by this slight coincidence to prove that the appear ance of the comet was a harbinger of death. The historian, Raoul Glaber, added later: "These phenomena of the universe are never presented to man without surely announcing some wonderful and terrible event." Halley's comet again appeared in April 1066, at the moment when William the conqueror invaded England. It was pretended that it had the greatest influence on the fate of the battle of Hastings, which delivered over England to the Normans. A contemporary poet, alluding probably to the English diadem with which William was crowned, had proclaimed in one place, " that the comet had been more favorable to William than nature had been to Cæsar; the latter had no hair, but William had received some from the comet." A monk of Malmesbury apostrophized the comet in these terms: "Here thou art again, thou cause of the tears of many mothers! It is long since I have seen thee, but I see thee now, more terrible than ever; thou threatenest my country with complete ruin!" In 1455, the same comet made a more memorable appearance still. The Turks and Christians were at war, the West and the East seemed armed from head to foot-on the point of annihilating each other. The crusade undertaken by Pope Calixtus III. against the invading Saracens, was waged with redoubled ardor on the sudden appearance of the star with the flaming tail. Mahomet II. took Constantinople by storm and raised the siege of Belgrade. But the Pope having put aside both the curse of the comet and the abominable designs of the Mussulmans, the Christians gained the battle, and vanquished their enemies in a bloody fight. The Angelus to the sound of bells dates from these ordinances of Calixtus III. referring to the comet. Blood and Hideous Faces. Comets like those of 1577 appear, moreover, to justify by their strange form the titles with which they are generally greeted. The most serious. writers were not free from this terror. Thus, in a chapter on celestial monsters, the celebrated surgeon, Ambrois Paré, described the comet of 1528 under the most vivid and frightful colors: "This comet was so horrible and dreadful that it engendered such great terror to the people, that they died, some with fear, others with illness. It appeared to be of immense length, and of blood color; at its head was seen the figure of a curved arm, holding a large sword in the hand as if it wished to strike. At the point of the sword there were three stars, and on either side were seen a great number of hatchets, knives, and swords covered with blood, amongst which were numerous hideous human faces, with bristling beards and hair." The imagination has good eyes when it exerts itself. In the last century, people still believed in the terrible power of these unhappy stars. In the present day, and especially since the famous comet of 1811, country people have imagined rather that they predicted excellent vintages. These ideas are as void of proof as the former. Although these bodies have greatly lost their prestige, they have not been entirely despoiled of it. Moreover, who could efface the impression produced by some of their aspects? Often they have been considered as signs of curses hovering over men and empires. Such is the lamentation of Byron in " Manfred," to whom the seventh spirit addresses the following words: The star which rules thy destiny A bright deformity on high, The monster of the upper sky! Nevertheless, nothing proves that comets are gifted with any influence whatever, we do not say on the morals of men, but on the physics of the world. Their lightness, the extreme diffusion of their substance, induces us to believe rather that they possess no kind of action on the planets. At their approach to the sun, their substance distends itself, assumes a wonderful size, and develops itself over an expanse of many million. leagues. They are of such lightness and suppleness that a ray of heat may, at its will, cause them to take any shape; you have an instance of this lightness in the comet that was observed in 1862; the form and position of the luminous appendages changed from day to day; and observers might have believed that even a portion of the substance of the nucleus flowed into space Comets Only Thin Vapor. Two thousand years ago, Seneca wrote: A day will come when the course of these bodies will be known, and submitted to rules, like that of the planets. The prophecy of the philosopher is realized. It is now known that like the planets, comets gravitate round the sun, and depend equally on its central attraction. Only, instead of moving in orbits, circular, or nearly so, they describe oval curves-very long ellipses. This |