THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 723 



forsook the idea that they were probably peopled by a cer- 

 tain race of men ; and in their phosphorescent tails the as- 

 tronomer saw only a dazzling train of jewels. In speaking 

 of such a contingency as a comet falling upon our globe, he 

 expresses himself thus : " Earth would enjoy the rare treas- 

 ures which a body coming from so far would bring to it. 

 We should, perhaps, be much surprised to find that the re- 

 mains of these bodies which we despise are formed of gold 

 or diamonds ; but which would be the more surprised of the 

 two, ourselves or the inhabitants whom the comet would 

 land upon earth? What a strange appearance we should 

 wear in each other's eyes ! " 



Although the vulgar cannot fathom all the mysteries of 

 the heavens, their imagination receives some compensa- 

 tion in the strange fancies which comets engender, as they 

 have always enjoyed the privilege of creating ecstasy or 

 horror. 



The history of these wandering stars, from the beginning 

 to the end, is really only a determined abnegation of the 

 evidence of our senses and the testimony of the masses. In 

 respect to them fiction has been pushed to the wildest ex- 

 travagance. In every age comets have been considered as 

 sinister omens. In ages of credulity their gleaming tails 

 appeared to the vulgar like formless heaps of flaming 

 swords or bleeding heads and daggers, precursors of the 

 most murderous wars. At other times the fascinated imag- 

 ination of our forefathers saw in them hairy stars, which 

 threatened the world with a general conflagration. 



Such erroneous ideas were so deeply rooted in men's 

 minds that some learned men of the Renaissance, even the 



