5i8 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



But one piece of Biela's comet, so far as known, was found — a 

 fragment weighing eight pounds falling at Mazapil, Mexico, where it 

 remains one of the most inspiring and interesting of inanimate ob- 

 jects. For years the vast metallic mass, of which this piece formed a 

 part, rushed through space, covering millions of miles; now near the 

 burning surface of the sun, now in regions of space where its heat 

 was scarcely perceptible. For over a century this monster was ob- 

 served by the inhabitants of the earth, and finally a portion fell and 

 human beings handled and examined it. 



The fiery messengers which dash down singly upon the earth, the 

 showers of meteoric stones which flash through our atmosphere with 

 ephemeral gleams, are, then, the remains of gigantic comets which 

 have been seen rushing with apparent erratic course through space, 

 and which by unknown causes have been destroyed and now as 

 meteoric clusters, one of which is estimated to be one billion miles in 

 length and one hundred thousand miles in thickness, and to contain 

 one hundred thousand million meteors, are swinging through space, 

 with many erratic and wandering forms, pouring upon the earth and 

 all the planets of the solar system a mighty and continuous bom- 

 bardment. 



THE SPIRIT OF CONQUEST. 



By J. NOVICOW. 



THE spirit of conquest produces a gigantic aggregation of calami- 

 ties and sufferings. A large number of persons still regard con- 

 quests with a favoring eye. Now, what does a conquest signify ? It 

 is the arming of a band of soldiers and going and taking possession 

 of a territory. Although such expeditions may appear useful, lucra- 

 tive, legitimate, and even glorious, little regard is paid, in conduct- 

 ing them, to the good of societies; for, in spite of all euphemisms, 

 such military enterprises are robbery, and nothing else, all the time. 

 Generous spirits who talk about suppressing war do great injury 

 to mankind. Setting themselves in pursuit of a chimera, they aban- 

 don the road that leads to concrete and positive results. Realists 

 treat the partisans of perpetual peace as Utopian dreamers, and re- 

 fuse to follow them. The noblest and most generous efforts are 

 thus wholly lost. The direction of public opinion is left to empirics 

 and retrogrades, to narrow-minded people, who are satisfied with 

 living from day to day and have not the courage to look the social 

 problems of the time in the face. War will never be abolished any 

 more than murder. The propaganda should not be directed on that 

 side. The spirit of conquest is the thing to combat. And this. 



