754 Mr. EerUrt HaU Turner [Feb. IS, 



Curiously enough, the next lecture was not prompted by the apparition 

 of a really great comet, for though such a one appeared in 1882, it was 

 not until some months after Dr. (now Sir William) Huggins had 

 delivered his lecture on January 20, 1882. There had been, however, 

 a comet of some importance in 1881, which had enabled him to 

 make spectroscopic observations on a bright comet "for the first 

 time since the spectroscope had been in the hands of an astronomer." 



The comet which claims our attention to-night will probably 

 not be a really magnificent object. It is not easy to forecast with 

 accuracy, l)ut the indications are in favour of a moderately bright 

 appearance only, in the latter part of May next, in the west after 

 sunset. Halley's comet appeals to us on historical and sentimental 

 gi'ounds rather than because of its grandeur. In predicting its 

 return in 1758 or thereabouts, Halley gave a sensational illustration 

 of the consequences following from the newly-discovered Law of 

 Gravitation which he had ehcited from Newton. As the time drew 

 near for the prophesied return there was intense excitement, and the 

 fulfilment of the prediction was hailed as a great triumph. More- 

 over, it was suggested that the history of the comet might be carried 

 backwards, and this has been done successfully as far as 240 B.C. 



We cannot adequately estimate the magnitude of these achieve- 

 ments without recurring to the circumstances in which they were 

 made. Comets were in old days not merely mysterious but terrifying. 

 Not only were their movements apparently arbitrary and incapable 

 of prediction, but they were believed to bring disaster. Dr. Huggins 

 quoted the words of Du Bartas, as rendered l)y Sylvester (1621) : — 



There with long bloudy haire, a Blazmg Star 



Threatens the World with Famin, Plague and War. 



To Princes, death ; to Kingdoms, many crosses ; 



To all Estates, ineuitable Losses : 



To Heardmen, Rot : to Plough-men, hap-lesse seasons : 



To Saylers, Storms : to Cities, ciuill Treasons. 



The particular comet of 1618 may have been in the mind of tlie 

 writer, as it was probably in that of Milton wlien lie wrote in 

 Paradise Lost (Book II. 706-11) :— 



on th' other side 

 Incenst with indignation Satan stood, 

 Unterrifi'd : and like a comet burn'd, 

 That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge 

 In th' Arctic sky, and from his horrid hair 

 Shakes pestilence and war. 



Milton's poem was finished in 1665, and there were two fine 

 comets in 1664 and 1665, which were held responsible for the plague 

 and fire of London. But Milton was then blind, and it is more 

 probable that he was thinking of the great comet he had seen as a 

 boy of ten. 



Soon after Milton wrote these words, Newton besfan thinkinsf of 



