t 



1?Q Tflfi OHlGltf 0$ CREATION, 



repulsion of the planets and the sun, and made to revolve 

 Oh the Plane of the Ecliptic. 



That comets hate atmospheres may be accepted as correct, foil 

 their bright light could not be caiised without it. The fact of 

 their having an atmosphere, also, should reassure us that they can 

 neve* do any harm by coming in contact with Us ', for besides tha 

 magnetic repelling power each body possesses, our atmosphere is 

 elastic enough to preserve Us from close contact. It might be 

 worth while, however, to inquire whether the pressure of any^ 

 comet which approached very close to us, especially on the 

 Plane of the Ecliptic, had any influence on the tides. 



The luminous tails of the comets may be attributed, ws 

 believe^ to a cause which we have already suggested in 

 explanation of the transparency, or opacity, of -atoms. We find 

 that although water is clear and transparent, yet if blown into 

 foam, it becomes white and obscure, simply because the polarity 

 of the atoms ia disarranged and in motion. Thus at night, 

 off the coast of Mexico, we have seen the crested billows 

 as they folded over one another, flashing brightly as they 

 curved into foam, spangling the whole surface of the sea with 

 the dazzling spectacle of an endless succession of phosphorescent 

 beacon lights. So in a similar manner, we believe, that these 

 vast luminous envelopes, as they are called, stretching it is said, 

 for millions of miles, and which strike even the most cultured 

 observer with awe, are caused by the atoms of the material 

 filling all space^which are arranged according to their natural 

 atomic position, and are transparent being disturbed by the 

 different atmosphere of the comet in passing, and have their 

 poles deranged, thereby causing a motion and an opacity, 

 which in the darkness we see as light. This displacement 



