NEWS FROM HERSCHEL'S PLANET. 147 



as to be recognisable from a distant planet by spectro- 

 scopic analysis, then no terrestrial fires could be lighted, 

 for a spark would produce a catastrophe in which all 

 living things upon the earth, if not the solid earth 

 itself, would be destroyed. A single flash of lightning 

 would be competent to leave the earth but a huge 

 cinder, even if its whole frame were not rent into a 

 million fragments by the explosion which would 

 ensue. 



Under what strange conditions then must life exist 

 in Uranus, if there be indeed life upon that distant 

 orb. Either our life-sustaining element, oxygen, is 

 wanting ; or, if it exists in sufficient quantities (ac- 

 cording to our notions) for the support of life, then 

 there can be no fire, natural or artificial, on that giant 

 planet. It seems more reasonable to conclude that, 

 as had been suspected for other reasons, the planet is 

 not at present in a condition which renders it a suitable 

 abode for living creatures. 



The St. PattTs Magazine for October 1371. 



THE TWO COMETS OF THE YEAR 1868. 

 PART I. BRORSEN'S COMET. 



TEN years ago, all that astronomers could hope to do 

 with comets was to note their appearance and changes 

 of appearance when viewed with high telescopic powers. 

 There was one instrument, indeed, the polariscope, 



L 2 



