130 matured d&fracles. 



of the earth. Others supposed them to be the 

 effect of certain phosphoric fluids that ema- 

 nated from the earth and took fire in the upper 

 regions of the atmosphere. This, however, 

 was mere speculation and without any scien- 

 tific basis of fact. Anyone who has been an 

 observer of shooting stars will have learned 

 that there are certain periods of the year when 

 they are more numerous than at other times; 

 notably in August and November. Then 

 again there are longer periods of many years 

 apart. By persistent observation it has been 

 established that there are great numbers of 

 schools or collections of cosmic matter that fly 

 through interplanetary space, having definite 

 orbits like the planets. Any one of these col- 

 lections may be scattered through millions of 

 miles in length. A comet is simply one of 

 these wandering collections of meteoric stones 

 having a nucleus or center where the particles 

 are so condensed as to give it a reflecting sur- 

 face something like the planets or the moon. 

 This enables us to see the outline of the comet 

 to the point where the fragments of matter be- 

 come so scattered that they are no longer able 

 to reflect sufficient light to reach our eyes. 

 The fringe of a comet, however, may extend 

 thousands or even millions of miles beyond the 

 borders of luminosity. 



There is scarcely a day or night in the year 

 when more or less of these meteoric stones do 



