Show WHAT WILL COMET DO TO THE Tail Is Too Tenuous to Sweep Sweet Us From the Globe l VIEWS OF A SCIENTIST RAREFACTION OF GASEOUS MASS WILL RENDER IT HARMLESS Tho The question What will the comet do to us was recently answered by an at astronomer In an article quoted in it these columns by saying that It would do co o just nothing at all says the Literary Digest The question of mechanical In Interference Interference may be regarded as settled The comets tall tail Is la too Infinitely jus us to sweep us from the earth or td to interfere with terrestrial motion Bul how about Its chemical effects There are poisonous gases very little of which suffices to cause death and one of the most deadly of these Is present In com oom comets comets ets tails so tho the spectroscope tells us Just how much of it is there In the tall of comet Just how much may possibly be transferred to our own atmosphere Just what may be tho the ef effect effect teet of the portion thus assimilated Apparently the most skilful astron astronomer omer can not reply definitely to these queries but Charles Edward Guillaume joint director of the International Buteau Bu Buteau Bureau reau of Weights and Measures tells us n a communication to La Nature Paris February 26 that there Is like lilie likey y to be so little accession of f poisonous gas to our atmosphere that It can be detected only by chemical processes lie He suggests that we look among the residues of our plants for traces of it His closing speculation tf f a poisoned world Is lurid but ap apparently apparently he would not have us take it After Arter assuring us that cy undoubtedly forms a part of or the tails of or comets Mr Guillaume goes on onto onto onto to say which is the base of prussic prussic prussic sic acid is ms a terrible poison polson but the tho rarefaction of the gaseous mass that will come into contact with our atmos atmosphere atmosphere atmosphere phere removes r in advance all the frightful nature of this substance It will be interesting none the less to study the consequences of the cap capture capture capture ture by our atmosphere of an appreciable appreciable appreciable quantity of We Ve should bear In mind that its density Is bout 18 with relation to that of the theair theair theair air that It liquefies at 25 25 degrees and solidifies at 34 degrees that it is and that finally It dis die dissolves dIssolves solves In water and decomposes rapidly Several times already comets have hav brushed against our atmosphere But Hut since the last time there has been a change In our knowledge of the compo composition composition composition of the air and In our possession of very powerful methods for pursuing Its Us study Fifteen years ago the air was sup supposed posed rosed by every one to be a mixture of ot nitrogen and oxygen with traces of ot carbonic acid and a variable quantity of There was mention made to be sure of the gases escaping from craters or but it was al always always always ways added that their traces defied analysis Today the known atmosphere In Includes Includes Includes a new family that of the noble gases as they are called in Germany or the inert gases as we name them argon the principal member of the series with its superior neighbors krypton and xenon and its Inferiors neon nean nc n and helium The last named is celebrated for particular reasons it is at once the final term of the disintegration disintegration disintegration gration of radium and the most perma permanent permanent permanent nent gas in existence The extremes of this series serles helium and xenon exist In the atmosphere In extremely small quantities of the order of for helium and one by volume for xenon Helium as Is well known occurs in relative abundance In radioactive min minerals minerals minerals and at the mouths of certain hot springs that pass through strata but the other Inert gases are obtained only from the air aiL Itself and their very small quantity if we except argon as well as their invincible re repugnance repugnance repugnance to entering Into chemical combination prevents their isolation except by a process of fractional dis distillation distillation distillation In other words the isolation of the new gases is la dependent on the liquefaction of ot the air and Its system systematic systematic rUle evaporation The process of obtaining these rare gases is still of the nature described and industrial plants for the liquefaction tion of air are thus powerful aids to investigation The most striking example ex example example ample Is that of a bulb of gas turned over by George Claude to Sir William Ramsey a bulb containing the res residue resIdue residue idue of ot the condensation and distillation dIstillation distillation tion of cubic cubio meters of ot atmos atmospheric atmospheric atmospheric air All the krypton and all the xenon contained in this enormous vol volume volume volume ume of air had In the lique liquefaction liquefaction liquefaction faction apparatus and these few liters of gas were of Inestimable value to those who obtained it What the liquefaction of air has done krypton and xenon it may also do for If It by diffusion into our atmosphere reaches us In Inappreciable inappreciable appreciable quantities the liquefaction apparatus will catch and keep It And Andas Andas Andas as some Borre machines now operate In such fashion as to turn out cubic feet teet of ot oxygen hourly hourI V from about five times that volume of air a millionth of cyan ogen by b volume would leave about 2 grams in the apparatus every hour Now the liquefaction machines do ing industrial work are not In contin continued continued operation From time to tine time tI they are stopped to clear away the solidified substances that clog their conduits j During some one of these stops we wema I may ma catch with the other substances the of which a por portion portion portion tion even much lower than a millionth could thus easily be detected Is It asked SIted how we might protect ourselves from the in case Its proportions In the air should become dangerous 7 Nothing would be ba easier We Ve may as we wo have seen burn It dis dissolve dissolve dissolve solve It or liquefy it not to mention Its possible destruction by electric sparks so that we have plenty of ol methods from which to choose And we wo may easily Imagine the history of ofa ofa ofa a physicist or chemist who on May 17 should seal up his house in which he had gathered his family and friends allowing al allowing allowing lowing the air to enter only through a ventilator connected with purifying ap apparatus apparatus apparatus While all the rest of humanity would perish under the action of the terrible gas he would wait walt patiently until storm rain and polar cold had purified the atmosphere He would thus become the Noah of a new humanity to whose happiness he would have sub subordinated subordinated subordinated the choice of his friends Good health superior intelligence noble aspirations would be the lot of this little group called caked to a high destiny Prosperity would have become easy for forthe forthe the enormous stock of supplies pre prepared prepared prepared pared by those who labor and suffer today would long preserve the men of the future from material cases Data Vata as we may see are abundant and not lacking in interest but we ought not notto notto notto to get too far away here from approximately approximately approximately positive facts e |