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Show ALL FKARED THE COMET. Frenchman's Opinion Caused Ontasl-nees Ontasl-nees Tor Many Years. It was falsely reported a few week! ago that an eminent Italian astronomer astrono-mer had made an awful prophecy as to the havoc about to bs wrotight upon this planet by a comet. The la' cldent had a memorable precedent In the case of Joseph Jeromo Lafrancals de Lalande, the popular French astronomer as-tronomer of a century ago. Latatfde differed from Newton's' view that Providence had so arranged matters as to make collision or the earth with a comet Impossible and wrote a paper pa-per to prove that It was only very Improbable. This paper, "which was to have been read with others before the Freath academy on a certain day In 1773, got crowded out; but the Parisian public, hearing of It, made up its mind that Lalande had predicted predict-ed tho Impending destruction of the earth and sure panic ensued that the pollco had to order the publication of tho paner toreasure the -public mind. Bat even then It .was popular-lyVtelleved popular-lyVtelleved that the paper had been deliberately toned Mown and comet panics continued for a quarter of a century. |