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Show cone of solar force does cause disturbance dis-turbance In the solar Rvstem," said ! Mr. N'aulty. "The earlh and all (he planets are j affected, not only when they come i within the actual cone, as the earth 1 will do on Wednesday, but also by i the ethereal waves set in motion by J the comet's tail. It Is the constant attempt of the earth's mass and Its atmosphere at-mosphere to adjust themselves to this disturbance that has caused Ihe prevalent earth tremors .storms and . other phenomena. "The climax will be reached this week. There will lie no collision of . the earth and comet, nor will the ' earth be eloped in poisonous gases. J The effect of the passage may be to cause great condensation of ntmos- pheric vapors o that automatically j Ihe earth will be provided with n sort of shield which will be like a j lead screen to protect X-ray operators. i See It Before Wednesday. j I "When the comet anproaches near- I r-st the earth on May IS, the moon . will be full and the conflict of her ' rays will make observations of the ! comet more difficult than If there j were no opposition. j i "At the naval observatory the sclen- j , tlsts have been watching the comet ! through powerful telescopes every i ' morning Just before sunrise. The ob- , servers each day can note the broad-enlng broad-enlng of tb- tall and the enlargement ' : of the head. The heavenly body will i increase in apparent size and brll-' I liancy until Wednesday, when it will I begin to decrease and in a few weeks ' will disappear into snnce. not to he , seen again for nearly a century." ' : I New England Not Afraid. j ! BOSTON', May 1". Agreeing that no ! harmful effect is to be expected on ; next Wednesday from the passage of j the earth through the tail of llalley's j comet, New England astronomers appear ap-pear not to concur as to the postd- billty of a luminous display similar to northern lights. Prof. David P. Todd of Amherst college thinks the aurora j effect probable. Prof. Robert W. Will-son Will-son of the Harvard college observa- j lory said today that there may be a darkening of the atmosphere, while j Prof. Edward C. Pickering, head of ; I the Harvard observatory, said : 1 ! ' I doubt if there will be any effect at all." Prof. Wlllson said further, tint "there may be a shower of charged particles, very small but numerous, which may eA'ert wireless telegraph v. There Is no cause for alarm or fear. , Cyanogen exists only near the comet':-head comet':-head and the tail is a good vacuum." i ' STORMS CAUSED j BY THE COMET! i i I WASHINGTON. May 15. Halley's comet will be greeted Wednesday on Its closest approach to tho earth by a bristling battery of telescopes flank-; ed by rapid fire lenses in the celestial towers of the naval observatory. j Elaborate calculations have lceu , made as to the minute and second the comet will be at a given place In. I the heavens where it will be observed and photographed Among the scientists there Is some difference of opinion as to the effect the great star will have upon the earth, but the differences are minor. Professor Hall of the naval observatory observa-tory would not be surprised if there were a shower of meteorites He advanced ad-vanced his theory wlih the same calmness calm-ness he would prophesy a shower of rain. Others, and they appear In the majority, expect no disturbances. Edwin F. Xaulty of New York takes issue with Professor Hall and contends con-tends that the (ail of the comet Is composed neither of gas nor of meteoric me-teoric bodies and that such a shower as Professor Hall deems possible could not follow. Tall a Searchlight. 1 "The tall of llalley's comet to all intents and purposes a a celestial searchlight." said Mr, Xaulty today. "The tall is nothiug more than sun light condensed from radiant solar and proceeds through the solar system precisely U3 a lense focuses, condenses and transmits light." He says the tail of the comet Is not composed of gas or of minute particles par-ticles of matter or .f meteoric bodies. The entire solar system, Mr. N'aulty says, in tilled with gases in varying states of density. All these gases, poisonous and non-poisonous, are pros ent In the earth's almospbere In dense form The changing spectrum of Hal-ley's Hal-ley's comet, according to Mr. Naulty's theory Is due to the fact that as the v-inet's great 'tall" of light sweeps through various parts of the solar system, sys-tem, it lights up differing layrrs of pases, conveying the Impression the lail itself is gaseous. Mr. Xaulty says the epectrum or reflected sunlight i always present In head and tall of the comet, thus proving that both parts of It are made visible by sunlight alone. "Tho sweeping of this eometary |
