Preface.

T may be doubted whether any other of the Sciences is so well calculated to engage the attention of the young, or to fill their minds with so profound a sense of the wisdom, love, and power of the Creator, as Astronomy. They soon learn to admire the beauty of the stars, to watch the changing glories of the sunrise and the sunset, and to rejoice in the pure rays of the moon; and none, perhaps, however apathetic or cold, are absolutely insensible to the magical influences of the worlds above and around them. They would wish to know something more of those far-away and mysterious orbs, and of their relations to our own planet; but astronomical knowledge is generally presented in a form so recondite, and in language so technical, that it speedily wearies the great majority of readers. It is true that Mr. Proctor, and some writers of his school, have of late made very successful efforts to explain the problems of Astronomy, and to popularise its study; but much remains to be done before it will take its place in the regular curriculum of our schools, or rank, as a source of instruction and amusement, with Geology, Botany, or Chemistry. That this result will eventually be attained, it is, however, impossible to doubt, when we observe the greater importance that is daily being attached to the study of the Physical Sciences.

Unpretending as is the present volume, its compiler trusts it will help to bring about what he conceives to be a very desirable end. It is intended to draw the reader into a sense of the value

and interest of Astronomy, by a popular exposition of some of its wonders. Accuracy has not been sacrificed, however, to picturesqueness; and no statements have been admitted that are not strictly and exactly true. While using as far as possible the most intelligible terms, and avoiding all unnecessary technicalities, the compiler has not the less endeavoured to present a faithful and even a scientific account of the principal sidereal phenomena. But he does not pretend that the book is exhaustive,that it is anything more than an introduction, as vivid and as readable as he could put together, to the study of the sublimest and loftiest of all the Sciences. And he would frankly acknowledge that he has freely availed himself of all that answered his purpose in the writings of Guillemin, Flammarion, Proctor, Arago, and others.

The present volume is devoted to an examination into the structure and phenomena of Meteors and Comets. Though the time has gone by when superstition drew its omens of good or evil fortune from the former, and when poets apostrophised the latter as signs of coming disaster,—

"Comets, importing change of times and states,

Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky,

And with them scourge the bad revolting stars!"—

yet they do not cease to excite the interest of the spectator, while their careful investigation has rewarded the astronomer with unexpected results. It is hoped, therefore, that the following pages will furnish the reader with both instruction and entertainment.

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The companion volumes of the series are respectively devoted to-1. The Sun and Moon;" 2. "The Planetary System;' and, 3. "The Stars;" the four volumes forming a popular and pictorial introduction to the study of Astronomy.

NEBULE AND COMETS.

course?

CHAPTER I..

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE HEAVENS.

H Night, how lofty is thy speech for me!" Are there any for whom the spectacle of the starry night is not an eloquent disAre there any whose minds are not sometimes arrested in the presence of those bright, beautiful worlds, which shine in silent splendour-and yet not silent, for to the poet's ear their music is audible as the quiring of the cherubim-above our little Earth, and who have not endeavoured to read in their mysterious faces the key of the great enigma of creation? Assuredly, for the devout thinker, the solitary hours of night are the purest and happiest of all his hours; are those in which he enjoys to the fullest extent the faculty of placing himself in communication with the Infinite and Invisible. How absolute and how om