South Bend News-Times, Volume 38, Number 315, South Bend, St. Joseph County, 11 November 1921 — Page 26

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0 7 ; rr E. 0. Hovcy, Curator of Gcolojjy at the American Museum of Natural History, Examining a Piece of Biela's Comet. By Latimer J. Wilson EAIiTTI is about to enter the barrage of the rcat pruns of Biela's comet. The date that science fixe is Nov. 27. This will be the first time the terrestrial ball has run the gauntlet of the comet's fusillade since 1872. and scientists all over the tvorid are awaiting the ordeal with great interest. Biela's comet, a scientist at the American. Museum of Natural History informed me, is the original "heavenly twins." It got that sobriquet by splitting in the middle some years ago and thereby creating as much sensation among Astronomers as the "heavenly twins" of New York, who, twenty years ago, first introduced the woman with the bloomers by appearing on a tandem clad in those ideal articles of apparel for the cycle path. Vhile the man in the street contemplates the possibility of the proximity of Biela'3 comet with a sneaking feeling of dire happenings, the cold and calculating scientists, such as Curator of Geology E. O. Hovey of the museum, count much on a lucky arrival that may furnish more opportunity for meteorological investigation than the mighty sections of comets now at the museum, which are reproduced on this page. Thought a Collision Inevitable "Biela's" began a a comet, and is one of the best proofs that a comet is largely composed of small bodies, fragments of stone and iron. On Feb. 27, 1S27, Biela discovered a comet which was found to be identical with that of 1772 and 1805. It was not one of the largest comet?, but its periodic returns were watched with much interest. In the return of 1832 great excitement was caused by the announcement that the head " of .Biela's comet would occupy the plane of the earth's orbit directly in the course of the earth'3 passage. The people thought a collision with the body was inevitable, and an extraordinary sensational comet scare prevailed. Then it was announced that the comet would occupy this position about a month before the earth got to the place. By that time a distance of fully 50,000,000 miles would separate U3 from a possible collision. But a soric3 cf remarkable events were to follow. In IS 45 the orderly return of "Biela" was observed and every telescopic eye was turned upon it. Nothing unusual happened untii th. following January. IS 1G, . when the comet suddenly split in two. By February the two separate comets had drifted 149,000 miles apart! A sort of liiir.y bridge ef light connected the two bodies. In September, In'2, Biela's "twins" came back to visit us. By this time they wre lTL"O,O0i3 miles apart. There had ben no apparent reason for the splitting of the comet into two separate masses, and the event ranks with astronomical mysteries. Stranger things were yet to happen. The twin? were eagerly 'ooktd for at the time of their next favorable return. But they fai'ed .to appear, and a vain search was kept up in lS.'O. 1SV,, 1S72, 1S77, IS S3. The course cf Biela's comet intersects the crbit of the earth at a point which is reached by the earth on the- 27th of each November. According to the calculation-, the head cf the comet in 1872, had it been observed., wculd have passe.l this point twelve weeks before the earth rea.hej the cro-iiv::. Instead cf beir. presented with a sight of the comet, cn th. r.h-.ht of Nov. 27, 1872. there occurred one 01 the most remarkable meteoric displays ever witnessed. The rain of shooting stars began at 7 o'clock in the evening and lasted until after midnight It is eti:r.ated

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Photograph of Willamette Meteor, the 15 1-2 -Ton Specimen Nov at the American Museum of Natural History. Note the Hoys Snuslv Stowed in the "Pocks" of the Meteor. tha fully 100,000 meteoric masses fell into the earth's atmosphere during the -hower. They all came from a point in the sky near the bright star Gamma ov the constellation Andromeda. In lfc5 there was another brilliant rain of "BielieV so-called because their orbit has beer, identified with the orbit of the former comet of Biela. During the display of 18S5 a fiery mass larger than the ether shooting stars plunged with an explosion into the atmosphere. Unfortunately no one recorded its exact path. This fact prcver.ts the complete identification of the meteoric mass which reached the ground at Mazapil, Mexico, from being with certainty claimed as a part of Biela's lost comet. But with reasonable assumption the Mazapil meteorite can be asserted to belong to the shower of Bielids. The ma's when picked up weighed 8.7 pounds. It consists of ircn and nickel in which are encrusted small masses of graphite. Pure carbon exists in meteors in two natural forms, one of which is graphite and the other of which is the diamond. In some meteors very small diamonds are found. In the Mazipil n.eteor;te the 'carbon is chiefly in the form of graphite. A fragment of the original mass weighing about two-tenths of a pound is kept in the Natura! History Museum at New York Citv. It is strange indeed to realize that this small sheet of .rcn cut from the meteorite i-, perhaps a "clip.ning" nipped from Biela's comet. Think of leim: ab'e to held in one's hand a piece of a sure-'.nou:T'i comet! .Meteorites Contain Imprisoned Gases Tlx re is evidence that the return of a comctnry wanderer to the .iomain cf the sun bringa about a disintegration of the mass. If the head, cr nucleus cf a comet, is composed of a swarm of rocks c!i:d chunks 01 metal widely separated from each, rtner, but brilliantly incandescent with the fun's tires it is reasonable to assume that continued rviKLitions of su:h violent conditions will eventually cause tre comet to be dispelled into 5 race. The material cf the meteorites contains :mprior.cJ gases which are quickly liberated unJ.r a ?:'hl .'ncrea-e of temperature. As a cornet r.e.irs the sun its gases are set free. Partite; arc licwn away by the pressure cf sunlight. I'leetricai discharges al-o take place partly because of the presence of material subjected to the extremis of temperature. With all of thee forces at work and with the attraction exerted hy other b -dies, by the planets and the sun, the ;..V 1 f a err-ft :s to K- measured by the frcmm

Menace Us When We Begin Crossing the Path of Biela's Big

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A Meteor Swarm Near the Sun quency cf its returns to perihelion. The short period comets are generally mere telescopic objects. Biela's comet new is probably spread out over a great part cf its orbit. It probably today consists merely of a vast conglomeration of debris stony masses and masses of metallic materiah. As time goes on and perturbation effects are produced upon this mass, changes in its condition result Perhaps th? earth will some day plunge through a thicker part of the rjir.s. If so, we shall again witness a magnificent display of shooting stars. Possibly a few large chunks of the ancient comet will reach the ground. There is evidence that at bast one great

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i Si t - . V 1 ' ... - '-. r . . . ' v ;..'-.,,;iAr. 2 !Vv:-x-i"",::-.':-".. I " Showing How It Resembles a Comet. embedded itself into the soil. At Canyon Diablo, Arizon.i. ther is to be seen a curious crater-like formation which has mystified scientists. The test explanation ex it is the assumption that it was produced by a hige meieoric mass falling from the sky. As this great mass of metal plunged into the earth it genf rated steam in the meist soil and causc-d an explosion which turned upward the surrounding strata of rock. Fragments of meteoric iron fused v.-Ith the native rock have hien found. Ir. this metoorlc iron have been discovered the largest number cf the microscopic diamonds characteristic of meteorites. This fact has led to the drilling of a series of shafts in the bottom of the crater in an effort to re

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An Artist's Conception of How the Earth Will Pass Through the Flying Particles of Biela.

sand feet have been probed into the earth without result No meteorite has been found except the small fragments which exist on the surface. If a large mass, one of several thousand feet diameter, should come into the atmosphere with the speed of the other Bielids, it would be a catastrophe. Traveling at 40 to 44 miles a second it would plunge into our atmospheric ocean with an effect of concussion that would reach around the world. In a wide radius every living thing would perish. Animal life could not withstand the concussion of so terrible an aerial depth bomb. We would perish like the fish in a pond when a stick of dynamite is exploded in it. Houses would be shaken down in distant cities. The explosion of Krakatoa in 18S3 would be a mere nothing in comparison, yet the atmospheric waves of this volcanic explosion were felt around the. world. If a meteoric stone having about 3.5 the density of water and of about eight inches diameter plunges into the atmosphere at a velocity of 31 miles a second, the sudden heat developed amounts to 4,397,000 calories. At the height of less than 9.5 miles its speed would have been retarded to about half a mile a second. This is how the atmosphere saves us from the fury of these ordinary bullets and torpedoes from outside space. Submarine Hygiene D URING the great world war the men of the submarine service took great and mysterious risks and for their courage they arc held in high honor. But in peace-time they still have to face discomforts of which the public knows little. Perhaps the most persistent is the stuffiness of the boats, which is explained in a handbook for medical officers of British submarine service, by Surgeon-Commander R. W. B. Hall, R. N., issued by the admiralty. Stuffiness is due to the presence of the crtw and to gases from the batteries and engines. The engines now blow the products of combustion straight overboard, ?o carbon monoxide is no longer a danger, and the specially susceptible white mouse, the original mascot of the service, and figured on its banners, is no longer its guardian angel. From the secondary batteries, while they are being charged, hydrogen is liberated, and, if in quantity, may cause explosion; also, if leakage occur or disaster, and sea water floods a battery, chlorine is given off, deadly in 1 part to 10,000. But the chief unavoidable impurities arise from the crew, products of respiration or perspiration, emanations from the body, clothing, or food, and tobacco-smoke. When a boat is on the surface it is ventilated through the conning tower, the hatches, and special ventilating shafts, while if under way, a free current of air is drawn into it through all apertures by the suction of the engines, which discharge the used air overboard. During Fubmcrsion no fresh air can be introduced, and at first reliance is placed on IC-inch traversing tablefans which keep the air of the compartments freely moving and mixing. After some 12 hours the members of the crew will begin to pant and the purifiers must be used to get rid of the increasing carbonic acid, the air being drawn constantly through trays of sodalime, renewed every four hours. The air then becomes unduly hot and moist and i3 parsed through coolers, which condense the moisture as snow. Generally there are two ventilation systems, one for the torpedo-room and fore-end, the other for the engine-room and the after compartments, each with its own supply and exhaust trunks for use when the vessel is on the surface, and each helping the mixing of air when the vessel i? submerged. The battery exhaust is of special importance when recharging is proceeding, and it can be separated entirely from the general ventilation of the boat. As to diseases, a writer in The London Lancet says that dermatitis from petroleum is freouent; the risk of heat-stroke to crews of submarines operating in the tropics is great; eyestrain causes anxiety, it results from long spells at the periscope, but it is understood how needful it is that the observer shall be physically comfortable and have a good scat and a periscope that fits him and suits his sight. Eyestrain depends also in a small degree on the lighting of the boat, for the only light when submerged is electric. Lighting nowadays, to avoid glare, i3 indirect, the lamps being shielded by metal reflectors which disperse the light over the siJes of the vessel painted a "matt" white; there- is no enamel paint Officers and men fcr the submarine servic wry carefully physically selected.