Astronomers have
not been moved by this new visitant on the well-worn track as we were by
the arrival of the comet of 1882, or as we should have been if either
the comet of 1882 had never been seen or its path had not been shown to
be so wide ranging. Whatever the comet of the present year may be, it
was not the comet of 1882 returned. No one even supposes that it was the
comet of 1880, or 1843, or 1668. Nevertheless, rightly apprehended, the
appearance of a comet traveling on appreciably the same track as those
four other comets is of extreme interest, and indeed practically
decisive as to the interpretation we must place on these repeated
coincidences.
Observe, we are absolutely certain that the five comets are associated
together in some way; but we are as absolutely certain that they are not
one and the same comet which had traveled along the same track and
returned after a certain number of circuits. We need not trouble
ourselves with the question whether two or more of the comets may not
have been in reality one and the same body at different returns. It
suffices that they all five were not one; since we deduce precisely the
same conclusion whether we regard the five as in reality but four or
three or two. But it may be mentioned in passing as appearing altogether
more probable, when all the evidence is considered, that there were no
fewer than five distinct comets, all traveling on what was practically
the selfsame track when in the neighborhood of the sun.
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