Page:Gods Glory in the Heavens.djvu/166

146 before our eyes. We are apt to think that the full-sized comet is merely the same as the cloudy speck which we descried some weeks before, and that the whole difference of aspect is due to difference of distance; just as the white speck on the distant horizon differs from the frigate entering the harbour with all her sails set. This, however, is far from being the case: no doubt, increasing proximity magnifies the object; but apart from this, there is a wonderfully rapid expansion and change of form. The comet at a distance is the flower in bud; in the proximity of the sun, it is the flower in full blossom. In the latter position, there is an astonishing development in size and shape. Perhaps a more apt comparison would be to the sea anemone, in which we have, with the same substance, an alteration of bulk and form. The comet in its remote position is the shrunken anemone; with its bright nucleus and flaming tail, it is the anemone with its tentacles expanded, and its brilliant colours displayed.

With the naked eye, we can only see the bright petals of the flower coming forth from the calyx; we do not detect the formative processes going on within the germ. But just as with the microscope we can. dissect a flower, and detect the most secret processes of nature in the germ, so can we, with the telescope, penetrate the nucleus of the comet, and discover the plan of evolution by which the tail of the comet springs from this centre. As we watch with interest