Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 27.djvu/743



N all the development of astronomy few things are more interesting than the growth of a true doctrine of comets. Hardly anything throws a more vivid light upon the danger of using isolated texts of Scripture to preserve beliefs which observation and thought have superseded, and upon the folly of arraying ecclesiastical power against scientific discovery.

Out of the ancient world had come a mass of beliefs regarding comets, meteors, and eclipses; these were universally held to be portents sent directly from heaven for the warning of mankind. As to stars and meteors, they were generally thought to presage happy events, especially births of gods, heroes, and great men. So firmly rooted was this idea that we constantly find among the ancient nations notices of lights in the heavens heralding the birth of persons of note. The sacred books of India show that the births of Crishna and of Buddha were announced by such heavenly lights. The sacred books of China reveal similar appearances at the births of Yu, the founder of the first dynasty, and of the inspired sage Lao-tse. In the