Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/250

* COMET. 202 COMINES. speculation. The composition of the n.ebulosity and the tail is, at all events, something of al- most inconceivable tenuity, as shown by three considerations. ( 1 ) Stars seen through tliem sutler no diminution of brightness, though the light must have to traverse sometimes millions of miles of the cometary atmosphere. (2) Though the thickness of the tail of a comet may be millions of miles, and its length of course much greater, the comets have never been ob- served to cause any sensible disturbance of the planetary motions, though approaching near enough to be tliemselves so m-^oh affected as to change the entire character of the orbit. (3) The curvature of the tails, and the acceleration of the periodic time in the case of Encke"s comet, indicate the possibility of their being af- fected by a resisting medium, wiiicK has never been obsen-ed to have the slightest influence on the planetary periods, though so long obsei-ved. Even the nuclei of comets appear to be of ex- tremely small density. This may be inferred, though with less force than regards the tails, from the two last considerations above men- tioned; and, moreover, there are reliable accounts of stars of a very low order of magnitude being seen through the nuclei themselves. Comets have been alternately regarded with terror and with welcome in the popular mind. The appearance of Halley's comet in 1456, just as the Turks had become masters of Constanti- nople, and threatened an advance into Europe, was regarded by Christendom with a supersti- tious dread, anil to the Ave Jlaria was added the prayer: "Lord, save us from the devil, the Turk, and the comet." At Constantinople, the occurrence of a lunar eclipse at the same time, increased the portentousness of the event. The discoveries of science as to the magnitude of the space filled by their bodies and their prodigious velocity, together with the confessed impossi- bility of ahvays predicting their approach, pro- duced fears of another kind, which have some- times been, especially in France, extravagantly exaggerated in the public mind. The ground- lessness of such alarms, from the extreme im- probability of collision with the nucleus, the probable innocuousness of a contact with the extremely attenuated surrounding matter, and, possibly, to the greater part of the world, of a collision with the nucleus itself, will be suffi- ciently evident from what has been said above. It is probable tha't already on many occasions some of the attenuated va])or in the tail of comets must have come within the earth's at- traction, and been absorbed in its atmosphere. Whether the effect is deleterious or salubrious, or w-hether it has any perceptible influence at all, is only matter of speculation. The salubrity of cometary influence was at one time a popular idea; and the vintages of 1811 and 185S were favorable seasons, whose produce was formerly advertised as the comet wines. It is scarcely worth while, however, to follow further specula- tion on these subjects. Consult: Guillemin, The World of Comets, trans, by Glaisher (London, 1881) ; Ziillner. XJeher die yatur der Kometen. (Leipzig, 1883) : Marcuse, Ueber die phj/sische Bescliaffenheit der Kometen (Berlin, 1884) : Ball, In the Starrti Realm (London. 1802) ; Galle, Terzeich-nis der Flemente der hisher ie- rechneten Kometeniahnen his zuin Jahre tS91i (Leipzig, 1894) ; Lynn, licmarkuhlc Comets (London, 18!t!»). COMET-SEEKEB. A telescope having a wide held of view, but a rather low magnifying power, used in searching for comets. COMFORT, kum'fort, George Fisk (1833—). An American educator. He was born at Berk- shire, N. Y.. and graduated at Wesleyan Uni- versity in 1857. He was one of the leaders in organizing the American Philological Associa- tion (18(>9), and also in establishing the Metro- politan Museum of Art in New York Citj' (1809- 72). From 1872 to 1887 he was professor of modern languages and a;stheties in Syracuse University, and in 1872 foimded there the Col- lege of Fine Arts, of which he was dean from 1873' until 1893. In the latter year he became president of the Southern College of Fine Arts, at La Porte, Tex., and in 1S9G organized the Syracuse JIuserun of Fine Arts, of which he became the director. He has published: Art Museums in Ameriea (1869); Modern Lan- guages in Edueation (1870); Woman's Eduea- tion and Woman's Uealth (1894); The Land Troubles in Ireland (1898) ; and a series of German text-books. COMFKEY, kum'frl (OF. cumfirie, confire, from ML. eonfinna, probably on account of its sti'cngthening powers, from Lat. confirmare, to nmke firm, strengthen, from con, together + firmare, to strengthen, from firmus, firm), !<iiniphytum. A genus of plants of the nat- ural order Boraginaceae. The species, which are not numerous, are natives of Europe and the north of Asia. They are perennial plants of coarse appearance, although occasionally to be seen in flow-er borders. Symphytum officinale (the common comfrey) and Symphytum tubero- sum are natives of Great Britain, frequent in shady and moist places. Symphytum officinale was fonuerly much esteemed as a vulneran*. on account of its astringency, and decoctions of its roots were a household remedy for diarrhoea. Its young leaves and its blanched shoots are also occasionally used as boiled vegetables. The prickly comfrey (Symphytum asperrimum). a native of Caucasus, 6 to 10 feet in height, has been highly recommended for feeding cattle. It has been extensively tried in the United States, but its cultivation is not recommended, except when a, large bulk of forage is required from a limited area of rich land. It is propagated from roots. COMICAL GALLANT, The, or The Amours OF Sir John Falstaff. An adaptation, by John Dennis (1702), of Shakespeare's Merry Wiiws of Windftor. COMICAL LOVERS, The, or Maerla.ge a I.A 1I0DE. A comedy by Colley Gibber (1707). based on portions of Dryden's Seci-et Love and Marriage <) la Mode. COMICAL REVENGE, The. or Love in a Trn. A comedy by Sir George Etherege, played and printed in 1664. COMINES, ko'men' (Lat. Cominceus, Flemish Comen). A border town of France and Belgium, situated on the Lys. by which it is divided into two parts, one belonging to the French Depart- ment of Nord and the other to the Belgian Prov- ince of West Flanders. It has a number of tex- tile-mills and tobacco-factories. The celebrated