Comets, objects of terror and alarm in all ages.—Opinions of the ancient Greeks.—Of Anaxagoras.—Of Democritus.—Of Apollonius and Zeno.—Sir G. C. Lewis's Summary of Greek Opinion.—Ptolemy silent as to Comets.—Twelve varieties mentioned by Pliny.—Opinions of Seneca.—Of Paracelsus.—Napoleon and Comets.—The Romans not given to Astronomy.—Quotations from Virgil.—From Suetonius.—From Juvenal.—From Pliny.—From Plutarch.—Opinions of the old Chroniclers.—Quotation from William of Malmesbury.—Pope Calixtus III. and the Comet of 1456.—Admiral Smyth on this matter.—Leonard Digges.—John Gadbury.—Shakespeare's frequent mention of Comets.—Quotation from Julius Cæsar.—From Henry VI.—From Hamlet.—From Henry IV.—From The Taming of the Shrew.—Quotations from Milton.—Milton apparently a plagiarist from Tasso.—Quotation from Thomson.—From Pope.—From Lord Byron.—From Young.—Some modern Poetry.—An American Incident.—Comets and Hot Weather.—The Earl of Malmesbury.—Arago rebukes wild speculations.—French writers.—Fontenelle.—Lambert.—Supposed allusions in the Bible to Comets.—Maunder's opinion.
Already in my first chapter have I called attention to the fact that comets have at all times been a source of great interest to the world in general, but it will be worth while to pursue the matter and rake up some of the historical notices of comets from the early times down to the Middle Ages and later; with a glance now and again at what some of the great poets have said on the subject.
Going back to the times of the earliest known students of Astronomy—the Chaldæans, it is to be noted that they seem to have considered comets as analogous in their nature to planets; that is to say permanent bodies revolving round the Sun in orbits, so much more extensive, however, that they were only visible when they came near the Earth. This opinion, which is the oldest hint we have of the existence of periodical comets, was also held by philosophers of the Pythagorean School.
