ut at sea, off Ryook Phyoo, Dec. 2, 1845
(_London Roy. Soc. Proc._, 5-627); something like a gigantic trumpet,
suspended, vertical, oscillating gently, visible five or six minutes,
length estimated at 425 feet, at Oaxaca, Mexico, July 6, 1874 (_Sci.
Am. Sup._, 6-2365); two luminous bodies, seemingly united, visible five
or six minutes, June 3, 1898 (_La Nature_, 1898-1-127); thing with a
tail, crossing moon, transit half a minute, Sept. 26, 1870 (London
_Times_, Sept. 30, 1870); object four or five times size of moon, moving
slowly across sky, Nov. 1, 1885, near Adrianople (_L'Astronomie_,
1886-309); large body, colored red, moving slowly, visible 15 minutes,
reported by Coggia, Marseilles, Aug. 1, 1871 (_Chem. News_, 24-193);
details of this observation, and similar observation by Guillemin, and
other instances by de Fonville (_Comptes Rendus_, 73-297, 755); thing
that was large and that was stationary twice in seven minutes, Oxford,
Nov. 19, 1847; listed by Lowe (_Rec. Sci._, 1-136); grayish object that
looked to be about three and a half feet long, rapidly approaching the
earth at Saarbruck, April 1, 1826; sound like thunder; object expanding
like a sheet (_Am. Jour. Sci._, 1-26-133; _Quar. Jour. Roy. Inst._,
24-488); report by an astronomer, N.S. Drayton, upon an object duration
of which seemed to him extraordinary; duration three-quarters of a
minute, Jersey City, July 6, 1882 (_Sci. Amer._, 47-53); object like a
comet, but with proper motion of 10 degrees an hour; visible one hour;
reported by Purine and Glancy from the Cordoba Observatory, Argentina,
March 14, 1916 (_Sci. Amer._, 115-493); something like a signal light,
reported by Glaisher, Oct. 4, 1844; bright as Jupiter, "sending out
quick flickering waves of light" (_Year Book of Facts_, 1845-278).

I think that with the object known as Eddie's "comet" passes away the
last of our susceptibility to the common fallacy of personifying. It is
one of the most deep-rooted of positivist illusions--that people are
persons. We have been guilty too often of spleens and spites and
ridicules against astronomers, as if they were persons, or final
unities, individuals, completenesses, or selves--instead of
indeterminate parts. But, so long as we remain in quasi-existence, we
can cast out illusion only with some other illusion, though the other
illusion may approximate higher to reality. So we personify no more--but
we super-personify. We now take into full acceptance our ex