Transcriber’s Notes: Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_ in the original text. Equal signs “=” before and after a word or phrase indicate =bold= in the original text. Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals. Illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs. Antiquated words have been preserved. Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected. [Illustration: HALLEY’S COMET OF 1910, AS SEEN IN NEW YORK, LOOKING WESTWARD, DURING THE LATTER PART OF MAY.] COMET LORE Halley’s Comet in History and Astronomy By EDWIN EMERSON _Author of “A History of the Nineteenth Century,” Etc._ PRINTED BY THE SCHILLING PRESS 137-139 EAST 25th STREET NEW YORK Copyrighted, 1910, by EDWIN EMERSON Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London All rights reserved under Berne Convention Printed in the United States of America by the Schilling Press in New York from the electrotyped plates CONTENTS PAGE Halley’s Comet 7 The Terror of the Comet 10 Famous Comets of Olden Times 30 The Star of Bethlehem 39 Great Events and Disasters Linked with Comets 42 Halley’s Comet the Bloodiest of All 60 The Story of Edmund Halley 90 What Are Comets? 101 Our Peril from Collision with the Comet 113 The End of the World 122 ILLUSTRATIONS