THE GREAT COMET OF 18S2. 291 



west, and when, once in a while, a clear morning permitted the view, it 

 was seen to be growing fainter and more diffuse, though not smaller. 



To the naked eye or opera-glass it has perhaps presented fewer phe- 

 nomena of interest than some other comets that of 1858, for instance ; 

 it has not exhibited any of the peculiar secondary tails or straight 

 streamers which were so characteristic of that comet, nor has the stria- 

 tum of the tail been marked, though evident enough on close inspec- 

 tion. 



From September 27th to October 1st, however, the tail was " rifted." 

 There was one obscure streak extending from the nucleus through its 

 whole length, described both by Ricco, of Palermo, and Dr. Hastings, 

 of Baltimore, and the latter mentions another fainter one parallel to 

 the first, and shorter. 



On October 2d the tail, as seen at Princeton, was about 14 long, 

 exceedingly bright and sharp in its outlines, slightly curved and con- 

 vex to the horizon. It was especially well defined near the head, and 

 almost equally so on both sides. On the 4th the upper edge was 

 veiled and rendered indefinite by a faint nebulosity which appeared to 

 have emanated from the head. Ricco's drawing of it, as seen at this 

 date in the clear Italian sky, shows something resembling a bright 

 comet, enveloped in a fainter one ; but the smaller one is eccentric, 

 and south of the middle of the hazy envelope. 



On the 10th this external nebulosity had considerably increased. 

 Professor Smith, of Kansas University, noticed on the 9th a pale stream 

 of light with parallel edges, and nearly as wide as the tail of the 

 comet, extending toward the sun. On the 15th the phenomenon 

 had become much more conspicuous. The streamer was now over 

 half a degree in width, well defined 

 at both edges, of nearly uniform 

 brightness throughout, though no- 

 where as bright as even the faintest 

 portions of the tail, and extended 

 from its origin, a degree or two 

 above the nucleus, to a distance 

 of two or three decrees below the 

 head, where it faded out. The dot- 

 ted lines in Fig. 1 indicate its form 

 and dimensions. 



This streamer, which remained 

 visible only a few days, may have Fla *- 0c 15 < 18S2 - 



originated in the enveloping comet of Ricco's figure just spoken of, 

 but no other comet is known to have shown anything of the kind. It 

 is not to be confounded with the sunward jets sometimes ejected by 

 cometary nuclei, nor did it at all resemble the anomalous tail, directed 

 toward the sun, shown by Pechule's comet (in December, 1880), in 

 addition to its ordinary tail. 



