556 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



consequence of this near approach, its motion will be very 

 rapid, and it will pass in a few days from Taurus to Hydra, and 

 Sextans. 



It will, unfortunately, be south of the sun, which will greatly 

 impair its splendour as seen from England, though in the 

 Southern Hemisphere it is likely to make a good display. The 

 circumstances as regards its position in the sky are very like 

 those in 1066, when it made such a sensation ; but in all pro- 

 bability the comet has lost much of its glory in the interval, so 

 that not too much should be expected next year, though we are 

 quite justified in hoping for a fairly conspicuous object with a 

 tail several degrees in length, probably in a state of rapid 

 change, as in 1835 ; and with the aid of the spectroscope and the 

 camera we may hope to interpret these changes much more fully 

 than was possible then. But, apart from its intrinsic splendour, 

 the comet has such an interesting history, and links the centuries 

 together so wonderfully that no one gifted with the smallest degree 

 of imagination can fail to follow its course with the deepest 

 interest, and renewed admiration for the great English astro- 

 nomer whose name it bears, and who discovered its periodicity 

 in such a brilliant manner. 



