104 THE APPROACHING COMET. 



whelmed, with 100,000 inhabitants) ; in 1304, by great drought, 

 and intense cold in the following winter, succeeded by a pesti- 

 lence; in 1380, by a still more destructive contagion; in 1456, 

 by wet weather, inundations, and earthquakes : again, in 1531, 

 by great floods ; in 1607, by extreme drought, followed by a most 

 severe winter ; in 1682, by floods and earthquakes ; in 1759, by 

 some wet, and slight earthquakes." 



The author concludes with some particulars respecting its next 

 appearance, which differ, more especially in regard to distances, 

 from those given in the preceding part of this article. His report 

 of its course and motions is as follows: — 



" Towards the end of August, 1835, the comet will make its 

 first appearance in the eastern quarter of the heavens, in the sign 

 Taurus. Its light will then be very faint, partly on account of 

 the length of the days, and partly on account of its distance at 

 this lime from the earth, amounting to 190 millions of miles. 



" The position of the comet in the heavens will not be much 

 changed till the middle of September, though its light will rapidly 

 increase in intensity. On the 13th of September its distance from 

 the earth will be 95 millions of miles; from this time its magni- 

 ficent tail will increase in magnitude and brilliancy ; the comet 

 will rise gradually earlier ; and its motion will appear to be more 

 and more rapid. On the 1st of October the comet will be only 

 27 millions of miles distant from the earth, it will then enter the 

 fore-foot of the Great Bear, in which it will cease to set, so that 

 about this time it will have attained its highest degree of brillancy 

 and its greatest apparent magnitude. On the 6th of October its 

 distance from the earth will be only about 16^ millions of miles 

 being the nearest point to which it approaches. From this period 

 it will continue to approach perceptibly nearer to the sun, set- 

 ting earlier in the evening, and at the same time receding from 

 the earth. On the 17th of November the comet will be in its 

 perihelion, consequently it will be no longer visible to us, either 

 during the rest of that month or in December. In the begin- 

 ning of January, 1836, it will issue from the sun's rays, again 

 become visible, and be 190 millions of miles distant from the 

 earth, as it was at the end of August. Meanwhile it will ap- 

 proach the earth a second time, and remain visible to us during 

 the month of February. On the 1st of March it will be about 

 120 millions of miles distant, and will be visible to us in the 

 morning in the constellations of Corvus and Crater. Thence it will 

 continue to recede more and more from the earth and the sun, at- 

 tain its greatest distance from the latter in 1873, and again arrive 

 at its perihelion in 1912." 



