306 Royal Astronomical Society. 



turus in its quantity of light. Arcturus and a Centauri are nearly 

 equal, the latter, however, being somewhat the brighter of the 

 two. 



I take this opportunity to mention, that I remain fully convinced 

 of the reality of the periodical variation of a Orionis. Not so of 

 a Cassiopeia?, in the case of which star the amount of supposed change, 

 however, was very much less considerable, and in which, on account 

 of its difference of colour from y, the compared star, the moon affects 

 the comparison, when above the horizon*. 



16 Observations of the Comet made in March 1843, at the Mau- 

 ritius. By W. Lloyd, Esq. 



The comet was first seen on the 1st of March, and its nucleus 

 was seen by Mr. Lloyd on the 3rd. On the 4th, instruments were 

 set up at Doguet, on Les Plaines Willhems, and observations were 

 commenced. These consist chiefly of observations of altitudes and 

 azimuths, the details of which are given. The comet was observed 

 till the 22nd of March. 



III. Occultations observed at Ashurst in the year 1843, by R. 

 Snow, Esq. ; for which we refer to the Monthly Notices. 



IV. Right Ascensions and North Polar Distances of the Comet of 

 Mauvais observed at Hamburg. By C. Rumker, Esq. Communi- 

 cated in a letter to F. Baily, Esq., dated July 25, 1843. These will 

 also be found in the Monthly Notices. 



In a letter to Dr. Lee, dated August 18, 1843, additional places 

 of the comet were communicated. 



From the former of these sets of observations, M. Gotze calcu- 

 lated the following elements of the orbit of the comet : — 



Perihelion passage, 1843, May 690816 Greenwich mean time. 



Longitude of ascending node... 157 13 23*72 \ From mean equinox 



Longitude of perihelion 281 50 58*99 J of June 20, 1843. 



Inclination 52 53 294 



Log. perihelion distance 0-2097314 Motion direct. 



V. On the Divisions of the Exterior Ring of the Planet Saturn. 

 By the Rev. W. R. Dawes. 



The existing evidence relating to a division of the outer ring of 

 the planet Saturn, into two or more concentric rings, is of a very 

 conflicting character. A few observers have been well satisfied that 

 they have occasionally perceived such a division, among whom stand 

 conspicuous, Short, the celebrated maker of reflecting telescopes, 

 Professor Quetelet, of Brussels, and Captain Kater, whose paper on 

 the subject, published in vol. iv. part 2 of the Memoirs of the Astro- 

 nomical Societyf, discusses the subject at some length, in addition 

 to a detail of his own observations. The evidence on the other side 

 of the question, however, though of a negative character, has always 

 appeared to me so strong, that I must confess myself to have been 

 somewhat incredulous of the supposed fact of any subdivisions ex- 



[* See Phil. Mag. S. 3. vol. xiv. p. 528; vol. xvii. p. 310, 311.] 

 [f An abstract of Captain Kater's paper will be found in Phil. Mag., 

 S. 2. vol. viii. p. 456.] 



