'2*28 Royal Astronomical Society. 



magnitude. It had no decided tail, but only a feeble trace of some 

 extension of its nebulosity in a direction about 40° N.P. from the pa- 

 rallel. 



" At 5 h 53 m 21 s sidereal time at Slough, the comet preceded a star 

 x of the 10th magnitude 1 1 8, of time, and its position from the star, 

 taken by the position-micrometer used in my observations of double 

 stars (for which its own light afforded ample illumination), was 

 274°*0, so that the comet's centre was at that time 11 "*4 north of 

 the star. 



" A large star of 56 mag., which proved to be z Leonis (Fl. 43), 

 preceded the comet about a minute and a quarter of time, by rough 

 estimation, and was judged to be about 13' or 14' to the south of it j 

 but as my field of view would not take in both objects, I was about 

 to have recourse to the equatorial, when it clouded. At this time 

 the comet was rapidly approaching the star .r, which had even begun 

 to be involved in the extreme borders of its nebulosity. Its path, as 

 nearly as I could judge, would have carried its centre about 40" 

 south of the star. 



1 The next night (Nov. 4-5) was unfavourable, clouds persisting 

 obstinately in resting on and about the comet's place, while the 

 horizon elsewhere was generally clear. However, as a star of the 

 ]0th magnitude is visible in my reflector through a pretty thick 

 cloud, I succeeded in ascertaining the place of the star x of last 

 night's observation with sufficient exactness to secure its identification, 

 should any one be inclined to re-observe it. It follows 43 (z) Leonis 

 1« 32 c *2 of time, and is about 12' 47" novth of that star ; so that its 

 approximate place for 1832*0 will be M 10 b 15 m 44 s «8 ; Decl. 

 + 7° 36' 23"; which I apprehend to be within I s of the truth in M, 

 and 1' in decl.; and hence the approximate place of the comet at the 

 epoch of the preceding night's observation must have been, Ai 10 h 

 15 m 34 s ; Decl. + 7° 36' 34". The place for the same epoch, inter- 

 polated from Mr. Henderson's Ephemeris, computed from Damoiseau's 

 Elements, is M !0 h 12 m 30 s ; Decl.+ 8° 17'. 



" It was not till about 8 11 sid. time that the clouds were sufficiently 

 dispersed from the comet's place to allow a view of it. Being then, 

 however, at a much greater altitude than when seen last night, it 

 was proportionally brighter, and was, indeed, a very fine and brilliant 

 object. The trace of a tail or branch in the same direction as last 

 night, though extremely feeble, was now unequivocal, and the central 

 point not to be overlooked. It had not, however, the appearance of 

 a star, but seemed more analogous to the central point in some nebulae, 

 such as that in Andromeda, which is probably only nebula much 

 more condensed than the rest. The comet's diameter could not be 

 estimated under 5', and I suspected some degree of nebulosity even 

 beyond that limit. 



" At 8 h 8 m 29 s sid. time at Slough, the comet's centre followed a 

 star iv in the field, almost exactly I s - 5 north of it, (a good observation). 

 The comet being then allowed to run along the middle wire, so as to 

 traverse a diameter of the field while the star traversed a chord, I 



