178 Prof. C. Piazzi Smyth's Astronomical Notices. 

 December 30, 1850. 



Faye's comet must be an object of especial interest to every as- 

 tronomer, on this, its first predicted return. Hundreds of comets 

 have had orbits computed, but from a variety of causes, only three 

 have hitherto been observed to return ; Faye's comet makes the 

 fourth ; its period is about seven and a half years. 



It is extremely faint, and requires a very powerful telescope to 

 be perceived. Such have not hitherto been common in Scotland, 

 but Mr Grant of Elgin is procuring an object glass of 11'5 inches 

 aperture, from Andrew Ross, optician, London ; while the stand is 

 being executed by Messrs Ransome and May of Ipswich, the makers 

 also of the new Meridian instrument of Greenwich. 



This speaks sufficiently for the accuracy of the workmanship ; but 

 in equatorial mountings, to prevent small vibrations, the further ele- 

 ment of solidity is necessary, and it will be gained in an unprece- 

 dented degree in Mr Grant's instrument, for it will chiefly consist of 

 cast-iron, and will weigh over 7 tons ; one piece of it alone, being 

 about 4 tons. 



Were it not for private enthusiasm, England would be left quite 

 behind in this branch of astronomy ; for while the Russians, Ger- 

 mans, and Americans, are continually ordering for their Observa- 

 tories the largest telescopes that can be made, the English Govern- 

 ment will not supply any such to the British ones. 



Private men here have raised the reflecting telescope to a height 

 of perfection utterly beyond that attained elsewhere, but a villainous 

 climate prevents them from using it. Seeing this, the British Asso- 

 ciation and the Royal Society of London recommended to Government 

 to take up the subject, and send one of these specimens of British 

 skill to the clearer climate of Australia ; but it has just transpired, 

 that the Government refuses to recommend the measure on account 

 of the — expense ! 



There is, however, a more favourable part of the world still than 

 Australia, and fortunately British ground, viz., the high table-land 

 of India, where a Rosseian reflector, raised high into the purer re- 

 gions of the atmosphere, and with the planets passing its zenith, 

 would inevitably distance all that foreigners can do with their pre- 

 sent instruments and in their existing observatories, and would also 

 mark the present epoch as one of signal discovery in the annals of 

 astronomy. 



With this idea, my friend W. S. Jacob, Esq., H.E.I.C. Astrono- 

 mer at Madras, finding the instruments of that Observatory small 

 and worn out, and requiring renewal, proposed to the Company to 



