Regarding the spectroscopic investigations of the More- 

 house comet, a singular fact has been brought out. Pluvenal 

 of the Juvisy Observatory finds that the spectrum displays 

 the absence of the hydrocarbons, which were a feature of 

 Daniel's comet, that attracted so much attention in 1907, 

 whilst the complete system of cyanogen spectrum is repre- 

 sented. Probably this significant fact accounts for Barnard's 

 observation that while the light of the Morehouse comet is 

 fainter than that of Daniel's, its photographing power is much 

 stronger. 



After passing around the sun, Comet Morehouse will be 

 seen only in the southern hemisphere, where it will be a tele- 

 scopic object for several months. The astronomers in that 

 part of the world are eagerly awaiting its appearance. The 

 latest computed elements of tin- comet are as follows: 



Perihelion passage. December 25.8. 1908. 



Inclination of orbit. 140 (\r^. 10 min. 



Distance from sun. 0.94554. 



The perihelion distance is accordingly about 88,000,000 

 miles. 



The comet is now moving rapidly away from the sun. but 

 will be followed by the telescope for several months. As the 

 congealed gases which have been fused and awakened into 

 activity by the sun's heat become again fro/en by the zero 

 cold of interstellar space, the luminous appendage will contin- 

 ually grow shorten- and fainter till it entirely disappears, and 

 nothing will be visible but the faint, nebulous disk of the 

 comet's head, till the retreating comet is lost even to tele- 

 scopic sight. 



We have referred to the orbit as parabolic. If it is such 

 it will pass beyond the control of our sun's attraction, and 

 after the lapse of some millions of years eider the sphere of 

 influence of some other stellar body, and after further untold 

 ages will flash its weird lights through the skies of some other 

 circling planet, and give rise to speculations regarding its 

 past history and journeyings through the infinite void. 



On the other hand, further and more precise data may 

 show that its orbit is elliptical, in which event, after travers- 

 ing a path which will carry it thousands of millions of miles 

 beyond the orbit of Neptune, it will move very slowly around 

 its aphelion curve, and then lie drawn again toward the sun. 

 After the lapse of untold ages, perhaps many, many thousands 

 of years, it will again revisit our midnight skies and repeat 

 the phenomenal transformations of nucleus, coma and tail 

 which have recently excited so much interest among astron- 

 omers and laymen. With what order of intelligence and with 

 what kind of instruments will it then be observed by the 

 denizens of earth? 



2S 



