Kirkwood.] -i^i [July 17, 



woodch blackbird, C. 

 woodum pond, K. 



wothamashet Lloyd : to run ; wootliyat to noalTc. 

 zathrook husband ; cf. anwoyding." 

 zeek necklace, K. ; abbr. from baasick (?) 



z6i00t K., zosweet partridge. Ptarmigan is added to the term ; but a ptar- 

 migan {Lagopus alba) is not a partridge. 



Beothuk Song preserved by Cormack : 

 Sugut if bafu buth 

 baonslieeu oosadooosh edabauseek. 



As there is no f in this language, the copying or the phonetics of this 

 song must be partially faulty. 



The Comet of 1S66 and the Meteors of November 14th. By Professor Daniel 



Kirkwood. 



(Read before the American Philosophical Society, July 17, 18S5.) 



The probable recognition of several ancient returns of the first comet 

 of 186G, together with the identification of an additional number of star- 

 showers related historically to this comet as their source ; the further con- 

 firmation of the existence of three distinct meteoric clusters all moving in 

 the orbit of Tempel's comet ; and the data thus afforded for studying the 

 structure and history of this interesting part of the solar system, afford 

 sufficient reason for the following rediscussioa of the facts now known in 

 regard to the origin and history of the November meteors. 



Tempel's Comet of 1866. 

 On the 19th of December, 1865, a snaall comet was discovered by M. 

 Tempel, of Marseilles. It was generally observed till the following Feb- 

 ruary ; and, although an inconspicuous object, its relations to the earth 

 and Uranus have given it an importance equaled by few comets recorded 

 in history. It orbit was computed by Dr. Oppolzer, of Vienna, who found 

 the time of revolution to be 33.176 years. Later researches, however, 

 give 33.28 years as the more probable period. The comet seemed much 

 smaller in 1865-6 than at any previously observed return — a fact indica- 

 tive of its gradual dissolution. Its apparent magnitude, however, at any 

 apparition, would evidently depend on the time of the year at which it 

 passed its perihelion. Comets are recorded in the years 1733, 1699, and 

 1399, corresponding to dates at which Tempel's comet was due ; but 

 these returns are to be regarded as doubtful. In 1866 Professor H. A. 

 Newton suggested that the comet of that year was a return of one discov- 

 ered in China, August 26, 1336, and which passed its perihelion October 



