200 ASTRONOMY. 



where absolutely no corona was visible to the naked eye or to photo- 

 graphs. No new bright lines were visible in the coronal spectrum. A 

 new line (K. 534) in the chromosphere was discovered by Prof. EoCK- 

 wooD, who, as well as Prof. Young, saw both lines brightly reversed. 

 Prof. Barker and others saw the Frauenhofer lines (dark) in the cor- 

 onal spectrum ; they were very faint. The polarization of the corona 

 was observed by several parties. The photographic observations of Pro- 

 fessors Harkness and Wright show it to be radial in direction. Prof. 

 Hasting's eye observations give tangential polarization. Such are the 

 main facts of observation to be derived from the volume in question. It 

 is yet too soon to state the bearing of these facts upon existing theories 

 or to deduce any general conclusions from them. 



COMETS. 



The following comets were visible in 1879 : 



A. Brorsen's periodic comet was first seen by Tempel on January 

 14, and on February 26 by Tebbutt. It passed the perihelion on March 

 30, and was observed till the end of May. It was found more than a 

 month earlier than Dr. Sciiulze's ephemeris commenced. 



B. Tempel's periodic comet was first seen by him on April 24, and was 

 observed until the end of June. It passed the perihelion on May 7, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Raoul Gautier's elements. 



0. Swift found a pretty bright comet on June 16, which was inde- 

 pendently discovered by Winnecke on June 21. It was observed till 

 August 23. 



D. Palisa discovered a pretty bright comet on August 21, which was 

 seen as late as October 12 (the date of the perihelion passage). 



E. Another comet was first seen by Hartwig on August 24. The last 

 observation seems to be from September 14. 



The spectrum of Brorsen's comet appeared this year very different 

 from what it was in 1868. It consisted of three bands, the central one 

 the brightest, and the least refrangible one exceedingly faint. The 

 wave-lengths as determined by Young, were468±2, 5L7±1, and 558rt:3. 

 The abnormal character of the spectrum in 1868 (v\^hich only one other 

 comet, that of Bo relly, c. 1877, has exhibited), has therefore disajj- 

 peared, and the comet has now the ordinary spectrum.* 



The following comets were visible in 1880: 



Comet A, 1880, was first seen, probably, at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 February 1. It has been usually spoken of as the Great Southern Comet. 

 Dr. B. A. Gould, of Cordoba, Argentine Eepublic, says: " It was bright- 

 est Februar^^ 7 or 8, when its length was 40° and its. breadth 1A°, but 

 its brightness not suj^erior to that of the Milky Way in Taurus.^' An- 

 other observer says : "The jiortion of the tail visible was about 34° in' 

 length and 2° in width, its long, straight, narrow form resembling the 



* Young, N. xix. 559, Obs. III. 56, Christie N. xx. 5. 



