144 



SCIENTIFIC MEMORANDA. 



The Comet of Comets. — The return of Biela's or Gambart's comet io 

 its perihelion has been marked by a circumstance unparalled in the his- 

 tory of these bodies. Not only has it verified with the greatest preci- 

 sion the predicted period of its return, but it is to all appearance accom- 

 panied by a satellite, bearing in every respect a likeness to its primary, 

 and moving in such a manner as to indicate sucli a relation between 

 them. Observation has not yet settled the question of the precise na- 

 ture of their relation to each other, and we await with great impatience 

 the result oi those further observations, with whicli Lieut. Maury has 

 promised to furnish the public. — S. W. M. 



Jlnolher Comet. — A new telescopic comet was discovered, on Thurs- 

 day night, Feb. 26tli, by Mr. Pond of Cambridge University. It is in the 

 same quarter of the Heavens and not very remote from Biela's comet 

 mentioned above. — S. W. M. 



Douhle Stars.— ?mL Mitchel of the Cincinnati Observatory announ- 

 ces the binary character of Antares, and also of one hundred and fifty 

 others ; many of them lying further south than the observations of Eu- 

 ropean Astronomers can reach. — S. W. M. 



Eclipse of the Sun. — On the 2oth of April, there will be a partial 

 eclipse of the Sun. The degree of obscuration will be about five digits 

 in Illinois, nearly seven at Boston, eleven in Florida, and on the Island 

 of Cuba it will be central and annular. This will be the last Eclipse 

 visible here until May 26, 1854.— S. W. M. 



'■'• The insect scourge.'''' — .4d vices from Cuba state that the Orange, 

 Lemon, and every tree of the citron kind in the district of Matanzas and 

 other parts of the Island are perishing under the attack of insects in 

 shape like a flea, which light upon them by myriads. — S. W. M. 



Tale of Worms. — Pxcv. Isaac Davis, brother to the Mayor of Bos- 

 ton, in a communication to the Congregational Journal, Concord, N. H. 

 writes as follows : 



"On the 1st of December, returning from Pierpont, I saw on the 

 snow which had fallen during the night, what I supposed to be oats 

 sown broad cast. To my great surprise, I found them on examination 

 to be living worms about an inch long lying on the top of the snow by 

 hundreds, and scattered along the road for not less than five miles. 

 There were no trees near from which they might have been shaken, and 

 if they had, they must have been frozen for the ground was frozen hard 

 before the snow fell. But the worms were alive, for they coiled up 

 when I took them in my hand. They were of a biown color, with 12 

 to 16 legs.— S. W. M. 



Lead Deposits have been discovered on a branch of the Trinity 

 River, west of Dallas, in Texas. The extensive region extending from 

 the Trinity to the San Saba Valley is supposed to contain valuable lead 

 mines. — S. W. M. 



A vast and beautiful Cave has been discovered near Middletown, Va. 

 •it has been explored for half a mile. — S. W. M. 



