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88 REPORT—1845. 
the last revolution occupied 147 years and 127 days, and to mention the 
consequences which result therefrom. 
Four anterior revolutions of 147 years and 5 months, conduct us to the 
comet of the year 1106, of which we have already spoken ; and from thence, 
ten revolutions of 147 years and 9 months, carry us back to the comet of 
Aristotle, 371 years B.c. 
The difference of several months between the earlier times of revolution 
and those of the present day, far from disturbing our hypothesis, serve to 
confirm it. It is the effect of the resisting medium in space, which has already 
manifested itself in the comets of Encke and Biela, and which we might ex- 
pect to find acting with far greater force on a comet which buries itself in 
the densest beds of zther which surround the sun. This may perhaps afford 
a new opportunity for studying this interesting force, which, by ee 
the excentricity of the orbits, and constantly decreasing the time of their r 
volutions, will accomplish in the course of ages the reunion of these celestial 
bodies, which possess very large resisting surfaces, but very small masses, 
with the great centre of general gravity. 
Other comets have also appeared at intervals corresponding to a number 
of complete revolutions, the probability of whose identity with that of 1843 
is greater or less according to the circumstances which accompany them. 
These are,—the great comet of 1548, or that of the Turks; that of 1401, 
during Lent; the comet which appeared before the death of Pope Innocent IV. 
in 1254; that of 367 seen im broad daylight; the comet of 219; and 
finally, that of the year 74 a.p. If I may be allowed to include these, we 
have accounts of fen reappearances of this famous comet from the time of 
Aristotle up to the present day ; and it is worthy of remark that all were seen, 
as it appears, ONLY after the epoch of the perihelion. Perhaps, when I shall 
have furnished them with the demonstration of my assertion, astronomers may 
like to name this comet after Aristotle, and to look upon it as the symbol of 
that immortal philosopher. 
If it is considered that the ellipticity of this comet’s orbit is established, 
it is declaring it at the same time to be both more esoteric and more exoteric 
than any other vassal of the sun with which we are more closely acquainted. 
Immersed on the day of perihelion in the photosphere of the sun itself, 
our comet hastened, with a velocity of more than 414 English miles in a second 
of time, to escape from the great attractive force, making the semi-cireuit 
of the sun in the short space of one hour and a half, in order to pursue its 
distant route in an ellipse, whose length exceeds the breadth by nearly 57 
times, the latter not being equal to the diameter of the earth’s orbit; whilst 
the aphelion is 5,316,000,000 English miles from the sun,—nearly three 
times more than the orbit of the most distant planet discovered by William 
Herschel of immortal memory. 
There our comet proceeded at the very slow pace of 74 English feet in a 
second, which however was just the means of reconducting it to the sun. 
If this be true, our posterity will see it return in the summer of 1990, 
that is to say, if accident favour it at a season when the comet is never above 
the horizon during the absence of the sun; but it will be more surely seen 
in the autumn of the year 2137, when it will present a similar appearance to 
that of 1695. 
I trust I may be allowed to trespass on a little more time, in order to add 
a few words on the tail of this comet, which reasonably enough attracted so 
much general attention. 
How is it that no one saw either the comet or its magnificent tail before 
the perihelion, neither in Europe, nor even in the tropics? Was it impossi- 
