Comet. — IVood, 373 



COMET. 



On the 22d of October, M. Huth, of Frankfort on the 

 Oder, at three o'clock, in the morning, discovered a comet 

 in the hindermost foot of the Great Bear, betwixt the stars 

 V and ^. It could hardly be seen with the naked eye, but 

 was very visible with a common telescope. In size and 

 brightness it resembled the great nebulous spot in Andro- 

 meda, except that it was ahnosl circular. At four A. M. 

 its right ascension was about 166° 30', with 30° 40' de- 

 clination north; and in an hour after, the former was 166* 

 32', and the latter 33° 32'. Its course is therefore southerly, 

 and somewhat westerly. When magnified 350 rimes, it 

 did not show any nucleus. 



The same comet was discovered on the following day bv 

 professor Bode, at Berlin, between two and three o'clock in 

 the morning, at (^-' of the Great Bear. Right ascension 

 174° 23', and 270° 40' north declination. 



WOOD, 



The following particulars are transcribed from a letter of 

 John Tempieton, esq. published in the third volume of the 

 Transactions of the Dublin Society : 



" It is said that there has been no limber found at Botany 

 Bay but what smks in water. The Robinia Pseudo-Aca- 

 cin, or locust-tree of North America, is esteen)ed beyond all 

 others for the durability of its timber, when exposed to the 

 weather, and for making trennels or wooden pins for fasten- 

 ing the planks of ?hips. Luckily in light soils it thrives 

 well in Ireland, and sends forth suckers by which it is easily 

 propagated. It grows with great quickness ; I have had 

 some, which made shoots five and six feet in a season, in 

 a sandy soil. They are not injured by our severest frosts ; 

 but care must be taken to place them in such situations as 

 that they will not be exposed to high winds, which often 

 break their branches. 



The Fagus Castanea, or sweet chesnut, is among ouv 

 most beautiful trees of quick growth in a sandy or light 

 loamy soil. There are four on my farm of considerable 

 sizQ ; one is above eleven feet in girt, growing rapidly ; and 

 yet there is reason to believe them about a hundred vears 

 old. The timber is esteemed the best of European growth, 

 for a great variety of uses. In the southern parts it is pre- 

 ferred for wine casks, as it is not apt to warj) or shrink. 

 \\\ England it is reckoned the best for hop-poles, as even 

 voung poles stand wet and dry better than any other. Its 

 durability has been pretty well determined by an experiment 

 related in Young's Annals of Agriculture. 



" Inch and half planks of treses from thirty to fyrty-five 

 A a .3 years 



