On Encke's Comet. 



281 



from Feb. 25, 1822, to July 27. 

 the followinij extracts. 



From this table we have made 



It appears, from this table, that at the time ot" sunset at 

 Seeberg, in the latitute of 50° 56' N. the comet on the 25th 

 Feb. 1822 will be 26|° above the horizon of that place; 

 March 13th it will be "20° ;' March 29th, 14i° ; and April 

 14th, 11°. Therefore, after the middle of March, it can be 

 observed only in the evening twilight, and, on account of its 



great distance, it will not have a quarter part the brightness it 

 ad when first discovered in 1819, so that it may not be seen 

 in Europe or in the United States; because after the perihelion, 

 when it approaches the nearest to the earth, it will be too far to 

 the south. It is however strongly recommended to search for 

 it with good night glasses, particularly as it was observed in 

 January 1819, in the evening twilight, only 5° above the ho- 

 rizon. ' After the perihelion, in southern climates, it will be 

 visible by the naked eye, and from the 24th of May to the 

 27th of July, its brightness (independent of the effect of the 

 twilight) will be much greater than it was when discovered by 

 Mr. Pons in 1819 ; and it is hoped that its apparent path will 

 be carefully traced at the new observatory at the Cape of 

 Good Hope, as also at Port Jackson, and at other places in 

 the southern hemisphere*. Note. 



* While the astronomers of Europe arc thus making, ahuost every year, 

 important discoveries, which will render the present age for ever memorable 

 in the history of science ; it is rather a mortifying consideration, that, in 

 America, nothing can be done to assist in the laudable work ; since there is 

 not a well furnished observatory on the whole continent, from Canada to 

 Cape Horn ; and while Great Britain alone can boast of more than Mir/y 

 public and private observatories of considerable note, we have not in the 

 whole United States oni- that deserses the name. It is moreover a subject 

 of regret that the general Government, instead of holding out inducements 

 to individuals to procure from abroad the accurate and expensive instru- 

 ments, necessary for nice astronomical observations (and which c:ui only be 

 made by the delicate hand of a Troughton or a Rcichenbach), should virtually 

 impose a/n/? of several hundred dollars, under the name of </«/)«, upon the 

 Vol.61. No. 300. Aiwil 1823. N n pi^^'"'" 



