Miscellanies. 211 



18, 19, 20; Oct. 10, 17, 25; Nov. 19. He does not state the number of 

 meteors actually counted on these several occasions. With the exception 

 of Aug. 9-12, perhaps none of these occurrences would be considered 

 remarkable, if we assume thirty per hour to be the mean number of 

 shooting stars visible at one place. E. C. H. 



9. Solar Eclipse of July 8, 1842.— In Vol. xlii, (pp. 175—181,) we 



published a paper by R. T. Paine, Esq., of Boston, containing an elabo- 

 rate computation of the phases of the total eclipse of the sun of July 8, 

 1842, for several places on the continent of Europe. The eclipse 

 carefully observed by numerous eminent astronomers. We are much 

 gratified to learn by a letter from Mr. C. J. Littrow, Director of the Im- 

 perial Observatory at Vienna, to Mr. Paine, (Literary Age, Philad. Vol. 

 I, p. 22,) that the computations of the latter corresponded remarkably 

 well with the observations. Mr. L. remarks : " The observations accord 



i 



better with your calculations than with those of any European astronomer. 

 The comparison is as follows : 



m m. s. s. 



Beginning of eclipse, 5 51 51.9 Diff. from your predic. +33.9 



total darkness, 6 49 24.9 " " . +26.9 



End " 6 51 21.9 " " +26.9 



« i £** c\ a <c 



Duration " 1 57.0 



0.0 



End of eclipse, 7 53 55.9 " " +19.9 



" These differences are so small and so regular, as to leave nothing to 

 be desired, and I should be glad to know the method which you have 



used. Accordingly, I take the liberty of offering you as a medium of 

 publication of your calculations, the Annals of our Observatory." 



10. Discovery of a Comet— At 7 P. M., October 28, 1842, a tele- 

 scopic comet was discovered in the constellation Draco, by M. Laugier, 

 Astronomer at the Paris Observatory. It was extremely faint, and with- 

 out any appearance of tail. At 10b. 10m. P. M., Paris mean time, its 

 R. A. was 16h. 41m., N dec. 63° 44'. In six hours the R. A. increased 

 3m. 34s. and the declination decreased 20'. M. Laugier observed it again 

 Nov. 2, 4, 5, and computed its parabolic elements. Pingre's Corneto- 

 graphie mentions a comet seen in China, A. D. 1301, the elements of 

 which, calculated from the observations of the Chinese, accord in a re- 

 markable manner with the results of the new calculation. It is therefore 

 possible that M. Laugier has had the good fortune to record the second 

 passage of a comet whose period occupies more than five hundred years. 

 On the 14th of November M. Laugier made to the Academy of Sciences 

 of Paris a further communication on the comet, announcing that on the 

 next day it would be at its nearest point to the earth, from which however 

 it would then be distant more than seven millions of leagues. — Lond. 

 Athen. Nov. 1842. * 



