176 Scientific Intelligence. . 



rounded with a very extensive nebulosity, and as having a tail more than 



a degree in length. The following are its elements :— 



Passage of perihelion at Naples, 1825, December 8 d . 895 Mean time 



Perihelion distance .... 1.20808 



Log. of do. - - - - - 0.08209 



Long, of perihelion - - - 317° 24' 40" 



Long, of descending node - - 35 19 50 



Inclination of orbit - - - 32 44 20 



Motion .... Retrograde. 



This comet became distinctly visible to the naked eye in October last. 



3. Third Comet of 1825. —This comet was discovered by M. Pons on 

 the 9th August, at 2 a. m. in the constellation Auriga. The following 

 are Inghirami's observations at Florence: — 



Mean Time. App. R. Ascen. North Decl. 



August 20. 15h 42' 25" 89° 25' 0" 22* 51' 32" 



23. 15 9 21 91 30 39 16 29 45 



24. 15 6 25 92 22 12 14 10 26 



25. 15 34 58 93 13 12 5 57 



4. Fourth Comet of 1825, the periodical Comet of Encke.*- This comet 

 was discovered by M- Plana of Turin, on the 10th August, and by M. 

 Pons on the 14th. M. Pons states, that it seemed to change its form, ap- 

 pearing sometimes elongated, and sometimes round. M. Valz seems to 

 have observed this comet so early as the 13th July. 



M. Encke predicted the return of this comet ; and the error of his cal- 

 culations, when compared with the observations made in August, is not a 

 minute of a degree. 



5. Fifth Comet of 1825. — M. Pons discovered another new comet at 

 Florence, on the 7th November. He observed it in the constellation 

 Eridanus, having 54° of right ascension, and 14° of south declination. It 

 was moving in a south-westerly direction, at the rate of about twenty mi- 

 nutes a day, and it requires a good telescope to see it. 



6. Stars without arty Proper Motion. — From a comparison of some of the 

 double stars observed by Sir William Herschel, with the present relative 

 position of those stars, Dr Brinkley is of opinion thai several stars have no 

 sensible proper motion, and by comparing Dr Bradley's observations with 

 his own, he concludes, that in the last seventy years there had been no 

 sensible changes of place of Rigel, Orionis, Polaris, and £ Ursse Majoris, &c. 

 Dr Brinkley has since deduced therefrom the quantity of Luni-solar pre- 

 cession, and also the displacement of the ecliptic on the equator ; and it is 

 probable that many other important consequences will arise from a more 

 extended inquiry into the subject. See Dublin Phil. Journal, No. I. p. 263. 



7. Miss Herschel's Catalogue of Nebula. — The catalogue with which 

 Miss Herschel is now occupied is not of stars in general, as our notice in 

 No. V. p. 178 would lead our readers to suppose, but only of Nebula- 



