158 HISTOEY OF ASTEONOMY. 



hibited an oval form, its greatest, diameter being about 

 three minutes. After this date it became more elon- 

 gated, and by the first of August had attained a length 

 of ten or fifteen minutes. On the 20th of August it ex- 

 hibited a tail about one degree in length ; and during the 

 next ten days the tail rapidly increased, attaining at last 

 a length of about fifteen degrees. 



The comet passed its perihelion on the 1st of Septem- 

 ber ; and it is not known to have been seen any where 

 in the northern hemisphere after the 4th of September. 

 On the 16th of September the comet was noticed at 

 Santiago de Chili, and was observed there till the 7th of 

 October. It was visible to the naked eye, its nucleus 

 being very well defined ; but its tail was so faint, that it 

 was scarcely possible to determine its length. At the 

 Cape of Grood Hope the comet was seen and carefully 

 observed from the llth of September until the llth of 

 January, 1854. It was also observed at New Zealand 

 from the 14th of September to the 10th of October. On 

 the 15th of September the length of its tail was about 

 five degrees, from which time its brightness daily 

 diminished. 



All the observations of this comet are tolerably well 

 represented by a parabolic orbit. 



