34 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[December 2, 1889. 



Mr. Denning discovered a comet at ]5ristol on the 4th of 

 October 1881. This has been thought to be identical 

 with a comet found by M. Blanpain on the 28th of Novem- 

 ber 1819. On tliis point M. Schnlhof remarks (Ant. 

 Xii<)ir. No. 2401), " La comi-te appartient incontestable- 

 ment au groupe* toujoiirs croissant des eometes periodiques 

 dont la diiree de revolution \arie entre .T et 7 ans. Son 

 ideutite avec la comete 1819 iv, pour lacjuelle Encke avait 

 trouve une revolution de 4-8 ans, ne peut pas etre decidee. 

 Malgre la ressemblance generale des deux orbites, que 

 Mr. Chandler a reconnue le premier, les elements sont 

 trop differents pour que nous puissions nous prononcer en 

 faveur de leur identite, avant d'avoir suffisamment fixe les 

 elements de la nouvelle comete, et recherche si, entre 1819 

 et 1881, elle a pu subir de la part de Jupiter des per- 

 turbations aussi considerables." 



The last determination, I believe, of the orbit of 

 Uenning's comet is that of Mr. W. E. Plummer, published 

 in No. 25 of Copernicus (vol. iii. p. 1), which makes its 

 period 8,235 days, or about 8-8 years, so that as the 

 perihelion passage in 1881 took place on the 13th of 

 September, the next will be due soon after Midsummer 

 1890. 



Prof. Winnecke suggested that Denning's comet might 

 be identical with one seen (once only) by Goldschmidt on 

 the 16th of May 1855, and which was also thought to have 

 been identical with the lost comet of De Vico. But as 

 Goldschmidt coiild only obtain one approximate position, 

 neither of these conjectures admits of proof. 



R. A. PROCTOR MEMORIAL FUND. 



READERS of Knowledge will, no doubt, have 

 noticed an announcement in many of the daily 

 jiapers stating that the monetary affairs of the 

 late ilr. Proctor have now been womid up by 

 his administrator, and that the total sum avail- 

 able as pronsion for his widow and the seven children (four 

 of whom are daughters, and one a little boy a permanent 

 invalid from hip disease) is under £2,000. To the small 

 income which this will produce there is to be added £100 

 per annum from the Ci\'il List, which is, however, granted 

 only during Mrs. Proctor's life. 



The £2, 000 above referred to as the value of the residue 

 after the settlement of all debts, some of wliich were 

 waived, has been produced by the sale of Mr. Proctor's 

 copyrights. Mrs. Proctor and the eldest daughter have, 

 under a satisfactory arrangement with Messrs. Longmans, 

 retained a small interest in the works now in Messrs. 

 Longmans' hands, including the Old and New Astrimomi/, 

 which will shortly be completed. ]3ut the value of the 

 interest retained (calculated on the basis of the sum given 

 for the remainder of these copyrights by Messrs. Long- 

 mans) is included in the £2,000, as is also the money 

 received for all the other copyrights, which were 

 purchased on liberal terms either by Messrs. Chatto & 

 Windus, or by Messrs. W. H. Allen & Co. 



The money given immediately after the death of the 

 late Mr. Proctor by the Eoyal Literary Fund, and the pro- 

 ceeds of five lectures given by Mr. W. Lant Carpenter, as 

 well as gifts from other friends, have enabled the family, 

 who, owing to the suddenness of Mr. Proctor's death, 

 were absolutely without resources, to weather through the 

 first year. But these fands have now been exhausted, and 

 a committee is in course of formation which the many 

 friends of Mr. Proctor are invited to join. Subscriptions 



* The group connected with the planet Jupiter. 



to the R. A. Proctor Memorial Fimd, and communications 

 will be received by Mr. E.G. Mullins, IManager of the City 

 Bank, Bond Street Branch. 



Since the date of the announcement in the daily papers 

 the following subscriptions have been received : — 



£ s. d. 



Wm. James Adams, Esq.... 



"E.A." 



Mrs. Barrett 



"J. A. B." 



Andrew Chatto, Esq. 



H. P. Curtiss, Esq. 



W. Henry DomviUe, Esq.... 



"W. D." 



" A Friend ... 



Professor Grant 



Lord Grimthorpe ... 



D. Hodgson, Esq. ... 



Ednnmd Johnson, Esq. ... 



Messrs. Longmans, Green, &Co.... 



J. Mott MaicUow, Esq 



Miss Martin 



G. H. Mellor, Esq. 



R. Hay Murray, Esq. 



" Planetoids " 



T. Shaw Petty, Esq 



Oscar Rohde, Esq. 



T. C. Sandars, Esq. 



Wm. Schooling, Esq. 



F. Stevens, Esq. ... 



Col. N. G. Sturt 



Mrs. Stowe... 



Walter Weblyn, Esq. 



Philip Williams, Esq. 



And others promised. 



llcttcvs. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions 

 statements of correspondents. 1 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROJI PROF. C. A. YOUNG 

 REFERRING TO REVIEW OF THE ■■GENERAL ASTRO- 

 NOMY" IN THE NOVEMBER NUMBER. 



Til the Hditiir of KnowTjEdge. 



" . . . . There is just one thing in the critique which I 

 want to ask you to correct, because it does an injustice to 

 others. My jirinti'i-x were to blame for only a very small 

 proportion of the errata that occurred in the liook. For 

 most of them I am myself responsible. The preparation 

 of the last half of the book (after p. 200) and the proof- 

 reading of the whole was done by me in a time of great 

 distress (owing to my son's illness) ; and though I do not 

 plead tins circumstance as an r.vcuse, it is an i'.rjila)i<itiiiii, 

 at least in part. I really wish you would take occasion to 

 say editorially that ' whatever blame may attach to the 

 numerous errata in Prof. Young's (ieneral Asti-iDKuiii/ 

 belongs almost entirely to himself, and not to the printers,' 

 or something to that efl'ect. ... " C. .\. Young." 



[Instead of making the announcement editorially, 1 

 prefer to let Prof. Young's letter speak for itself. It shows 

 in a characteristic manner Prof. Young's extreme anxiety 



