Nov. 24, 1882.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



413 



THE GREAT COMET. 



By T. W. Webb. 



I HAD been hitherto very unfortunate with respect to 

 this noble object. Presuming, after what I had read on 

 the subject, that with so efficient an instrument as my excel- 

 lent 91-inch " With " mirror I should have little difficulty in 

 detecting the nucleus by day, and; being anxious to ascer- 

 tain its aspect, as to which no definite information liad up to 

 that time reached me, I spent much time on September '2'2, 

 and again on October 2, in sweeping for it, but all in vain ; 

 ray very hot and uncomfortable search on the former day 

 being enlivened by the occasional passage of small white 

 nebulosities across the field, which I at once recognised, 

 according to Dawes's former experience, as thistle down or 

 winged seeds of some kind. One of these for a second or 

 two revived my hope as to the attainment of my object, 

 being, no doubt, entangled in some temporary aerial eddy, 

 from which it soon escaped and sailed away speedily after 

 its congeners. October 3, in the early morning, I obtained 

 my first view of the end of the tail, the rest being hidden 

 by trees. It was of a distinct though very pale brownish 

 yellow hue. From that time bad weather or other 

 hindrances prevented my getting a sight of it till after I 

 had left home, October 2-5, when, as on the following 

 morning, notwithstanding a full moon, it was a conspicuous 

 object. The nucleus appeared in a small binocular like 

 a third magnitude star, with a coma of perhaps 1.5' in 

 diameter ; the tail, to the naked eye, may have reached 

 about 15°, of a slightly yellowish tinge, of considerable 

 apparent density, not much degraded towards the end 

 where it was a good deal expanded, curving very slightly 

 upwards, and rather better defined on the under side. On 

 the 25th my wife's keen sight detected a darker space in 

 the interior of the tail, for a considerable distance from 

 the end, which was bifurcated, the uppermost apparent 

 portion being the longer and the most curved upwards, pre- 

 senting a slight resemblance to some of Schroter's figures 

 of the comet of 1807, in which, however, this unequal 

 division was so strongly marked as to lead that observer 

 to the idea of a double, not hollow, tail. The approaching 

 though decreasing moon subsequently interfered with 

 its visibility, but on Oct. 9, that impediment being re- 

 moved, it was a very striking object about 5h., and not 

 inferior to its earlier appearance. Bad weather again 

 intervened till Nov. 14, when, as there was a fair prospect 

 over-night, I left the shutters of the telescope-house open, 

 and the ocular (a beautiful low-power Kellner, by Parkes, 

 of Birmingham) in its place, and everything prepared for 

 an attempt before the dawn. Nov. 15, at 3 h. 30 m., the 

 end of the tail was visible in the south, and before 5 h. the 

 whole comet was a striking object from the house ; and 

 though we both thought that it was a hopeless case, as 

 being below the range of the "gre.atgun," yet I decided 

 on a hasty dressing, and sallied out, in a temperature of 

 25°, to be fully repaid for my venture. Though shortly 

 about to pass behind trees, the head was completely visible, 

 and the sharpness of the surrounding stars proved that its 

 definition suffered little from its small altitude. But great 

 was my astonishment to find that the nucleus, which had 

 just before been seen with the binocular as a misty third 

 magnitude star, was entirely dissolved into haze. Jt was 

 very considerably elongated, at least three times longer 

 than broad, by an independent estimate, agreeing remark- 

 ably with that of Dr. Erck, on Oct. IG ; and though 

 eminently luminous, entirely destitute of definite outline, 

 melting away into the surrounding feeble coma, and 

 forming the uninterrupted base of a dense tail. These 

 appearances were fully confirmed by a very fine positive 



ocular, power about 200. A rough guess from memory 

 might allow it about 0'-75 by at least 3'. Its aspect was 

 that of a brilliant and abrupt condensation of the sur- 

 rounding mist, without the slightest indication of jet or 

 envelope or more luminous centre. I did not on this 

 occasion notice the harder definition of the lower side of 

 the tail, but we both remarked a kind of tuft at the end 

 of the upper side, as though some of the luminous material 

 were left behind and scattered in its progress. The subse- 

 quent change of weather has made me still more pleased 

 with my success ; as possibly this may have been the last 

 opportunity of efficient observation, before increasing 

 distance has rendered it a more difficult and less interesting 

 object. 



In a neighbourhood so remote from the ordinary oppor^ 

 tunities of scientific observation, I have perhaps no right 

 to complain ; but I have been much struck with the ab- 

 sence of easily-accessible information as to the aspect of the 

 head of the comet in its earlier stages. We have heard 

 much of its having been seen, but little of what it was 

 like. Even in that " unique " observation which records 

 its visibility even up to the sun's limb, no mention was 

 made, as far as I have seen, of its aspect or apparent mag- 

 nitude. Let me express the hope that, at some future 

 time, when its visible course has been more nearly run, 

 and suitable materials can be collected, our Editor will 

 favour us with what he is so peculiarly qualified to give 

 [thanks, but 1 doubt this much.— R. A. P.]— an e.xhaustive 

 monograph of this confessedly most wonderful object ; and 

 if it should swell to the magnitude of a treatise, I am 

 sure none of his readers will complain. 



THE REVIEW. 



By 



Editoi!. 



BY the merest accident, I saw much more of the march 

 of the troops, etc., last Saturday — having been 

 trapped in St. James's Park by a clever mancruvre of the 

 park-keepers, on my way from St. James's-station to 

 Piccadilly — than I wanted to see. Let me record some- 

 thing of what I saw and of what I thought on the occasion. 

 It had its sociological, and therefore its scientific aspect. 

 The people have had an opportunity of expressing their 

 sense of the business-like way in which a difficult and 

 trying campaign has been carried out, and their recognition 

 of the bravery which our troops displayed, as far as the 

 cowardice and inefficiency of the troops opposed to them 

 would permit. There was something very satisfactorj- in the 

 sensible way in which those assembled to witness the march 

 of the troops welcomed those who had done their work well, 

 and who would certainly have shown the old fightingqualities 

 of our well-welded race if they had had the chance. There 

 was a kindly warmth about the reception of the soldiers, 

 no very undue air of glorification over a small triumph, 

 and good temper with the rather blundering police. The 

 soldiery looked as if they had no end of fighting in them, 

 if wanted — not so stalwart, all of them, as we could have 

 wished, but with looks suggestive of stubborn pluck, such 

 as the British bull-dog is expected to possess, and as 

 (Herbert Spencer notes) the Tasmanian Devil possesses 

 in higher degree than any animal on the face 

 of the earth. Many of the officers rode ill, but perhaps 

 their horses su tiered in Egypt. The police were good- 

 tempered, and though some of them acted rather stupidly, 

 they stood the challof the people pleasantly enough. The 

 way in wl-.ich they imprisoned many hundreds of British 

 citizens in St James's Park was ingeniously bh.:ndering, . 



