4^0 



* KNOWLEDGE 



[Dec. 22, 1882. 



:>. 1( the "iJrecian Wnd " was caused as our corro 

 spondeiit says, anil was not, as others say, a silly aflectation 

 in iiuitation of the enforced lame gait of a certain princess, 

 it would only prove niy case ; for^t is certain the persons 

 who showed this weakness had been corset wearers. I 

 shall 1,'ive such evidence as to the strength and upright 

 oarriagi" women can acquire who only use corsets after full 

 womanljood has been reached, as to prove the utter impos- 

 sibility of such weakness arising in the case of young 

 women who had not been tigure-trained from early girlhood 

 by motlitrs either unknowing or foolish. (E.xercisre will 

 not iihr,n/.< succeed, no doubt : for all are not able-bodied ; 

 nor with corset-pinched mothers is it to be wondered at ) 



C. Uf tlie necessity of the corset in the case of many 

 woiuen. and men, too, I have never had any doubt, any 

 more than I have aliout the necessity of crutches in many 

 unfortunate iiistajjccs. 



THE GREAT COMET. 



THE following is taken from a description of the comet 

 communicated by M. Cruls to the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences. It relates to the comet as seen after perihileon 



■ On Septeml)er 2.'>, at four in the morning, the sky was 

 clear near the horizon, and enabled us to assist at a 

 spectacle whose Vieauty surpassed description. A part only 

 of tlie tail rose at this moment above the horizon. Its 



I truly impressive, for it appeared rather like a 

 column of fire than a beam of light. The tail was nearly 

 pcrpetidicular Vi the horizon, and of a well-pronouncetl, 

 conical form, measuring about 1' W at its widest part, and 

 40' at the liase It is impoKsiV<le to give an idea of the 

 gort'cou* elfect (Prjlit ,,rnutlii,ii>-) produced by this column 

 of fire, to which the lower strata of the air gave a yellow- 

 ochni^h tint — a tint strongly refle<,-ted in the wat<-r8 of the 

 mouth of the Uio. If I dwell on the impression felt at 

 the sight of this phenomenon, it is liecause, to an att4!ntive 

 obaerver, there wa« more in the spectacle than a mere sub- 

 ject of lArren wonder. Tlie telescopic examination of the 



tail, as the parts nearest the nucleus became visible, showed 

 demonstrably, and without any possibility of optical illu- 

 sion, the ajipearance of a slranii of light, extremely bright, 

 in which tlireads brighter than the adjacent parts could be 

 distinguished, and the eflect suggested strongly the idea 

 that one would form of a jet of molten metal. 



'• When the nucleus was at some height above the 

 horizon, it shone with great brilliancy, having a diameter 

 of al)Out r of arc. A streak of light curved round the 

 nucleus, and on either side, behind, the two branches, 

 enlarging, lost themselve.s in eacli other, forming the 

 beginning of the tail, which in its prolongation preserved a 

 noteworthy intensity of light for a distance of about ten or 

 twelve degrees. Following the axial line of the tail, one 

 could recognise a darker track, and just behind the nucleus 



there was a space almost entirely without light and of ai> 

 elongated form, growing narrower from the nucleus to a 

 distance of about .30' of arc* This peculiarity, combined 

 with the general characteristics of the comet's aspect near 

 the nucleus, suggested involuntarily the idea of an eddy 

 such as is formed down stream behind the buttress of a 

 bridge in the middle of a strongly- flowing river, or more 

 precisely recalled the vacuum left in the track of a pro- 

 jectile traversing the air with suilicient velocity. 



" I must also note here : First, the marked curvature of 

 the tail, the convexicy of which was turned southwards j 

 and secondly, a very marked dill'erenco between the dis- 

 tinctness of the edges, the convex edge being toleral)ly 

 sharp and well-defined, wliile the concave edge was softened 

 oil" and indistinct Examined with a low magnifying power 

 (from S to 10 times) it appeared rather as if it were of a 

 vaporous n.iture. 



" Around the nucleus a coma {chcvelure) could be seen, 

 which was about 20' in width, on a line through the nucleus 

 at right angles to the tail's length. This coma was of faint 

 luminosity, though distinctly visible in the field of view of 

 the great ecpiatorial armed with a power of CO. 



"As regards its length and luminosity, the tail consisted 

 of a very luminous beam, growing obviously larger with 

 increase of distances from the nucleus to a distance of about 

 IJ', and ending, so to speak, abruptly. A portion of thf^ 

 tail ext<;nded further, but under an entirely diirorent 

 aspect. On tlie convex side, where the sharpest edge was 

 seen, a luminous beam exceedingly faint, having a width 

 ecjual to about 2-.")ths the breadth of the tail at its broadest 

 end, extended to a distance of about \^>'\ giving a total 

 length to the tail of nearly .'iO'^. In reality, then, and this 

 was one of the most remarkable and striking feutunis, the 

 tail formed a very luminous and slightly-curved beam 

 enlarging for 1 2 ", and ended there sharply, presenting th» 

 appearance of rupture, and then extended to a distance of 

 15^, this prolongation having a much smaller width, 



• We givo tho picture of the head (Fig. 1) as it appears in 

 Li-.H HtmditH, but it doc» not at all iiKrcu wit)i M. Crnls' description. 

 I'o«8il)ly his drawing wag indi«tinct. 'Jhe appearance ho deBcribeSi 

 is well known, and has been observed in many comets (Fig. 2). 



