ITS ASPECT. 227 



small end denoting the nucleus or star 

 which was much larger than tne late 

 comet, of a deeper hue, and at a certain 

 distance seemed confined by a band, be- 

 yond which it spread out in rays of fiery 

 red. It seemed to lay, as it were, directly 

 parallel with the horizon, and had not 

 anything like the length of tail that was 

 so remarkable in its successor, for its 

 beautiful plume-like and far-extending 

 luminous appearance. Still, it lit up that 

 part of the heavens it traversed, and 

 obscured by its brilliancy a number of 

 stars of every degree. 



Its aspect to the vulgar, who look upon 

 such phenomena with indiscriminate won- 

 der, was more awful than auspicious, and 

 elicited in many, apprehensions that were 

 allayed only by its gradual disappearance. 

 To the astronomer it was what the last has 

 been a great prize; and his science was 

 carried to its utmost extent in calculating 

 the orbit and time of return, the dia- 



Q2 



