114 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1714. 



wintered in Port St. Julian, on the coast of Patagonia, Capt. John Wood, 

 then his lieutenant, and an approved artist in sea affairs, observed the begin- 

 ning of an eclipse of the moon, Sept. 18, stil. vet. at just 8 at night: and 

 the same beginning was observed by M. Hevelius at Dantzic at 14h. 22 m. 

 whence Port St. Julian is more westerly than Dantzic 6h. 22m. or than 

 London 5h. 6m. that is 76^4* Besides, I have had in my custody a very 

 curious Journal of one Capt. Strong, who went into the South Seas in quest 

 of a rich plate-wreck, and who discovered the two islands he called Falkland's 

 Isles, lying about 1 20 leagues to the eastwards of the Patagon coast, about 

 the lat. of 514-°. This Capt. Strong had a quick passage from the island of 

 Trinadada (in 10% south) to the Magellan Straits; and in this Journal, which 

 was very well kept, I found that Cape Virgin was, by his account, 45° of longi- 

 tude more westerly than that island, whose longitude I know to be just 30 de- 

 degrees from London : that is in all 75°» 



From these concurrent testimonies, wanting better, I adventured to fix the 

 longitude of this coast as I have done ; and I can by no means grant an error 

 of 10 degrees to be possible in it, though perhaps it may need some smaller 

 correction. I will however readily grant, that those who go thither from 

 Europe, shall find the land more easterly than is here expressed, by reason of a 

 constant current setting to the westward near the equator, where ships are some 

 times long detained by calms, while the stream carries them along with it ; 

 which happens to all ships bound to any part of the east coast of the South 

 America. 



Observations of the Remarkable Comet , seen the latter end of the Year l680, at 

 Coburgin Saxony, By M. Gottfried Kirch. N° 342, p. 170. Translated 

 from the Latin, 



The comet that appeared the latter end of 168O, was remarkable on several 

 accounts ; both for its being seen for 4 months, in which time it has run over 

 9 entire signs, and for the extraordinary size and brightness of its tail ; but 

 especially for the remarkable curvature of its orbit, by means of which the 

 theory of comets was at length discovered ; for, whilst astronomers applied 

 themselves with the greatest diligence to determine its motion from observa- 

 tions, the great Sir Isaac Newton was the first who demonstrated that comets 

 describe very nearly parabolic orbits ; which he has shown how to construct 

 from three given places, accurately observed, illustrating the subject by this 

 comet of 168O; as may be seen at the latter end of the 3d book of his Princip. 

 Philosoph. 



