mate * 400 _.. Proceedings of the British Association | 
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straight from the sun at perihelion, must be turned straight towards the 
‘sun at aphelion; and at other parts of the orbit must have intermediate 
positions. This he proceeded: to illustrate by a diagram, in which@ =~ 
_ number of ellipses with the same major axis were so arranged, respect- 
_- the comet, iitiorthe. contrary took place by the Sitesion of these sev- 
eral orbits towards aphelion, The author exemplified these principles 
by reference to the great comet of 1845, which, though visible to the 
ke 
-- sun:parallel to the ecliptic, having approached within about 60,000 a 
fete miles of the sun :—the nearest approach to that luminary ever actually id 
tory of comets no fact was ale established than that their tails were : 
always turned, though with a slight curvature, directly from the sun; ; 
. that this fact was well known to Sir J. Rereng and” was one basis of 4 
“his induction, " 
: On a new Membrane eos ie. Ghyatatin Mass by Sir ie ; 
— 
2 and at length the capsule burst. ee it kas burst, however, he , 
~~ showing that a perihelion the several parabolic paths of the parts te 
of the comet, by becoming crowded together, caused the condensation of ; 
n eye for about three. weeks, and to the telescope for more than / 
five, yet in the very short: time of less than twenty-four hours swept 
through that part of its perihelion path cut off by a plane,through the =~ 
d,. 
Ma kcecchecrved, that if the 12th axiom (attributed to Sir J. 
) ‘were a correct representation of facts, e conceived that it 
il of a comet, which was eter to be turned 
ing the sun occupying.a focus common to all, as that their ‘perihelia x 
i pypht all be ranged in one line, embracing the sun also.—Prof. Smyth = | 
did not concur in Mr. — argument; though time would not | 
now admit of his going farther into it than to remark, that inthe his- 
“The author drew a diagram represcliag the crystalline lens of an ox 
with its inverted capsule ; and said that having lately had occasion #0. 
examine the crystalline lens of an ox, which had been killed the day 
before, he had put it into water,—by imbibing which it had soon swell- 
ent plane; and he had Sacetie in this instrument observe 
the hey exerted on the light, which were quite imperceptib ble to 
by it. 
