546 



NATURE 



[Get. 4, 1883 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



The Reappearance of Tons' Comet of 1S12. — Probably 

 the comet discovered l>y Mr. Brooks at Phelps, N.Y., on Sep- 

 tember 2, would have been earlier identified with the expected 

 comet of 1812, had not the sweeping epherr.erides is^ed by 

 MM. Schulhof and Bossert been confined to an arc of ± 90 of 

 true anomaly, whereas the comet has been detected at an orbital 

 angle of 113° from the perihelion — a greater distance than might 

 have been anticipated. In the Compter Rtndtts of September 17 

 they have made a provisional c rrection of the orbit, fixing the 

 perihelion passage to 1SS4, January 25 S2434 M.T. at Berlin. 

 The following positions are extracted from an ephemeris accom- 

 panying the communication : — 



At Berlin Midnight 

 It A, Decl. Log. distance t 



h. m. s. from earth. 



Oct. 5 ... 16 29 48 ... +57 557 ... 02984 ... 204 

 7 ... 16 31 14 ... 57 30-2 ... 02928 

 9 ... 16 32 50 ... 57 4-9 ... 0-2871 ... 2-26 

 II ... 16 34 38 ... 56 39 9 ... o '28 1 2 

 13 ... 16 36 36 ... +56 15-1 ... 02751 ... 2-52 

 Here the intensity of light at discovery on September 2 has been 

 taken as unity. 



The comet will be observable in this hemisphere up to peri- 

 helion passage, and in the other hemisphere may probably be 

 followed until midsummer or later. The following approximate 

 positions are derived from MM. Schulhof and Bossert's corrected 

 elements : — 



At Greenwich Midnight 

 ,oo. R.A. Decl. Log. distance from 



,l>84 - h. m. Earth. Sun. 



Jan. 28 . . o 19-7 ... -23 25 ... 98966 ... 98901 



Feb. 25 ... 1 311 ... 45 37 ... 0-0637 •■■ 9984« 



March 26 ... 2 374 ... 57 29 ... 0-1413 ... 01252 



April 25 ... 4 43S ... 67 2 ... 01760 ... 0-2387 



May 25 ... S 275 ... 68 36 ... 0-2270 ... 0-3268 



June 24 ... 11 9-0 ... -59 56 ... 0-3171 ... 03972 



The comet will arrive at its least distance from the earth on 



January 9, and as the moon draws off in December may be 



expected to be a naked-eye object. 



A New Comet. — The Dun Echt Circular, No. 81, and the 

 Asironomisehe Nachrichten notify the discovery of a comet by 

 Mr. Lewis Swift at the Warner Ob-ervatory, U.S., on Septem- 

 ber 11. The following approximate positions are given : — 

 G.M.T. R.A. Decl. 



September 1 1 000 ... 280 29 ... +73 9 

 13501 ... 276 30 ... 73 8 

 M. Trouvblots Red Star.— It has been mentioned that 

 during the totality of ; lie solar eclipse of May 6, at Caroline 

 Island, M. Trouvelot saw a decidedly red star "a little to the 

 n-jrth and a little to the west of the sun." Me now states that 

 on September 5 and 7 he examined the part of the sky where 

 the sun was then situate with a telescope of the same aperture 

 that he used in observing the eclipse, and with the eyepiece 

 then employed he recognised the two white stars which he had 

 noted as 41 and s Arietis, but the red star was not found, even 

 though he swept to a much greater distance than any probable 

 error of his observation would allow. On this circumstance he 

 rt marks : " liien que l'absence d'une etoile rouge aussi brillante 

 que celle que j'ai observee durant 1'eclipse semble tout naturelle- 

 ment conduiie a supposer que l'astre en question n'etait autre 

 qu'une plancte intra-Mercurielle, cependant, comme les ele- 

 ments les plus necessaires, tels que la position et un disque ou 

 une phase sensible, manquent a mon observation, je crois qu'il 

 est de mon devoir de me tenir sur la reserve et de suspendre 

 quant a present mes conclusions sur la namre probable de cet 

 astre." 



The place of the sun at the middle of totality at Caroline 

 Island was in R.A. 2I1. 52m. 28s., Decl. + 16° 3l'*o for the 

 epoch of the Durchmusiefung (1S55 o). 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



A MOST improbable report appears in a Danish paper as to 

 the violent death of Lieut. Greeiy, of the U.S. Arctic Expedi- 

 tion. It is slated that the information was obtained from some 

 Eskimo by Hans Hendrik, who accompanied Dr. Nathorst 



to Cape York ; but Baron NordenskjoM's telegram and the 

 letters from Dr. Nathor.-t which we print to-day evidently prove 

 that the report is quite untrustworthy. 



The last number of the Izvestia of the Russian Geographical 

 Society brings us further information at out the proposed expe- 

 dition of Col. Prejevalsky to Thibet. The indefatigable Central- 

 Asian traveller has been taught by experience that one of the 

 greatest difficulties during long journeys is the transport of the 

 scientific collections which steadily grow as the traveller ad- 

 vances on his journey. He intends, therefore, to leave them at 

 several stations, where a few of his men will remain with the 

 collections, continuing at the same time the exploration of the 

 surrounding country. He will start from Kiakhta for Urga, 

 leaving that town this month for the Tsaidam, vid the Alashan 

 and Kookoo-nor. At Dzun-zasak he will establish his first sta- 

 tion. Leaving it in February next, he proposes to go towards 

 the Yellow River and the towns Chamdo and Bating. If cir- 

 cumstances be favourable, he will spend the summer in the land 

 of the Si fans, situated between Lake Kookoo-nor and Batang, 

 which land promises a rich crop of scientific information. If it 

 be impossible, he will explore the eastern part of the plateau of 

 Northern Thibet, and return to his station, take there his 

 luggage, and transport it to Hast in the Western Tsaidam, 

 where a second station will be established. Therefrom he w ill 

 try to penetrate into Northern Thibet, towards I.hassa and 

 Tengri-nor. If he succeeds in that, M. Prejevalsky will go 

 either to the Dzang Province, and thence follow up the Brahma- 

 putra, or north-west towards Ladak and Hast, which may be 

 reached about the spring of 1885. The expedition would be 

 divided there into two parties going by two different routes to 

 I.ob-nor, thence to Karakorum and, vi& Ak-sou, to Issyk-koul 

 in Turkestan. Such is the scheme of this great expedition, which 

 is intended to bring within the domain of science such parts of 

 Thibet as we know only from the descriptions of the pundits 

 and of a few- missionaries. The more than 50,000 roubles 

 which are necessary for covering the expenses have already been 

 granted by the Russian Government. 



We learn from the same periodical that two other expeditions 

 of great interest have been organised by the Geographical 

 Society for this summer. M. Advianoff, who already has made 

 explorations in the Altay and Sayan Mountains, will explore the 

 highlands west of Minusinsk; and Dr. Regel, who has spent 

 the winter at Barpanj, at the foot of the Pamir, has received the 

 means for pursuing his explorations of the Pamir in the direction 

 he will find most convenient. M. Potanin, who is about to start 

 for a new expedition to Southern Mongolia and Hansoo, intends 

 also to establish one or two stations, where part of his luggage 

 will be left, with some of his men, who will there make meteoro- 

 logical observations. Thanks to a gift of 15,000 roubles, which 

 was made for this purpose by M. SoukaehelT, the expedition of 

 M. Potanin will be accompanied by a topographer, and by M. 

 Berezovsky, who will make scientific collections. They have 

 started on board the frigate Minin, which will land them at 

 Pe-cheli, whence they will proceed, vid Peking, to Min-jou, and 

 establish there their first station. 



The chief of the Dutch expedition, Dr. Snellen, has made 

 the following report to the Meteorological Institute of Utrecht : — 

 On October 9, 1882, the scientific observations were commenced. 

 On November 3 the vessel began to suffer from the ice, for 

 which reason we deemed it advisable to camp in tents on the 

 ice. On November 8 we again went on board, the vessel having 

 been made habitable. On December 7 a hut for observations 

 was erected on the ice, but on the 8th the ice again began to 

 drift, separating the same from the ship. It was afterwards 

 recovered. On December 24 the Varna was so damaged by the 

 ice that it was dangerous to remain on board, and we conse- 

 quently went on b iard the Dijmphna, where our observations 

 were for a time continued. On January 15 the observations in 

 the hut on the ice were resumed. On January 25 the greatest 

 cold — 47° '2 C. — occurred. On April 6 the hist water was seen 

 in the ice, and in the beginning of June the road between the 

 ship and the vessel became impassable through the thawing of 

 the ice. On June II the ice began to move, and became loose 

 around the Dijmphna. On June 22 new ice one centimetre in 

 thickness was formed. On July 24 the Varna foundered. On 

 August I the expedition and the crew of the Varna left the 

 Dijmphna with boats and sleighs. On August 16 land was 

 seen. On the 19th an island in the Kara Strait was passed, and 

 on the 20th we landed on Waigatz Island. On the 25th we 



