52 
NATURE 
[Wov. 16, 1882 
one private communication ; and by the courtesy of Mr. Scott 
I have been permitted to see all the evidence received at the 
Meteorological Office on the day preceding the great storm of 
October 24. 
The painful conclusion is forced upon my mind that some of 
the difficulties which lie in the way of a surer and safer forecast 
of dangerous storms might be removed by a simple increase of 
expenditure upon the machinery available for meteorological | 
purposes. 
Mr. Ley writes: ‘‘On the whole, to the minds of many stu- 
dents of the subject it will appear rather strange that the Office, 
with the materials at its disposal [the italics are used by Mr. Ley] 
does not more often fail to furnish satisfactory warnings of the 
more serious of our gales. It is easy to say, in view of occa- 
sional failures, ‘the system itself must be at fault ;’ it is still 
easier to reply ‘Better it!’ If the country cares enough for 
the welfare of ‘fishermen and others’ to do so, let it provide 
the necessary funds for a system of night telegrams, and, if pos- 
sible, for a system of oceanic stations. If it does not, it must 
be content with things as they are.” 
Again, a private correspondent writes to me :—‘‘ The weather 
cannot be treated as though it went to bed at night and tucked 
itself in under a blanket of cumulus. It upfortunately does 
nothing of the kind ; and while the director and his subordinates 
are quietly sleeping, atmospheric changes are going on with a 
rapidity which a constant influx of telesrams must afford the 
only means of meeting. Yet still in spite of all these we go on, 
satished with having only ¢wo reports sent in every twenty-four 
hours. The result is that every now and then a disastrous 
failure such as that of Tuesday mus? occur.”” 
Tt must seem, therefore, that without the important assistance 
of a new class of observations, dependent upon the motions of 
the higher clouds, much might be done by such an extension of 
an existing system as common sense seems to demand. At 
present we appear to be acting upon a method somewhat parallel 
to that which would be adopted upon our railways, if the com- 
panies should send their signalmen to bed at 8 p.m., but with 
the night-traffic all the same. Collisions of the first magnitude 
would probably abound under such a system. 
I write not as a meteorologist, but as a citizen. Surely if the 
position of things be such as has been described, and if an im- 
portant improvement in the forecasting of storms could be 
ensured by the expenditure of a somewhat larger sum of public 
money, there could be no difficulty in bringing the matter in 
such a way under the notice of the Government as to secure the 
necessary funds. H. CARLISLE 
Rose Castle, November 13 
The Comet 
Ir may perhaps interest you to know that a most brilliant 
comet has been visible here for about three weeks. I saw it for 
the first time on the morning of September 29 ; at 4.40 a.m. of 
that day it bore from a house on the ridge overlooking Victoria 
E. } N. true (nearly), the nucleus being then about three degrees 
above the horizon ; an imaginary line drawn from Rigel through 
Sirius met the nucleus. 
The approximate length of the tail was nearly equal to the 
distance between Rigel and Betilguex, and its greatest breadth 
nearly equal to the distance between the two outer stars in the 
belt of Orion. The tail appeared brighter on the southern than 
on the northern side. 
The following particulars, which may also prove of interest, 
were communicated to me by Capt. Metcalf, of the White Star 
Company’s steam ship Oceanic. 
** Monday, September 25—observed a large comet rise about 
4.30 a.m., position at the time lat. 30° 18’ N., long. 128° 40’ E. 
September 26, at 5h. 17m. a.m., apparent time at ship (Sep- 
tember 25, 9h. orm. 13s. G.M.T.), altitude of comet, 7° 20’, 
distance from Sirius 63° 21’, tail extending nearly in a line from 
stm to Orion’s belt., lat. 27° 52’ N., long. 124° 10’E. Sep- 
tember 27 (at 9h. o2m. G.M.T. September 26), comet’s distance 
from Sirius 62° 32’. At 5h. 32 a.m., altitude of comet 13° 22’, 
bearing true S. 80° E., lat. 25° 16’ N., long. 119° 56’ E., tail 
about 7° to 8° long. Comet rose bearing S. 86° E. (true). Sep- 
tember 28—distance from Sirius 61° 49’. October 3 (in the 
Victoria Harbour)—distance of comet from Sirius 58° 43'.” 
As the comet is still visible I may possibly be able to give 
you some further information about it by next mail. 
The following extract is from the China Mail of the 7th 
Us eS 
A Melbourne despatch, dated September 16, says—‘ The 
comet is now extremely bright, being visible through the tele- 
scope at noon, a circumstance unprecedented in the experience 
of the officers of the observatory.”’ 
If it is not trespassing too much on your time I should be very 
much obliged if you would kindly inform me what observations 
would be useful (which could be taken by an ordinary sextant) 
should we be visited by another comet. 
In conclusion I may add that for the past week the weather 
has been unusually hot, and although the barometer has fluc- 
tuated considerably, no atmospheric aisturbance has taken place. 
According to M. Dechevrens, S.J., Director of the Zi-ka-wei 
Observatory, no less than éwventy typhoons visited the China and 
Japan seas last year, but up to date of the present year only ¢hree 
have been reported. J. P. McEwen, R.N., 
Hong Kong, October 9 Assistant Harbour Master 
I THINK there must have been some mistake about Major J. 
Herschel’s observation, as recorded in NATURE, vol. xxvii. 
p.5- As other observers have shown, the comet appears quite 
bright in moonlight. On the morning following his observation 
I was perhaps as much astonished as he was, only in the opposite 
direction ; for I was very much surprised to find then (the 31st 
ult., at 5 a.m.), that the tail was longer than on any other occasion 
when I have seen it, viz. 33°. The following observations will 
also show the brightness of the comet in moonlight and twilight. 
On the 26th, at 5.25 a.m., nine hours before full moon, and in 
brightish twilight, the tail was visible through fog and thin cloud 
toa distance of 134°. On the 2gth, at 5.37 a.m., it was fully 
23° long. This morning, at 6.9 a.m., in bright twilight, it was 
very faint, but still above 18°long. I think Major Herschel can- 
not have looked low enough down, or his view must have been 
otherwise obstructed. 
The wisp, or horn, that he represents on the 23rd, was cer- 
tainly a very striking feature at thattime. Though not exactly like 
the drawing in vol. xxvi. p. 622, it was nevertheless very definite, 
and part of it was brighter than the adjacent part of the comet 
between it and the head. There appeared that morning to be 
also two other knots of light, much less conspicuous—one almost 
a continuation of the ‘‘horn,’’ following it, and a little further 
north ; the other, in the # branch of the ‘‘ fish-tail.” 
Sunderiand, November 7 T. W. BACKHOUSE 
P.S. November 8.—The “horn” was this morning still a 
marked feature of the comet, though much less definite than 
formerly. Its origin (at the point where it begins from the 
northern branch) is still brighter than the neighbouring portions 
of the tail fora considerable distance in all directions. It occurs 
to me that this comet offersa very favourable opportunity of 
testing theories of the motions of tails; its features are so defi- 
nite that if careful observations are, and have been, made of the 
positions of different points, they must throw much light on the 
subject. aL. Wade 
ON the roth inst., at 5 a.m., the length of the nucleus was 
IIo", its breadth 12”, and its position angle 112°°5. The length 
seems fast increasing judging from previous measures. The 
tail was still about 15° long, but the first glimpse of daylight 
completely masked it. Gero, M. SEABROKE 
Temple Observatory, Rugby, November 14 
THE great comet was again a magnificent object in our south- 
eastern sky, at 5.10 this morning. The startlingly sharp defini- 
tion of October 23 had given place to a softer outline ; but the 
apparent length of the tail was at least as great, and the 
nucleus surprisingly bright, with a distinct scintillation, even in 
comparison with two near stars. Major J. Herschel’s experience 
of finding himself gazing at the comet without seeing it, ina 
clear sky, differs from mine, as I have on two occasions, since 
October 23, seen it perfectly visible, though wan, in bright 
moonlight, and when the sky at that elevation above the horizon 
was not free from haze. On October 23 I saw the strong appa- 
| rent shadow spoken of by one of your correspondents, but here 
| it was much blacker below the bright convex line of the tail 
than between the cleft at the end of clear definition. It did not 
seem to me the effect of contrast merely; but like that blackness 
through which the stars shone darkly in the recent southward 
display of aurora borealis. HENRY CECIL 
Bregner, Bournemouth, November Ifo 
