374 
On the evening of January 24 an aurora was observed at 
Geestemiinde, which was remarkable both for its duration as 
well as for the intensity of its light. The sky was quite clear 
and the moon shining brightly, when about 7.30 p.m. a semi- 
circle of light appeared in the north-east. Soon afterwards long 
rays shot out from this across the sky, forming an immense fan 
of light ; the middle one of these rays crossed the sky right down 
to the south-west, and remained visible in the same brightness 
for two hours. The size and brightness of the other rays 
changed constantly. The light was perfectly white. 
A VIOLENT earthquake is reported from Freiburg-im-Breisgau 
January 24, at 5.30 a.m., accompanied by loud subterranean 
noise. At the same time two strong shocks were felt at 
Bischoffingen. On the same date, at 7.58 a.m., an earthquake 
was observed in Herzegowina. It lasted for four seconds, and 
its direction was from north to south. 
DuRING the coming summer a Fine Art and Industrial Exhi- 
bition will be held at Huddersfield in connection with the open- 
ing of the New Technical School. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include two Macaque Monkeys (AZacacus cynomolgus) 
from India, presented respectively by Mr. T. W. Davidson and 
Miss M. Sutton; two Common Marmosets (//afade jacchus) from 
Brazil, presented by Mr. A. Pariss ; an Oak Dormouse (AZyoxus 
dryas) from Russia, presented by M. A. Wrzesniowski; a 
Common Marmoset (/fafale jacchus) from Brazil, presented by 
Mrs, Lynch; two Common Gulls (Zarus canus), British, pre- 
sented by Mr, W. K. Stanley ; two Herring Gulls (Zarzs argen- 
tatus), British, presented by Capt. C. R. Suckley; a Brant 
Goose (Sernicia brenta), European, presented by Mr. J. C, 
Robin on; a Black Lemur (Lemur macaco) from Madagascar, 
four Impeyan Pheasants (Zophophorus impeyanus 8 2 2? 2) from 
the Himalayas, a Black-necked Swan (Cygnus nigricollis) from 
Antarctic America, deposited; two Philantomba Antelopes 
(Cephalophus maxwelli), a Crowned Hawk Eagle (Spizaetus 
coronatus) from West Africa, four Snow Buntings (Flectrophanes 
nivalis), two Brant Geese (Bernicla brenta), European, a Red- 
throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis), British, purchased ; a 
Schomburgk’s Deer (Cervus schomburgki), from Siam, received in 
exchange ; two Hybrid Peccaries (between Dicotyles labiatus 
and D, tajacu ?), five Ring-hals Snakes (Sepedon hemachates), 
born in the Gardens. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 
THE COMET OF 1771.—The comet discovered by Messier at 
Paris on April 1, 1771, and last observed by St. Jacques de 
Silvabelle at Marseilles on July 17, has long been mentioned in 
our treatises on Astronomy as undoubtedly moving in a hyper- 
bolic orbit. This inference was first drawn by Burckhardt, who 
considered that of all the comets calculated up to the time he 
wrote (Mémoires présentés par Savans érangers, 1805) that of 
1771 was the only one of which it could be stated with some 
degree of certainty that the orbit was hyperbolic. Encke con- 
sidered the case worthy of further investigation ; remarking that 
from the nature of the conditions it might be demonstrated that 
a comet could not rigorously describe a parabola, and that expe- 
rience so far rather gave the preference to the ellipse over the 
hyperbola, he insisted that a comet, whose track could not be 
represented completely except by hyperbolic motion, merited the 
greatest attention. He accordingly reduced anew the six obser- 
vations employed by Burckhardt, and after their careful discussion 
found that the most probable elements were hyperbolic with 
eccentricity = 1°00937, which is almost identical with Burck- 
hardt’s value (t'00944). Nevertheless he did not regard the 
decided superiority of the hyperbola in the representation of 
the six places as an indubitable proof of the neces-ity of 
admitting motion in that curve; the positions used were 
not normal positions, but the results of single and isolated 
observations, and as such, the errors exhibited by a parabolic 
Uy 
NATURE 
_ 
[ Fed. 15, 1883 
orbit had not so great a preponderance in his opinion as to 
enforce such necessity. He concluded that the subject still 
required examination by a combination of all the observations, 
and especially if the originals of those at Marseilles could be 
found. On this point Zach stated, in a note to Encke’s commu- 
nication (Correspondance Astronomigue, t. v.), that during a 
recent visit to Marseilles he had searched in vain amongst the 
papers of St. Jacques de Silvabelle for these originals. 
Lately, the orbit of the comet of 1771 has formed the subject 
of two memoirs, containing very rigorous discussions of the 
observations, the first by Mr. W. Beebe, in the Zvamnsactions of 
the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. v. ; the 
second by Dr. H. Kreutz, published in the Proceedings of the 
Vienna Academy. Mr. Beebe gives also a hyperbolic orbit, 
accompanied by the most probable parabola for comparison. 
The investigation by Dr. Kreutz, a very complete one, gives 
perhaps a more defnite result. He is led to a parabolic orbit 
for the closest representation of the comet’s path, and though 
the original observations at Marseilles had again been sought for 
unsuccessfully, he does not think their recovery would affect 
the conclusion at which he had arrived. The elements of the 
definitive parabola are as follow :— 
Perihelion passage, 1771, April 19'14144 M.T. at Paris. 
Longitude of perihelion 104 1 21°77) weg 
ss »,» ascending node 27 53 I1°7 F - = r 
Inelinsationie-c- see. sue eee DS mean 77 
Logarithm of perihelion distance, 9°955127 
Motion—direct. 
THE CassINI DIVISION OF SATURN’S R1ING.—At the January 
meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, Prof. J. C. Adams 
made a very interesting communication on William Ball’s ob- 
servations of Saturn, upon which much confusion and misappre- 
hension have existed. Attention has been directed to the subject 
lately by several astronomical contemporaries, mainly with the 
view to show that William Ball was not, as he has been consi- 
dered, the discoverer of the chief diviion of Saturn’s ring. 
Prof. Adams has carefully examined letters from Ball preserved 
in the Archives of the Royal Society, HuyShen’s Ofera Varia, 
&c., and remarks: ‘‘I fird no evidence that Ball, any more 
than Huyghens, had noticed any indication of a division 
in the ring.” This statement may be accepted as con- 
clusive that the impression of several English writers as 
to Ball’s claim to the discovery of a double ring is a mis- 
taken one, and the credit of the discovery rests with Cas- 
sini. The announcement of it made by the French astronomer 
to the Academy of Sciences is in the following terms :— 
“* Apreés la sortie de Saturne hors des rayons du soleil an 1675 
dans le crépuscule du matin, le globe de cette planéte parut avec 
une bande obscure semblable a celles de Jupiter, étendue selon 
la longueur de |’anneau d’orient en occident, comme elle se voit 
presque toujours par la lunette de 34 pieds, et la largeur de 
Vanneau étoit divisée par une ligne obscure en deux parties 
égales, dont lintérieure et plus proche du globe étoit fort 
claire, et l’intérieure un peu obscure, II y avoit entre les 
couleurs de ces deux parties, a-peu-prés la meme difference qui 
est entre l’argent mat et l’argent bruni (ce qui n’avoit jamais eté 
observé auparavant), et ce qui s’est depuis vi toujours par la 
méme lunette, mais plus clairement dans la crépuscule et a la 
clarte de la lune que dans une nuit plus obscure. Cette ap- 
parence donna une idée comme d’un anneau double, dont 
Vinférieur plus large et plus obscur fit chargé d’un plus étroit 
et plus clair.” In two figures attached to this announcement 
the ring is shown with the outer half shaded and the inner half 
white, and there is a central band across the globe. 
ON THE CHEMICAL CORROSION OF 
CATHODES* 
THs paper contains a description of the influence of various 
circumstances upon the chemical corrosion of metallic 
cathodes in different liquids. 
Several preliminary experiments are described by means of 
which it was found that in some cases the chemical corrosion of 
a metal is increased, and in others decreased, by making the 
metal a cathode. Also, that the loss of weight of a cathode in 
an electrolyte is dependent upon several conditions, such as 
difference of metal, of liquid, or of strength of liquid, some of 
1 By G. Gore, LL.D., F.R.S._ Abstract of paper read before the 
Birmingham Philosophical Society, December 14, 1882. 
