38 PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
1884. The aperture of the instrument is 8 inches and the magni- 
fying power employed 186. . 
On October 13, using the 9-inch equatorial and a power of 182, 
“the comet seemed to bea circular nebulous mass with quite a 
well marked central condensation. The nucleus was not sharply 
defined, but blended gradually into the fainter light surrounding it.” 
Noy. 8. Transit circle. Nucleus quite well defined. Faint but 
not difficult to observe. 
Noy. 12. Transit circle. Nucleus elongated in the preceding fol- 
lowing direction and apparently composed of a number of bright 
points. Faint and difficult to observe. The nebulous envelope 
seems to extend farther on the upper or south side than on the lower 
side. Seeing, very poor. 
Nov. 13 with the 9-inch equatorial and the same power as before 
a sketch (omitted here) was made. The remarks I give sub- 
stantially as in my note-book: Watched the comet carefully for 
about an hour (seeing not very good,—a little fog hanging over the 
river). It is a very slightly oval nebulous object. The central 
part is a little condensed; the nucleus proper more so. Filar 
micrometer measures give for the extent of the outer nebula, meas- 
ured in the direction of a circle of declination, 1’ 52”, and for the 
inner disc 18”. The nucleus is perhaps extended a little in the 
preceding following direction, but I looked in vain for any indica- 
tion of the beaded appearance which I thought I saw last night 
with the transit circle. I might add that using the distance of the 
comet given in Kriiger’s ephemeris these measures would represent 
distances of 47,000 and 7,500 miles, respectively. No tail. 
Noy. 20. Transit circle. Nucleus stellar, 10th magnitude. 
On November 22 another observation was obtained with the 
9-inch equatorial, magnifying power 132 as before. Micrometer 
measures of the outer nebula and the inner dise gave 1’ 30” and 
16”, respectively, differing but little from the measures of the 13th. 
Seeing, fair. The following note was made: I divide the comet 
into three parts, the outer nebula, the inner envelope (or coma I 
presume it might be called), and the nucleus proper. It is almost 
impossible to assign a definite limit to this outer envelope, wavering 
and flickering like a mass of smoke, but the micrometer measures 
will fix it roughly. The inner envelope blends into the outer with- 
out any sharp division, though there is sufficient difference in bright- 
ness to attempt a measurement. The inner envelope condenses in 
turn into the brighter nucleus. 
