403 Miscellanies. 



9. Atomic Weights of Copper, Mercury, and Sulphur; by Drs. 

 Ekdmann and Maechand. (Ann. de Ch. et de Phys. t. x.) — 



Copper, - - - 396*6 



Mercury, - - - 1250'9 



Sulphur, - - - 200-07 



The atomic weight of copper was determined by the reduction of 

 the oxyd, according to the plan adopted by Berzelius ; that of mercury 

 from peroxyd of mercury, and that of sulphur from vermilion or sul- 

 phuret of mercury. — (Cited from the Chemical Gazette, Sept. 15, 1844.) 



10. Be Vico^s Comet. — This comet announced. Vol. xlvii, p. 419, as 

 discovered by Mr. H. L. Smith, Sept. 10, 1844, (and erroneously desig- 

 nated Faye'^s comet at page 219 of this volume,) was first detected at 

 Rome, August 22, 1844. Many sets of parabolic elements of this comet 

 have been computed. The elliptic elements computed by Faye, and 

 given in our last number, he has compared with forty positions of the 

 comet as observed at Paris, and also with observations made at Altona, 

 Hamburg, and Manheim. In the Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Dec. 9, 

 1844, Faye gives as the result, the subjoined third set of elliptic ele- 

 ments, expressing his confidence in their great precision. 



Perihelion passage, [Paris, m. t.] 1844, Sept. 2-483952. 



This comet is probably identical with that of 1585, observed by Ty- 

 cho-Brahe and calculated by Halley. 



11. Southern Comet of December, 1844. — This comet must have 

 been, during the months of December and January last, a conspicuous 

 and brilliant object to the inhabitants of the equatorial regions. It was 

 probably visible to the naked eye as early as the 1st of December, and 

 may have been discovered at some southern observatory several weeks 

 before. As the comet was telescopically visible down to the middle of 

 March, opportunity has been given to secure an extensive series of ob- 

 servations. In December last (day not stated) the length of the tail is 

 reported to have been 20°. From observations of Jan. 27, and Feb. 

 1 and 7, taken at the High School Observatory, Philadelphia, the fol- 

 lowing parabolic elements of the comet were computed by Prof. E. Otis 

 Kendall, and published Feb. 11, 1845, in the United States Gazette. 



