450 



6 CIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 34. 



low brick annex. The large nortli room (90 x ;2S ft. ) 

 on the first floor of the main institute building (the 

 Rogers Building), with its admirable light and its 

 many facilities, will be devoted to the purposes of the 

 natural-history course, and will be fitted up with ap- 

 proi^riate apparatus and instruments. Within a short 

 time, it is also auticii^ated that a room in the base- 

 ment (being one of those now occupied by the chemical 

 or by the metallurgical department) will be available 

 for use in dissections and in the coarser work of a 

 biological laboratory. 



Dr. W. T. Sedgwick, a graduate of the Sheffield 

 scientific school, and recently connected with the 

 biological department of the Johns Hopkins univer- 

 sity, having been appointed assistant professor of 

 biology, will assume charge of the biological labora- 

 tory at the opening of the next school year, and will 

 give the instruction in physiology, botany, and general 

 biology, now provided for in the regular courses of the 

 institute, especially in the so-called natural-history 

 course, as well as take charge of the work of special 

 students in these branches. 



The instruction given in geology by Professor Niles, 

 and in zoology and paleontology by Professor Hyatt, 

 will be continued. Mr. W. O. Crosby has been ap- 

 pointed assistant professor of mineralogy and lith- 

 ology, and will hereafter give, throughout the school 

 year, the instruction which has heretofore been 

 confined to a single term. The advantages of the 

 extension of the chemical and physical laboratories, 

 abundantly provided for in the new building of the 

 institute, will be enjoyed by the students of the natu- 

 ral-history course, in common with those of the other 

 regular courses. 



In view of the foregoing enlargement of facilities 

 and opportunities for study and research in the 

 branches especially embraced in this course, it is rec- 

 ommended to students looking forward either to be- 

 coming naturalists, or to the subsequent study and 

 practice of medicine. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The comet recently detected by W. R. Brooks at 

 Phelps, N.T., has become an object of unusual in- 

 terest since its identification with the comet of 1812, 

 the return of which has been anticipated about 

 this time. Mr. Brooks first noticed the comet as a 

 suspicious object on the night of Sept. 1, and di- 

 rected the attention of astronomers to it, after a 

 second observation. During the first half of Septem- 

 ber it "Was repeatedly observed at various places; but 

 its great distance and consequently slow movement 

 made it difficult to obtain trustworthy approxima- 

 tions to its orbit, and thus delayed the recognition of 

 Its character. Its identity with the comet of 1812 

 was' first announced, so far as we are informed at 

 present, by the Rev. George M. Searle of New York, 

 in a letter published on Sept. 18. A communication 

 from him to Harvard college observatory, with which 

 he was formerly connected, was received there on 

 the morning of Sept. 20, and contained a statement 

 of the process by which he reached the interesting 



conclusion previously announced. This consisted in 

 determining, from the jjositionsof the Brooks comet, 

 the corresponding points of intersection withEncke's 

 orbit of 1812; the result for the time of perihelion 

 jMssage being 1884, Jan., 25.17, and the longitude of 

 the perihelion being closely accordant with that given 

 by Encke. 



Professor Boss of the Dudley observatory, as will 

 be seen on an earlier page, arrived independently at 

 the same conclusion by computing parabolic elements 

 from observations of Sept. 5, 9, and IS, which exhib- 

 ited a close similarity with those of the orbit of 

 1812. The circular which he has issued upon the 

 subject states that he communicated his result to the 

 associated press on the evening of Sept. 19. 



The communication of Father Searle to Harvard 

 college observatory, already mentioned, induced Mr. 

 Chandler to examine the question, with the aid of the 

 most recent observations. The result was to furnish 

 further confirmation of the asserted identity; and 

 the positions obtained at the observatory as late as 

 Sept. 22 make it still more evident. The difference 

 between the observed place and that resulting from 

 the orbit of 1812, as corrected by the recent publica- 

 tion of Schulhof and Bossert, but with the time of 

 perihelion passage assumed as 1884, Jan., 25.780, is as 

 follows : — 



Diff. R.A. -0^1. (O— C.) 

 " Decl. -fee". 



This agreement is entirely within the uncertainly 

 of the orbit of 1812, from the old observations. 



The comet has also exhibited phenomena of great 

 interest in regard to the development of its structure 

 by its approach to the sun. Wlieu first observed this 

 year, it was a very faint and small nebulous object, 

 but the appearance of a stellar nucleus was noted at 

 Harvard college observatory by Mr. Wendell on Sept. 

 3. The nucleus was afterwards less distinct. This 

 may have been due to unfavorable conditions of ob- 

 servation, or it may possibly indicate a preliminary 

 series of changes like those which the comet lias just 

 exhibited. On Sept. 21, as seen at Harvard college 

 observatory, the comet was still very faint. A slight 

 condensation at one place could be seen with the large 

 equatorial, but this could hardly be called stellar. 

 The next night, Sept. 22, the appearance of the comet 

 had so completely changed that it was difficult to 

 believe it the same object jjreviously seen. It now re- 

 sembled a star nearly as bright as one of the eighth 

 magnitude. Very little nebulosity could be detected 

 about it, but some was seen early in the evening, 

 "while the comet was sufficiently high in the sky. 

 During the evening it appeared to be gaining percep- 

 tibly in brightness. The next night, Sept. 23, it was 

 seen at times between clouds, and was found to have 

 again changed its appearance. It was now even 

 brighter than before (although still slightly inferior 

 to a star of the eighth magnitude), but it had lost 

 its stellar appearance, and had become blurred, re- 

 gaining the ordinary character of a cometic nucleus. 

 Traces of the development of a tail were also percep- 

 tible. The rapidity of this series of changes is very 

 unusual, if not unexampled. 



