388 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 14. 



same date, at Fallstown, Ind. On the 30th a 

 wide-spread shock was felt in California. 



L'HIRONDELLE.^ 



This name we find given to a carriage which 

 is the result of one of the recent attempts to 

 gain for the ordinarj' road-vehicle the ease of 

 traction which a rail gives. It might be better 

 to say that the actual result is the use of a 



screen is furnished behind, to give protection 

 from the mud and dust, which, carried up by 

 the outer ring, would be dropped on the hap- 

 less occupant. To give the whole stability, 

 there are two outriding wheels connected with 

 the main part hy springs, flexible enough to 

 allow of the main weight being borne by the 

 central wheel, and j'et sufBcientlj' stiff to pre- 

 vent sxnj overturning. The most of the parts 

 are made of wrought iron or steel. It has 

 been found that the carriage is not liable to 



L'HIRONBELLE. 



much larger wheel than any that can be used 

 in the ordinary way, and so the advantage 

 which a large wheel gives in passing over ob- 

 stacles on a rough road. The form shown in 

 the cut is said to have been used in Poland 

 and Russia with considerable success, and 

 carriages of this type to have made their ap- 

 pearance in Paris. The driver's seat is con- 

 nected rigidly with the shafts and with the 

 three small grooved wheels which are made to 

 fit the inner surface of the large steel ring, or 

 wheel proper, which rolls on the ground. A 



1 This article, and the cut accompanying it, i 

 Nature of April 14. 



i taken from La 



accident, and, with ordinary care, may be kept 

 in running-order. 



THE GREAT COMET OF ISSSA 



The accompanying sketches are intended to 

 give an idea of the appearance of the nucleus 

 of the great 1882 comet, in the 26-inch Wash- 

 ington equatorial, on the evenings of Feb. 1, 

 Feb. 23, and Feb. 27, 1883. A magnifying 



1 Communicated by 

 superintendent U. S. nav; 



jermiseion of Vlce-Admlral Rowan, 

 1 observatory. 



