THE GREAT SOUTHERN COMET. 73 
observation of Dr. Gould on February 4, and from rough places communicated 
by Mr. Gill. These elements are as follows :— 
Comet I. 1880. GouLp. 
Perihelion Passage, January 27. 6027. 
Ce eM A: 
Joyalers Wi Jel cralloveliicoy alan Wek ey ana) ee aielieaaen ive ecyay ous (NR Cay 6’.8. 
omer yNOd come vrei hi bai elt auu sas Wad > We 
DNCli a HOT Meier ay ee hea Sa a oar ase 2h im oie By 
em DiStanCe a ayaiiyh aise uicin Gm 1d OLOORO200: 
Motion, Retrograde. 
According to the same periodical, the comet was observed from H. M. S. 
“ Triumph,” while at sea, between Payta, in Peru, and Manta, in Equador, on 
the night of February 7. The nucleus was seen at this date, and the comet was 
again observed on the 8th and oth. 
According to the Odservatory for April, the comet was so faint on the 23d of 
February that Mr. Gill conld not discern the least trace of it, there peng strong 
moonlight, however. 
As has been stated, sProf. Peirce was very early in the field with an assertion 
that this comet was a return of that of 1843. and in this his judgment has not been 
at fault, for, taking either the elements of Mr. Hind or those which may be con- 
sidered as the next most authoritative, the resemblance is altogether too close to be 
the result of accident. The elements of the comet of 1843, as computed by 
Hubbard, were — 
Wonemmberihelions ayeweavatsetya eee gee nen enero Bl it 
None Node WPe tare (Gber He hit cs An MIE KU go 20'.6 
Hine IvyiVOT 5 aah 2! We 2 eh uk UE ale Meagan Lara 1) iO 38.2 
Bete Distance ine as ie Hn ii Uitte 4s OLOOk a TTA 
Motion, Retrograde. 
In view of thc relationship, a few notes on this great comet—which, says 
Cooper, in his Cometic Orbits, has been considered the most interesting of any on 
record—may be acceptable. 
Prof. Peirce, in the note to the Boston Advertiser, already referred to, gave 
as his opinion that Dr. Gould’s comet is that of 1843, and has been seen before 
mB. ©. 1770, 370, 252, 183, and A. D. 336, 422, 533, 582, 708, 729, 882, 
1077, 1106, 1208, 1313, 1362, 1382, 1402, 1454, 1491, 1511, 1528, 1668, 1689, 
and 1702. 
“‘ In 1843,” says Prof. Peirce, in a lecture on comets and meteors, ‘‘at about 
noon on the 28th of February, people in New England were able to see a brill- 
lant object close to the sun. Such a marvelous spectacle had never before been 
seen. Accurate and reliable observations of its position with regard to the same 
were made. A week later, a wonderfully brilliant tail of a comet was seen skirt- 
