EDITORIAL NOTES. 
585 
The recently discovered comet of 1812, 
ean be seen clearly defined in the northwest 
sky without the aid of a glass. The observa- 
tory people reported some time ago that it 
would scarcely be seen with the naked eye 
until the last of the month, but it is now 
plainly visible, being equal in brightness to 
a star of the fifth magnitude, or as bright as 
Halcyone, the largest star in the Pleiades. 
The wanderer is near the bright star of Vega 
or Alpha Lyrse in the constellation of the 
Harp, and about an hour behind it, right as- 
cension. By January 15th the stranger 
will be wholly visible to the unaided vi-ion. 
The tail of this comet in 1812 swept athwart 
the sky nearly 90°, but it h as been very much 
shorn of its glory and will not present by any 
means the beautiful spectacle of the comet 
of 1881. 
The President has appointed a board of 
officers of the army and navy to consider the 
question of sending an expedition to the re- 
lief of Lieut. Greely and party, and to recom- 
mend to the Secretaries of War and Navy, 
jointly, what steps the board deem advisable 
be taken for the equipment and transporta- 
tion of a relief expedition, and suggest such 
plan as to its control and organization of its 
personnel, as seems best adapted to a com- 
plish its purpose. The board is composed of 
the following officers: Brigadier-General W. 
B. Hazen, Chief Signal Officer, United States 
Army ; Capt. James W. Greer, United States 
Navy; Lieutenant-Commander B. H. McCul- 
la, United Sta'es Navy, and Captain George 
W. Davis, 14th Infantry, United States Army. 
The board met in Washiagton the 20th ult. 
In Washington City the telephone com- 
pany has been required to run its wires un- 
derground, and it is expected that within 
a short time the various telegraph compan- 
ies will also do so, as the Postal Teleraph 
Company was not permitted to come within 
the city until after it had agreed to such con- 
ditions. The district authorities say that 
the telephonic communications are much 
more distinct than before, and note with sat- 
isfaction the absence of the buzzing sound 
so annoying formerly. 
The latest railroad scheme is that of a line 
across America, Asia and Europe, by way of 
Alaska, Siberia and Russia; the plan involv- 
ing the bridging of or tunneling under Behr- 
ings straits. De Lesseps might turn his at- 
tention to it, after he performs the trifling 
jobs now in hand. 
The publisher of the Review has for sale, 
very low, a large, fine, new p >rlor organ, 
suitable also for college chapel, lecture room, 
or church. It is one of the very best styles, 
and can be had at a decided bargain. 
ITEMS FROM PERIODICALS. 
Subscribers to the Review can be furnished 
through this office with all the best magazines oj 
the Country and Europe, at a discount of from 
I J to 20 per cent off the retail price. 
The Art Interchange for 1884 is a thorough- 
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Instructions and suggestions in art needle- 
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