44 PROF. O. REYNOLDS ON THE TAILS OF 



true CEderi, and very rare. I have only seen it elsewhere 

 on the sands on the south side of Southport, where it is 

 very abundant and luxuriant. It appears quite distinct as 

 a species from C. flava (including C. lepidocarpa) , with 

 which it is often placed as a variety. 



Centunculus minimus. Frequent some seasons in the 

 open pastures on the borders of the Mere. 



Mentha sativa. In ditches by the road-side, between 

 Bucklow Hill and Mere Mere. 



Rubus Balfourianus. 



.In thickets by the Mere. 

 Rubus palhdus. J 



Polygonum mite has been reported from Mere ; but, 



after searching without success for it for several seasons, 



I can only suppose that some of the more luxuriant forms 



of P. minus frequent there have been mistaken for it. The 



seeds of P. minus, which are shining black, and only half the 



size of those of P. mite, afford the only safe distinction. 



V. The Tails of Comets, the Solar Corona, and the Aurora, 

 considered as Electric Phenomena. Part I. By 

 Professor Osborne Reynolds, M.A. 



Eead November 29th, 1870. 



Although the tails of comets are usually assumed to be 

 material appendages which accompany these bodies in 

 their flight through the heavens (and the appearance they 

 present certainly warrants such an assumption), yet this 

 is not the only way in which these tails may be accounted 

 for. They may be simply an effect produced by the comet 

 on the material through which it is passing, an effect 



