82 B. A. Gould on a new variable Star. 
Mr. Wm. M. Davis, Jr., of Philadelphia, saw the star on the 
ae of May 12, called the attention of his fam mily and friends 
e phenomenon, and noted in his journal that the star was 
as ne as « Coron. 
Mr. Ferguson, of the Washington Observatory, writes that the 
star was seen on Sunday evening, May 13, by Mr. Farquhar of 
Washington, assistant to Prof. Schaeffer, who communicated the 
fact to Admiral Davis, superintendent of the observatory. Mr. 
Farquhar estimated the magnitude on the 13th inst. as the sec- 
ond; Mr. Ferguson observed ae — on the 15th, and estimated 
it as then of the fourth magnitu 
Prof. Watson, of the Ann ae Observatory, sends me word 
that Mr. Barker, a gentleman in London, Canada, perceived the 
star about May 1, and described it as equal to « Coronee in bril- 
ae at that time. 
. Henry Tutwiler, of Greene Springs, Ala., also detected 
the ae on the 12th of May. For letters from ‘him I am in 
debted to Robert Patterson, Esq., of Philadelphia, and to Prof. 
Henry of the epieutir we Institution. He states that on that 
evening, it was somewhat superior in brilliancy to « Corone; 
and on other aines he observed or estimated it as follows: May 
14 mag., somewhat brighter than @Coronze; May 17th, 
less bright than Coron; May 19th, barely visible to the naked 
eye; May 20th, only perceptible through a small spy-glass, 8th 
mag.; May 24th, 10th mag. This last estimate must have been 
an extreme one, very possibly in hazy sky and without compar- 
ison-stars. 
At an early day the star was also noted by Mr. Hallowell of 
Alexandria, who has very recently communicated his observa- 
tions to a Philadelphia daily paper, but I have not yet been able 
to see them. Indirectly I have been informed that Mr. Hallo- 
well has seen the star on athe occasions during the winter, 
which would imply that it has been fluctuating in short periods, 
—— Mr. Chandler is positive that when he examined the region 
toward the close of April, the star was, to say the least, not con- 
spicuous 
Mr. R. L. Knight, ef Sree ie writes me that on the 23d 
of September last he saw, in the constellation of the Crown, 4 
brilliant star, not laid sina upon the maps, and that it was then 
equal to Gemma in brilliance 
- From these various data it would seem probable that the new. 
variable which should, following Argelander’s notation, receive 
the name 7’ Coron, must hav acres a magnitude of at least 
1} at maximum, and that ie m, perhaps only one of & 
series, occurred ‘between the 5th same 113th of May. 
P.S. June 12. The Astronomische Nachrichten of May 26, 
this day received, brings information of the detection of this stat 
