400 B.A. Gould—Southern Comet of February, 1880. 
It might perhaps be supposed that no appearance of so 
impressive an object during the last two or three centuries 
could have failed to be recorded; but it does not seem so to 
me in the case of a comet whose orbit lies almost exclusively 
to the south of the ecliptic, so that it would in all probability 
be noticed in our northern hemisphere only in the northern 
w 
resistance and the lateral friction must during their continuance 
be causing a diminution of the radius-vector, it would appear 
that they have not diminished, but, on the contrary, increased, 
the major axis. This is a delicate and in some respects a 
difficult question; and since I have at present neither the 
requisite time nor books of reference at my disposal, I will not 
here enter into any of its details, but will confine myself to 
the statement that so far as I am able to form an opinion, the 
observed facts do not appear to conflict with theory. 
A most interesting question arises regarding the densest 
portion of the tail. There is no reason to doubt that this 
pointed southward before the perihelion, as it did afterward. 
Now the comet’s center of gravity passed from one side to the 
other of the sun, describing an are of 180° in true anomaly 10 
about 2 8"; and indeed described 141° 42’ in a single hour. 
If the tail in general consisted of the same particles before as 
after the hour of perihelion, it must have been actually sever 
by the body of the sun, surrendering of course a considerable 
amount of its material. 
Argentina, without any reference to the ephemeris; but thé 
ephemeris from the elements already given accompanies them. 
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