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Astronomy. 433 
rieties of Mankind,’ the basis of deduction as to the origin and dist 
tion of the human varieties, many facts might be cited, aifeeting ra ae 
formity of the distribution of man sien that of the lower animals and 
plants, as absolutely enunciated in some recent works. Norcan we be 
surprised to find that the ee instinets of the human species, with 
the peculiar endowment of adaptiveness to all climates, should have pro- 
duced modifications in geographical distribution to which the lower forms 
of living nature ha ave not been subject. Ethnology is a wide and fertile 
subject, a I should be led far beyond the limits of an inaugural dis- 
course were [| . indulge in an sere eres of its p ogress 
* 
IV. ASTRONOMY. 
1. Fifty-fourth and fifty- ffh Asteroids.—On the 10th of September, 
1858, another asteroid was discovered by Mr. H. Goldschmidt, at Paris, 
and the same night a new i was .also detected by Mr. George 
Searle, assistant at. the Dudley Observatory, Albany, N. Y. It remains 
to be seen which of these two asteroids was first discovered in absolute 
tim 
2. "Fourth Comet of 1858.—A telescopic comet was discovered, May 
21st, 1858, by Dr. Brulns, at Berlin. It appeared in the comet-seeker 
like : star of the 7th magnitude, with a tail about half a degree in 
en 
3. - ifth Comet of 1858.—The great comet of 1858 was discovered at 
Florence, on the 2d of June, by Mr. Donati. Owing to its great sapaticp 
from the earth and the slowness of its geocentric motion, for some tim 
computors were greatly saoneg in determining correct seme pete He ts 
th. It soon, however, became apparent that it was a comet 
able magnitude, and in aceordance with Ph on the tik az aly 
it surpassed the average of telescopic co 
The first traces of a tail were not staat until the 20th of August— 
on the 29th it was visible to the naked eye, and a train of two degrees 
in length could be traced with the comet-seeker. For a short time it was 
visible to us, both morning and evening; it continued to increase in size 
and brilliancy up to the second week in October, it was nearest to the 
earth on the 10th of October, and for several ee = tail — 
more than forty degrees, and on one or two occasions it was traced ev 
to sixty de 
— violent commotion. On the 23d two dark outlines were traced 
half way round the nucleus; on the next evening still another, 
each, of these was evidently the outer ‘boundary of a luminous envelope, 
<-yggrtncos —ege eabmael mie 1858, 
: 56 
