10 Mr. Gamble^ Meteorological Notes. [Dec. 4, 



APPEOXIMATE ELLIPTIC ELEMENTS OF COMET, 1884 J. 



By W. H. Finlay, B.A., F.E.A.S. 



It was soon found by myself and astronomers in Europe that a 

 parabolic orbit would not satisfy the observations of this comet. I 

 determined therefore to try and deduce an elliptic orbit. As my own 

 observations were the only ones available at the time I did not attempt 

 moie than a fairly close approximation, and for that purpose chose 

 the observations of July 27, August 22, and SejDtember 17 : the 

 observations on these nights were noted as "good," and they were 

 nearly equidistant. From them I derived the following elements : — 



d. 

 Perihelion passage . . Aug. 16*5095 Greenwich mean time. 



TT . . 306 3 30 ) ,,- ^ . , 



A A i\d. ^ \ Mean Equinox and 



5 30 36 Ecliptic 1884-0 



0-5017524 



2-7973780 



36^ 34' 31" / 



5*6615 years. 



The comet, therefore, belongs to the class of short-period comets, 

 of which we have about a dozen instances. At its nearest approach 

 to the sun it is about midway between the orbits of the earth and 

 Mars, and at its furthest distance it almost reaches the orbit of 

 Jupiter. Like others of its class it has probably been diverted from 

 its original path in space by the attraction of Jupiter, and forced to 

 become a member of the solar system. The elements, with the excep- 

 tion of the Node, show a strong resemblance to de Vico's comet of 

 1844, for which a period of 5^ jears was found, but which has never 

 been seen since. 



log. a 

 log. /t 



P 

 Period 



METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. 



By John G. Gamble, M.A. 



[Read 1884, Dec. 4.] 



I. The Monthly Averages of the Daily^ Readings of the Maximum 

 AND Minimum Tiiermometehs. 



Nearly four years ago I read a paper before this Society on summer 

 and winter temperature in South Africa. Since then the observations 

 have improved both in quantity and quality, the latter being mainly 

 owing to the annual inspection by the Secretary. 



I have now calculated the monthly averages of the daily readings 

 of the maximum and minimum thermometers. These tables have been 

 printed in the Colonial Blue Book [and therefore are not again 

 reprinted here.] In order, however, to make the statistics more in- 

 teresting and useful, I have prejiared twelve maps giving the maximum 

 and minimum isothermals for each month in the year, and forty-two 

 diagrams showing the annual march of maximum and minimum tem- 

 porature at each of the twenty-one selected stations. I do not ask the 



