The Earth in the Comet's Tail. 63 



initials of his wife, Catherine von Bora, which, on the closing of 

 the rings, necessarily lies close to those of Lnther. The gem in 

 this side of the ring is a ruby, the emblem of exalted love ; so 

 that the names of Catherine and Luther are closely united, when 

 the rings are closed, beneath the emblems of exalted love, 

 power, duration, and fidelity. 



There can be but little doubt that these curious and interest- 

 ing rings were designed by the celebrated painter and goldsmith, 

 Lucas Cranach, and possibly wrought with his own hand, the 

 marriage of his friend Luther being a special occasion which 

 he doubtless wished to honour with every attention in his 

 power. Lucas was, indeed, one of the three select friends 

 whom Luther took to witness his betrothal, the others being Dr. 

 Bugenhagen, town preacher of Wittenberg, and the lawyer 

 Assel, who all accompanied him to Reichenbach/s house, where 

 Catherine resided. 



In the rings above described there is, doubtless, such 

 device, and meaning, and exquisite workmanship, as the Donna 

 Portzia Chigi of the present day might assuredly reward with 

 something more than the market-price, if produced by our 

 jewellers, and pay for in gold, too, if the fitting opportunity 

 should present itself, not omitting even the compliments degne 

 di cotal signora. 



THE EARTH IN THE COMET'S TAIL. 



BY THE EEV. T. W. WEBB, F.E.A.S. 



The reader will, no doubt, recollect the remarks that were made 

 by several persons, and in various places, as to something 

 unusual in the appearance of the evening of June 30th, 1861, 

 and the interest subsequently attached to them by Mr. Hind's 

 calculation that at that very time, or a little earlier, the tail 

 of the great comet might, in all probability, have been enve- 

 loping the earth. The following additional and independent 

 testimony to that conjunction is the more worthy of remark as 

 being drawn from a perfectly different mode of observation. 



On the night in question, after I had, like so many others, 

 been astonished by the sudden appearance of the comet, and 

 had studied and sketched the nucleus with its marvellous train 

 of six envelopes, and had dismounted my telescope with the 

 impression that there was little more that I could do, as well as 

 in anticipation of the approaching moonlight, my attention was 

 drawn by my wife, about llh. 45m. to a faint ray, perfectly 

 similar in appearance to the tail, lying nearly horizontally in 

 the WJST.W. beneath the quadrilateral of Ursa Major, about 



