204 Comet II. 1862. 



from the commencement of the feather with any power, from 

 27 to 460. The jet itself is straight in its brightest part, but 

 there is a faint effusion from it to the right, towards the end, 

 where it is less vivid. 8h. 48m. position by a single, but careful 

 measure, 240°. It has made a near appulse, a few minutes 

 before, to a considerable star. 9h. 15m, I can make out the 

 arrangement of the coma better in a darker sky with 82, and 

 the impression of August 9th is revived, that the axis of 

 luminosity makes a considerable angle with the axis of figure, 

 or that the nucleus may lie some way to the left of the vertex 

 of a very indistinct parabola of light. There seems to be a fee- 

 ble indication of a renewal of the" set-off" or envelope. See 

 fig. 5. 



August 28. Much cloud and haze, but the comet conspicuous 

 in occasional clear openings. Feather very striking with 27; 

 having returned to the appearance of the 25th : it is, however, 

 decidedly a good deal longer, with the same proportionate 

 width ; more curved, and less sharply defined, than before ; the 

 centre being a very little fainter than either end; a feeble 

 branch from the nucleus towards the left beneath, suspected 

 with lower powers, is confirmed with about 300. Nucleus 

 very dim, even allowing for haze, barely visible with 27; sharp 

 and stellar, but very minute, with 55 and 110; with 170 con- 

 fused, and probably elongated in the direction of the feather. 

 The general aspect is greatly altered since last night : the 

 nucleus was then the almost undistinguishable source of a 

 vehement emission of light ; now, it floats, an exhausted speck, 

 in the end of a great cloud, with which its connection might be 

 thought merely accidental; 27 shows a slight darkness to the 

 left of the end of the feather, in the axis of the general structure, 

 recalling the observation of August 22nd. The colours and 

 magnitude of the head remain unchanged, but the tail is much 

 altered ; there is little difference in the finder, but in the comet 

 eye-piece it is much more divergent, spreading over 25' to 35', 

 1° behind the nucleus; the two sides are very unlike ; the right 

 is still for a short distance the better defined and stronger, 

 resembling the edge of a hollow structure, but there is nothing 

 corresponding on the other side, which is feeble and diffuse, 

 and there is no appearance of central obscurity. For 1° or 

 more, the right side is somewhat convex, but it grows rapidly 

 faint, and is soon blunted or rounded off towards the axis ; 

 further on, the old straight narrow stripe may be traced, and 

 presumably in its original position, but it is now much more 

 feeble ; it may reach 4° or 5°, but its length is quite uncertain, 

 as is a suspicion that it may be on the whole concave. What, 

 however, is undoubted, and very remarkable, is that the brighter 

 side at its origin is no longer directed towards the nucleus, or 



