Observations on Comet II. 



211 



Road, noting a dark appearance down its centre, and estimating 

 its length at about a degree and a half. On the same evening 

 M. Bulard saw it at Algiers, and M. Littrow at Vienna. On 

 August 3rd it was viewed by various astronomers, among them 

 Mr. Dawes, who was struck with the remarkable distinct- 

 ness of the nucleus.* He noted that on the side farthest from 

 the sun its edge was hard and sharp, but that on the side next 

 the sun C( a condensed stream of nebulous matter issued from 

 the nucleus, gradually expanding itself, and at length falling 

 back on all sides, and becoming mingled with the general coma 

 of the head." " The whole appearance/' he adds, " strongly 

 reminded me of a fountain, ascending to a moderate height, 

 and then falling over on all sides in fine spray." 



Fig. 2, though belonging to August 15th, seems well to 

 illustrate this description. It represents 

 the comet as seen in an inverting tele- 

 scope. The jet of light is also noticed by 

 the other observers on August 3rd. On 

 the 5th, Mr. Dawes observed similar phe- 

 nomena ; but truly remarks that about 

 this time the sky usually presented an 

 aspect more like December than August. 

 Nevertheless, a few notes were made on 

 the 7th by other astronomers. Professor 

 Challis observed an approach to the form 

 of a sector in the bright central portion of the coma, and he 

 noted that the right border of the comet's tail seemed brightest 

 when seen in the telescope. 



Mr. Howlett, F.R.A.S. (to whose kindness I am indebted for 

 the figures which illustrate this part of the narrative, as well as 

 for much information concerning the comet), first saw it on 

 the 14th, and took the above sketch on the 15th, at nine p.m. 

 On the early morning of the same day, Mr. Hind estimated 

 the comet's brightness to the naked eye, as being about equal 

 to Gamma in Ursa Minor, and the tail three degrees in length. 



Meanwhile, I had enjoyed no single view of the comet. For 

 a whole fortnight I had vainly watched to see even a single star 

 winking through my large staircase- window. But late on the 

 1 7th, a starlight night came at last ; I then, to make up for 

 past disappointments, watched the comet carefully from mid- 

 night till half-past one. I knew where to look, from the cal- 

 culations which had appeared in the Times, and at once saw 

 the " woolly appearance " which had been familiar to my eyes 

 in the case of the great comet of 1861, in its last days of feeble 

 visibility, I could not see the tail with any certainty till I 

 viewed it with the telescope ; then it became visible, but not to 



* London Review, August 16th. 



Fig. 2. 



