380 Comets. 



receives no confirmation from its proceedings as exhibited in 

 confinement, where it has refused every variety of insect food, 

 such as mealworms, grasshoppers, the larvas of wasps, etc., etc., 

 feeding solely upon thick sweet glutinous fluids, such as honey, 

 or a mixture of milk and eggs; this food is taken by a very 

 rapid movement of the hand, the left only being employed ; 

 during the process the fourth finger is thrust into the food, and 

 passed rapidly backwards and forwards between the lips, depo- 

 siting food at each movement, the tongue and lips being in full 

 motion during the whole time of feeding. Sometimes, though 

 rarely, the animal will lap the food in the manner of a cat. 



The conclusion to which Mr. Bartlett inclines is, that the 

 animal is not naturally insectivorous, but that with its large 

 and powerful incisor teeth it excavates cavities in the trunks of 

 such trees as possess a saccharine sap, and feeds upon the fluid 

 that collects in these cavities ; this appears the more probable as 

 the Aye-aye is noticed to return repeatedly to the same cavity. 

 It is obvious that we have still much to learn respecting the 

 habits of this singular creature, and its possession must be re- 

 garded as a fortunate acquisition to our valuable and unrivalled 

 collection of living animals. 



It may be stated as a singular fact worthy of record, that 

 the Aye-aye has not been heard to utter any vocal sound either 

 during the day nor at night, when she seems to exhibit the 

 greatest amount of activity and energy. 



COMETS. 



AN ACCOUNT OF AIL THE COMETS WHOSE OEBITS HATE WOT BEEN CALCULATED. 

 BY G. CHAMBEES. 



In the present day it rarely happens that a comet becomes 

 visible without its being observed at any rate sufficiently long 

 for some approximation to the elements of its orbit to be de- 

 duced. Such, however, was not the case in days gone by. Ob- 

 servers were few, and of observatories and instruments there 

 were none ; and so we are dependent for the information we 

 possess on the writings of the historians and chroniclers, which 

 seldom contain more than bare statements, with few or no de- 

 tails. Instruments and calculations did not come into general 

 use till within the last two hundred years, before which period 

 all accounts are more or less vague and uncertain. 



The first who made any systematic attempt to put together 

 the various allusions to comets in the old writers was the French 

 astronomer Pingre, who, in 1783, published his celebrated 



