382 Comets. 



975+. "The Egyptians and the Ethiopians felt the dire 

 effects of this comet, to which Typhon, who reigned then, gave 

 his name. It appeared all on fire, and was twisted in the form 

 of a spiral, and had a hideous aspect ; it was not so much a star 

 as a knot of fire/-' — (Plin. Hist. Nat. ii. 23.) Date very un- 

 certain. 



619 or 618. "We shall see in the west a star, such as is. 

 called a comet ; it will announce to men war, famine, and the 

 death of several distinguished leaders." — (Sybill. Orac. hi.) 

 Though given as a prophecy, Pingre feels justified in citing this 

 passage as a historical record. 



612. In August a comet appeared amongst the seven stars- 

 of Ursa Major. — (Confucius, Tchun-tsieou, quoted by Ma-tuoan- 

 lin.) 



533. At the winter solstice, a comet appeared in Aquarius, 

 and the tail of Capricornus. — (Gaubil; Ma-tuoan-lin gives, from 

 Confucius, 531 as the date.) 



524. In the winter a comet passed from Scorpio to the 

 Milky Way.— (Gaubil; De Mailla, Hist. Gen. ii. 193.) 



481. A comet appeared at the end of the year in the eastern 

 part of the heavens. Its length was 2°, and it reached from 

 the star Yng (?) to a Scorpii. — (Gaubil; Ma-tuoan-lin; De 

 Mailla, ii. 222.) 



479. At the time of the battle of Salamis, a comet in the 

 shape of a horn was visible. — (Plin. ii. 23.) 



465. + During a period of sixty- five days, an extraordinary 

 object .appeared in the sky, according to the testimony of several 

 writers. It may have been a comet, but an Aurora Borealis 

 would seem best to reconcile the various European statements. 

 — (Daraachus; Plin. ii. 59.) Ma-tuoan-lin speaks of a comet in 

 466, which Pingre considers identical with the " extraordinary 

 object " of the European writers. 



432. It is certain that a comet appeared in this year. — 

 (Couplet; De Mailla, ii. 244; Ma-tuoan-lin.) 



426 or 402. At the time of the winter solstice, during the 

 archonship of Euclides, at Athens, a comet appeared near the 

 North Pole. — (Aristot. Meteor, i. 6.) There were two archons 

 of this name, so it is impossible to fix the year of this cornet's 

 apparition. 



360. A comet was seen in China and Japan in the west. — 

 (Couplet ; De Mailla, ii. 267 ; Kaempfer. Hist. Japon, ii.) 



345 (?) A comet in the form of a mane, which was afterwards 

 changed into that of a spear. — (Plin. ii. 22.) Date very uncer- 

 tain. Pliny gives the double date of the Olympiad, and a. u. a, 

 which do not correspond, so one or other must be wrong. Our 

 ' 345 ' is from Pingre. 



344. "On the departure of the expedition of Timoleon from 



