48 Mr. H. A. Newton on certain recent 



the publication by Oppolzer shortly after* of the corrected 

 orbit of the comet 1886 I., the resemblance of its elements 

 to those of the orbit of the November group, on the supposition 

 of a period of 53*25 years, was strikingly manifest, attracting at 

 once the notice of several astronomers f. The following compa- 

 rative elements are given by Schiaparelli (Ballettino Meteor. 

 Feb. 28, 1867), 



November meteors. Comet 1 866 I. 



Perihelion passage Nov. 10092, 1866. Jan. 11*160, 1866. 



Passage of descending node. Nov. 13*576 



Longitude of perihelion .. 56° 25'*9 60° 28'*0 



Longitude of ascending [ 23P 28'* 2 231° 26'*1 



node \ 



Inclination 17° 44'*5 17° 18'*l 



Perihelion distance 0*9873 0*9765 



Eccentricity 0*9046 09054 



Semi- major axis 10*340 10*324 



Periodic time 33*250 33*176 



Motion retrograde. retrograde. 



The comet of Tern pel, he adds, not only describes, therefore, 

 the same orbit as the November group of meteoroids, but is in 

 the same portion of the orbit as, and probably nearer, the head 

 than the tail of the group J. The observations of November 13th, 

 1865, showed that the earth traversed the anterior portion of 

 the swarm at that time. Two months later the comet passed 

 the node • and ten months afterwards, the earth, returning to the 

 node, encountered a dense portion of the stream §. 



The comet 1862 III. (sometimes called 1862 II. by not count- 

 ing Encke's comet), which seems thus to have such interesting 

 relations with the August meteors, was discovered on the even- 

 ing of the 18th of July, 1862, by Mr. H. P. Tuttle at Cambridge, 

 Mass., and a little later on the same evening by Mr. Thomas 

 Simons at Albany, New York||. It was first seen in Europe on 

 the 22nd of July, and remained visible more than two months. 

 At its brightest its nucleus was equal to a star of the second or 

 third magnitude, and its tail, according to some observers, was 

 as much as 25° in length. The changes that took place in the 

 coma and tail were quite remarkable, and were carefully observed. 

 They will now possess a double interest. 



* Astr. Nach. No. 1624. 



t Peters, Astr. Nach. No. 1624- Oppolzer, ibid. No. 1626; Schiapa- 

 relli, ibid. 



X The computed elements of the comet of 1366, though very uncertain, 

 resemble those of comet 1866 I., and may belong to the same body. 

 There was a remarkable star-shower in 1366, shortly after the computed 

 perihelion passage of the comet. 



§ The total length of the stream would exceed 500,000,000 miles. 



|| Mr. Swift of Marathon, New York, claims to have seen it two or three 

 days earlier • but he made no announcement of the discovery, supposing it 

 to be another comet. 



