- JANUARY 18, 1884. ] 
maximum of from the seventh to the eighth 
“magnitude, reached between Sept. 22 and 24, 
falling off suddenly on either side ; for on Sept. 
21 the comet was ‘ very faint,’ with ‘a slight 
_condensation,’ and on the 28th it was tenth 
to eleventh magnitude. Bigourdan says, ‘‘ It 
had for some time a brilliancy thirty or forty 
times what might have been expected, —a 
-fact difficult to explain on the theory that 
comets have no light of their own.”’ 
As regards any variability at its former ap- 
pearance, the observations of 1812 are not suf- 
ficiently precise to furnish conclusive evidence. 
A rough sketch of the comet, as seen with 
the 26-inch equatorial of the Naval observato- 
ry, Washington, was made on Sept. 26, 1883 ; 
and by permission of the superintendent of the 
observatory, Rear-Admiral R. W. Shufeldt, 
it is here given, with the observer’s note. 
** Sept. 26.39, 1883 ; — observer, Winlock ; — 
PONS-BROOKS COMET, SEPT. 26, 1883. 
26-inch equatorial, magnifying power 183. The 
comet appeared as an oval, nebulous mass, 
with a fairly well defined stellar nucleus, some- 
what elongated in the preceding following direc- 
tion, the nucleus being situated at about the 
centre of the nebulosity. The whole mass was 
some 6’ or 8’ in diameter.”’ 
The spectrum of the comet was examined by 
Konkoly,? Sept. 27, 1883. It consisted of 
three extremely faint bands, — the middle one 
brightest, the third (from the red end) next, 
and the one towards the red faintest. The 
bands ended in points, and were unequal in 
length. They sometimes lighted up for one or 
two seconds; and at these times they seemed 
to be much shorter than ordinarily, —a phe- 
nomenon quite new to the observer. 
- From the similarity of the orbits of the com- 
ets of 1812 and 1846, IV., Kirkwood has sug- 
gested (Amer. journ. sc., 2d series, xlviii. 255) 
that they were doubtless members of a come- 
tary system, and were brought into the solar 
system 695 years before the Christian era by 
1 Astron. nachr., No. 2547. The observatory, November, 
1883, 333. 
SCIENCE. 69 
the influence of Neptune. Schulhof and Bos- 
sert, In pointing out an error in Kirkwood’s 
calculation, modifying somewhat his conclu- 
sion, say that the remarkable resemblance be- 
tween the orbits of these comets indicates that 
there was originally some intimate connection 
between them. Indeed, these two comets, and 
the comets of 1815, 1847, V. (Brorsen), and 
1852, IV. (Westphal), seem to belong to the 
same family. 
As to the proper designation of this comet 
of Pons and of Brooks, authorities and prece- 
dents differ. In The observatory for November, 
1883, Mr. W. T. Lynn writes, ‘‘ I presume the 
designation Pons-Brooks’s comet is understood 
to be only provisional. According to rule, it 
should be Pons’s comet; ... its permanent 
name must therefore be ‘ Pons’s long-period 
comet,’ or ‘ Pons’s periodical comet of 1812.’ ”’ 
The shortest designation seems likely to pre- 
vail; and doubtless the comet will be known 
hereafter as the ‘ Pons-Brooks comet,’ or per- 
haps simply as the ‘ Comet of 1812,’ it being 
the only comet that was seen in that year. 
Wi. C.” WiInLock. 
THE AINOS OF YEZO.1 
ALTHOUGH the literature relating to the Island of 
Yezo, andthe Ainos, — the inhabitants of this island as 
well as the southern half of Saghalien (or Karafuto), 
the Kurile Islands, and the southern extremity of 
Kamtchatka, — has increased much in recent years, 
still a description of the same, based upon personal 
observation, may be of use in explaining the many 
contradictory reports and opinions of ethnologists. 
Two facts should be borne in mind, — first, that the 
Ainos are not, even in the most remote way, to be 
classed with the dark races; and, second, that they are 
in no way related with their southern neighbors, the 
Japanese. With regard to their color, I must remark, 
that I have not found the Ainos of either sex darker 
than many Europeans: indeed, it is not rare to find 
in southern and eastern Europe darker individuals 
than are to be seen among the aborigines of Yezo. 
The assertion that the Ainos are dark brown, or even 
black, is sometimes made by those who do not take 
into consideration the fact that superstition prevents 
them from washing, and that consequently their 
complexion appears at times much darker than it 
really is. The real color, which may be best seen to 
advantage among the Ainos living on the seashore, is 
a little lighter, and less reddish, than that of the 
Japanese. The development of hair is somewhat re- 
markable: in the case of the men it covers the entire 
body to about the extent seen in very hairy Euro- 
peans. The beard is luxuriant and beautiful: the 
women imitate it by tattooing. The curly or wavy 
1 By Professor BRAUNS of Halle. Translated from the me 
moirs of the Berlin anthropological society. 
