SCIENCE. 



449 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Prog r ess. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



TERMS: 



Per Year, - Four Dollars. 



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Published at 

 TRIBUNE BUILDING, NEW YORK. 



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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1881. 



ENCKE'S COMET. 



This comet is now visible in telescopes of moderate 

 power, and will increase in brightness until November, 

 when it may be visible to the naked eye. Tbe cor- 

 rections to the ephemeris, computed by Dr. Back- 

 lund, of the Pulkowa Observatory, are as follows : 

 Aa = — 39 s . o : A(5 = — i'.4 



These corrections may vary a little as the comet 

 approaches the earth, but it can be found without 

 trouble. If we consider the great care and labor that 

 have been given to the calculation of the ephemeris ; 

 and the fact that the perturbations by nearly all the 

 principal planets have been computed, as well as the 

 effect of the resisting medium in space, the corrections 

 to the ephemeris seem to be very large. This comet 

 affords another example of what is now most needed 

 in Astronomy, viz., complete and careful theoretical 

 inves.igations. It will be comparatively easy to ob- 

 tain a great number of observations of this comet 

 during its present return, while a much smaller number 

 of good observations is sufficient. The attention of 

 astronomers should be given rather to a satisfactory 

 determination of the motion of the comet, since 

 the recent computers of its orbit do not have the 

 success of Encke in predicting its returns. 



THE WARNER-ASTRONOMICAL PRIZES. 

 We recently explained, in an editorial, the condi- 

 tions on which Mr. H. H. Warner consents to pre- 

 sent to each of the discoverers of comets during the 

 year 1881, the sum of two hundred dollars. We also 

 stated that applicants for the prize for Comet b, 1881, 

 were presenting their claims at the rate of sixty per 

 diem. 



We now learn by a communication from Mr. C. S. 

 Whittemore, secretary to the Rochester Astronomical 



Society, that nearly 3000 letters were received claim- 

 ing priority in the discovery of this comet, all of which 

 have been examined. As a result of such examina- 

 tion, Professor Lewis Swift reports that " no conclu- 

 sion can be reached that would be scientific and 

 satisfactory." In other words, the claims of the 3000 

 applicants are ignored, and the prize of $200 for 

 tliis, the most important of the three comets, so far 

 discovered in 1881, is withdrawn. 



We cannot refrain from expressing our dissatisfac- 

 tion with this decision, and the methods employed in 

 arriving at it, which we believe to be neither " scien- 

 tific nor satisfactory." 



Mr. Warner, in a letter to the public dated Septem- 

 ber 5th, states, that two of the conditions on which he 

 consented to give a prize of $200 to the discoverer of 

 every comet appearing in 1881, were as follows: 

 That it should be "telescopic" and "unexpected." 

 He now claims that " Comet b was neither telescopic 

 nor unexpected." Under these circumstances if.Mr. 

 Warner had simply announced that Comet b did not 

 come within the meaning of his advertised prize, his 

 course would have been intelligible and satisfactory. 

 But he himself has stated, that in spite of these dis- 

 qualifying circumstances, he " was anxious, could the 

 first discoverer be found, to make a special reward of 

 $200." In other words, a decision was arrived at to 

 waive the disqualifications, and to proceed as if they 

 did not exist, and the same letter admits that Pro- 

 fessor Lewis Swift " examined " the 3000 applications 

 on their merits. Such being the case, when Professor 

 Swift found that he was unable to arrive at a " scien- 

 tific and satisfactory conclusion," he should (under 

 the terms of the contract between Mr. Warner and 

 the public), have instantly referred the matter (o 

 Professor Asaph Hall, of Washington, and the other 

 gentleman named as referee. 



Under these circumstances we consider that Mr. 

 Warner is under the moral obligation of carrying out 

 his contract in regard to this matter, and insisting on 

 Professor Swift taking the proper steps to arrive at 

 some decision. Probably the mere perusal of the 

 3000 letters would instantly reduce the number to 

 some half dozen applicants, whose cases could be 

 submitted to Professor Hall, who would probably 

 decide upon their merits within a week. 



The second point in Mr. Warner's letter to which 

 we would draw attention, is that in which he states, 

 that to mitigate his disappointment in not being able 

 to trace the "first discoverer" of Comet b, he proposes 

 as a balm to the claimants, and to encourage astron- 

 omical study, to offer a prize of $200 to the person 

 who shall prepare the best essay on "Comets : Their 

 I Composition, Purpose and Effect upon the Earth" 



