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XIIL ExtraB of two Letters from M. 
Meffier, of the Royal Academy of Sciences ^ 
and F, R. S. to M. de Magalhaens, on a new 
.Comet : Iranfated by Dr. Be vis, F. R. S, 
Read Jan. 24, and 1^ LEASE, Sir, to inform the Royal 
Feb. I, 1771. Society, that I difcovered a new 
Comet, the lothof Jan. inftant, 1771, about eight 
o’clock in the evening ; it was between the head of 
Hydra and the Little Dog, over the parallel of Pro- 
cyon. The polition whereof ! determined by com- 
paring it with that ftar, and the ftar S in Hydra. 
The obfervations are as follow : 
h m « 
r The loth of Jan. 1771, at 10 16 45 true time, 
Obf I Al'cenf. of the Comet 121° 47 16 
1 . North Dedination 5 2i 15 
, r Same night at 21 if 5 
< Right Afcenf. of the Comet 120 24 31 
' ’ I North Declination 6 4 46 
From which obfervations it appears, that in 
2' 20" of time its motion in right afcenf. was 
i'’ 22' 45" and 43' 3 1" in declination : this comet 
was perceived by the bare eye. In the telefcope its 
nucleus is bright, of a whitifh complexion, and not 
very well defined, furrounded with an atmofphere 
feveral minutes wide, with a faint tail 5 or 6 degrees 
long. Its apparent motion among the fixt flats con- 
trary 
