The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-24 00:00:00

FR RIV CII ACADEMY OF SCLL:NCE F.

At the last sitting, M. Faye, who is the apostle of
the theory which admits a power of repulsion, besides
that of attraction, in the machinery of the celestial
sp lere, made some observations on M. Valz's
paper sent in the week before, in which that
gentleman endeavoured to prove that the earth
had passed through the last comet's tail, because
the lLtter had deviated from the plane of the
comet's orbit by 2 deg. and 47 min., and moreover
deviated from the rhdius vector by an angle of 9
deg. 18 min. in projection upon the plane of the
orbit. M. Faye denies both these assertions, truly
contending that, whatever be the force employed,
provided it proceeds from the sun, which i 5
self-evident, it must operate in the pie"
of the orbit, and that, consequently, the
tail cannot leave that plane ; and that, as to the
deviation from the radius vector, the curvature of
the tail is necessarily tangential to the radius, so
that, to estimate it correctly, the angle must be
measured as near as possible to the point of con-
tact, because otherwise the inclination would
very enormously. - M. Faye then proceeds to
show that his theory of repulsion is in accord-
ance with the facts of the case, but, singularly
enough does not impugn, although he does not
affirm, the assertion that the earth had passed
through the comet's tail. But it is clear that,
since M. Valz only arrived at that conclusion by
the supposition that the tail was at an angle with
the plane of the orbit, the conclusion falls of it-
self as soon as it is proved that there were no such
inclination at all. The question of our passing
through the tail should, we think, be put thus :---
Can we see a thing before us when we are in it?
Now hundreds, if not thousands of people, sew
the comet on the 30th of June last between half-
past ten and half•past 11 p.m., the time given by.
M. Valz as that of the earth's passage through the
tail; and most certainly not one of them could
conceive himself to be inside that well-defined
luminous body which he saw before him at a
distance which he could not fail to consider as
immense.—M. Scheurer-Kestner sent a specimen
of hymenopterous insect -which had been bond
in the act of perforating a sheet of lead which
covered one of the partitions of his sulphuric
acid manufactory. The insect had found itself im-
prisoned between the wood of the partition and the
lead which covered it, and had eaten its way
through in order to get out of its prison.

THE COVENT GAR bEN BU.R.ZAL
[GROUND.

TO TEE EDITOR or THE SUE.
Sir,—Will you allow me to draw your attention to the
unhealthy neighbourhood of King-street, Covent Garden,
Henrietta-street, and Church-place, W.C. You cannot
have the slightest conception, after the rain, of the efauvis
that arises from the burial-ground, and the poisonous mat-
ter that oozes from the earth is enough to cause an epi-
demic. I should like Dr. Letheby to report upon this fact.
Neatly the wholo of the back windows of Henrietta-street,
King-street, and some in Church-place look into the burial-
ground. Could not some means be adopted to purity the
e:trth ? Trusting you will give publicity to this in you paper, and thereby- do the public an essential
service paper,
remain, Mr. Editor,

Yours,
A. 2,1 INHABITANT AND HOUSEHOLDER or
COVENT GARDEN PARISH..

UURIOUSPROCLAMATION.—The Memphis 4r '8
of Aug. 24 publishes the following proclamation from the
mayor of that city :—" To the Citizens of Memphis,—tip"
plications have repeatedly been made to me, as executive
oflicer of the city, for protection again ,t the indiscreet par"
ties who are sen.t out to IL:press cit'z3ns into service against,
th:lr will on steamboats. Many of these men have
b?en
dragged from their beds, give,, and children, but never
has there been a man taken who had on a clean shirt. I
hereby notify any citizen Who may wish a pass within tho
city of Memphis to call on me, and I will furnish the same,
and will protect him. One poor man being shot yester-
day by one of these outlaws, as they may be called, causes
one to give the above notice,—JolizT PArs, Mayor,—Augt
21, 1561.".