The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-04 00:00:00

FOR MEAN MIDNIGHT AT GREENWICH.

Right North Distance
Ascension. Declination. from the
h. m. deg. min. Earth in miles.
July 3 .. 9 47.8 .. 66 3 .. 13,500,000 •
„ 4 .. 10 571 .. 66 54 .. 18,400,000
„ 5 .. 11 531 .. 66 8 20,500,000
„ 6 .. 12 34.8 64 40 .. 22,700,000
„ 7 .. 13 4.7 63 0 .. 25,100,000
„ 8 .. 13 26.5 61 22 .. 27,500,000
„ 9 .. 13 43.0 .. 59 51 .. 30,000,000
„10 .. 13 55.6 58 28 .. 32,500,000
I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,
J. R. HIND.

Mr. G. Bishop's Observatory,
Regent's-park, July 3.

This new visitor, which has taken even astrono-
mers by surprise, shone with great brilliancy last
night, exciting universal admiration. The reason
why it was not observed before is that, up to the
30th ult., its distance from the pole was such as to
make it set together with the sun ; whereas, from
that date, it has approached so near the pole that it
cannot set at all. Its size does not at present exceed
that of 1858, and it differs from it materially in this
respect that its tail is straight instead of being
curved. The observations taken by MM. Lepissier
and Lonvy on the 30th ult. were as follows :
Mean Time, Paris. Right Ascension. Distance from Pole.

H. M.
9 5
11 27
11 44

H. M. S. DEG. H. S.
6 37 40 44 11 1
6 40 37 43 20 9
6 41 1 43 13 5

Yesterday its distance from the pole was not mere
than 35 degrees, it having thus performed nearly
eight degrees northward in the course of 24
hours. It is composed as usual of a very bril-
liant nucleus, a luminous aureola of considerable
breadth, a tuft on the side turned towards the sun,
and a large tail in the opposite direction, Accord-
ing to M. Chacornac the tuft is eccentric, and com-
posed of six curved and radiant branches, each not
more than a minute in length ; they are all curved
in the same sense. As might have been expected,
the comet gave rise to an animated discussion at
yesterday's sitting of the Academy of Sciences. M.
Elie de Beaumont read a letter from M. Gold-
schmidt, the amateur astronomer, in which he stated
that the comet was 35 degrees in length, and be-
tween three and four in breadth, so that it measures
17,000,000 of leagues. M. Babinet remarked that
M. Hind's Ephemerides of Charles V.'s comet give
it the precise position of the present one. M. Bo-
mine had predicted its return in 1858, and Mr.
Hind admitted that it might return between 1856
and 1860. Considering the imperfect manner in
which observations were taken three centuries ago,
it would surprise no one that a difference of six
months should exist between the time of its ap-
pearance and the time calculated. If this were so,
the present comet was the same that had been ob-
served in 1556, and caused the abdication of Charles
V. Tt had previously appeared, according to Pingre,
in 1264, when it was supposed to announce the
death of Pope Urban IV. ; and its appearance had
been recorded even earlier, in July, 975, by the
Chinese. M. Leverrier was not of M. Babinet's
opinion. Mr. Hind's table showed different posi-
tions which Charles V.'s comet might occupy in the
event of its return, and the question was so uncle-•
termined that it was no wonder to find a position in
the table answering to that of the present comet.
And, indeed, there was one corresponding to the
position of the 30th of June ; but the motion of the
present comet in the course of 24 hours was so dif-
ferent from that given in the table, that the identity
of the two comets could no longer
.be admitted.
Here the subject dropped.—Gallgnant's Messenger.

Letters from the French departments contain
fresh details relating to the terrific hailstorm which caused
so much damage on the 22d of June. At Touhan, near
Lyons, the storm was so intense that roofs of 50 and 60 feet
long were stripped off houses, and the largest trees were
tern up by the roots. At Saint-Seine and the neighbour-
hood the hailstones lay so thick on the ground that a trust-
worthy witness asserts that he saw a bed of hailstones three
feet thick on the road between Saint•Seino and Yours-
Soules. All the carriages travelling on the road at that time
were overturned. The lightning at the same moment killed
several horses in the fields. In the Yonne, on the same
day, and at the same hour as in the Cote d'Or, the crops
were totally destroyed in the districts of Soigny, Auxerre,
Sens, and Tonn erre. The appearance of the country is
desolate. Vineyards are deprived of vegetation, garden■
are laid waste, and cornfields are ploughed up. The light-
ning, moreover, killed a number of cattle in that depart-
ment. In the Nievre the wind and rain destroyed the
growing crops, levelled more than 100 houses, and tore up
thousands of trees, particularly in the neighbourhood of
Cosne. In the Allier three men were killed in the fields.
Numerous rabbits and fowls perished in the poultry yards.
The corn crops suffered great injury. The loss in that de-
partment is estimated at above 1,000,000 francs. In the
Jura the hailstorm which was experienced on Sunday week
laid waste eight communes in the neighbourhood of Con.
liege. In the Marne numerous dwelling houses were
stripped of their roofs, church steeples were thrown down,
and several persons injured. In the Rhone the commune
of Chamelet escaped more serious injury by a heavy fall of
rain, which dissipated the hailstorm. As a slight compen-
sation, the hay crop is described as excellent throughout
France.

A CREMONE BALLOON FOR THE CONTINENT.—
A balloon ascent is, generally speaking, an evening novelty
used by managers of public gardens. This usual order of
things was broken through yesterday by the Cremorne
lessee, who allowed a spirited amateur gentleman to lake a
private morning performance on his own account, which
though commencing at these beautiful gardens, will pro-
bably not terminate till he has the opportunity of having
an interview with our neighbours across Channel. The
arrangements for this trip were not completed till between
nine and ten yesterday morning, and therefore the fact of
the balloon 'passing over the metropolis as early as three
p.m., is a fact which may be mentioned as reflecting credit
upon the London Gas Company, the management of the
gardens, and Lythgoe, the aeronaut. The wind has now
continued N.W. for some hours, and we may therefore an-
ticipate that, taking into consideration the speed at which
the intrepid voyagers passed over London, they are, some
hours since, safely landed on the territory of France.
PRUSSIAN MANNERS.—Travelling Englishmen
have of late been stigmatised in Prussia somewhat severely
in connection with the celebrated "Macdonald affair," and
State Procurator Moller was pleased to apply some hard
epithets to the class during the recent judicial proceedings;
but, judging from the following narrative, taken from the
.NeuenAmsterdamer llandelsblatt, the Prussians have much
need to look at home before they cast undeserved asper-
sions on others :—" A few days since a neble officer of the
Prussian Guards was present with a lady in a saloon of a
steamboat on the Rhine. A gentleman in civil costume
entered, when the officer ordered him in a very rude manner
to remove his hat. The gentleman appeared not to hear the
demand, when the officer knocked the hat from the gentle-
man's head. The gentleman immediately called the cap-
tain of the vessel, and requested him, according to his in-
structions, to put the officer ashore at the first station they
reached. The captain hesitated to put his instructions
in force in the case of an officer of the Guards, and
paid no attention to the demand. As the next station
was passed without the officer being set, on shore, the
gentleman repeated his request ; and as another station
was also pissed, and the officer was still suffered to remain
on board, the gentleman announced himself as the Presi-
dent of the Prussian Ministers, the Prince of Hohenzollern.
The captain no longer refused. The officer begged the
prince's pardon, upon which he replied that he could punish
him most severely for his conduct towards a
;bungcivilia, and
that his future military prospects would be lost
be would content himself by having the regulations of the
vessel carried out, in order that the officer might be taught
a lesson. The offender was put on shore at the next land-
ing place."