New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-09-27
NEW PUBLICATIONS,

In this little volume by one Of the Professors In
the New York University, we have the fnooei oi
class of works W hich We deem OF great Importance
TO the popular diffusion Of acien'ihc Rhe"isus0
Without sacrificing anything of mathematics eA
actneas. ooncedpe no claim Of the most riga IN
vea.pa,;on for the sake of immediate effect anu
employing no trckery of method or ssyle 70 A''
attention. it Is still in every sense Oh TIC WI
.trictIv popular treatise, presenting sne fes"''S
nyo.raoted and extensive research In language OF
,,snsnarent simplicity, and placing the difficult
+o,ics uhicb it discusses in q ight which makes
.hero comprehensive by the generality OF intelli.
qant readers. The author writes from that full
ness of knowledge which enables him to make
compact and lucid statement OF the point under
consideration. This alone, without expanded illus
tya,ion is often sufficient to put the reader in pos
se,siou OF the subject And in cases whore further
detail il REQUIRED Prof Loomi. is eminently happy
In Selling on tie most essential points, unfolding
them with cleaness and precision, which make
his work no less readable than it is instructive
Among the most Interesting actions are those on
"The Discovery of the Planet Neptune" the " BE.
cent Additiopc to our Knowledge of Comets" and
the History OF American Observstories." The
discovery of the comet by Miss Mitchell, our dis
tiDgushed countrywomsn, for which she was pre-
scented with Gold Medal by the King of Den,
mark, s related in an agreeable manner
MISS MITCHELL's COMET
This comet " as discovered on the lss OF Octooe
l847 by Miss Maria Mitchell, OF Nantucket AS a
relax alton from the ofssyslemGnc course
OF observations, she had employed the Intervals
through the preceding year IN sweeplpg Tor cam
H. LAX bsd hear only rd
ed by u familiarity with comet.rsssmbling neboae,
which she had constantly aud carefully recorded,
The instrumeps employed on these occsil Jns, was
q fortysix inch reflector with an aperture OF three
inches, mounted on tripod, and furnished win
terrestrial eye piece Of moderate power On the
evening of Oct 1Af, circular nebutouS body ap-
peared in the field Of the telescope few degrees
above Po!aris There was scarcely doubt OF the
cometsry character OF this object inasmuoh as the
region which it occupied had frequently been ex-
amined Still as the object was faint, and the
weather uncom1nonly clear, possibility existed
that this too was nebua NOT before Observed
On the evinipg of the Cd, its change OF place was
manifest. No appearance of condemnation OF light
toward its center, nor any indication OF train,
could be detected 1t is evident that it's appArtlon
even TO the telescope was sudden Its hrst ap
parent motion wss inconsiderabe, and the region
of its discovery had been constantly swept by
the assistant observer at Cambridge with his OK
cellent cometBeeker, even as late as the previous
evening. This idea is strengthened by the subse'
quent rapid increase of the briliancy ofthe comet
and the &oceleration of its apparent motion. On
the 3d. its motion and bfghtness had much lncreas-
ed and there WASH ticed slight increase OF light
toward it's center. On the 4th, ell observations
were prevented by the weather. On the 9th, she
evening was delightful AT an early period 1t was
evident thet the comet must pass over liked etar
of the fifth magnitude, and preparations were made
TO note the beginning and end OF the sransls Gus
she border of the comet proved too uncertain to re-
" upon AT 10h SOM, the star appeared to be ex'
actly In the center of the comet and during seVe
raj seconds it was Impossible to determine, With
power Of 100, in which direction was the greasess
extent Of nebuloai'y. 1t appeared In tact NE the
nucleus OF the comet shining throuSn II Win ouoF
miniahed brilliancy.
On the 6th the comet was visible to the naked
eye. and continu ed 90 increase in brightness till
obscured by the light OF the moon On the 9th, as
seen % Cambridge, 1t exhibited faint train de-
gree and hall in length, and opposite to the sun
This comet was discovered by ID De Vlco, at
Rome, on the Sd Of October 1t waa discovered by
Mr. Dawes of England on the 7th and on the
nth it was discovered by Madame Rumker OF
Hamburg.
AS there was no debut OF Miss Mischea having
been the frat discoverer OF this body. she seemed
fairly entitled to The gold medal offered by the
K ing OF Denmark for the first discovery OF comet
In consequence however, OF her not having com.
ale notice OF the discovery by letter to Prot. Airy
it was for time doubtful whether the medal
would not be awarded to NJ De Woo. full state
mept Of the circumstances OF the dlscovery having
been made to the King Of Denmark, his Majesty
ordered reference of the case to Prof. schuma-
cher, who reported in favor Of granting the medal
80 Mics Mitchell. This report was accepted by she
King, and the medal has been trans itsed accord
ngy. This is the first instance in which the gold
lnsdal founded by the King of Denmark in 1881,
for She irst discovery OF comet. haa been awarded
10 an = american; and the frat instance IN which 1t
has BEEN awarded to a lady In any part of the
world.
The description of the Cambridge Observatory
s the most complete acc, unit we nave seen, OF the
establishment of that Institution, ana Will be reao
with interest during the present efforts % round
similar institution in this vicinity
The project of erertng an observatory in the
neighborhood Of Boston upon scale corresp onding
withthe Importance and dignity OF Astronomy, had
for long period been the object of conversation
among the friends OF 6cieIce. This was q iavorlte
scheme with the late DR.. Bowditcb, and various
plans had been proposed for carrying it into eXecu-
zion. IL did not, however, appear practicable to
raise a sum of money sufficient to carry out the
plAnppon the liberal sale which was desired
Something was needed to give stronger impulse
to the subject Of Practical Astronomy. This in-
pulse was given by the unexpected appearance OF
the splendid cometo 1913. In the month OF March
of that year. a comet with magnificent train hav-
ing made its appearance, tho Boston public natur-
ally looked to she astronomers OF Cambridge for in
formation respecting its movements. The astrono-
mars reclied shat they were entirely destitute of
Instruments adaptedto nice comessry observations.
The fact thus brought diatincty to the notice of the
public, together with the knowledge Of the existence
OF good Instruments in other parts o! the United
States, aroused general discrimination to supply
at once the deficiency.
Es,lv in the month Of March, lS4S an informal
meeting of three or four individuals interested in the
subieot was held at the office of the American In
suraDce Company in Boston. Tho proceedings OF
this meeting were cordially seconded by the Ameri.
can Academy of Arts aud Sciences and in conse-
ouence, 3 regular meeting Of merchants and other
citizens OF Boston was held at the hail of the Ma.
-; 49, al,