The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-10-02

length, apparently deg or 10 deg, and space between
their exremites Of deg. or deg This account ap-
pears rreconcabc with the same observers estimate Of
the length OF the comets tail which was only deg and
which the with that Of the observers at New Bed
ford and Waterbury.
During the first week Of March he splcndor Of the
comet in the Southern hemisphere described as alto
getner snrpassing anythng whlch exnlnea
Pernambuco and on the 4th described by H. Cooper
Esq, the British Consul in that city, "as particularly
small without any nebuosty but OF extreme brightness,
Of golden hue, and line oil the same bright color may
be distinctly traced running directly from into the tail
for deg deg the tail is perhaps 80 deg in length,
and Of brilliant silver color perfectly Opaque, but be-
coming less and less dense until It is lost in space.
Commander Close of the ship Peterborough, estimated
the nucleus to be Of equal brightness with of the
second third magnitude, and said that the tail had
darsh line from its nucleus through the centre TO the
end was occasionally brilliant enough to throw strong
light the The tail was observed 10 have consider
able curvature This dark line was also noticed the
Cape OF Good Hope and by Mr. David Sears, Jr and Mr.
Appleton, OF Boston, who were in latitude l0ia deg s.,
and exered themselves to OBTAIN observations OF the
comet. At the Cape OF Good Hope the nucleus
on the Sd of March, and is described by Piazz Smyth,
ESQ., Of the Royal Observatory as consisting of plane.
tary disc from which rays emerged in the direction of the
tail To the naked eye there appeared double tail about
rs deg in length, the two streamcrs making with each
other angle Of about is min and proceeding the
head in perfectly straight lines. From the end Of the
forked tall and on tho north side of it, streamer di
verged at an angle Of deg or deg towards the north
and reached dista OF upwards Of 65 deg from the
comets head Similar though much fainter stTeamer
thought TO turn of south Of the line Of direction Of
the tail. On the 9th the appearance OF the comet WAS
considerably changed the angle Of the north srcamer
with the direction Of the tail had been diminishing, and
was now south it had also diminished in brightness The
total length about SO deg All the rays proceeding from
the head were now Of uniform brightness excepting
bright streak which could be traced along the tail On the
9th the nucleus the broaes part that end Of the comet
all the rays from the poseror side and pretty
equal in brightness, with the exception OF narrow,
bright streak in the middle which runs for deg or
deg along the middle of the tail and then vergcs to the
ncih side The tail this evening about q deg long
On the 9Th the angle the two sides OF the tail at the
m hn 1nEa h,r,nfpr
and the middle part was becoming more and more equal
in brightness to the sides.
The only observers who 10 have noticed any color
IN the comet are Mr. Cooper Of Nice who notices the
change in the color from redsh tint upon the first day
Of the British sloop Abatross who obsorv
ed il on the 7th Of March, and says that the part OF it
from which the tail is produced is Of reddish appear
ance."
The diameter of the head Of the nucleus measured
by Mr. Caldecott, of the Royal Observatory, at Tevan
drum, and found to BIZ about II sec, i've thousand
miles ard that Of the nebulosty surrounding about IS
Sec, or twenty thousand miles.
LETTER FROM PROFESSOR MITCHELL.
This remarkable object now presents most striking
appearance among the celestial host In misty grandeur
il holds high rank among that class Of heavenly bo
dies TO which belongs 1t was discovered by Professor
Donate of Florence Italy, Yearly four months since, and
for large part OF the time since was detected has been
steadily approaching the Garth and in direction nearly
concdent with the visual ray that but for the reliable
computations Of astronomers might well excite ancpa
tons or some fearful collision with planet. Indeed,
throughout the present month il seems 70 have been pung
ing downward exactly toward the earth that scarcely
changed It's apparent place among the fixed stars by
quantity larger than two three times the apparent da
meter Of the moon.
II viii reach its nearest approach 10 the sun in a few
days Its briianey will increase rapidly up to the close
OF the first week in October, when 1t Will put its
splendid appearance, and viii then rival in grandeur the
famous comet of HALEY, at its last return In 1886.
~ W iar c ihos. nlosne o.y.s. ~ tus hnu Mlcn
Observatory Owing TO the fact that the direction Of its
motion is, or has been, so nearly in line toward the
earth the elements Of its orbit have not been
rately determined The plane in which Il moves IL in
cncd to that Of earths orbit under angle Of about
sixty. y.hve degrees.
It's observed positions are for the present better repre-
scnted by orbit tho form OF rarabola than by any
one OF elliptic figure. The comet viii soon com.
mcnce 10 change direction; at first slowly, aftcrward
more rapidly as from the earth, when, sweeping
swiftly round the sun, win regain those distant regions
OF space wherein vast proportion VI It's orbit lies lar be-
yond the reach Of telescope vision.
the evening Of the 25th OF September, the appear
Of the comet in the great reractor Of the Cincinnati
Observatory, especially interesting. The centra
portion, or nuclcus was examined with powers varying
irom hundred 10 five hundred without presenting any
evidence Of well defined planetary disc. II was bril-
Liant glow Of light, dartpg and flashing forward In the
direction Of the motion towards the SUM- and LEAVING tho
region behind in comparative obscurity But the most
wonderful physical feature presented was potion q
nearly circular pcbucus ring, with is vertex directed
towards the sun the bright nucleus being in the centre,
while the imperfect ring swept more than haf way
round the luminous centre. ms ncoulous ring
rcscmblcd those which sometimes escape from
a steomppe, but did not exhibit me appear
ance which ought to be presented by hollow heni-
spherical envelope Of ncbulous matter There was an
evident concentration of light in the central portions Of
the ring, while, the case Of a hollow envelope, the
brightest portion should bo az the outer edge BY micro
motrca measurement the distance from the central point
the circumference Of the ring was found 70 De about
thousand miles This would give diameter Of eigh-
teen thousand miles in case the ring was entire similar
nents made the evening of the 18th Of Scp'
cmber indicated decided increase IN the radius OF the
ring which not less than twelve thousand miles
length ON the evening noticed the fact that the
envelope did not blend itself into the head por
Of tho TAIL but appeared somewhat To penetrate into
this ncbuous mass especially on the upper part present
ng the appearance of about 100 degrees OF spiral The
tail the 18th decidedly brighter and better defined
the upper than on the lower portion while on the even
ing Of the 26th there much nearer approach 70
equality IN Brightness especially near the head of the
comet. Through the telescope, and near the head,
the tail presented the appearance Of hollow
baloid of revolution, the edges being brightest
and well defined while there manifest fading away
OF light toward the central region. Through tho vast
depth Of ncbulous composing this wonderful ap
pcndage tha fanest telescope stars shone with un
diminished brightness.
No one can gaze on this gigantic object in all its misty
spendor, without deep impression that the eye rest
ng of ncbuous matter precisely such as the
ncbulor theory Of In Place supposcs 10 have been the
prmordal condition Of our sun and all its attendant
planets and from which chaotic condition this beautiful
system o revolving worlds has been evoked by the action
Of single law.
scmbng the visible, the known as Haley
Comet by Sir William Herschnl and others IN ia
return IN 1885 There ~ MARKED difference oewecn tns
ahmsphercal hollow envelope, this shows more the
shape Of nebulous ring, there faint, misty ght, q
irregular outline, but not TO be mistaken by even casual
observer.
The equatorial which, for moro than thrcc years has
been fixed on the meridian has been recently replaced In
its primitive condition TO permit tho observation and ex
animation OF this wonderful body o. NJ MITCHELL
CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY sept ~, 1868
The Tchuantcpec Route.
STOCKING THE RoAp-PREPARATIoSs FOR RUNNING