The following are the known hyperbolic comets:1729: 1771 1774: 1840i: 1843 ii: 1853 iii.

Hyperbolic orbits have been assigned by some computers to the following comets: but the probability is not sufficiently great to warrant their being definitely given as such :

1723: 1773 1779: 1818 iii: 1826 ii: 1830i: 18431: 1844 iii: 1845 i: 1845 ii 1849 iii: 1852 ii: 1863 vi: 1886 ii.

The following are some of those comets which have been supposed to be identical:

CHAPTER VIII.

A CATALOGUE OF COMETS RECORDED, BUT NOT WITH SUFFICIENT PRECISION TO ENABLE THEIR ORBITS TO BE CALCULATEDa.

IN

N the present day it does not often happen that a comet becomes visible without its being observed sufficiently long for at any rate some approximation to the elements of its orbit to be deduced. Such however was not the case in olden times. Observers were few, and till the 17th century observatories and instruments can scarcely be said to have existed at all. Therefore whatever astronomical information we possess antecedent to A.D. 1600, we owe to the writings of historians and chroniclers, who seldom give more than bare statements, with few or no details.

The first astronomer who made any systematic attempt to put together the various allusions to comets which occur in the old writers was Stanislaus Lubienitzki, whose Theatrum Cometicum in 2 folio volumes appeared at Amsterdam in 1668. The 2 volume contains records of 415 comets or supposed comets up to 1665. Hevelius gives a history of comets in the XIIth Book of his Cometographia. Far more critical is Nicolas Struyck, who in his Algemeene Geographie, published at Amsterdam in 1740, and in his Vervolg van de Beschryving der Staartsterren, published at Amsterdam in 1753, paved the way for the French astronomer Pingré, who in 1783 published his celebrated Cométographie; ou

a I should be glad to receive information calculated to render this chapter more complete. I cannot but believe that a diligent search through the

journals, whether published or in MS., of modern travellers and others, would bring to light many more comets than these catalogued in this volume.

Traité historique et théoretique des Comètes. This work, which for the industry and labour bestowed upon it has few equals, has been from the period of its publication down to the present day the astronomer's text-book on the subject of cometary history: it has never been superseded, and is never likely to be, though supplementary matter has of course been accumulated. E. Biot, working from Chinese sources, followed up Pingré with great industry. The following catalogue is based upon that of Pingré, and includes recent results, especially those elaborated in a valuable catalogue commenced by Hind in the Companion to the Almanac, 1859 and 1860, but remaining unfinished. Brevity being essential to this work, I have been obliged to omit much that was curious and interesting, and to confine my attention chiefly to necessary facts and figures, with references only to the most important authorities.

The Chinese observations, to which such constant reference is made, were originally made known in Europe by MM. Couplet, Gaubil, and De Mailla, Jesuit priests at Pekin, early in the 18th century, who made very good use of their opportunities of benefiting science. De Mailla's MSS. were published at Paris in the last century, but those of Gaubil and Couplet remain in their original form. E. Biot published in the Connaissance des Temps a translation of some valuable Chinese catalogues of comets", which have been duly consulted; and it is not improbable that as our intercourse with that remarkable people becomes greater, further sources of information may be opened to us.

Biot gives 2 supplementary catalogues of "extraordinary stars." These are distinct in the originals from the comets strictly so called; but as there is little doubt that many of these objects were genuine comets, though not treated as such by the Chinese, a selection of them is inserted in this catalogue, an asterisk (*) being appended either to the year or to M. Biot's name. The remainder will be given in a catalogue of "New Stars," in a later volume of this work, where will also be found some further remarks on these objects.

b1846, pp. 44-84.

The most recent editor of Chinese comet observations is the late Mr. J. Williams, whose catalogue published in 1871 is by far the most elaborate work of its sort extant. Great use has been made of that valuable compilation in the revision of the pages which now follow.

It may be well to state that very great uncertainty hangs over the earlier comets, hereinafter referred to, and to some extent, too, over all, more especially as regards the positions in which they were seen and the duration of their visibility.

The Chinese constellations are much more numerous than ours, and where several Greek letters precede a Latin genitive case, it is to be understood that the Chinese place the comet in the group formed of those stars without specifying that it was in juxtaposition with any one star in particular.

The Chinese reckon by moons, and as it rarely happens that the whole of a lunation is comprised in a single Julian month, it is requisite in many cases to couple 2 months together: thus, May-June, which means that the comet appeared in the "moon' which began on (say) May 18, and therefore ended on June 15. In cases where the precise day of the lunation is recorded, the exact Julian day can of course be deduced, and the expedient of coupling together 2 months is superseded. The years B.C. are reckoned in astronomical style.

One tchang equals 10°; one che equals 1o.

[1.] B.C. 1770. + St. Augustine has preserved the following extract from Varro :"There was seen a wonderful prodigy in the heavens with regard to the brilliant star Venus, which Plautus and Homer, each in his own language, call the 'Evening Star.' Castor avers that this fine star changed colour, size, figure, and path: that it was never seen before, and has never been seen since. Adrastus of Cyzicus and Dion the Neapolitan refer the appearance of this great prodigy to the reign of Ogyges."-(De Civitate, xxi. 8.) This description, such as it is, may be that of a comet, but no further particulars have been preserved.

[2.] 1194. We are told by Hyginus, a contemporary of Ovid, that " on the fall of Troy, Electra, one of the Pleiads, quitted the company of her 6 sisters, and passed along the heavens toward the Arctic Pole, where she remained visible in tears and with dishevelled hair, to which the name of 'comet' is applied."-(Fréret, Acad. des Inscriptions, x. 357.) What we are to understand by this is doubtful, but the account might relate to a comet which passed from Taurus to the North Pole.

[3] 1140. At the time that Nebuchadnezzar overran Elam "a comet arose whose body was bright like the day, while from its luminous body a tail extended, like the sting of a scorpion."—(A. H. Sayce, Babylonian Inscriptions.)

[4.] 975. "The Egyptians and the Æthiopians felt the dire effects of this comet, to which Typhon, who reigned then, gave his name. It appeared all on fire, and was twisted in the form of a wreath, and had a hideous aspect; it was not so much a star as a knot of fire."—(Pliny, Hist. Nat., ii. 25.) Date very uncertain.

[5] 619 or 618. "We shall see in the W. a star such as is called a comet; it will announce to men war, famine, and the death of several distinguished leaders."(Sybill. Orac. iii.) Though given as a prophecy, Pingré says he feels justified in citing this passage as a historical record. He thinks moreover that the prophet Jeremiah may refer to a comet, and it might be this comet, in Jer. i.

[6.] 611. In July a comet appeared among the 7 stars of Ursa Major.—(Confucius, Tchun-tsieou, quoted by Ma-tuoan-lin.)

[7.] 532 or 531. At the winter solstice a comet appeared in the Western part of Aquarius, or the tail of Capricornus.-(Gaubil.) Ma-tuoan-lin gives, from Confucius, 531 as the date, and the position σ, a, 7 Scorpii. Pingré regards the description as applying to one and the same comet.

[8.] 524-23. In the winter a comet passed from Scorpio to the Milky Way.— (Gaubil; De Mailla, Histoire Générale de la Chine, ii. 193.)

[9] 515. In July a comet was seen near H Herculis. (Williams, 1.) Monck suggests that this should read ʼn Herculis.

[10.] 501. In December a comet was seen in the East. (Williams, 1.)

[11] 481. A comet appeared at the end of the year in the E. part of the heavens. Its length was 2°, and it reached from the star Yng (?) to à Scorpii.— (Gaubil; Ma-tuoan-lin; De Mailla, ii. 222.)

[12] 479. At the time of the battle of Salamis a comet in the shape of a horn was visible. (Pliny, Hist. Nat., ii. 25.)

[13] 465. During a period of 75 days an extraordinary object appeared in the sky, according to the testimony of several writers.-(Damachus; Pliny, Hist. Nat., ii. 58.) A comet may be referred to, but an Aurora Borealis would seem best to reconcile the various European statements. Ma-tuoan-lin speaks of a comet in 466, which Pingré considers identical with the "extraordinary object" of the European writers visible in January or February 465.

[14] 432. It is certain that a comet appeared in this year.-(Couplet; De Mailla, ii. 244; Ma-tuoan-lin.)

[15.] 426 or 402. At the time of the winter solstice, during the archonship of Euclides, at Athens, a comet appeared near the North Pole.-(Aristot., Meteor., i. 6.) There were 2 archons of this name, it is therefore impossible to fix the year of this comet's apparition.

[16.] 360. A comet was seen in China and Japan in the W.-(Couplet; De Mailla, ii. 267; Kaempfer, Histoire du Japon, ii. La Haie, 1729.)

[17] 345 (?). A comet in the form of a mane was seen, which was afterwards changed into that of a spear. (Pliny, Hist. Nat., ii. 25.) Date very uncertain; Pliny gives the double date of the Olympiad and A. U. C., which do not correspond, so one or the other must be wrong. 345 above is from Pingré.

[18.] 344. "On the departure of the expedition of Timoleon from Corinth for Sicily the gods announced his success and future greatness by an extraordinary prodigy. A burning torch appeared in the heavens for an entire night, and went before the fleet to Sicily."(Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, xvi. 11; Plutarch, Timoleon.) Pingré remarks that it is easy to see that the comet appeared in the W., and had a considerable N. declination.

[19] 340. A comet was seen for a few days near the equinoctial circle.—(Aristotle, Meteor., i, 7.)

[20.] 304. A comet was seen in China.-(Ma-tuoan-lin; De Mailla, ii. 306.)

[21.] 302. A comet was seen in China.-(Ma-tuoan-lin; De Mailla, ii. 306.) The Chinese annalist expressly says that there were 2 comets in 2 years.