at the time of the shocks. The first shock took place on the 24th of September, 1842: the inverted pendulum in the steeple of Comrie Church was moved one-eighth of an inch to the south-east, and the common pendulum to the same distance eastward. The instruments were slightly affected on two other occasions. Earthquake shocks were also felt on the 19th of August, 1842, at Pitlochey, near Dunkeld, and on the 25th of February, and 3d of March, 1843, at Oban and Lochgilphead, in Argyleshire. Shocks were also stated to have been noticed in North Wales, on the 22nd of August, 1842, and near Manchester, on the 10th and 17th of March, 1843.

A VOLCANO

Or a novel kind has broken out in the neighbourhood of Koenigshutte, a town in Silesia. For twenty years past, a slow fire, which occasioned no alarm, has burnt in the coal-mines of that district; but recently it has assumed an alarming character, shooting out immense volumes of flame, which threaten destruction to the surrounding buildings, and to the vast forests of the country. A steam-engine has been established for the purpose of discharging water into the mines.

VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

ON Jan. 10, at day-break, the great volcano of Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, burst forth near the summit, at an elevation of 14,000 feet above the sea. The eruption increased, from day to day, for several weeks, pouring out vast floods of fiery lava, which ran down the side of the mountain, and flowed in broad and burning rivers, till the molten flood had progressed 20 or 30 miles across a high plain which stretches between the bases of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. The Rev. Titus Coan, in a letter dated Hilo, May 16, states, that it was not until after many weeks that he was able to visit the volcano, when he traced the stream to the top of the mountain, and found its source in a vast crater, amidst perpetual snow: the lava had ceased to flow down the sides of the mountain upon the surface, but had formed for itself a subterranean duct, at the depth of 50 or 100 feet, vitrified like glass; and down this fearful channel a river of fire was rushing, at the rate of 15 or 20 miles an hour, from the summit to the foot of the mountain. This subterranean stream the writer saw distinctly through several large apertures in the side of the mountain, while the burning flood rushed beneath his feet.-Abridged from the Auburn (United States) Journal.

The detailed account of a terrific eruption of this volcano in 1840, will be found in The Year-Book of Facts, 1842, p. 245.

279

Astronomical and Meteorological Phenomena.

THE GREAT COMET OF 1843.

A COMET, or supposed Comet, became visible in our hemisphere on the 17th of March, and, from its unexpected appearance, excited extraordinary interest among all classes of observers: especially as one of the most distinguished of them, hesitating to pronounce it a true comet, stated, that if were not one, it was some phenomenon even yet more remarkable.

The following communication from the Rev. W. R. Dawes, R.A.S. was made to the Philosophical Magazine, No. 145:

"A large Comet has become visible in the evening, soon after sunset. It appears to have been first seen in this country on Thursday, the 16th inst. by Mr. Shorts, of Christchurch, Hants; but it had been observed on board the Tay, West India Mail Steamer, on her homeward voyage, as early as the 6th, and at Nice, by Mr. Cooper, on the 12th. On the 14th Mr. C. detected the nucleus, which he found to be stellar, and equal to a star of the sixth magnitude; but its situation could not be correctly ascertained. At Paris it was first noticed on the 16th. On that day Mr. Cooper obtained, at Nice, a rough observation of the nucleus, from which he concluded that its right ascension was about 2 hours 30 minutes, and south declension 15 degrees. He also determined its geocentric motion to be direct, and northward.

"Its appearance is remarkable; the tail being of great length, nearly uniform in brilliancy, and its lateral limits almost exactly parallel, while its breadth scarcely exceeds one degree and a half. On the 17th it was observed by Sir J. Herschel as a vivid luminous streak, commencing close beneath the stars kappa and lambda Leporis, thence stretching obliquely westward and downward between gamma and delta Eridani, till the vapours of the horizon rendered it invisible. On Friday, 24th, it was well seen. At about 8 o'clock it was distinctly observed to extend from a little to the west of the star 3 Monocerotis, between Rigel and iota Leporis, nearly in the direction of delta Eridani and Sir J. Herschel obtained a view of the head, which he concluded to be near one of the stars of rho Eridani; its appearance being that of a star of fifth magnitude, but dim, and having no sharp nucleus. The star 63 Eridani was in the tail, a trifle north of its axis. No bifurcation could be perceived; the axis being throughout rather the brightest part. Its direction is very nearly parallel to the equator, though a slight curvature may be suspected, the convexity being northward. By comparing the observed place of the tail on the 24th with that noticed by Mr. Cooper on the 14th (when it passed over gamma Eridani), it appears to have advanced northward about 4 degrees in the interval of ten days. This direction and quantity of motion was confirmed by an observation on the 25th, when 63 Eridani was found to be still in the tail, but near its southern border."

Sir John Herschel, in a letter to The Times, dated March 19, from Collingwood, in Kent, describes the comet of enormous magnitude, in the course of its progress through our system, and not far from its perhelion. Its tail was conspicuously visible, both on the night of the 17th and 18th, as a vivid luminous streak, commencing close beneath the stars kappa and lambda Leporis, and thence stretching obliquely westward and downward between gamma and delta Eridani, till lost in the vapors of the horizon. The direction of it, prolonged on a celestial globe, passes precisely through the plane of the sun in the ecliptic at the present time, a circumstance which appears conclusive as to its cometic nature. As the proportion of the tail actually visible on the 17th was fully 30° in length, and the head must have been beneath the horizon, which would add, at least, 25° to the length, it is evident that, if really a comet, it is one of first-rate magnitude; and if it be not one, it is some phenomenon beyond the earth's atmosphere of a nature even yet more

remarkable. Sir John adds: "8 P.M., March 19. The tail of the comet, for such it must now assuredly be, is again visible, though much obscured by haze, and holding very nearly the same position."

Sir James South writes from the Observatory, Kensington, Tuesday, at 11 at night, March 21: "The brilliant train of light, of which notice is given in The Times of this day, was seen here on Friday evening at a little after 7, and had very much the appearance of the tail of the comet of 1811. Its highest point when I first saw it nearly reached theta Leporis, and passing through the constellation Eridanus, became invisible to me from interposed trees, when about 20 from the horizon. More than 45° of tail were measurable; stars of the fifth magnitude were visible through it by the naked eye; and with a 42inch achromatic, of 23 inches aperture, those even of the eighth were perceptible. At 7h. 33m. 22sec. (sidereal time) a bright meteor issued from the very tip of the tail. No trace of the above light could be detected here either Saturday, Sunday, or Monday nights, in consequence of cloudy weather.

"This evening (Tuesday), at about ten minutes before eight, the clouds cleared away; but no vestige of the train could be perceived in the neighbourhood which it had illumined on Friday night; though a diffused and amorphous light, commencing at the Pleiades, and spreading over the entire constellation Aries, even through the haze, was too conspicuous to escape observation. If this be the tail of the comet it indicates a very rapid motion of it northward."

On March 20-27, communications were received from M. Arago, by the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, relating to the Comet. Unfortunately, the atmosphere at Paris, he stated, had been so clouded, that what was known relating to the comet came from other places. The intelligence from England was unimportant. It had been seen at Nice, on March 12, 13, and 14; at Toulouse,on the 18th; at Marseilles, at the same time as at Paris, and the united observations of the two places would be sufficient to determine its orbit. At Geneva the weather had enabled very excellent observations to be made, the comet having been examined on three successive occasions. It appeared certain, from the information derived from this quarter, that not only had the present comet approached the nearest the sun of all others known, but that it had even penetrated into the luminous matter of that body. The tail was presented in an oblique direction, and could not be less than 63 millions of leagues. He had taken some observations with a view of deciding the disputed point as to whether comets shine by their own light or by a light reflected by the sun, and he was decidedly of opinion that they shine by a light of their own. The appearance of the comet at this particular moment would, he said, have the effect of strengthening the old belief that such phenomena are always productive of dreadful calamities to man. Thus, that which was seen at Rome in the year 373 before Christ coincided with an earthquake and inundations which overturned two cities in the Peloponnesus. The terrible disaster at Guadaloupe would be quoted by many as the dire effects of the present heavenly visitant. It was also generally believed that comets produced an extraordinary elevation in the temperature; and this year the weather had certainly been particularly mild; but, remarked M. Arago, this could only be a coincidence, for it was impossible that the immense heat of comets-and Cassini calculated the heat of that seen in 1702 as 2,000 times greater than red-hot iron-could have any effect on our temperature; and calculations made at the Board of Longitude had even proved that the heat in the years when comets appeared have not been, on an average, greater than others, and sometimes was even less.

On April 10, M. Arago read to the Academy some further correspondence, shewing that in no place was the Comet observed with more care and preci sion than by the young astronomers at Paris under the direction of M. Arago. According to the conclusions of MM. Laugier and Mauvais, the curve described is a parabola. The comet of 1843 is, of all the comets known, the nearest to the sun. On the 5th, when it was at its nearest point to the earth, it was still distant from us 32 millions of leagues. The nebulosity, which formed the head of the comet, had the diameter of 38,000 leagues, and was therefore 1700 times larger than the earth.

Subsequent observations made by M. Arago, and those of other learned astronomers in various countries, left no doubt on their minds that the celestial phenomenon was really a comet of considerable magnitude, and not an effect of the zodiacal light, as many persons were at first inclined to suppose. The discovery of the nucleus deprives this latter supposition of all weight; and the only material point upon which astronomers differ is, as to whether this comet has ever before been seen. Mr. Cooper seems to be of opinion that it is the comet which was seen in 1702, and the revolution of which was estimated at 34 years; but if this be the same comet, there must have been an error in the computation. Mr. Cooper, however, finds that a slight difference of only a quarter of a year would rectify this computation. M. Arago estimates the rate of speed at which this comet travels as 104 leagues per second, or 15 times swifter than the earth.

In the meantime, Dr. Forster and some other meteorologists unhesitatingly pronounced the light, which had been regarded as the tail of the great Comet, to be nothing more than the zodiacal light. Sir John Herschel, in a letter dated March 31, repudiates the above assertion, and states, that on every evening when he had observed the comet, the zodiacal light had also been displayed in the most striking and perfectly characteristic manner, and occupying its usual place among the stars; while the comet, in no part of the extent of its tail, so much as touched upon the region occupied by it. Furthermore, Mr. Cooper distinctly saw the nucleus at Nice; and Sir John Herschel himself, on one occasion, saw the head with its so-called nucleus. Sir John concludes thus:-"But now comes the most remarkable circumstance attending the appearance, or rather disappearance, of this comet. The next night (Saturday) I prepared a 7-feet Newtonian reflector, of 6 inches aperture, on the roof of my house, expecting to obtain a good view of the nucleus. To my amazement, though the night was clear, and the horizon good, I could not find it; but I did find, in the very central line of the train, near no star, nor in any identifiable place, a dim, pretty large, oval nebula, but very little condensed towards the centre, but with no appearance whatever of a nucleus. This nebula I also several times swept over, so that I have not a suspicion remaining on my mind of the possibility of an illusion. Now, there are nebulæ in that region of the sky; but, on referring to a catalogue of them, I do not find one which I consider it would have been possible to have seen with such an instrument, and under such circumstances of remaining twilight and vicinity to the horizon. Moreover, the next night (Sunday), taking up the observation earlier and pursuing it later, with the same reflector and an equally good sky, this nebula was also missing. These facts I consider as well worthy to be placed on record, and to indicate a rapidity of diminution in point of lustre only to be explained on the supposition that the comet is receding from us with great velocity. The train, too, is diminishing rapidly in brightness, though it retains its position with remarkable pertinacity; at least, it did so on Wednesday night."

A variety of communications respecting this comet will be found recorded in the Proceedings of the Royal Astronomical Society. The phenomenon was seen in the United States, the East Indies, New Zealand, &c.

PHENOMENA OF JUPITER'S SATELLITES.

ON October 21, the planet Jupiter, from his nearness to the orbit of the earth, was seen to great advantage. On that occasion, the Satellites visible were the second, fourth, and third; the first being eclipsed. The aspect of Jupiter was singularly beautiful. Near the bottom, a dusky haze, clearly distinguishable in colour and texture from the belts, gave sphericity to his figure, and indicated the position of the sun. Above this was a narrow and uniform belt below the principal belt. The bottom of the principal belt was straight, but its upper edge had the appearance of two mountains (the right hand one being the higher), with a depression between them, sensibly lower than the other parts of the belt. A little depression was also observable to

the left of the second mountain. The right hand mountain was all that apparently remained of the great spot which had recently been a subject of much discussion-its form had totally changed, as at first it was a round spot, adhering to the top of the belt. Above this was

a well defined narrow belt; and towards the right hand there was a small lump on it. Above this came a single belt, with a bright space evidently over it; and then the collection of belts at the top, quite different from the duskiness at the bottom. None of the belts were visible quite to the edge of the planet. An engraving of these phenomena, drawn at the Royal Observatory, at Greenwich, will be found in No. 79 of The Illustrated London News.

SPLENDID AURORA BOREALIS.

SIR JOHN HERSCHEL, in a letter to the Athenæum, describes one of the most brilliant displays of Aurora Borealis which it had ever been his good fortune to witness. This was on the night of Saturday, May 6. Sir John relates :

"The day had been overcast and showery, and between 5 and 6 P.M. a heavy fall of rain took place, after which the sky cleared gradually, and at length became perfectly serene and cloudless, a calm, or very gentle air from the westward, prevailing. It was at 10 P.M., or a few minutes after, that, looking out towards the south, my attention was attracted by a small luminous patch, unlike an ordinary moon lighted cloud, in the constellation Leo, and going out where an uninterrupted view of the north horizon could be obtained, a pretty strong auroral glow was observed, in spite of the bright moonlight. But what chiefly attracted my attention was a large and exceedingly luminous white nebulous mass, in form something like an inverted comma, occupying a space from about the altitude of a Cassiopeia (which its eastern border nearly touched), to the Pole Star. cursory glance it might have been taken for a cloud, but that its light was much stronger than any cloud simply illuminated by a moon in the first quarter could have emitted. It differed also from any ordinary cloud in the exceeding softness of graduation of its light, and the regularity of its condensation towards the middle, but, above all, in the continual changes it underwent of general form, size, and brightness, without perceptibly shifting its place (at least, in a short time, though, on the whole, it kept slowly ascending)."

SPLENDID METEOR.

At a

A LITTLE after 8 in the evening of Sunday, February 5th, a Meteor passed over a considerable part of the county of Nottingham. Its course was from the N.W. It greatly resembled a large body of fire of a blood red colour, assuming various shapes. Its apparent height was trifling, but its velocity could not be less than 50 or 60 miles a minute. In its course it was seen by numbers at a distance from each other, yet those who observed it, although so many miles asunder, fancied it fell within a short distance.-Nottingham Journal.