< Page:The story of the comets.djvu
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V.

The Discovery and Identification of Comets.

55

its place was in Woo Neu: its length was about 20 cubits, and was 3 cubits in breadth. On the day Kwei Hae the tail was still broad. In the 3rd Moon, day Kea Tsze, its place was in Nan Tow. On the day Yih Chow its length was 50 cubits, the end [of the tail] being divided into two branches, the one pointing to S. D. Te, the other covering S. D. Fang. On the day Ping Yin its length was 6 cubits, and was no longer branched. It pointed to the North. Its place was in the 7th degree of S. D. Kang. On the day Ting Maou it went to the North-west, pointing to the East. On the day Ke Sze its length was about 80 cubits: its place was then in S. D. Chang. On the day Kwei Wei it was but 3 cubits in length: its place was to the right of Heen Yuen. After this it was no longer visible."

In the foregoing extract "S. D." stands for "Sidereal Division". The Chinese divided the whole ecliptic into 28 Sidereal Divisions, equivalent, in a sense, to our 12 Signs of the Zodiac. For the fullest possible information on these matters the reader is referred to the work mentioned in the footnote.[1]

Twice it has happened that the search for comets has been stimulated by the promise of a distribution of loaves and fishes, if the metaphor may be permitted in a solemn scientific book. In the year 1835 the King of Denmark of the period, Frederick VI., instituted a gold medal to be given to the discoverers of telescopic comets, and several such medals were awarded.[2] Amongst the recipients the only English name we find is that of J. R. Hind. The grant of this medal was continued after the King's death in 1839 by his successor Christian VIII., but it was discontinued after the death of the last-named king in 1848. The Vienna Academy of Sciences formerly gave a gold medal to the discoverer of every new comet. This was discontinued about 1880. Mr. H. H. Warner, an American, then offered 200 dollars for every unexpected comet found in the United States or Canada. This was given up after a time, and then, after an interval, the idea was revived again by a wealthy American, Mr. J. A. Donohoe, in the year 1890, and a bronze medal is now regularly presented

  1. ↑ Observations of Comets from B.C. 611, to A.D. 1640, extracted from the Chinese Annals. Translated, with introductory remarks. By John Williams, F.S.A. 4to. London, 1871.
  2. ↑ Ast. Nach., vol. xvii, No. 400, May 14, 1840; Month. Not. R.A.S., vol. vi, p. 86, June 1844
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