On the 4th of March, 1796,[283] the famous French astronomer Lalande observed on the meridian a star of small 6th magnitude, the exact position of which he determined. On the 15th of the same month he again observed the star, and the places found for 1800 refer to numbers 16292-3 of the reduced catalogue. In the observation of March 4 he attached the curious remark, "Étoile singulière" (the observation of March 15 is without note). This remark of Lalande has puzzled observers who failed to find any peculiarity about the star. Indeed, "the remark is a strange one for the observer of so many thousands of stars to attach unless there was really something singular in the star's aspect at the time." On the evening of April 18, 1887, the star was examined by the present writer, and the following is the record in his observing book, "Lalande's étoile singulière (16292-3) about half a magnitude less than η Cancri. With the binocular I see two streams of small stars branching out from it, north preceding like the tails of comet." This may perhaps have something to do with Lalande's curious remark. The star numbered 1647 in Baily's _Flamsteed Catalogue_ is now known to have been an observation of the planet Uranus.[284] Prof. Pickering states that the fainter stars photographed with the 8-inch telescope at Cambridge (U.S.A.) are invisible to the eye in the 15-inch telescope.[285] Sir Norman Lockyer finds that the lines of sulphur are present in the spectrum of the bright star Rigel (β Orionis).[286] About 8½° south of the bright star Regulus (α Leonis) is a faint nebula (H I, 4 Sextantis). On or near this spot the Capuchin monk De Rheita fancied he saw, in the year 1643, a group of stars representing the napkin of S. Veronica--"sudarium Veronicæ sive faciem Domini maxima similitudina in astris expressum." And he gave a picture of the napkin and star group. But all subsequent observers have failed to find any trace of the star group referred to by De Rheita![287] The Bible story of the star of the Magi is also told in connection with the birth of the sun-gods Osiris, Horus, Mithra, Serapis, etc.[288] The present writer has also heard it suggested that the phenomenon may have been an apparition of Halley's comet! But as this famous comet is known to have appeared in the year B.C. 11, and as the date of the Nativity was probably not earlier than B.C. 5, the hypothesis seems for this (and other reasons) to be inadmissible. It has also been suggested that the phenomenon might have been an appearance of Tycho Brahé's temporary star of 1572, known as the "Pilgrim star"; but there seems to be no real foundation for such an hypothesis. There is no reason to think that "temporary" or new stars ever appear a second time.