The great comet of 1843 was distinctly visible to the naked eye, at noon, on the 28th of February. It appeared as a brilliant body, within less than two degrees from the sun. This comet passed its perihelion on the 27th of February, at which time its distance from the sun's surface was only about one-fourth of the moon's distance from the earth. This is the nearest approach to the sun ever made by any known comet. The velocity of the body in perihelion was about 1,280,000 miles an hour, or nearly nineteen times that of the earth in its orbit. The apparent length of its tail was sixty-five degrees, and its true length 150,000,000 miles. The first comet of 1847, discovered by Mr. Hind, was also seen near the sun on the day of its perihelion passage. That discovered by Klinkerfues on the 10th of June, 1853, and which passed its perihelion on the 1st of September, was seen at Olmutz in the daytime, August 31, when only twelve degrees from the sun. After passing its perihelion, it was again observed, _at noon_, on the 2d, 3d, and 4th of September. Finally, the great comet of 1861 was seen before sunset, on Monday evening, July 1, by Rev. Henry W. Ballantine, of Bloomington, Indiana. It was again detected on the following evening just as the sun was in the horizon. Besides the thirteen comets which we have enumerated, at least four others have been seen in the daytime; all, however, under peculiar circumstances. Seneca relates that during a great solar eclipse, 63 years before our era, a large comet was observed not far from the sun. "Philostorgius says that on the 19th of July, A.D. 418, when the sun was eclipsed and stars were visible, a great comet, in the form of a cone, was discovered near that luminary, and was afterwards observed during the nights."[2] The comet which passed its perihelion on the 18th of November, 1826, was observed by both Gambart and Flaugergues to transit the solar disk,--the least distance of the nucleus from the sun's surface being about 2,000,000 miles. The second comet of 1819 and the comet of 1823 are both known in like manner to have passed between the sun and the earth. Unfortunately, however, the transits were not observed. [2] Hind. A few cometary orbits are hyperbolas, more ellipses, and a still greater number parabolas. Comets moving in ellipses remain permanently within the limits of solar influence. Others, however, visit our system but once, and then pass off to wander indefinitely in the sidereal spaces. _Comets of known periodicity._ I. Halley's Comet.