It is well known in connection with the famous Bayeux tapestry into which Queen Matilda wove the story of William the Conqueror’s defeat of Harold on the memorable occasion of the battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066. People are shown pointing to an object in the sky, which is labeled _Isti Mirant Stellam_, the wonderful so-called “hairy star” which supposedly heralded the success of the Conqueror. On an adjoining panel is pictured the dejected Harold about to topple off his throne, and a solitary attendant expressing alarm at the defeated monarch’s precarious position, but apparently offering no assistance of value. Thus the comet on this occasion served the double purpose, it would seem, of announcing success on the one hand and defeat on the other. Undoubtedly it caused great alarm on account of its brightness and rapid motion. In 1456 it returned at a period of great anxiety, when the Turks, having taken possession of Constantinople three years before, now turned their attention to Belgrade, which they were besieging. It happened that the moon was passing through the crescent phase at the time, and Halley’s comet presented the appearance of a sword. The crescent moon, resembling the Turkish emblem, is said to have been considered an evil omen by the Turks, contributing eventually to their defeat. Coming to our own times, it is surprising the amount of fear and distress which was caused at the return of Halley’s comet in 1910. Insanity and even cases of suicide followed at its approach, and there is a well-authenticated case of an enthusiastic young lady in New Jersey, U. S. A., who declared her intention of following the comet wheresoever it went, but was restrained by her friends, and temporary seclusion in an asylum, from this perilous pursuit. As the time drew near for the comet to pass from the morning to the evening sky, when, according to calculations, it would cross the plane of the earth’s orbit at a point exactly between the earth and the sun, fresh alarm was caused lest the earth, in plunging through the débris of the comet’s train, might come to grief in consequence. A report that we should be asphyxiated by the poisonous gases, such as cyanogen, of which the train was said to be partly composed, did not tend to lessen the alarm. Cautious folk laid in a supply of bottles of oxygen to sustain life during the fatal night, and one or two of a pessimistic turn of mind actually forestalled the expected tragedy by committing suicide. Yet nothing happened, for the simple reason that on the night of the great adventure the comet obligingly spread its tail so widely apart, that we passed unharmed between two sections thereof. [Illustration: _Drawn by M. Proctor_ DAYLIGHT COMET 1910 A As seen at Newcastletown Moor, January 28, by the author ]