By far the most remarkable comet, however, which has been seen during the present century, is that which appeared in the spring of 1843, and whose tail became visible in the twilight of the 17th of March in England as a great beam of nebulous light, extending from a point above the western horizon, through the stars of Eridanus and Lepus, under the belt of Orion. This situation was low and unfavorable; and it was not till the 19th that the head was seen, and then only as a faint and ill-defined nebula, very rapidly fading on subsequent nights. In more southern latitudes, however, not only the tail was seen, as a magnificent train of light extending 50° or 60° in length; but the head and nucleus appeared with extraordinary splendor, exciting in every country where it was seen the greatest astonishment and admiration. Indeed, all descriptions agree in representing it as a stupendous spectacle, such as in superstitious ages would not fail to have carried terror into every bosom. In tropical latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, the tail appeared on the 3d of March, and in Van Diemen’s Land so early as the 1st, the comet having passed its perihelion on the 27th of February. There is abundant evidence of the comet in question having been seen in full daylight, and in the sun’s immediate vicinity. It was so seen on the 28th of February, the day after its perihelion passage, by every person on board the H.E.I.C.S. “Owen Glenndower,” then off the Cape, as a short dagger-like object close to the sun a little before sunset. On the same day at 3^h 6^m P. M., and consequently in full sunshine, the distance of the nucleus from the sun was actually measured with a sextant by Mr. Clarke of Portland, United States, the distance centre from centre being then only 3° 50′ 43″. [Illustration: Fig. 28.—Orbits of the Nine Comets Captured by Jupiter _Scale: 5 millimetres = 1 radius of the Earth’s orbit_]