Mr. Mitchell hurried upstairs, stationed himself at the
telescope, and as soon as he looked at the object pointed out by his
daughter declared it to be a comet. Miss Mitchell, with her usual
caution, advised him to say nothing about it until they had observed it
long enough to be tolerably sure. But Mr. Mitchell immediately wrote to
Professor Bond, at Cambridge, announcing the discovery. On account of
stormy weather, the mails did not leave Nantucket until October 3.
Frederick VI., King of Denmark, had offered, Dec. 17, 1831, a gold medal
of the value of twenty ducats to the first discoverer of a telescopic
comet. The regulations, as revised and amended, were republished, in
April, 1840, in the "Astronomische Nachrichten."
When this comet was discovered, the king who had offered the medal was
dead. The son, Frederick VII., who had succeeded him, had not the
interest in science which belonged to his father, but he was prevailed
upon to carry out his father's designs in this particular case.
The same comet had been seen by Father de Vico at Rome, on October 3, at
7.30 P.M., and this fact was immediately communicated by him to
Professor Schumacher, at Altona. On the 7th of October, at 9.20 P.M.,
the comet was observed by Mr. W.R. Dawes, at Kent, England, and on the
11th it was seen by Madame Ruemker, the wife of the director of the
observatory at Hamburg.
The following letter from the younger Bond will show the cordial
relations existing between the observatory at Cambridge and the smaller
station at Nantucket:
CAMBRIDGE, Oct.
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