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In the summer of 1881, a routine announcement appeared in the form of a letter to the editor of the German Astronomical publication, Astronomishce Nachrichten: While scanning the western sky on the evening of (May 22nd) with the unassisted eye, | detected a hazy-looking object just below the constellation Columba, which, for my familiarity with that part of the Heavens, | regarded a new. On examining it with a small marine telescope | found it half and five and one-half magnitude...and the head of a comet...and telegraphed (the news) to Mr. Ellery at Melbourne... This announcement was signed: John Tebbutt, Observatory Windsor, N.S. Wales, 1881, June1 8th. This seems to be an entirely normal and innocuous communication, and would have been except for certain complications. Astronomers of the Southern Hemisphere immediately started making measurements of the comet's position. It would be a few weeks before the fuzzy object moved far enough north to be seen from observatories in Europe and North America. Because of the shorter distance for mail, the following communication arrived in Germany ahead of Mr. Tebbutt's letter and appeared in Astronomische Nachrichten: On June 9th, | sent you the series of observations which | made of the bright comet which has now passed to the North...the weather has been exceptionally bad and only two additional observations have been obtained. The first of these was on the 10th, (compared) with a star which | have not yet been able to identify. (My italics) It is, however, with regard to the second...June 11th, that | now write you...On that evening the comet was found with but little difficulty...although it was quite pale in the bright twilight... obtained a preliminary determination of its position...for the purpose of identifying some comparison star, when | discovered one in the field...It was blurred by the thick haze and mists near the horizon. | believe it to have been as bright as second magnitude. On attempting to identify the star | found it in none of the catalogues. On the next evening | scrutinized the region without finding any visible star. A glance at the comet, which had moved nearly 3 northward, showed no visible object (accompanying it). | send you the observations as they were made: Position of the comet determined from the setting of the telescope: Right Ascension 5h 11m 04s; Declination 9° 36': Sidereal time 10h 58m 09s. Comparisons (Distance of comet from comparison star): Cordoba Sidereal Time Second Time Difference, RA Difference, Dec.: 11h 08m 49s 11 02.5 13 11.0 14 37.5 Om 49s 49 48 48.5 5' 12.9" 08.2 08.4 02.8 4.7" 0.2" 5.6 13 14 The whole observation seemed to me so improbable that | have hesitated a good deal before sending it to you, fearing some gross error...But | have discovered none. Cordoba, 1881, wWne 16th. B.A. Gould. (A "comparison" is the measurement of the location of a moving object such as a comet as related to a fixed star. It is the manner in which orbits are determined. It is not always easy to find a known star close enough to make a good comparison.) 155 The Case is Proved! (B & Jemi)