Note 79 — PART II. MOTION OF COMETS THROUGH THE SYSTEM.
Reading edition
Laplace has shown, that, “comparing thus the elements of the comets of 1607 and 1682, Halley was able to announce, with a probability = , that they were the same, and that the comet would reappear towards the middle of the eighteenth century. The risk of being deceived, though very small, nearly vanished, when he also recognized the elements of this comet in the comet of 1531.”—Syst. du Monde.