The Tritangent Circles of a Circular Quartic Curve
§1. In a recent paper with this title Prof. W. P. Milne has discussed the properties of the conics which pass through two fixed points of a plane quartic curve and touch the curve at three other points. In dealing with a numerous family of curves such as this it is very desirable to have a scheme of marks or labels to distinguish the different members of the family; Hesse's notation for the double tangents of a C4 illustrates this. By using another line of approach to the subject, by projecting the curve of intersection of a quadric and a cubic surface from a point at which (under exceptional circumstances) the surfaces touch, I find that a fairly simple notation for the 64 conics, in harmony with that for the bitangents, can be obtained. This paper, let it be said, from start to finish is no more than an adaptation of results known for the sextic space-curve referred to; it will be sufficient therefore to state results with short explanations.