John Herschel discovered NGC 7361 = h3954 on 28 Sep 1834 and recorded "F; pL; vmE in meridian [N-S]; vgvlbM." There is nothing near his position, but exactly 2.0 min of RA west is ESO 468-023 = PGC 69539 and his description applies. Lewis Swift probably found this galaxy again on 19 Jul 1897 at Echo Mountain and reported Sw. XII-40 (later IC 5237) as "eeeF; eeeS; eeeE; eee dif; a line. 8m * np." Swift's position was also 2.4 minutes of time too small, but the description fits! At age 77 Swift's positions were often very poor and he wasn't careful in checking prior discoveries, so the identification IC 5237 = NGC 7361 is nearly certain.

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/22/84): faint, moderately large, very diffuse, very elongated 3:1 N-S. A faint star is off the south end. Located 5.4' ESE of mag 7.8 SAO 214019.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb