UNITED STATES
                SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                      Washington, D.C. 20549
                    --------------------------

                             FORM S-8

                      REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                              UNDER
                    THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                  COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
      (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

          NEW YORK                           13-3055012
(State or other jurisdiction of              (I.R.S. Employer
 incorporation or organization)              Identification No.)

                  4900 Seminary Road, Suite 800
                    Alexandria, Virginia 22311
                          (703) 820-2000
       (Address, including zip code and telephone number, 
                 of Principal Executive Offices)

                  COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
                      1995 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                     (Full title of the plan)

                          CHARLES W. TERRY
               President and Chief Executive Officer
                  Comtex Scientific Corporation
                  4900 Seminary Road, Suite 800
                          (703) 820-2000
                    Alexandria, Virginia 22311
             (Name, address, including zip code, and
   telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
<TABLE>
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
<CAPTION>
                                    Proposed         Proposed
       Title of                     Maximum          Maximum
      Securities       Amount       Offering         Aggregate    Amount of
        to be          to be        Price Per        Offering     Registration
      Registered       Registered   Share            Price        Fee
      ------------     ----------   -------------    ---------    ------------
<S>   <C>              <C>          <C>              <C>          <C>
      Common Stock     1,200,000      $.125 <F1>      $150,000      $45.00
      $.02 par
      value
     
<FN>
<F1>     Estimated solely for purposes of calculating the
         registration fee.  Based on the closing price on September 26, 1997.
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
                           PART II.
          INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3.   Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference
     Comtex Scientific Corporation (the "Company" or the
"Registrant") hereby incorporates by reference into this
Registration Statement the documents listed below which have been
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission"):
     (a)  the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
          year ended June 30, 1997; and
     (b)  All reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
Act") since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Annual
Report referred to in (a) above.  
     Each document or report subsequently filed by the Company
with the Commission pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, or
15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this Registration
Statement, but prior to the filing of a posteffective amendment
to this Registration Statement which indicates that all
securities offered by this Registration Statement have been sold
or which deregisters all such securities then remaining unsold,
shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this
Registration Statement and to be a part of this Registration
Statement from the date of the filing of such document with the
Commission.  Any statement contained in this Registration
Statement, or in a document incorporated in this Registration
Statement by reference, shall be deemed to be modified or
superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the
extent that a statement contained in any subsequently filed
document incorporated herein by reference which statement is also
incorporated herein by reference is inconsistent with such
statement.  Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be
deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part
of this Registration Statement.

Item 4.   Description of Securities
     The following is an updated description of the Company's
securities:
Common Stock
     The authorized capital stock of the Company consists of
18,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share
("Common Stock").  Holders of Common Stock are entitled to one
vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of
shareholders and do not have cumulative voting rights.  
Accordingly, holders of a majority of the Common Stock entitled
to vote in any election of directors may elect all the directors
standing for election. Holders of Common Stock are entitled to
receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared by the
Board of Directors at its discretion from funds legally available
therefore.  Upon the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of
the Company, the holders of Common Stock are entitled to receive
ratably the net assets of the Company available after the payment
of debts and other liabilities. Holders of Common Stock have no
preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights.

<PAGE>

Item 6.   Indemnification of Directors and Officers
     The New York Business Corporation Law allows, in general,
for indemnification, in certain circumstances, by a corporation
of any person threatened with or made a party to any action or
proceeding by reason of the fact that he or she is, or was, a
director or officer of such corporation.  Indemnification is also
authorized with respect to a criminal action or proceeding where
the person had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct
was unlawful. 
     The Company's Bylaws provide that the Company shall, subject
to conditions imposed by statute and in the discretion of the
Company's Board, indemnify its directors and officers against
judgments, fines, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable
expenses, necessarily incurred as a result of actions or
proceedings to which such persons are, or are threatened to be,
made a party because they were directors or officers of the
Company. 

Item 8.   Exhibits
     See Index to Exhibits.

Item 9.   Undertakings
     (a)  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes: 
          (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or
sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this
registration statement:
               (i)  To include any prospectus required by section
     10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;
               (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or
     events arising after the effective date of the registration
     statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment
     thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent
     a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
     registration statement;
              (iii) To include any material information with
     respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed
     in the registration statement or any material change to such
     information in the registration statement;
     Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii)
do not apply if the information required to be included in a
post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed with the Commission by the registrant
pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the
registration statement.
          (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability
under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective
amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of
such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide offering thereof.

<PAGE>
          (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-
effective amendment any of the securities being registered which
remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
     (b)  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for
purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of
1933, each filing of the registrant's annual report pursuant to
Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 that is incorporated by reference in the registration
statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of
such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide offering thereof.
     (c)  Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors,
officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to
the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been
advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as
expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities
(other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or
paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the
registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling
person in connection with the securities being registered, the
registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of
appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such
indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in
the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such
issue.

<PAGE>

                            SIGNATURES
     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to
believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form
S-8, and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed
on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in
the City of Alexandria, Virginia on October 2, 1997.    

                              COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION



                              By: /S/ CHARLES W. TERRY
                                   President and
                                   Chief Executive Officer

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
this registration statement has been signed below by the
following persons in the capacities indicated on October 2, 1997.



/S/ CHARLES W. TERRY
Charles W. Terry                  Director, President and
                                  Chief Executive Officer
                                  (Principal Executive Officer)

                                 
/S/ DONALD E. ZIEGLER
Donald E. Ziegler                 Chief Financial Officer
                                  (Principal Financial and
                                  Accounting Officer)


/S/ C.W. GILLULY
C.W. Gilluly                      Chairman of the Board


/S/ ERIK HENDRICKS
Erik Hendricks                    Director


/S/ ROBERT A. NIGRO
Robert A. Nigro                   Director


<PAGE>

                             EXHIBITS

                                TO

                  COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION

                REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-8
                           Exhibit Index


The following exhibits are filed herewith as part of this
Registration Statement:


Exhibit   
  No.                                                   

 5.1  Opinion and Consent of McGuire, Woods,
      Battle & Boothe, L.L.P., Counsel to the Company
      as to the validity of the Common Stock
      offered hereunder                                

23.1  Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.              

23.2  Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

23.3  Consent of McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe,
      L.L.P. (included in Exhibit 5.1)

28.1  Comtex Scientific Corporation 1995 Stock Option Plan
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "secsgml_size_bytes": 12053}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORP", "cik": "0000352988", "assigned-sic": "7380", "irs-number": "133055012", "state-of-incorporation": "NY", "fiscal-year-end": "0630"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-37057", "film-number": "97690045"}, "business-address": {"street1": "4900 SEMINARY RD STE 800", "city": "ALEXANDRIA", "state": "VA", "zip": "22311", "phone": "7038242000"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "4900 SEMINARY RD", "street2": "SUITE 800", "city": "ALEXANDRIA", "state": "VA", "zip": "22311"}}
UNITED STATES
                SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                      Washington, D.C. 20549
                    --------------------------

                             FORM S-8

                      REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                              UNDER
                    THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                  COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
      (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

          NEW YORK                           13-3055012
(State or other jurisdiction of              (I.R.S. Employer
 incorporation or organization)              Identification No.)

                  4900 Seminary Road, Suite 800
                    Alexandria, Virginia 22311
                          (703) 820-2000
       (Address, including zip code and telephone number, 
                 of Principal Executive Offices)

                  COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
                      1995 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                     (Full title of the plan)

                          CHARLES W. TERRY
               President and Chief Executive Officer
                  Comtex Scientific Corporation
                  4900 Seminary Road, Suite 800
                          (703) 820-2000
                    Alexandria, Virginia 22311
             (Name, address, including zip code, and
   telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Proposed         Proposed
       Title of                     Maximum          Maximum
      Securities       Amount       Offering         Aggregate    Amount of
        to be          to be        Price Per        Offering     Registration
      Registered       Registered   Share            Price        Fee
      ------------     ----------   -------------    ---------    ------------
Common Stock     1,200,000      $.125
$150,000      $45.00
      $.02 par
      value
Estimated solely for purposes of calculating the
         registration fee.  Based on the closing price on September 26, 1997.
PART II.
          INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3.   Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference
     Comtex Scientific Corporation (the "Company" or the
"Registrant") hereby incorporates by reference into this
Registration Statement the documents listed below which have been
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission"):
     (a)  the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
          year ended June 30, 1997; and
     (b)  All reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
Act") since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Annual
Report referred to in (a) above.  
     Each document or report subsequently filed by the Company
with the Commission pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, or
15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this Registration
Statement, but prior to the filing of a posteffective amendment
to this Registration Statement which indicates that all
securities offered by this Registration Statement have been sold
or which deregisters all such securities then remaining unsold,
shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this
Registration Statement and to be a part of this Registration
Statement from the date of the filing of such document with the
Commission.  Any statement contained in this Registration
Statement, or in a document incorporated in this Registration
Statement by reference, shall be deemed to be modified or
superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the
extent that a statement contained in any subsequently filed
document incorporated herein by reference which statement is also
incorporated herein by reference is inconsistent with such
statement.  Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be
deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part
of this Registration Statement.

Item 4.   Description of Securities
     The following is an updated description of the Company's
securities:
Common Stock
     The authorized capital stock of the Company consists of
18,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share
("Common Stock").  Holders of Common Stock are entitled to one
vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of
shareholders and do not have cumulative voting rights.  
Accordingly, holders of a majority of the Common Stock entitled
to vote in any election of directors may elect all the directors
standing for election. Holders of Common Stock are entitled to
receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared by the
Board of Directors at its discretion from funds legally available
therefore.  Upon the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of
the Company, the holders of Common Stock are entitled to receive
ratably the net assets of the Company available after the payment
of debts and other liabilities. Holders of Common Stock have no
preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights.
Item 6.   Indemnification of Directors and Officers
     The New York Business Corporation Law allows, in general,
for indemnification, in certain circumstances, by a corporation
of any person threatened with or made a party to any action or
proceeding by reason of the fact that he or she is, or was, a
director or officer of such corporation.  Indemnification is also
authorized with respect to a criminal action or proceeding where
the person had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct
was unlawful. 
     The Company's Bylaws provide that the Company shall, subject
to conditions imposed by statute and in the discretion of the
Company's Board, indemnify its directors and officers against
judgments, fines, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable
expenses, necessarily incurred as a result of actions or
proceedings to which such persons are, or are threatened to be,
made a party because they were directors or officers of the
Company. 

Item 8.   Exhibits
     See Index to Exhibits.

Item 9.   Undertakings
     (a)  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes: 
          (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or
sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this
registration statement:
               (i)  To include any prospectus required by section
     10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;
               (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or
     events arising after the effective date of the registration
     statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment
     thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent
     a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
     registration statement;
              (iii) To include any material information with
     respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed
     in the registration statement or any material change to such
     information in the registration statement;
     Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii)
do not apply if the information required to be included in a
post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed with the Commission by the registrant
pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the
registration statement.
          (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability
under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective
amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of
such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide offering thereof.
(3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-
effective amendment any of the securities being registered which
remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
     (b)  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for
purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of
1933, each filing of the registrant's annual report pursuant to
Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 that is incorporated by reference in the registration
statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of
such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide offering thereof.
     (c)  Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors,
officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to
the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been
advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as
expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities
(other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or
paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the
registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling
person in connection with the securities being registered, the
registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of
appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such
indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in
the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such
issue.
SIGNATURES
     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to
believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form
S-8, and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed
on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in
the City of Alexandria, Virginia on October 2, 1997.    

                              COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION

                              By: /S/ CHARLES W. TERRY
                                   President and
                                   Chief Executive Officer

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
this registration statement has been signed below by the
following persons in the capacities indicated on October 2, 1997.

/S/ CHARLES W. TERRY
Charles W. Terry                  Director, President and
                                  Chief Executive Officer
                                  (Principal Executive Officer)

                                 
/S/ DONALD E. ZIEGLER
Donald E. Ziegler                 Chief Financial Officer
                                  (Principal Financial and
                                  Accounting Officer)

/S/ C.W. GILLULY
C.W. Gilluly                      Chairman of the Board

/S/ ERIK HENDRICKS
Erik Hendricks                    Director

/S/ ROBERT A. NIGRO
Robert A. Nigro                   Director
EXHIBITS

                                TO

                  COMTEX SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION

                REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-8
                           Exhibit Index

The following exhibits are filed herewith as part of this
Registration Statement:

Exhibit   
  No.                                                   

 5.1  Opinion and Consent of McGuire, Woods,
      Battle & Boothe, L.L.P., Counsel to the Company
      as to the validity of the Common Stock
      offered hereunder                                

23.1  Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.              

23.2  Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

23.3  Consent of McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe,
      L.L.P. (included in Exhibit 5.1)

28.1  Comtex Scientific Corporation 1995 Stock Option Plan