28 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



who for some time past has been prosecuting spectroscopic 

 inquiries into the proper motion of the stars in the direction 

 of the line of sight. With the instrument formerly used by 

 him he was unable to determine that Sil'ius was receding at 

 the rate of twenty miles per second ; but now, by means of 

 a telescope of fifteen inches aperture, specially adapted to 

 gather as much light as possible, and placed at his service 

 by the Royal Society of London, he, has determined the facts 

 in regard to various groups. Among these are five stars, (3, 

 y, o, e, and , of Ursa Major (or the Great Bear), as also Alcor, 

 close by , and the telescopic companion of , which Mr. 

 Proctor three years ago maintained to be moving in a com- 

 mon direction, and which, more recently, he predicted would 

 prove to be either receding or approaching together, when- 

 ever Dr. Huggins was enabled to test the question spectro- 

 scopically. 



Dr. Huggins now finds that all these five stars are reced- 

 ing at the rate of about thirty miles per second ; while the 

 star , which Mr. Proctor had indicated as not belonging to 

 the set, is found to have a spectrum differing in character 

 from that common to them, and, though receding, has a dif- 

 ferent rate. Arcturus, on the other hand, is moving toward 

 us at a probable rate of seventy miles per second. Other 

 stars have been determined as moving with corresponding 

 velocities. 5 A, July, 1872, 307; also LitteWs Living Age, 

 July 27,1872. 



ASTRONOMICAL WORK AT SHERMAN STATION. 



Professors Young and Emerson, of Dartmouth College, have 

 lately published an account of their astronomical operations 

 at Sherman, the highest point of the Pacific Railroad (an ele- 

 vation of 8300 feet), in connection with a party of the Unit- 

 ed States Coast Survey. One object of the expedition was 

 to determine the difference in the astronomical appearances 

 at that elevation as compared with those of lower levels. It 

 was found that the Dartmouth telescope, with an aperture of 

 9.4 inches, would show every thing that could be seen in New 

 England with a 12-inch objective. The views of Saturn and 

 the moon, as well as of double stars, clusters, and nebulae, 

 were exceedingly beautiful. 



As might have been expected, Professor Young's labors 



