02 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



ascension and declination between the spots and the sun's limbs 

 could be made, and remained invisible until sunrise of January 2G, 

 when both spots had disappeared. 



The mean times of meridian passages and meridian altitudes of 

 the sun were observed on seventy days; of Venus, on fifty-four days; 

 of Mercury, on four days ; of other planets and stars, on seventeen 

 days ; and the meridian was swept for intra-Mercurial planets within 

 about 10 above to about 12 below the meridian altitude of the 

 sun, on the respective dates as follows : 



From 11 o'clock A.M. (A. T.) to within about ten minutes of the 

 sun's meridian passage on February 23 and 24, March 20 and 21, May 

 8 ; September 7, 27, and 30 ; October 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ; and from 

 about ten minutes after the sun's meridian jiassage until one o'clock 

 P.M. on March 7, 8, and 31 ; April 1, 2, 3, 26, 27, and 28 ; May 20 ; July 

 8 and 9, and September 19 and 20, without any definite result so far, 

 but perhaps not entirely without success. 



A considerable amount of work was done in preparing for and 

 observing the transit of Mercury on May 6 and the total eclipse of 

 the sun on July 29, detailed reports of which have been made to the 

 Naval Observatory at Washington. 



For the purpose of studying the moon's path, parallaxes, and diam- 

 eters, a good many computations of the moon's apparent place at va- 

 rious times were made, and a list of occupations ofj^lanets and stars 

 down to the fifth magnitude was also prepared ; but in the observa- 

 tion thereof I have been singularly unfortunate, clouds almost inva- 

 riably interfering at the critical moment. Of the entire list of oc- 

 cultations, a majority of which were looked for, sometimes at very 

 inconvenient hours, only two could be partially observed viz., the 

 immersion of Venus, December 8, 1877, and the immersion of 8 Sa- 

 gittarii, September 5, 1878 ; and with the lunar eclipse of August 12 

 I fared no better. 



Since the 1st of last March a daily weather record, with notations 

 of the Thermometer and Storm-glass, has been kept with tolerable 

 regularity; but of quite a number of miscellaneous observations no 

 regular record was made. 



The zodiacal light was seen once, early in April, after sunset, ex- 

 tending about 10 above the western horizon. Of extraordinary 

 auroral displays nothing has been observed during the year ; but 

 quite a number of meteors, including a few very bright ones, were 

 seen. Notes of the most remarkable ones were made at the time ; 

 but the only record I can find now is of one seen March 15 at about 

 8 P.M. It proceeded from a point in Leo where lines drawn through 

 Regulus and Algeiba, Deneb and Zosma, would intersect, and moved 

 northwest towards Capella, apparently falling as it moved onward. 

 It was visible for from three to four seconds ; and, notwithstanding 



