138 



HARDWl CKE ' S S CIENCE- G OS SIP. 



require notice are tlie sponges." Not having a later 

 edition, I cannot say whether or not the Professor 

 still holds to this classification ; as a matter of fact, 

 however, very many zoologists do. 



Edward H. Robertson. 



ASTRONOMY. 

 By John Browning, F.R.A.S. 



THE astronomical world has suffered a severe loss 

 by the death of Dr. Warren De la Rue, aged 

 seventy-four. He was a notable instance of the men 

 who being entirely occupied in a great business, yet 

 do far more for science than most men who have 

 their whole time at their disposal. His best known 

 work was that of making himself a fine reflecting 

 telescope, mounted equatorially with a clock motion, 

 and applying this to celestial photography, particu- 

 larly to taking photographs of the moon. He also 

 succeeded in getting some valuable photographs of 

 the eclipsed sun in Spain in i860. He may therefore 

 be considered the originator of the application of the 

 system of astronomical observation by photography, 

 which is now receiving such extensive application, 

 and in which lies in all probability the future of 

 astronomy. 



Using the 36-inch aperture of the great achromatic 

 at the Lick Observatory, Air. Burnham has dis- 

 covered a companion of the eleventh magnitude to 

 a Urs£e Majoris. 



At the meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society 

 held on April 12th, a paper of Mr. Burnham's was 

 read "On the Trapezium in Orion." In this he 

 gives measures of the positions of the stars in the 

 Trapezium, which appear to show that no appre- 

 ciable change is taking place in their positions 

 relatively to each other. 



Mr. I. Roberts read a paper " On Photographs of 

 the Nebulte 81 and 82 Messier, and the Nebulous Star 

 in Ursa Major." Copies of these photographs, but 

 enlarged, were exhibited. The originals had three 

 and a half hours' exposure. The 81 Messier nebula 

 shows a spiral formation, with a central bright nucleus, 

 and many bright starry or nebulous points on the 

 spiral streams. 



The nebula 82 Messier in the photographs is a 

 number of masses of nebulous light connected by a 

 slight envelope of nebulous matter. Mr. Roberts 

 regards it as a spiral nebula seen in projection. 



Mr. Knobel read a paper, by Professor Holden, 

 " On the Photographs of the Corona of the Solar 

 Eclipse of January 1889." A large drawing was 

 sent with the paper. This showed very broad polar 

 rifts full of narrow structures, curving away from the 

 sun's axis of rotation. 



Many other papers were taken as read. 



On June 6th Venus will be at her greatest brilliancy. 



On June Sth Alercury will be stationary at 8 aft. 



Rising, Southing, and Setting of the Principal Planets 

 in June. 



Mercury 5 



Venus ? . 



Mars i 



Jupiter %. 



Saturn T?, 



D. 



4 

 II 



18 



25 



4 

 II 



18 

 25 



Rises. 



h. m. 

 5 IM 



4 45^1 

 4 15M 

 3 39M 



2 21M 



2 5M 



I 50M 

 I 37M 



4 

 ir 



18 



25 



4 

 II 

 18 

 25 



4 

 II 



18 



25 



3 57M 

 3 47M 

 3 38M 

 3 31M 



9 35A 

 9 4A 

 8 33A 

 8 3A 



8 45 M 

 8 20M 



7 57M 

 7 53M 



Souths, 

 h. m. 

 I 19A 

 O 49A 

 O 7A 

 II 25M 



9 24M 



9 IIM 



9 IM 



8 56M 



o 14A 



O 7A 

 O OA 



II 53M 



I 35M 



I 4M 



o 33M 



O IM 



4 2IA 



3 55A 

 3 31A 

 3 6a 



Sets, 

 h. m. 



9 37A 

 8 53A 



7 59A 



7 IIA 



4 27A 

 4 17A 

 4 14A 

 4 15A 



8 31A 



8 27A 



8 22A 



8 15A 



3 o 



CM 



4 59M 

 4 28M 



3 55M 



57A 



^OA 



II 

 II 



n ~5A 

 10 39A 



On June 26th Venus will be at the greatest distance 

 from the sun at 7 hrs. morn. 



There will be no occultations of interest in June. 



During the first week of June Mercury will be an 

 evening star, but afterwards will be too near the sun 

 for observation. 



Venus will be a morning star, and will be in 

 Aries till about the 25th, when it will enter Taurus. 



Mars will be too near the sun for observation in 

 June. 



Jupiter will be in a good position for observation 

 during June, and will be in opposition to the sun on 

 the 24th. 



Saturn will be an evening star in Leo, not far from 

 Regulus. 



OUR SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORY. 



[The Editor will be obliged, if, for the benefit of his numerous 

 readers, secretaries of scientific societies will send notices like 

 the following, also place and time of meeting.] 



jryRISTOL Microscopic Society: President, A. J. 

 IJ Harrison ; Hon. Secretary, H. A. Francis, 

 14 York Place, Clifton, Bristol. Meetings on third 

 Tuesday evening in each month. 



Louth [Lines.) Antiquarian and Naturalists' Society : 

 President, Mr. Alderman Fowler, J. P. ; Hon. Secre- 

 taries, B. Crow, Town Hall, and J. Larder, Mercer 

 Row, Lowth. 



LLampstead Science and Field Club: President, Mr. 

 A. Clare Fryer ; Hon. Sec. and Treasurer, Air. 

 C. H. Bensley, 127 Fellows Road, South Ilamp- 



