HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



275 



poultice, and often ensures speedy relief ; but persons 

 with tender skin are very apt to sufter from it. It is 

 used internally as an emetic. As a condiment it is 

 valuable for persons of weak digestive faculties, and 

 as a desirable adjunct to fatty or indigestible food of 

 any kind. 



There is great difference of opinion respecting the 

 mustard plant referred to in Scripture. A plant 

 growing about Arabia, India, etc., known as 

 Salvadora persica, was thought by Dr. Royle to be the 

 true mustard-tree of Scripture, owing to the fact that 

 it attains the size of a small tree, and produces small 

 fruits of a very pungent nature. This view, however, 

 is not accepted by many whose authority is high, con- 

 sidering that in Syria the mustard reaches the enor- 

 mous height of from fifteen to twenty feet. But as the 

 indentification of Scripture plants is a difficult task, 

 we must content ourselves with our present knowledge 

 of them. It is worthy of remark that Dr. Royle 

 found that Salvadora persica bore the same Arabic 

 name as the common mustard, viz : — " Khardal." 



ASTRONOMY. 

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



AT the meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society 

 held on November 8th, Captain Noble gave 

 an account of his observation of the occultation of 

 Jupiter by the moon on August 7th, at Maresfield, 

 Sussex. The disappearance of the planet was ob- 

 served through drifting clouds in daylight. The 

 reappearance was seen in a clear sky after dark. As 

 the planet emerged from the bright limb of the 

 moon, the equatorial belts were sharply defined ; but 

 a band of darker shading appeared on the disc of the 

 planet following the outline of the moon. 



Mr. E. J. Stone stated that a similar appearance 

 had been observed at the Radcliffe Observatory at 

 Oxford. A long discussion took place as to the 

 cause of the dark band, and it was generally con- 

 sidered that it was due to an optical illusion, the 

 result of the difference between the brightness of the 

 moon and that of the planet. 



A paper by Dr. Otto Boeddicker was read, which 

 referred to some drawings he had made, and which 

 were exhibited, of the Milky Way, at the Observatory 

 of Earl Rosse, at Parsonstown. Mr. Wesley con- 

 firmed the accuracy of some portions of the drawings, 

 particularly in the region near Cygnus. 



Mr. Thackeray stated that humidity of the atmo- 

 sphere has less effect in producing variation of re- 

 fraction than is generally supposed, and that changes 

 of temperature chiefly affect the places of the stars 

 by causing changes in the temperature of the instru- 

 ments, more than changes in the atmospheric refraction. 



On December 7th Mercury will be at the greatest 

 distance from the earth at 7 aft. 



December 2iSt, the sun enters Capricornus, and 

 winter begins at 3 aft. . 



Rising, Southing, and Setting of the Principal Planets 

 in December. 



December 22nd, there will be a total eclipse of the 

 sun, invisible at Greenwich. 



There will be no occultations of interest during 

 the month. 



Mercury will be an evening star in the latter part 

 of the month. 



Venus will be an evening star throughout the 

 month. 



Mars will be in Virgo, near Spica, on the 15 th. 



Saturn will be stationary in Leo. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Messrs Gurney and Jackson announce the 

 speedy pubUcation of "A Handbook of European 

 Birds," by James Backhouse, Jun., F.Z.S. We 

 believe the book will be a most useful one to 

 ornithologists, and certainly cheap, the prices being 

 7^. bd, and \os. 6d. before publication, and 10s. bd. 

 and I2J-. dd. after. 



We are always pleased to see any new contribution 

 to "County Faunas," It is therefore with great 

 pleasure we announce that Mr. W. E. H. Pidsley is 

 about to publish his work on " The Birds of 

 Devonshire." 



The August number of the " Proceedings of the 

 Geologists' Association" contains the following 

 papers—" A Visit to the Volcanoes of Italy," by 

 Professor J. F. Blake ; " Note on a Chelonian 



