XII NOTES BY THE EDITOR 



the scientific importance of establishing a large reflector at some ele- 

 vated station in the Southern Hemisphere. In the mean time, and to 

 gain (as it were,) a sample of the results which might be expected from 

 a more systematic search, Prof. Piazzi Smyth undertook, last summer, 

 the task of transporting a large collection of instruments to a high point 

 on the Peak of TeneriiFe. His stations were two in number, at the 

 altitudes above the sea of 8,840 and 10,700 feet respectively; and the 

 astronomical advantages gained may be inferred from the fact, that 

 the heat radiated from the moon, which has been so often sought for 

 in vain in a lower region, was distinctly perceptible, even at the lower 

 of the two stations. 



The theory and observations of the Rev. Mr. Jones, U. S. N., re- 

 specting the zodiacal light, have been published in full during the past 

 year, in one of the volumes of the report of the U. S. Japan Expedi- 

 tion, and additional confirmatory observations made in 1857 in Quito, 

 S. A., by Mr. Jones were also presented to the American Association. 

 The views of Mr. Jones, while they have received the sanction of 

 many astronomers and physicists, are strongly opposed by others, and 

 some very cogent statements in opposition, founded on long continued 

 observations, have been brought forward by Capt. Wilkes, U. S. N. 

 They do not, moreover, seem to find favor with European astrono- 

 mers, and Prof. Piazzi Smyth, in a recent paper before the Royal 

 Society, after opposing the theory, as published in his Japan Expe- 

 dition Report, closes by saying, that he does not think Mr. Jones ever 

 saw the zodiacal light at all. 



Father Secchi, the well-known astronomer of Rome, is continuing his 

 researches to determine the rotation of the third satellite of Jupiter ; the 

 spots upon it are very visible, but it is not easy to get two observations 

 by which to ascertain the rate of motion in any one evening. He re- 

 ports a difference in the features of Jupiter from last year. The lowest 

 apparent inferior belt " is a perfect assemblage of clouds, and below 

 this is a very fine line of a yellow color, which appears like a micro- 

 scopic thread stretched across the planet" 



As regards the surface of the moon, on which he has, of late, bestowed 

 much attention, he thinks he may pronounce the nature of such lunar 

 regions as he has explored (at a distance), to be similar to that of 

 volcanic regions on the earth. 



A reward of $500, having been offered during the past year, through 

 one of the public newspapers of Boston to any one who could exhibit 

 in the presence and to the satisfaction of certain Professors of the 

 Natural Sciences in Harvard University, any such marvellous phenom- 

 ena as were commonly reported by Spiritualists as having transpired 

 in the presence, or through the agency of certain persons designated as 

 "mediums," and the offer having been accepted by the defenders 



