POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



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Carnivorous Plants. By W. K. Higley. First 

 Series. Pp. t>0. 



" Wide Awake." Boston : D. Lothrop & Co. 

 December, 1882. Monthly, $2.50 a year. 



House Drainage and Sanitary Plumbing. By 

 William Paul Gerhard. New York : D. Van 

 Nostrand. Pp. 205. Price, 50 cents. 



Poems by Minot J. Savage. Boston : George 

 II. Ellis. 1882. Pp. 247. . 



Annual Report of the Chief-Engineer of .lie 

 Water Department of the City ot Philadelphia, 

 for the Year 1S31. Philadelphia: J. Spencer 

 Smith, printer. 1882. 



Tables for the Use of Students and Beginners 

 in Vegetable Histoid. By D. P. Peuhanow, 

 B. S. Boston: S E. Cassino. 1882. Pp. d J. 



The Builder's Guide and Estimator's Price- 

 Book. Bv Fred T.Hodgson. New \ork: In- | 

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The Elements of Forestry. By Franklin B. 

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 Co. 1882. Pp.381. $2. 



Ra<*narok: The Age of Fire and Gravel. Py 

 Ignatius Donnelly. New York: D. Appleton & 

 Co. 1882. Pp.452. $2. 



First Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology. 1879-80. By J. W. Powell, Director. 

 Washington: Government Priutiug-Ofnce. 1S81. 

 Pp. 603. Illustrated. 



POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



Observations of tic Recent Transit cf 

 Venns. Professor C. A. Young has pub- 

 lished in the " New York Times " a sum- 

 mary of the results, so far as they can be 

 estimated so soon, that have attended the 

 observations of the transit of Venus of 

 December 6th in this and other countries. 

 On the whole, he says, the observations 

 were successful beyond expectation. Al- 

 though in the United States there was more 

 or less cloudiness, there were very few sta- 

 tions that did not succeed in accomplishing 

 the most essential portions of their intended 

 work. The first contact, although it is the 

 most difficult part of the phenomenon of 

 which to get an accurate observation, and 

 although it was not seen by more than half 

 as many observers as the other three con- 

 tacts, was noted by some of the observers 

 at twenty out of the thirty-nine stations on 

 the continent where it might have been vis- 

 ible. An unusually satisfactory observation 

 was obtained at Princeton. The other con- 

 tacts were observed with more general suc- 

 cess, the second at twenty-nine, the third at 

 thirty-two, and the fourth at thirty stations. 

 As far as can be judged from the present 

 incomplete calculations, " it would appear 

 that the planet was about 20" to 25" behind 

 time in her orbit, and that her diameter as- 



sumed in the computations was at least 1", 

 and probably 1"5", too large. The duration 

 of the transit appears, also, to have been 

 about 25" longer than computed, which 

 might indicate either of two things or a 

 little of both that the planet was 1" or 2" 

 of an ai-c north of its computed position, or 

 that the diameter of the sun is a trifle larger 

 than was assumed. The agreement, how- 

 ever, was remarkably close." Heliometer 

 observations were made by German parties 

 at Hartford, Connecticut, and Aiken, South 

 Carolina, and by Professor Waldo, at Yale 

 College. Measurements of the sun's diam- 

 eter by similar or somewhat different in- 

 struments were also made by the French 

 at St. Augustine, the Belgians at San An- 

 tonio, and with a wonderfully simple but 

 accurate apparatus at Cambridge and New 

 Ilaven. Photographs were taken by differ- 

 ent methods at a number of places, and with 

 unexpected success, except at Washington. 

 " At Fort Selden and at the Lick Observa- 

 tory the day was perfect, and the photog- 

 raphy went on without a hitch." Micro- 

 metric observations for the diameter of 

 Venus were made at fifteen or sixteen sta- 

 tions on this continent, and perhaps at near- 

 ly as many more foreign stations. The re- 

 sults are not yet reduced, but the indications 

 correspond with the conclusion, which was 

 drawn from the contacts, that the planet's 

 diameter is really considerably smaller than 

 has hitherto been assumed. The photo- 

 metric observations showed that Venus was 

 distinctly darker than the sky just outside 

 of the sun's limb. The results of the spec- 

 troscopic observations at Cambridge, South 

 Iladley, Princeton, and Alleghany were 

 " purely and surprisingly negative," and 

 showed for the most part no conspicuous 

 evidence of selective absorption by the 

 planet's atmosphere. The Princeton ob- 

 servers, however, were so fortunate as to 

 find distinct indications of water-vapor, thus 

 confirming certain old observations of Hug- 

 gins. Professor Langlcy, at Alleghany, ob- 

 served a spot of abnormal brightness in a 

 part of the atmosphere of the planet where 

 such an appearance would be least expected, 

 which may denote auroral and magnetic 

 phenomena. Professor Harrington, at Ann 

 Arbor, made out spots and markings on the 

 planet's disk, but no one else has spoken of 



