HARBWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



137 



On June 21st the sun enters Cancer, and summer 

 begins. There will be no occultations of interest. 



Mercury and Venus will be evening stars. 



Mars will be a morning star, and will be in Taurus, 

 not far from Aldebaran, about the tenth. 



Jupiter will be an evening star in Virgo. 



Saturn will be too close to the sun for observing. 



Rising, Southing, and Setting of the Principal 

 Planets at intervals of Seven Days. 



Meteorology. — At the Royal Observatory, Green- 

 wich, the mean reading of the barometer for the 

 week ending 16th April, was 30.06 in. The mean 

 temperature of the air was 41.9 deg., and 5.3 below 

 the average in the corresponding weeks of the 20 

 years ending 1868. The general direction of the 

 wind was N.E., and the horizontal movement of the 

 air averaged 12.7 miles per hour, which was 0.7 

 above the average in the corresponding weeks of 16 

 years. Melted snow was measured on Thursday to 

 the amount of 0.01 of an inch. 



For the week ending 23rd April, the mean reading 

 of the barometer was 29.85 in. The mean tempera- 

 ture of the air was 49.3 deg., and 1.2 above the 

 average in the corresponding weeks of the 20 years 

 ending 1868. The general direction of the wind 

 was S.W., and the horizontal movement of the air 

 averaged 11.3 miles per hour, which was 0.8 mile 

 below the average in the corresponding weeks of 16 

 years. Rain fell on Friday to the amount of 0.04 of 

 an inch. 



For the week ending 30th April, the mean reading 

 of the barometer was 29.68 in. The mean tempera- 

 ture of the air was 43.5 deg., and 4.7 below the 

 average in the corresponding weeks of the 20 years 

 ending 1868. The direction of the wind was variable, 



and the horizontal movement of the air averaged 13.5 

 miles per hour, 2.3 above the average in the corre- 

 sponding weeks of 16 years. Rain fell on six days of 

 the week, to the aggregate amount of 1.38 of an inch. 



For the week ending 7th May, the mean reading 

 of the barometer was 29.64 in. The mean tempera- 

 ture of the air was 47.7 deg., and 1.7 below the 

 average in the corresponding weeks of the 20 years 

 ending 186S. The general direction of the wind was 

 N.E., and the horizontal movement of the air averaged 

 9.0 miles per hour, which was 1.6 miles below the 

 average in the corresponding weeks of 16 years. 

 Rain fell on five days of the week, to the aggregate 

 amount of 0.54 of an inch. 



For the week ending 14th May, the mean reading 

 of the barometer was 30.11 in. The mean tempera- 

 ture of the air was 50.7 deg., and 0.3 above the 

 average in the corresponding weeks of the 20 years 

 ending 1868. The direction of the wind was variable, 

 and the horizontal movement of the air averaged 12.2 

 miles per hour, which was 1.8 above the average in 

 the corresponding weeks of 16 years. Rain fell on 

 three days of the week, to the aggregate amount of 

 0.17 of an inch. 



The mean temperature of June is 6o° for London 

 and most of the interior of the south of England ; but 

 on the south coast it is only 59 , and on the east and 

 west coasts it is only 5S , the lower temperature being 

 due of course to the cooling effect of the sea. 



The average rainfall for June is two inches for 

 nearly the whole of England. On a small portion of 

 the west coast of North Wales it is three inches. 



RECENT ARTICLES AND PAMPHLETS 

 WORTH READING. 



ARTISTIC PHILOSOPHY in Relation to 

 Landscape," by James John Hessey (three 

 papers in the " Amateur Photographer " for April). 

 — "The Water Supply of East Kent; Its Natural 

 Springs and Deep Wells," by George Dowker 

 ("Geological Magazine," May). — "The Presi- 

 dent's Address," by Rev. Dr. Dallinger ("Journal 

 Royal Microscopical Society," April).—" Homeric 

 Astronomy," by A. M. Clarke ("Nature," April). 

 — "Water Supply from Wells" (paper read before 

 the Institution of Civil Engineers, by Mr. J. W. 

 Grover, and reported in "The Builder," April 

 30). — "The Moon and the Weather" (English 

 Mechanic," April 29th). — "The Pure Cultivation of 

 Micro-Organisms, with Special Reference to Yeast," 

 by Dr. C. H. Morris ("Brewers' Guardian," April). 

 — " Primeval Man in the Valley of the Sea," by 

 Worthington G. Smith (" Essex Naturalist," May).— 

 " President's Address to the Quekett Club," by A. D. 

 Michael. — " The Preservation of Larva by Inflation " 

 ("Entomologist," May). — " The Autumnal Changes 

 in Maple Leaves," by W. K. Martin and S. B. 

 Thomas ("Botanical Gazette," April). 



