HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



179 



During the Solar Eclipse of the 19th of August the 

 line of totality will traverse Russia in Europe and 

 Asia, and pass over Japan near Jeddo. One of the 

 most advantageous points will be not far from 

 Moscow. 



Dr. Copeland and the Reverend S. J. Terry will 

 go from England. Professor C. A. Young of Prince- 

 town Observatory, U.S.A. will observe the eclipse 

 at Kineshma. Mr. Common of Ealing, and Mr. 

 Turner of the Royal Observatory, and two Italian 

 astronomers, Professors Tacchini and Ricco, will be 

 nearer to Moscow, The duration of the totality will 

 be longest in the S.E. of Siberia, where the eclipsed 

 sun will be higher than in Europe. At Irkutsk the 

 totality will last nearly five minutes. 



In England the sun will rise partially eclipsed, and 

 this partial eclipse will be over in five minutes. 



At the last meeting of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society the papers read were not popularly interesting. 

 Professor Pritchard read a paper on the parallax of 

 61 Cygni as obtained from the measurement of 330 

 photographs taken on eighty-nine nights. The result 

 substantially agrees with the parallax values deter- 

 mined by Bessel and Dr. Ball. There is a consider- 

 able difference between the values of the parallax of 

 this star as found by different observers. The 

 smallest value for its parallax results from the 

 observations of Professor A. Hall, made with the 

 great 26-inch refractor. 



On August 3rd there will be a partial eclipse of 

 the moon ; the first contact with the penumbra will be 

 at 6 hrs. 12 min. aft., the first contact with the 

 shadow at 7 hrs. 36 min., the middle of the eclipse at 

 •8 hrs. 49 min., the last contact with the ^hadow at 

 10 hrs. 2 min., and the last contact with the penumbra 

 at 11 hrs. 26 min. 



There will be no occultations beyond the 5th 

 magnitude. 



Venus will be at greatest brilliancy on August 

 16th. 



Mercury will be a morning star. 



Venus will be an evening star. 



Mars will be a morning star until August 20th, 

 when it enters Cancer. 



Saturn will be a morning star in Cancer. 



Meteorology. — In the Annual Report of the 

 Greenwich Observatory, it is stated that the mean 

 temperature of the year 18S6, was 48 7, being o° 6 

 below the average of the preceding forty-five years. 

 The highest air temperature in the shade was 89 8, 

 on July 6th, and the lowest 16 5, on January 7th. 

 The mean daily motion of the air was 291 miles, 

 being seven miles above the average of the prece- 

 ding nineteen years ; the greatest was 857 miles, 

 on December 8th, and the smallest 56 miles, on 

 October 8th. 



The hours of bright sunshine recorded in 1886 were 

 a, 223, which is about twenty hours above the 



Rising; Southing, a7id Setting of the Principal 

 Planets at intervals of Seven Days. 



average of the preceding nine years. The rainfall 

 during that year was 24*2 inches, being 0*5 inch 

 below the average of the preceding forty-five years. 



At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the highest 

 reading of the barometer for the week ending 25th of 

 June was'30*i7 in. on Monday evening, and the lowest 

 was 30 - o3 in. on Thursday afternoon and at the end of 

 the week. The mean temperature of the air was 60*3 

 deg., and o - 8 deg. below the average. The general 

 direction of the wind was N.E. No rain was measured 

 during the week. The duration of registered bright 

 sunshine in the week was 61*4 hours, against 55*6 

 hours at Glynde Place, Lewes. 



For the week ending 2nd July the lowest reading 

 of the barometer was 29*95 m - on Monday evening, 

 and the highest 30*28 in. on Thursday morning. The 

 mean temperature of the air was 62*9 deg., and i'2 

 deg. above the average. The direction of the wind 

 was variable. No rain was measured during the 

 week. The duration of registered bright sunshine in 

 the week was 44^2 hours, against 5 1 '4 hours at Glynde 

 Place, Lewes. 



For the week ending July 9th, the highest reading 

 of the barometer was 30'05 in. at the beginning of the 

 week, and the lowest was 2971 in. at the end of the 

 week. The mean temperature of the air was 69*3 

 deg., and 7 '5 deg. above the average. The direction 

 of the wind was variable. Rain fell on Tuesday to 

 the amount of 0^04 of an inch. The duration of 

 registered bright sunshine in the week was 70*1 hours, 

 against 71*5 hours at Glynde Place, Lewes. 



For the week ending July 16th, the lowest reading 

 of the barometer was 29*59 in. on Sunday morning, 



