no 



HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G SSI P. 



better than any amount of written description, the 

 long thin legs and the combs on the thorax being 

 perhaps the most striking features. 



At this stage of the descending scale may be 

 noticed (though not strictly an animal parasite) the 

 genus Braulidse, which infests some kinds of bees. 

 The peculiarity of the genus is that the last joint (or 

 tarsus) of the leg is in the form of a comb with long 

 teeth. They are of large size compared to their 

 hosts. All the above parasites are classified by some 

 writers under the name Pupipara, as in all the eggs 

 are hatched, and the larvae retained and nourished, 

 within the body of the mother, until they have arrived 

 at maturity, when they are extruded, and immediately 

 pass into the pupa state. Only a single larva is 

 developed at a time. 



ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 

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



IN the early part of April Fabry's comet became 

 visible to the naked eye. At the end of April 

 the comet approached the earth within about one-fifth 

 part of the distance of the sun, and its brightness 

 was theoretically nearly five hundred times greater 

 than when it was discovered on the 1st of December. 

 Barnard's comet is also increasing in apparent 

 brightness, though not so rapidly as Fabry's. It will 

 be in perihelion in May, and will be at its closest 

 distance from the earth about the end of that month. 

 In the early part of May it will be more than a 

 hundred times brighter than when it was discovered 

 on the 4th of December, and will then be about 

 half-way between the stars j8 and y Andromedse. 



Professor Kriiger has published (" Astronomische 

 Nachrichten," No. 2718) a calculation of the elements 

 for the approaching return of the orbit of the small 

 comet which was first discovered by M. Tempel in 

 1869, but was not recognised as being periodic until 

 its return in 1880, when it was rediscovered by Pro- 

 fessor Swift. Its period is about five and a-half years, 

 and it must have returned in 1875 without being seen. 

 On the present occasion, owing to its position and 

 distance, it will probably again pass without recog- 

 nition. 



Professor O. Struve saw the nebula near the star 

 Maia, in the Pleiades, on the 5th of February, with 

 the 30-inch telescope at Pulkowa. On the 23rd of 

 February he made a careful drawing of the nebula, 

 and on the following night he saw it with the 15-inch 

 refractor. There are several small stars round ,it, 

 from the twelfth to the fourteenth magnitude, one of 

 these being variable, for its magnitude was measured 

 on the 5th of February, and again on the 24th of 

 February, when it had decreased to a magnitude and 

 a-half less ; and on the 24th it was not visible with 

 the 15-inch telescope. 



Venus is a morning star ; at the greatest distance 



from the sun on the 29th of May. Saturn is an 

 evening star towards the end of the month. 



There will be no occultations of any stars above the 

 fourth magnitude this month. 



Rising, Southing, and Setting of the Principal 

 Planets at intervals of Seven Days. 



Meteorology. — The mean temperature of the week 

 ending March 20th was 3-4 below the average for 20 

 years. Rain fell on two days of the week to the 

 extent of o - i6 of an inch — about 17 tons to the acre. 

 The mean temperature of the week ending March 

 27th was 51 degrees, while in the preceding week it 

 was only 38 degrees ; it was greatly above the average 

 on each day of the week. The mean temperature of 

 the week ending April 4th was 47, and was 2'6 

 degrees above the average. Rain fell on six days of 

 the week to the aggregate amount of o - 57 of an inch- 

 nearly 60 tons to the acre. 



The average mean temperature of London in May 

 is between 53 and 54 degrees. The average rainfall 

 of London is between one and two inches. On the 

 south-east coast it is two inches, and on the south- 

 west coast, near Plymouth, it reaches three inches. 



ON MARINE COLLECTING WITH THE 



SURFACE-NET. 



By Dr. G. W. M. Giles. 



{Continued from p. 80.] 



IT will be found a useful practice to make a number 

 of rough, free-hand sketches of the different 

 parts of the animal as they come into advantageous 

 points of view, as they prove of great assistance in 

 the subsequent business of making an exact drawing 

 from the dead subject. Not infrequently our little 



