HARDW1 CKE ' S S CIENCE- G O SSIP. 



275 



pearance takes place at I hr. 50 min. 74 from the 

 vertex ; the reappearance at 2 his. 34 min. morning, 

 170 from the vertex. 



Rising, Southing, and Setting 0/ the Principal 

 Planets at intei~vals of Seven Days. 



In December, Mercury will be a morning star after 

 the first few days of the month. 



Venus will be an evening star towards the end of 

 the month. Mars will be an evening star. Saturn 

 will be almost stationary in Gemini. 



On December 2lst, the Sun enters Capricornus, 

 and Winter commences at 9 hrs. in the afternoon. 



Meteorology. — At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 

 the mean reading of the barometer^ for the week 

 ending the 23rd of October was 29.51 in. The 

 mean temperature of the air was 49 deg. 2, and 

 1.4 below the average in the corresponding week 

 of the 20 years ending 1868. The direction of the 

 wind was variable, and_the horizontal movement of 

 the air averaged^ 7. 7 miles per hour, which was*3-4 

 below the average in the corresponding week of 16 

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

 aggregate amount of 0.07 of an inch. 



For the week ending October 30th the mean 

 reading of the barometer was 29.98 in. The mean 

 temperature of the air was 50.5, and 2.0 above the 

 average in the corresponding weeks of the 20 years 

 ending 1868. The general direction of the wind was 

 easterly, and the horizontal movement of the air 

 averaged 13.3 miles per hour, which was 1.9 above 

 the average in the corresponding week of 16 years. 



Rain fell on four days of the week to the aggregate 

 amount of 0.1 3 of an inch. 



For the week ending November 6th, the mean 

 reading of the barometer was 29.62 in. The mean 

 temperature of the air was 48.9, and 2.6 above the 

 average in the corresponding weeks of the 20 years 

 ending 1S68. The general direction of the wind 

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

 averaged 12.8 miles per hour, which was 1.3 above 

 the average in the corresponding week of 16 years. 

 Rain fell on five days of the week to the aggregate 

 amount of 1. 19 of an inch. 



For the week ending 13th of November, the mean 

 reading of the barometer last week was 29.33 m - 5 

 the mean temperature of the air was 42.9 deg., and 

 0.6 below the average in the corresponding weeks of 

 the 20 years ending 186S. The direction of the wind 

 was variable, and the horizontal movement of the air 

 averaged 9.9 miles per hour, which was 1.8 below the 

 average in the corresponding week of 16 years. Rain 

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

 of 1.37 of an inch. 



The mean air temperature for December is 41 for 

 Edinburgh, 42 for Berwick, 43 for Hull, Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, and London, 44 from Canterbury to Cardiff, 

 and 45 along the South coast. 



The average rainfall for December from Sunderland 

 to London is 2 inches, along the South coast it is 

 3 inches, and on the West coast it ranges as high 

 as 4 and 5 inches. The last-named rainfall would 

 equal nearly 520 tons of water to each acre. 



A CHAPTER ON FOSSIL INSECTS. 



PERHAPS no branch of palaeontology has been 

 so much neglected as that which relates to the 

 fossil remains of insects. Recently, however, the 

 labours of such zealous workers as Professor Heer, 

 in Europe, and Mr. Scudder in America, have added 

 considerably to our knowledge of this branch of 

 science, and it may not therefore be altogether with- 

 out interest for us to pass briefly in review what is at 

 present known about fossil insects and the geological 

 age of their several Orders. 



The oldest remains of insects which have as yet 

 been discovered belong to species allied to the 

 Neuroptera, and consist only of a few fragments of 

 wings discovered by the late Professor C. F. Hartt 

 in some Middle Devonian shales on the coast near 

 the city of St. John, New Brunswick, all of which 

 have been carefully figured and described by Dr. 

 Dawson and Mr. Scudder. These fragments are 

 specially interesting on account of the synthetic 

 character they exhibit ; that is, the combination in 

 each individual case of features now characteristic of 

 different families. For example, one of the oldest of 

 these insects [Xenoneura antiquorum) exhibits traces 



