7<J ' Scientific Notices — Miscellaneous, [July, 



phic acquirements, and by his determination of several new and 

 .interesting mineral species. — (Ediu. Jour. Science.) 



*^* We are obliged to omit Mr. Haidinger's crystallographic 

 observations on Levey ne, as thoy cannot be well understood 

 without a figure. — Ed, 



Miscellaneous. , 



5. Astronomical Prize, •'' 



At a Sitting of the Academy of Sciences of Paris on the 23d 

 of May, the astronomical prize was unanimously adjudged to 

 Mr. Herschel and Mr. South for their observations of ii80 double 

 and triple stars, communicated to the Royal Society of London, 

 and by them pubhshed in their Transactions. 



6. Falling Star seen at Mid-day, 



On the 13th of August, 1823, at a quarter-past eleven in the 

 forenoon, as I was employed in measuring the zenith distances 

 of the pole-stitr to determine the latitude, a luminous body passed 

 over the field of the universal instrument telescope, the light of 

 which was somewhat greater than that of the pole-star. Its 

 apparent motion was from below upwards ; but as the telescope 

 shows images in an inverted position, its real motion, like that 

 of every falling body, was from above downwards. It passed 

 over the telescope in the space of a second, or a second and a 

 half, and its motion was neither perfectly equal nor rectilinear, 

 but resembled very much the unequal and somewhat serpentine 

 motion of an ascending rocket, from the unequal burning of the 

 charge, and the irregular reaction of the stream of air issuing 

 from it on the atmospheric air. It was thus evident that this 

 meteor moved in our atmosphere, but it must have been at a 

 considerable height, since its angular motion was so slow. This 

 is, perhaps, the only instance in which a shooting star has been 

 seen at mid-day in clear sunshine. Hansteen. — (Edin. Phil. Jour.) 



7. Notice reaardinfr Copernicus. ' ' 



The name of this celebrated astronomer was written Kop^eftrt 

 nick ; he was a canon and physician, and occupied hiraselfilin 

 directing buildings. The aqueducts which he constructed^ «tf 

 Graudenz, Thorn, and Dantzig, still exist. He took 24 years X^ 

 produce his famous astronomical system, against which the 

 thunders of the Vatican were hurled when the author was dead. 

 The sentence of condemnation was only repealed at Rotne ii^ 



although, at this period. Thorn did not belong to the Prussians. 

 —(Edin. Phil. Jour.) 



