180 



EECREATIVE SCIENCE. 



80s. p.m., 1st moon disappears. On the 16th, at Ih. 

 38m. 17s. a.m., the 4th moon disappears. On the 16th, 

 at 5h. Om. 16s. a.m., 4th moon reappears. On the 

 17th, at 7h. 15m. 53s. p.m., 2nd moon disappears. 

 On the 22nd, at lOh. 15m. 10s. p.m., 1st moon disap- 

 pears. On the 24th, at 9h. 52m. 26s. p.m., 2nd moon 

 disappears. On the 30th, at Oh. 8m. 57s. a.m., 1st 

 moon disappears. On the 31st, at 6h. 37m. 26s. p.m., 

 1st moon disappears. On the 31st, atl2h. 28m. 593. 

 a.m., 2nd moon disappears. 



Meantime of the transit of the first point of Aries : — 

 On the 1st at 7h. 19m. 32s.; on the 15th, 6h. 24m. 29s. ; 

 and on the 31st, 5h. 21m. 358. 



E. J. Lowe. 



Highfield House Observatory, Nottingham. 



THINGS OF THE SEASON— DECEMBEK. 



FOR VARIOUS LOCALITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Birds Arriving. — Pintail, Scaup, Black Velvet 

 and Eider Ducks, Brent and Laughing Geese, Wild 

 Swan, Gray-headed and Orange-headed Gossanders, 

 Black-throated and Red-throated Divers, Grossbeak, 

 Sno-wflake, White Nun, Long-tailed and Tufted 

 Pochers, occasional flights of Eedpoles, Starlings, and 

 Skylarks from the Continent. Woodcocks continue 

 to arrive. 



Birds Departing. — Gray Plover. 



Wild Plants. — ^Verrucaria, Endive-leaved Ceno- 

 myce, Fringed Bornera, Thelotrema, Spiloma, Tar- 

 gionia, Graphis stricta, Glaucous Riccia, Christmas 

 Rose. Furze and Hepatica bloom in sheltered places. 

 Mistletoe berries ripen. 



Mt Noteworthy's Corner. 



Duration of Life. — Dr. Guy says that among lite- 

 rary men poets live the shortest lives of any. Taking 

 Tibullus, Persius, Lucilius, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, 

 Ovid, and Martial, as the leading Roman poets, the 

 average duration of life was 48^ years. Against these 

 he places for contrast, Kirke Wliite, Collins, Parnell, 

 Bums, Goldsmith, Thomson, Cowley, Shakspeare, 

 and Pope, and the average is 43 years. Married lite- 

 rary men live longer than the single. Of 188 men of 

 science, the lowest age at death was 22, and the highest 

 92 : the last was a naturalist. Scientific men have an 

 advantage over artists and literary men, but the pur- 

 suit of literature is pronounced by Dr. Guy favourable 

 to longevity, but destructive to life at early periods. 

 A comparison of 8449 facts gives as one result that 

 the duration of life of married men is greater than 

 that of the unmarried by as much as 5f years. 



Portable Furnace. — At a soiree, lately held at the 

 London University, Mr. Grifiin exliibited a portable 

 furnace of novel construction, adapted for laboratory 

 uses and for amateurs in metal-work. It can be placed 



on a table or bench, and, by means of a gas-flame, fed 

 by a flexible tube, produces a heat sufficiently intense 

 to melt any of the metals ordinarily used in the arts. 

 The expense of melting Sf lbs. of copper in ten mi- 

 nutes is three farthings. The caloric is economized, 

 and confined to a small area, by means of earthenware 

 discs ; and when the crucible containing the metal is 

 at a white heat, the hand may be placed on any part 

 of the apparatus externally without being burned. 



Earlt Frosts. — During twenty years past, there 

 have been four hard frosts in September, on one occa- 

 sion as early as the 7th. In fourteen years out of 

 twenty, sharp frosts have occurred between the 20th 

 and 30th of October. The earliest frosts during the 

 past twenty years occurred : — September 7, 1855 ; ther- 

 mometer, 28° ; duration of frost, one day. September 

 17, 1840; thermometer, 29°; duration, one day. Sep- 

 tember 20, 1856; thermometer, 29°; duration, one 

 day. September 27, 1847 ; thermometer, 28° ; duration, 

 one day. During the whole period, the frost of 1859 was 

 most severe, the thermometer was at 17° on the 23rd, 

 and the frost lasted eight days. The frost next in 

 severity to the one of the present year occurred on 

 the 21st of October, 1842, thermometer, 20°. These 

 registrations are from observations made at Chiswick, 

 of which Mr. Thompson has prepared a table, which 

 appeared in the Gardener's Chronicle on the 5tlx of last 

 month. 



The October Gales. — Admiral Fitzroy has proved, 

 by statistical data, that most of the painful disasters 

 resulting from the late gales might have been obviated 

 had the plain teachings of science been heeded by the 

 brave mariners whose bones have strewed our shores. 

 The barometer and thermometer distinctly foretold 

 that storms were coming. Science gave warning of 

 what Nature was about to do, and few of the many 

 who perislied but liad time to prepare against the 

 worst. The low state of the barometer, and the move- 

 ments of the thermometer, plainly indicated, first, a 

 storm from the north, and next a storm from the 

 south, as eventually happened. Nor was the warning 

 a short one ; it gave time for vessels far at sea to 

 prepare to ride it out, and for those near shore to seek 

 a proper refuge, and this the "Royal Charter" might 

 have done, and witli aU her living freight have come 

 safely into port at last. Mr. Noteworthy rejoices to 

 know that the life-boat and coast-guard stations are to 

 be provided with good barometers, and he hopes no 

 pride of personal daring will stand in tlie way of a 

 careful study of the indications of the valuable instru- 

 ment. Mr. Noteworthy learns from his friend, Mr. W. 

 C. Burder, through the columns of tlie Times, that 

 the storm of the 25th and the 26th was, probably, a 

 revolving one, but that the radius was so large, that 

 in the part of its course near Bristol, the tangent and 

 the arc may be considered parallel. With all the dis- 

 may and sorrow that come with the warring of the ele- 

 ments, the pliilosopher will mingle thankfulness that 

 man is not left utterly in the dark, but may, if he 

 chooses, see the cloud no bigger than a man's hand, 

 and shield his head against its bursting. 



