EECREATIVE SCIENCE. 



287 



4th moon reappears. On the 9th, at 9h. 29m. 498. 

 p.m., 1st moon reappears. On the 16th, at llh. 25m. 

 9s. p.m., 1st moon reappears. On the 22ncl, at 9h. 

 11m. 52s. p.m., 2nd moon reappears. On the 24th, 

 at Ih. 20m. 33s. a m., 1st moon reappears. On the 

 25th, at 7h. 49m. 263. p.m., 1st moon reappears. On 

 tiie 25th, at 8h. 12m. 54s. p.m., 3rd moon re- 

 appears. On the 29th, at llh. 47m. 44s. p.m., 2nd 

 moon reappears. 



At 10 p.m., meantime, on the 8th, the 1st moon is 

 on the body of Jupiter, and %ain on the 31st. On 

 the 20th, the second moon is on the body, and on the 

 2 1st, the 3rd moon is on the body, of Jupiter. 



Occultations of Stars by the Moon at Greenwich : — 

 On the 4th, S Cancri (4th magnitude star) disappears 

 at 7h. 14m. p.m., and reappears at 8h. 15m. p.m. On 

 the 5th, 18 Leonis (5th magni- 

 tude star) disappears at 9h. 12m. 

 p.m., and reappears at lOh. 18m. 

 p.m. On the 5th, E Leonis (va- 

 riable star) disappears at lOli. 

 7m. p.m., and reappears at llh. 

 I3m. p.m. VENUS. 



Illuminated Portion of the Discs of Venus and 

 Mars on March 15th :— Venus = 0-745 ; Mars = 0884. 



E. J. Lowe. 



THINGS OF THE SEASON— MARCH. 



FOR VAEIOUS LOCALITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Birds Arriving. —Bunting, Eeed Sparrow, Eed- 

 legged Sea-mew, Stone Curlew, Least Willow Wren,, 

 Wheatear. 



Birds Departing.— Teal, Widgeon, Snipe, Wood- 

 cock, Solan Goose, Fieldfare, Merlin, Eed-headed 

 I'ocher, Turnstone, Eedwing, Thrush. 



Insects.— Byrrhus pilula, Opilus mollis, Leistus 

 fulvibarbis, Poecilus cupreus, Stomispumicatus, Whirl- 

 wig Beetle, Necrophorus vespillo and mortuorum. 

 Lesser Stag Beetle, 23-spotted Coccinella, Orange Un- 

 derwing, March Moth, Chrysomela litura, Pedinus 

 femoralis. 



Wild Plants in Flower.— Spring Crocus, Sweet 

 Violet, Daffodil, Star of Bethlehem, Two-leaved Squill, 

 Mezereon, Cotton Grass, Blackthorn, Strawberry po- 

 tentilla, Basque Flower, Lesser Celandine, Mai-sh 

 Marigold, Colt's-foot, Ground Ivy, Wood Spurge, Alder, 

 Small-leaved Elm, Butcher's-broom, Poplars. 



jM^JSToteworthy'sCfi 



orner. 



Food fob Tame Fishes.— One of Mr. Noteworthy's 

 friends feeds his fishes with boiled rice, and they eat 

 it greedily,and thrive upon it. The rice is boiled in water 

 till quite soft, then drained nearly dry, and of course 

 given when cold. Carp of all kinds, minnows, roach, 

 and other fishes in the aquarium, like it exceedmgly. 



Cheap Gas Eequlatoe. — Gas requires a certain 

 proportion of atmospheric air to be mixed with it, in 

 order to obtain proper combustion in connection with 

 the evolution of as large an amount of light as possible. 

 The reason urged for putting on 

 great pressure at the works is, 

 that the gas, being much lighter 

 than common air, shows decided 

 disinclination to go . down-hill 

 itself, beyond the level of its 

 birth-place, and make its appear- 

 ance in depressed situations ; 

 force is therefore found requisite 

 to make it " move on," and as 

 this cannot be so nicely adjusted 

 as to suit all circumstances, 

 fizzing is the result. To remedy 

 this various appliances have been 

 tried, the general object being to 

 retard the flow of gas near the 

 point of combustion, by adding 

 chambers filled with different ma- 

 terials after the manner of a filter. C!„„i- en -1 

 rr 3 ^\ J- ■ •. • , Section of Gas-nib, 



lo remedy the fizzing, it is only as fill 1 



necessary to unscrew the nib, and 

 partially fill it with a piece of unravelled string, 

 pressed in more tightly according to the amount of 

 relief required; screw the nib on again, and the 

 operation and regulator will be completed. For this 

 Mr. Noteworthy is indebted to Mr. Thomas Goodchild, 

 of Reading. 



Meteorology of 1859. — In looking over his wea- 

 ther journal, Mr. Noteworthy finds that the chief 

 meteorological phenomena of 1859 may be classed 

 under three heads. First, as to temperature, the 

 spring and autumn were severely cold, sharp frosts 

 and snow came at the end of March, continued inter- 

 mittedly till the end of May, and again in October 

 frost again occurred, and lasted till nearly the end of 

 the year. Between these two rigorous seasons occurred 

 an intensely hot summer, which in the month of July 

 attained to an oppressive degree of heat. Secondly, 

 as to the duration of the summer. There was no 

 frost in the air from April 2.3 to October 22, a period 

 of twenty-four weeks. There was no frost on grass at 

 night from May 9 to October 21, a period of twenty- 

 two weeks. Thus the summer was of the same length 

 as in 1858. In 1857, the summer lasted only twenty 

 weeks, and in 1856 oiily fourteen. In atmospheric 

 phenomena the year was remarkable for numerous 

 and severe storms. The register at Lloyd's reveals 

 many a sad story of marine disaster besides that of 

 the " Eoyal Charter." There were 500 bodies strewed 

 upon our coasts in one week. On the 2nd of July 

 occurred a tremendous storm of hail near London, 

 which in one nursery alone destroyed more than an acre 

 of glass. That storm was followed by three weeks of 

 intensely hot weather. The storm was foretold by the 

 barometer, as was also the circular hurricane later in 

 the year, by which the great ship was charred into 

 fragments within a gunshot of her home. 



