858 



EECEEATIYE SCIENCE. 



fashioned by tlie same Almiglity hand that 

 formed the wonderful complex organs of man 

 himself. The thought was conceived, M^as 

 the fungus the cause or the effect of the 

 disease ? What a wide field for inquiry was 

 opened by this decayed nut, what happiness 

 to look, as it were, into some of the mysteries 

 of God's work, and see and know that nothing 

 is made in vain ; tha*; the decay of one plant 

 or animal furnishes food for others, until at 

 length animal, plant, and parasite yield to the 

 Almighty fiat, and return to their kindred 

 dust, and even in their last act affording 

 means of subsistence to a new race more 

 highly developed. 



W. P. COOPES. 



METEOEOLOGY OF MAY. 



FROII OBSERVATIONS AT hlGHFIELD HOUSE OBSERVATORY. 



The greatest heat in the sh.aue reached 84-5' in 1847, 

 and84''ia 1858, and only 67-0^ in 1842 and 1843, giving 

 a range of 17'5''in greatest heat for May during the 

 last eighteea years. The temperature rose ahove SO' 

 in 1816, 1847, 1848, 1853, 1855, and 1858, and did-not 

 reach 70' in 1842, 1843, and 1845, 



The greatest cold was as low as 230'' in 1843, 

 and 28-8'' in 1855, and never below 49-0' in 1840, giving 

 a range of 14'0' for greatest cold in May during tlie 

 last eighteen years. The temperature did not descend 

 to the freezing point in 1842, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, 

 and 1848, since which year there have been frosts 

 every May, the coldest years being 18-43, 1853, 1855, 

 and 1857. 



The range of temperature in May was as much as 

 55-1° in 1855, and as little as 29'0' in 1842. 



Only half an inch of rain fell in 1844 and 1859, 

 and as much as 5 inches in 1847, giving a range of 

 4-5 inches for May during the past seventeen years. 

 In fourteen years the fall exceeded an inch, and in six 

 years it exceeded two inches j the mean amount for 

 May being 1"8 inches. 



E. J. Lowe. 



ASTEONOMTCAL OBSEEVATIOIs^S 

 EOE MAY, 1860. 



The Sun remains in the constellation Taurus until the 

 20tli, when he moves into Gemini. He rises in 

 Loudon on the 10th at 4h. 18m., on the 20th at 4h. 

 3m., and on the 31st at 3h. 51m., being forty-three 

 minutes earlier on the last day th m on the first. He 

 sets in London on the 10th at 7h. oOm., on the 20th at 

 7h. 50ra., and on the 31st at 8h. 4m. p.m., or forty- 

 three minutes later on the last than on the first day. In 

 the middle of the month, he rises at Dublin nine 

 minutes earlier than in London. At Edinburgh, in 

 the middle of the month, he rises twenty-one minutes 

 earlier, and sets twenty-two minutes later tlian in 

 London, there being in Edinburgh 13 hours and 19 

 minutes of sunlight, and in London 15 hours and 37 

 minutes. 



The sun reaches the meridian on the 10th at llh. 

 50m. lis. ; on the 20th at llh. 50m. 17s. ; and on the 

 31st at llh. 57m. 25s. 



The equation of time on the 10th is 3m. 49s. ; and 

 on the 31st, 2m. 35s. after the Sun, and consequently 

 subtractive. 



Day brealts on the 11th at Ih. 21m., and on the 21st 

 at Oh. '28m. 



Twilight ends on the 11th at lOh. 31m., and on the 

 19th at llh. 17m. 



Length of day on the 2nd, 14h. 5lm., and on the 

 10th, 15h. 37m. 



On the 3rd, no night at Edinburgh, and on the 

 23rd no night in London. 



The moon is fall on the 5th at 7h. 2m. a.m. 



New moon on the 20th, at Oh. 46m. p.m. 



The moon is nearest to the earth on the 2nd and 

 29th, and furthest removed from us on the 14th. 



Mercury is a morning star, and favourably situated 

 for observation. During the mouth he passes from 

 the constellation Pisces to Aries, and finally into 

 Taurus, being slightly north of the Hyades at the 

 close of the month. He rises on the 1st at 4h. Im. 

 a.m., on the 10th at 3h. 40m. a.m., on the 20th at 

 3h. 32m., and on the 30th at 3h. 29m. a.m. ; setting 

 on the 1st at 4b. 39m. p.m., on the 21st at 6h. 4m., 

 and on the 31st at 7h. 14m. p.m. 



Venus is a splendid object in the western sky 

 during the evening. On the 11th she will be of the 

 form of a half-moon, and have a diameter of nearly 

 24", intensely white in colour, and casting strong 

 shadows in the absence of the moon. She is in Tau- 



