ASTRONOMY. 153 



Palermo (1885). — ]!^ew comets, shooting stars, solar spots, and pro- 

 tuberances have been observed ; drawings liave been made of the 

 planets, and atmospheric phenomena have been studied. 



Faris (1885). — The report of Admiral Mouchez, presented to the 

 council on the 22d of January, 1886, gives especial prominence to the 

 work in astronomical photography. A reproduction is given of a pho- 

 tograph of the Pleiades taken by the Henry Brothers, and also an il- 

 lustration of the instrument employed. We have already referred to 

 nrauy of the interesting results obtained. Three instruments have 

 been used for photography; the first (aperture 6.3 inches), the exper- 

 imental instrument used in 1884, has been employed in photometric 

 researches. The second is a smaller instrument, aperture 4.3 inches, 

 for i)liotographing large comets and extended groups of stars. The 

 third is the equatorial of 13 inches apertiare, with which the more im- 

 portant work has been done. 



The routine work has not, however, suffered ; in the meridian service 

 over sixteen thousand observations have been made by sixteen differ- 

 ent observers; the instrument devised by M. Loewy, the equatorial 

 coude, has been used for the observation of comets and minor planets, 

 and the time service, meteorological department, etc., are all in a most 

 satisfactory condition. The reductions for the great catalogue w^ere 

 completed up to 8'^ right ascension. The catalogue has been printed up 

 to number 3,800. 



Plonslc (1885). — Comets, double stars, etc., have been observed, and 

 an interesting study of the atmospheric lines of the spectrum has been 

 undertaken. Dr. Jedrzejewicz, the director, has made a new deter- 

 mination of the geographical co-ordinates of the observatory with the 

 following result: Latitude, +52° 37' 40"; longitude, 27'" 57«.07 east 

 of Berlin. 



Potfidam (1885). — Dr. Vogel's most interesting report occupies more 

 than ten pages of the Vierteljahjsschrift (vol. 21, pp. 132-142). The 

 instruments have been improved in many minor details, and sevei-al 

 pieces of subsidiary apparatus have been added. Drs. Miiller and 

 Kempf have devoted considerable time to finishing the new determina- 

 tion of wave-lengths of the Fraunhofer lines. Drs. Vogel and Wilsing 

 have been at work upon the spectra of new stars, spectra of comets, and 

 spectra of solar spots and protuberances. Dr. Miiller has made a num- 

 ber of photometric observations of the major and minor planets, while 

 Dr. Wilsing has observed variable stars. Dr. Lohse has made a series 

 of drawings of Jupiter, and has obtained one hundred and forty-six 

 photographs of the sun ; these latter, taken in connection with Dr. 

 Spoerer's telescopic observations, will furnish ample material for the 

 history of the spots. Dr. Lohse has also continued his series of photo- 

 graphs of star-clusters with gratifying success. Dr. Wilsing hascarried 

 on a very interesting series of experiments to determine the density of 

 the earth. Tlie third part of volume four and the fifth volume of the 



