324 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1882. 



be designated by the tweuty-four letters of the alphabet (leaving out J 

 and W). 



" By the general adoption of this system, or even a modified form of 

 it, all the countries in the world would thus be brought into harmony, 

 and 'cosmopolitan time' would be recorded simultaneously on the faces 

 of all the clocks in the world, the incalculable advantages of which must 

 be seen to be fully appreciated. 



"A convention of geographers lately held in Venice passed resolutions 

 expressing their' approbation and admiration of President Barnard's 

 plan, prophesying that the present zealous agitation of this subject will 

 before long bring about a radical change in the systems now in use." — 

 (From the Allg. Jour, der JJhrmacherkunst.) 



Astronomical prizes, salaries, &c. — The French Academy of Sciences 

 has recently awarded the Lalande prize to Dr. Lewis Swift, of Eoches- 

 ter, N. Y., for his discovery of seven comets in four years. One of them, 

 Comet E, 1880, which is identical with Comet III, 1869, discovered by 

 Tempel, is a short-period comet. The Valz prize was awarded to Dr. D. 

 Gill, astronomer at the Cape, for his researches on the solar parallax, 

 especially for his observations of Mars, at Ascension, in 1877. 



From the British navy estimates for 1881-'82, the following items of 

 interest are extracted: '■''Greenwich Observatory, total, £5,144. The 

 salary of the Astronomer Eoyal (to be reconsidered on the appointment 

 of a successor to Sir G. B. Airy), £1,200; of the chief assistant, £000; 

 two first-class assistants, £787; four second-class assistants, £1,017; 

 expenses for repairs, apparatus, &c., £2,639. Gape of Good Hope Ob- 

 servatory, total estimate for salaries, apparatus, «&c., £2,703. Nautical 

 Almanac, £3,203, including salary of the suiierintendent, £550. The 

 average annual sale of the almanac for the last five years is estimated 

 at 16,749 copies. The chronometers of the royal navy cost £1,432; and 

 the expenses of the compass department are £2,146." 



