170 ASTRONOMY FOR 1889, 1890. 



new society is thus to be regarded as supplemeutary to the older one, 

 and not its rival. The first general meeting was held on October 24, 

 1890, iu the hall of the Society of Arts, Adelphi, Loudon, and the offi- 

 cers nominated by a provisional committe '. were elected, Capt. W. 

 Noble being made president. The sections under which the work of ob- 

 servation is organized are : Meteoric, solar, lunar, spectroscopic, and 

 photographic, colored stars, variable stars, double stars, and Jupiter, 

 each section being presided over by an amateur astronomer who has 

 devoted special attention to the subject named. The first number of 

 the Journal appeared iu October, 1890, under the able editorship of 

 Mr. E. W. Maunder. 



Gesellschaft Urania. — The building forming the headquarters of the 

 Gesellschaft Urania was completed iu July, 1889, and is described at 

 some length by Dr. M. W. Meyer in the February and March numbers 

 of Himmel und Erde. The Gesellschaft is for the purpose of popular- 

 izing science. The chief astronomical instrument is a 12-inch refractor 

 by Bamberg, the glass for which was made by Schott & Co., of Jena. 

 There are also a G-iuch and a 4-inch refractor, a 6-inch reflector, a 2^- 

 inch transit, and a 5-inch comet-seeker. These instruments are for the 

 use of visitors, and for cloudy nights a collection of 700 lantern slides is 

 provided. 



The thirteenth meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft was held at 

 Brussels, Septembr 10 to 12, 1889. The next meeting is at Munich in 

 1891. 



Astronomical prizes. — The Lalande prize of the French Academy of 

 Sciences was awarded for 1889 to M. Gonnessiat of the Lyons observa- 

 tory, the Valz prize to Oharlois, and the Janssen prize to Lockyer. 



In 1890 the Lalande prize was awarded to Schiaparelli for his obser- 

 vations determining the rotation of Mercury and Venus, the Valz prize 

 to Glaseuapp for his determination of the orbits of double stars, and 

 the Janssen prize to Young. The Damoiseau prize, for which but one 

 memoir was presented, was continued for another year with the same 

 subject: To perfect the theory of the inequalities of long period caused 

 by the planets in the motion of the moon. 



The Copley medal of the Koyal Society was awarded on- November 

 20, 1890, to Professor Simon Newcomb for his contributions to gravita- 

 tional astronomy. 



The first award of the Donohoe medal was made to Mr. W. R. Brooks 

 for the discovery of a comet on March 19, 1890 ; the second to Mr. W. 

 F. Denning for his comet of July 23, 1890, and the third to Monsieur 

 Jerome Coggia, astronomer of the observatory of Marseilles, for his 

 discovery of a comet on July 18, 1890, this being the eighth comet 

 discovered by M. Coggia. 



A generous gift has been made in aid of astronomical research by Miss 

 C. W. Bruce, of New York, who placed in the hands of Professor Picker- 

 ing, director of the Harvard Observatory, $6,000. In answer to a circular 



