ASTRONOMY. 201 



ill the Sidereal Meseenger, and the metbod is to be applied to the Uar- 

 vaid Collejie circle. It need not be said that there is hardly any prob- 

 lem in practical astronomy whose solution is more important than this, 

 and Professor Kojjers's final lesults will be waited for with impatience. 



Beelinograpli.—Dr. Palisa has had a declinograph, on the plan of 

 Dr. Knorre's at Berlin, titted to the lliiuch Alvau Clark refractor at 

 Vienna, and he is observing zones with even greater assiduity than 

 usual. He reports himself as satisfied with the working of the instru- 

 ment, which gives positions accurate to about 0^2 and 2". In a zone 

 25™ by 20' 150 stars can be registered. The positions are to be reduced 

 to 1875.0, and this is chosen as the equinox for all the new Vienna 

 maps. Each map is to have a catalogue of its stars accompanying it, 

 which is an excellent addition. Dr. Peters's catalogue of G0,000 zone 

 stars would be of great usefulness, if it were available, as a supplement 

 to his splendid series of celestial charts. 



The price of the instrument is about $150. 



Heliometer. — A new 7-iuch heliometer is to be made for the Capo Ob- 

 servatory, for work in charge of Dr. Gill. It wi 1 cost £2,700, and is 

 being constructed by Messrs. Eepsold, of Hamburg. 



ASTRONOMICAL BIBLIOCIRAPnT, ETC. 



Mr. Winlock is attempting a very extensive bibliographic task. It 

 is the formation of a complete subject-index to every book in the library 

 of the United States I^aval Observatory. The entries are all to be en- 

 tered in one alphabet. This is an immense work and will require much 

 time. If special bibliographies of such subjects as Parallax, Photome- 

 try, etc., could be printed in advance they would be most useful, and 

 the publication of a minute index to the V. J. S. der Astr. Gesell. is a 

 want pressingly felt. 



ASTRONOMICAL JOURNALS. 



Besides the transactions of learned societies which have astronomy 

 for one of their objects, we have at present the publications of two so- 

 cieties which are exclusively devoted to astronomy. These are the 

 Montlihj Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the Vicrteljahrs- 

 schrift of the German Astronomical Society. Besides these there are 

 several journals exclusively devoted to astronomy, of which the Astro- 

 nomische Nachrichten and the Bulletin Astronomique are by far the most 

 important. 



The Monthly Notices are chiefly short papers read at the regular meet- 

 ings of the society, and abstracts of the larger ones, which are finally 

 printed in full in the Memoirs. One number per year gives an interest- 

 ing review of the work of the past twelve months, and a very full ac- 

 count of the proceedings of British observatories. The Yierteljahrs- 

 schrift devotes one of its four annual numbers to reports from the direct- 

 ors of observatories, chiefly in Germany and America. The other three 



