ASTRONOMY. 1 05 



inasmuch as the Durchinusteruiig of Professor Schoiilield comprises all 

 the southern stars within this region, while accurate determinations of 

 the brighter ones will have been made in the re-observ^ation of Lalande's 

 stars now nearly completed at the Paris Observatory. 



PulJcoiva catalogue of 3,542 stars for 1855.0. — Volume viii of the Pul- 

 kowa Observations is to contain two catalogues of stars deduced from 

 observations made with the meridian circle from 1840 to 18G9. The first 

 of these — the one that has just been published — contains, with the ex- 

 ception of the Pulkowa fundamental stars (observed with the transit 

 instrument and vertical circal), all Bradley's stars between the north 

 ])ole and 15° south declination, and also a comparatively small number 

 of other stars down to the sixth magnitude, inclusive, given in the 

 Uranometria Nova of Argelander, in the same i)art of the sky. A few 

 fainter stars have also been taken into the catalogue. The whole work 

 has been in the hands of Dr. Backlund. (Bull, astron., November, 188(5.) 



Kam's catalogue of '•'■ Jsacliricliten^'' stars for 1855.0. — " Dr. N. M. Kam 

 of Schiedam has published in Verhandelingen derKouinklijke Akademie 

 van Wetenschappeu, Deel. 24 (Amsterdam), a star catalogue comi)iled 

 from the places of stars determined by meridian observations, which 

 have been extracted from volumes 1 to GO of the Astronomische Nach- 

 richten, and reduced to the epoch 1855.0. The positions of the stars 

 contained in this catalogue were determined in connection with obser- 

 vations of planets and comets, and it was in compliance with Arge- 

 lander's express desire that the work of collecting them and reducing 

 the positions to a common epoch was commenced by Hock, then di- 

 rector of the Utrecht Observatory. Dr. Kam, who was Hoek's assist- 

 ant, continued the work after the death of the latter, and has at length 

 been able to publish his results. The principal catalogue contains the 

 completely determined places of 4,350 stars, and is followed by two 

 subsidiary catalogues, the first giving the places of 236 stars, and the 

 second those of 335 stars ; all of the latter, however, are incorajdete, 

 i. e., the place is given in one element oidy. The catalogues are followed 

 by a comparison of the i^laces of the stars contained in them with 

 their places as given in tl>e Bonn Durchmusterung, or, for stars south 

 of — 2° declination, with other authorities. Notes on proper motions, 

 corrigenda, etc., are appended, which are of considerable interest an«l 

 value." (Nature, June 3, 188G.) 



Romberg's catalogue of *■' NaGhrichten^^ stars (1855.0). — Herr Romberg, 

 of the Pulkowa Observ^atory, has compiled a catalogue of about 8,000 

 stars extracted from the Astronomische Nachrichten, volumes 07 to 112, 

 and his work now appears as Publication xviii of the Astronomische 

 Gesellschaft. This is a continuation of a similar compilation (Pub. viii, 

 Astron. Gesellsch.), by Sciijellerup, from the first sixty-six volumes of 

 the Nachrichten, and is prepared on much the same plan. The stars 

 have ai)pear<'.d in the Nachrichten as comparison stars for i)lanets, com- 

 ets, etc., and ha\'e been collected by liomberg and reduced to 1855.0. 



