68 Chronicles of Science. [ Jan., 
manner very creditable to themselves. It is painful to have to note 
as an exception one eminent mathematician, who having assumed a 
false position, seems to be ashamed to withdraw from it. 
An annular eclipse of the sun will take place on February 23rd. 
It will be invisible at Greenwich, but the northern line of simple 
contact will pass very close to England, so that in the northern 
parts of France the eclipse will be visible as a partial one. 
Venus will be well situated for observation during the ensuing 
months, as an evening star. She will attain her greatest easterly 
elongation on May 6th. 
We have to announce the discovery of two more Asteroids, both 
detected by Professor Watson, of Ann Arbor (U.8.)—one on the 
24th of August, the other on the 6th of September, 1867. 
The twenty-five inch object-glass, which has been for some time 
in the hands of Mr. Cooke, the eminent optician, is at length com- 
pleted. This is the largest refractor that has ever been constructed, 
and we may look for important discoveries through its application 
to the observation of celestial objects. For it has been shown 
satisfactorily that the object-glass is optically excellent. On Novem- 
ber 5th, 1867, the telescope was directed to the star y Andromede, 
and the small companion was seen distinctly divided, with the 
spurious discs of the three stars of this triple system perfectly 
round. “'T'o those who know what a telescope is,’ says the Pre- 
sident of the Astronomical Society, “and how the difficulties of 
making it are enormously increased with extension of aperture, 
this statement is enough.” He added that in his opinion there 
were several opticians in London who could make a glass of the 
same dimensions and optical accuracy, and that therefore it was 
quite unnecessary to seek out of England—as is frequently done— 
for any optical instrument whatever. 
Mr. Dawes has at length completed the list of double-star 
observations, which has been one of the results of his long and 
most valuable labours with the telescope. 
PROCEEDINGS oF THE RoyAL ASTRONOMICAL Society. 
Dr. Edmund Weise supplies an important and valuable paper 
on the total eclipse of August 17th, 1868. He has computed the 
position of the central line of the eclipse and of the limits of the 
totality, by Hansen’s formule. He finds that the shadow touches 
the earth near Gondar, in Abyssinia, crosses the Straits of Bab-el- 
Mandeb, including Perim, Mokha, and Aden ; leaves Arabia by the 
Cape Ras-Furtak, and enters the peninsula of India between Goa 
and Rajahpoor. We have already described the path of the shadow 
across India. The maximum duration of totality occurs in the 
