1864. } The Royal Astronomical Society. 283 
heaping-up of the luminous masses at the extreme edge of the spot.” . . 
“The rotary motion of a profound spot may be produced by the 
exploded gas having acquired a whirlwind sort of action, and thus 
carrying round the parts of the different strata affected by it in the 
same direction.” 
At the close of the paper Mr. Dawes gives as an addendum some 
extracts from an elaborate paper by Sir William Herschel, printed in 
volume XCI. of the ‘ Philosophical Transactions,’ in which the observa- 
tions of many years are discussed ; and which seem in many particulars 
to bear out the observations of Mr. Dawes. 
Next to the sun, the moon is perhaps the most interesting body 
to the amateur observer, and we generally have a paper of some kind 
about her at one or more meetings during the session. Mr. Birt did 
not fail with his favourite topic at the first meeting, and gave the 
Fellows a paper on the Extension of Lunar Nomenciature. Many 
craters still remain on our maps unnamed, whilst there are several that 
have been altogether omitted, and that too on our best lunar maps. 
These latter Mr. Birt has laid down; whilst to those wanting names 
he has, in conjunction with Dr. Lee, of Hartwell, given designations. 
A list is appended of the spots so named, with their numbers (in 
accordance with those adopted by the Rev. T. W. Webb), together 
with the selenographical longitudes and latitudes of each. 
The moon also furnished the subject of a paper by the Rev. H. C. 
Key, entitled “ On Certain Depressions on the Moon’s Western Limb ;” 
and as the paper contains some observations of a novel character, we 
shall treat somewhat more fully of the subject. The author does not 
mean the general depressions on the moon’s surface, but as he himself 
expresses it, “of depressions of large area—not of comparatively 
small gullies, lying between elevated ranges, which are constantly to 
be seen projected on the limb, but of vast tracts, the general level of 
which lies very considerably beneath the mean level of the moon’s 
surface.” Mr. Key took great pains to satisfy himself that the instru- 
ment was in proper adjustment, and that the phenomenon he observed 
was not due to any defect in the telescope. Perhaps the best way of 
showing our readers the extraordinary nature of these depressions, will 
be to present them with a copy of the drawing illustrating the paper in 
question. 
The circumstanées of the discovery are thus related :—‘‘ Having 
mounted my new 12-inch glass speculum, I had for some time past 
