226 Astronomical Society. 



There was next read a paper by Mr. Utting, "On a new period 

 of eclipses" In this communication, Mr. Utting adverts to the 

 well-known Chaldean periods of 223 lunations and 6890 lunations : 

 but, besides these, there are others that have been brought in aid 

 of computations relative to eclipses. The new period, which Mr. 

 Utting proposes, consists of 3803 lunations, or about 307 Julian 

 years and IT^ days; at the end of which time he says the sun and 

 moon will be in conjunction at the opposite node to that from which 

 they started: and at the end of 7606 lunations they will be in con- 

 junction at the same node. Mr. Utting gives the secular motions 

 of the sun's longitude and anomaly, and of the moon's longitude, 

 anomaly and node, from the most recent tables : from which he de- 

 duces the correct period of a mean lunation ; and thence the other 

 neces.sary quantities for the computation of the time of the mean 

 conjunctions. 



The next papers were a series of observations by Major Hodg- 

 son: 1°. On the transit of Mercury over the sun's disc, on Nov. 4-, 

 1822. 2°. Occultations of stars by the moon; particularly of the 

 Pleiades on March 17,1823. 3°. A set of equal altitudes for deter- 

 mining the time at Futty Ghur. 4'°. Transits of Moon and moon- 

 culminating stars at the same place. 



Mr. Baity read the following extract of a letter from Professor 

 Harding, of Gottingen. — " You will be pleased to hear of a small 

 variable star, which I have discovered since June 9th, in last year. 

 It is situated in Serpens; and my observations (vvhich however are 

 not very correct) give its position for hSOO, as follows ; 



jR - 235° 22' 3" D = -f- 15° 44.' 48" 



" It has, at this time, its greatest light ; and will soon begin to di- 

 minish. As far as I have yet observed, its period seems to be about 

 eleven months. This star is neither in the Histoire Celeste, nor in 

 Bessel's ZoHes ; nor have I observed it before the year 1826. When 

 smallest, it is entirely invisible." 



A letter was read from Mr. Georgelnnes, of Aberdeen, giving the 

 results of his computations relative to the solar eclipse of the 28th 

 of November last. He states that in calculating the parallaxes in 

 longitude and latitude, he used the method of the Nonagesimal, 

 and went over the process for each of the places, both according 

 to the method used by Dr. Brinkley, and to that of Delambre. 

 The difference in the results did not, in any case, exceed three- 

 tenths of a second. For the reduction of the latitude, and equa- 

 torial parallax, the compression ^^^^^ was used. No corrections 

 were applied to the semidiameters of the sun or moon, for irradiation 

 or inflexion. The augmentation of the moon's semidiameter for 

 each of the places was obtained from Delambre's formulae only. 

 The following are the observations used in the computations, which 

 are all expressed in mean time. In computing the Greenwich ob- 

 servation, he adopted that which was made with the five-feet equa- 

 torial : but it appears from the observations made at other places 

 (except Dublin) that some of the others are nearer the truth. 



Bushey 



