ASIA. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA. 33 



Russian Government was desirous to avoid 

 such an occupation, lest it should provoke a 

 counter-occupation of Herat by the British. 

 It was intended to be conducted on a reduced 

 scale during two years, and the operations of 

 the first year were to be confined to establish- 

 ing outposts, lines of communication, etc. 

 The expedition started at the beginning of the 

 summer, under the command of General Sko- 

 beleff, pushed on beyond Geok Tepe, against 

 which a detachment from it made a recon- 

 naissance, to a point between that place and 

 Merv, where it made preparations to spend 

 the winter. Another Russian expedition, un- 

 der Colonel Prjevalsky, of a scientific and 

 topographical character, had penetrated into 

 Thibet, when its further progress was stopped 

 by the order of the Thibetan Government. 

 The expedition was obliged to retrace its steps, 

 and was traveling along the Yellow River, 

 with the intention of returning to Siberia, 

 when the members of the party were arrested 

 by the Chinese. They were afterward set at 

 liberty, and permitted to continue the explora- 

 tion of the Yellow River, but intended to re- 

 turn to Kiakhta before the end of the season. 

 (See RUSSIA.) 



The Chinese Government has exerted great 

 strength, and has persistently followed the 

 policy of reasserting its claims to equality of 

 consideration with any other power, and to 

 the recovery of whatever territory has been 

 wrested from it. The arran^em3nt made 

 with Russia in the previous year for the de- 

 livery of Kulja was not satisfactory to the 

 Government. The envoy who negotiated the 

 treaty was degraded for his failure to secure 

 better terms, and the demand for a revision of 

 the treaty was pressed upon Russia with such 

 energy that war was regarded as imminent 

 during nearly the whole year. The claims of 

 China to the paramount sovereignty of the 

 Loochoo Islands were vigorously pressed 

 against Japan. The Government has given 

 notice to Portugal of its intention to resume 

 the occupation of the promontory of Macao. 

 (See CHINA.) 



Japan has made a considerable advance in 

 the exploitation of its mines and the develop- 

 ment of its manufacturing interests. The Gov- 

 ernment continues to make great efforts for 

 promoting the education of the entire people. 

 Important reform movements are going on 

 among the Buddhists of the country. (See 

 JAPAN.) 



English influence has become ascendant in 

 Persia. Negotiations have been reported to 

 be in progress between the British and Persian 

 Governments, for a treaty, under which Persia 

 should be permitted to acquire and hold Herat, 

 in consideration of its granting to British com- 

 panies certain privileges of navigation in its 

 waters, and of the construction of roads in its 

 territory. A portion of the country suffered 

 severely from famine ; and the Kurds rose in 

 the fall, and, joined by the Turkish Kurds, 

 VOL. xx. 3 A 



made extensive depredations, pillaging and 

 destroying numerous villages, of which they 

 killed most of the inhabitants. (See PERSIA.) 



Burmah has been in an unsettled condition, 

 on account of the discontent and hostility 

 which the capricious conduct of KingTheebaw 

 has aroused. An embassy dispatched by the 

 King for the purpose of bringing about a re- 

 sumption of diplomatic relations with the Brit- 

 ish Government, received no encouragement; 

 but, after having remained for several months 

 at Thayetmayo awaiting a recognition which 

 the British agent refused to give it, was 

 obliged to return without having accom- 

 plished its mission. The kingdom was dis- 

 turbed by an insurrection in behalf of the 

 Nyoungoke Prince ; but the insurrection was 

 put down, and the Prince fled into British ter- 

 ritory, where he was arrested. The King 

 claimed an indemnity of the British, because 

 the Prince had entered Burmah from British 

 territory, and in October sent troops to the 

 frontier. (See BURMAH.) 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND 

 PROGRESS. Solar Parallax from the Veloci- 

 ty of Light. The most trustworthy method 

 of finding the sun's horizontal parallax is now 

 believed, with good reason, to be that based 

 on the experimental determination of the ve- 

 locity of light. The " American Journal of 

 Science " for January, 1880, contains a paper 

 on this subject by Mr. D. P. Todd, M. A., as- 

 sistant in the Nautical Almanac Office, Wash- 

 ington, D. 0. The latest determination of the 

 velocity of light is that of Mr. A. A. Michel- 

 son, of the United States Navy; viz., 186,360 

 miles per second. Hence the mean horizontal 

 parallax of the sun is found to be 8-808 9 - The 

 corresponding distance of the sun from the 

 earth is 92,800,000 miles. 



Sun-Spots. The quiescence of the sun's sur- 

 face during the spot minimum of 1878-'79 was 

 extraordinary and long continued. We have 

 now entered, however, on another period of 

 activity. In 1880, especially toward its close, 

 the spots were quite numerous. In accordance 

 with the theory of a connection between au- 

 roral phenomena and the variation in the num- 

 ber of sun-spots, the former have been found 

 to be likewise increasing. It is worthy of no- 

 tice that the period between the last two spot 

 minima was not only greater than that imme- 

 diately preceding, but greater also than the 

 average length. 



Ellipticity of Mars. The "American Jour- 

 nal of Science" for March, 1880, contains a 

 paper on the "Ellipticity of Mars," by Profes- 

 sor C. A. Young, of Princeton, New Jersey. 

 After remarking that the polar flattening of 

 Mars had never been satisfactorily determined, 

 and specifying the results obtained by different 

 observers, Professor Young continues : 



Either of these values is apparently irreconcilable 

 with the planet's known mass and period of rotation 

 if we admit the presence of water upon its surface, as 

 the polar "snow-caps" seem to indicate, except upon 



