AUSTRALASIA. 



work at the Naval Observatory, and also in the 

 compilation of the Nautical Almanac, was re- 

 membered. The declared reason for its bestowal, 

 however, was his tables of Neptune and Uranus 

 and his contributions to nuitheniatical astrono- 

 my, in more than fifty years, then, only two 

 Americans received the society's medal. The con- 

 trast l>etween this record and that of the next 

 twentv-tive years is sullicicntly emphasized in 

 the niere statement that, out of the 21 awards 

 made in the quarter of a century ending with the 

 preset year. S. or more than a third, have come 

 to the Vnited States, not including a special 

 award, called the Hannah -Jackson Gwilt Medal, 

 given to Dr. Lewis Swift in 1SD7. When it is re- 

 memlM-red that the other 1.") were distributed m 

 Kngland. Germany, and France, the comparative 

 accomplishment of this country in a science which 

 is genciallv considered to be the most purely sci- 

 entific of all. will be the more readily realized. 



Women as Astronomers. The recent publica- 

 tion of the Yassar College Observatory is one of 

 peculiar interest. It gives a mass of valuable work 

 that would do credit to any observatory where 

 women never enter. The observers there have pub- 

 lished a catalogue of stars within one degree of the 

 north pole. Miss Caroline Furness has measured 

 the distortions of the Helsingfors astro-photo- 

 graphic telescope deduced from photographic meas- 

 ures. Mary W. Whitney is the director of Vassal- 

 College Observatory, over which the late Maria 

 Mitchell so long and ably presided, to whom the 

 King of Denmark presented a gold medal for dis- 

 covery of a comet. At the instance of Prof. 

 Jaeoby, of Columbia University, Miss Whitney 

 procured a Repsold micrometer, which Miss Fur- 

 ness has employed in the measurement of twelve 

 photograph plates of the north-polar sky, sent to 

 Prof. Jacoby by Prof. Donner, of Helsingfors, in 

 Finland, wlio took them. She pronounces Don- 

 ner's [dates to be entirely free from optical dis- 

 tortion. 



Every astronomer in the w r orld recognizes the 

 valuable aid rendered to astronomy by Mrs. Flem- 

 ing, long a valued assistant to Prof. E. C. Picker- 

 ing at Harvard College Observatory, who has 

 discovered many variable and some temporary 

 stars. In one year she discovered 23 new vari- 

 ables, 15 of which showed bright hydrogen lines 

 in their spectra. 



Mine. Ceraski, of Moscow, has discovered 

 many variable stars, some of them being of a 

 distinct type. The first variable 21, 1900, Mono- 

 cerotis was discovered by her. By examining 

 photograph plates she found the star in March, 

 1899, to be of 1U magnitude, but in March, 1900, 

 it had risen to the ninth magnitude, and in Octo- 

 ber to 8.8. 



Lady Huggins has devoted years of arduous 

 labor to the advancement of astronomy, and her 

 achievements were considered so valuable that 

 she, jointlv with her distinguished husband, Sir 

 William I Juggins, was recently presented by the 

 Royal Astronomical Society with 1,000 guineas. 

 Among others is Miss Agnes Clerke, who is noted 

 as a writer on astronomical subjects. 



AUSTRALASIA, one of the grand divisions 

 of the globe, consisting of the continent of Aus- 

 tralia and island colonies of Great Britain, with 

 interjacent islands. With the exception of the 

 Dutch and German portions of New Guinea, the 

 Gennan protectorates of the Bismarck Archipel- 

 ago and the northern Solomon Islands, the 

 French colony of New Caledonia, and some islands 

 under native rule, chief of which are the New 

 Hebrides, all the islands of Australasia belong to 

 Great Britain. The six colonies of the Australian 



Commonwealth and the colony of New Zealand 

 are self-governing, each having its representative 

 Legislature, with a responsible ministry, dispos- 

 ing 5 of its own revenues and making its own laws 

 under a charter granted by the British Parlia- 

 ment, subject to a certain reserved veto power of 

 the Imperial Government. Important powers of 

 legislation and taxation have now been delegated 

 by the Australian colonies to the Federal Parlia- 

 ment, over which the imperial control is less au- 

 thoritative than it has been over the individual 

 colonies. The executive chief who represents the 

 Crown and gives final sanction to legislation in 

 the Federal Commonwealth is a Governor-General. 



The Commonwealth of Australia. The Fed- 

 eral Parliament consists of a Senate and a House 

 of Representatives. Each of the six states form- 

 ing the commonwealth sends 6 Senators to the 

 Parliament, who are elected by the whole body of 

 voters in the state. The term is six years, and 

 half the Senate is renewed every third year. In 

 case of a deadlock between the Senate and the 

 House of Representatives the Senate must be dis- 

 solved and new Senators elected. The House of 

 Representatives consists as nearly as may be of 

 twice as many members as there are Senators, 

 and the seats are apportioned among the colonies 

 according to their population. The first Parlia- 

 ment has 75 representatives, of whom New South 

 Wales sends 20, Victoria 23, Queensland 9, South 

 Australia 7, Western Australia 5, and Tasmania 

 5, every colony being entitled to at least 5 seats. 

 The term is three years unless the House of 

 Representatives is dissolved by the Government 

 before that time expires. 



The Senators, as well as the members of the 

 House of Representatives, are elected by the elect- 

 ors in each state who are qualified to vote for 

 members of the lower house of the state Parlia- 

 ment, but plural voting is not allowed in Federal 

 elections. A Senator or a member of the House of 

 Representatives must be a British subject by 

 birth, twenty-one years of age, or have been natu- 

 ralized for five years, and must have been a resi- 

 dent of Australia for three years, the qualification 

 being precisely the same as for an elector. The 

 Senate does not have the power of initiating taxa- 

 tion or money bills, but may reject them or send, 

 messages to the other house suggesting amend- 

 ments. Members of Parliament receive 400 a 

 year, ministers not more than 12,000 for the 

 whole Cabinet, the Governor-General 10,000. 

 Ministers must be members of Parliament, or be- 

 come elected within three months. 



The Federal Parliament has power to legis- 

 late on matters relating to commerce, railroads, 

 shipping, lighthouses, common finance, defense, 

 postal, telegraph, and allied services, census and 

 statistics, marriage and divorce, emigration and 

 immigration, currency and banking, weights and 

 measures, and conciliation and arbitration in 

 labor disputes. The Governor-General has a 

 Cabinet of 7 ministers, all of whom must be mem- 

 bers of Parliament, or must secure election within 

 three months after their appointment. The com- 

 monwealth, comprising the colonies of New South 

 Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, 

 Western Australia, and Tasmania, designated the 

 Original States, was proclaimed on Jan. 1, 1901, 

 five colonies having expressed by a general vote 

 of the people their desire to federate, and the 

 British Parliament having on July 9, 1900, passed 

 the act constituting the commonwealth. W T est- 

 ern Australia voted to enter the federation in 

 August, 1900. 



The Earl of Hopetoun was appointed in No- 

 vember, 1900, to be the first Governor-General of 



