ASTRONOMICAL I'HKXO.MFA A AND I'KO(;i:l->s. 



;kin- ha- been unsatisfactory be- of the Kussian linos becoming a safe and rapid 



cause of the ignorance i.f Knjjlish on tlio part 



,if l; . At Titlis itself, a repeat - 



ihoiv i- only one dork who knows 



-ii. :iml tliat imperfectly. In other iv- 



itciiaiit Piers >n thinks the prospect 



route for Anglo-Indian messages is most en- 

 couraging." 



Tho total popiiliit.inn in tin- following table 

 is taken from Brehm's Geogmphuche* Jakrluch 

 (vol. i., 1866) : 



The majority of the Christian population of 

 Asiatic Ilu-sia and Asiatic Turkey belong to 

 the (iroek Church. Besides, there are a nurn- 

 lu-r of other denominations, as Armenians, 

 i ans, etc. (See EASTERN CHURCHES.) To 

 tin- Hast Asiatic religions a population of about 

 600,000,000 belong. The number of Moham- 

 medans in Asia is estimated at 50,000,000. 

 Tho number of Jews will hardly be more than 

 about 500,000. 



IRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND 

 Pi:o<;i:i:ss. The year 1867 was rich in as- 

 tronomical phenomena; some of them of a kind 

 that appealed powerfully to the popular sense of 

 the wonderful, and also excited the interest of 

 scientific men. The most remarkable of those 

 t, on this side of the Atlantic, was the mete- 

 oric shower of November 14th, which occurred 

 in favorable weather; and every stage of its 

 progress was noted by skilful observers in 

 various parts of the country (tee METEORS). The 

 appearance of Jupiter without his satellites (as 

 henomenon is commonly described), and 

 the tip position of Mars, afforded opportunity 

 for the study of those planets under peculiarly 

 interc-ting circumstances. Hcrr Schmidt's al- 

 liscovery of recent volcanic action in the 

 moon by whicli the crater Linnfi was supposed 

 to have been filled up and a new crater formed, 

 gave rise to an earnest discussion among sele- 

 no.nraphers as to the probabilities of such an 

 o.vunvnoe. The year was not distinguished by 

 the publication of any striking new theory, 

 except that of Schiaparelli, Adams, and others, 

 which seeks to identify the orbits of comets with 

 those of meteoric showers; bat a decided ad- 

 can be noticed along the whole line of 

 >mieal science. 



Tli,- I "an- ,' filter Linne. The reported 

 rery by Hen- Schmidt, of Athens, of a 

 remarkable change in the crater Linnfi gave 

 to the observation of lunar phe- 

 nomena during the year. The change ap- 

 parently consisted in the filling up of the crater 



by an eruption of lava and the formation of a 

 cone or mound in the centre, similar to those 

 produced by volcanic eruptions on the Earth. 

 Tho proofs of this alteration in the structure of 

 Linne" are as follows : The crater has been a 

 familiar object with lunar observers, easily 

 identified by the light spot which it exhibits in 

 high illumination, and the shadow cast in the 

 hollow of the crater by its sides, in lower alti- 

 tudes of the sun. Now, if the crater were 

 filled up with lava, it is evident that this 

 peculiar shadow would no longer .exist ; and 

 that the summit of the crater would present 

 merely a light spot to the observer, at all angles 

 of the sun when the rays fell upon it. But if, 

 in addition to the filling up of the crater, a 

 mound should be formed upon the new surface, 

 then that object, if sufficiently large to be seen 

 from the Earth, would cast a shadow, entirely 

 distinct in its appearance from that thrown by 

 the walls of the crater. These were the in- 

 dications of change observed by Herr Schmidt, 

 and explained by him upon the hypothesis 

 presented. In lower altitudes of the Sun and 

 close upon the phase, where in former times 

 the crater shadow was plainly to be seen, no 

 crater is now visible (according to Hen- 

 Schmidt), but there appears in good light, with 

 magnifying powers of from 300 to 600, a hill 

 or mound, estimated to be about 1,918 feet in 

 diameter and between 30 and 40 feet high. 

 Several astronomers confirm the observations of 

 Ilerr Schmidt. Others, after a careful study 

 of Linne", maintain- that no change whatever has 

 taken place in the crater, and that appearances 

 to the contrary are to be explained either by 

 defective observations, by unfavorable condi- 

 tions of our atmosphere, by variations in the 

 angles under which we see lunar objects, or by 

 different incidences of the solar light falling 

 upon them. 



Mr. Birt observed Linn6 in April and May, 

 1867, and says that he could not detect any 

 object oa its surface. With regard to variations 



