ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS. 



33 



This table does not include the territorial ces- 

 sions made by Turkey. (See EASTEKN QUES- 

 TION.) 



The Chinese troops completed at the begin- 

 ning of 1878 the conquest of Kashgaria, and 

 this country, after being for several years one 

 of the independent states of Asia, is now again 

 one of the tributary states of China. (See 

 CHINA.) 



The war between Russia and Turkey prac- 

 tically cams to a close in Asia in 1877, few 

 movements of importance being made in 1878. 

 The treaty of Berlin gave to Russia a large 

 slice of Asiatic Turkey, and to Persia the town 

 of Khotur. (See EASTERN QUESTION.) 



No sooner had the Berlin treaty been signed, 

 settling for some time to come, as was supposed, 

 the Eastern question in Europe, than it seemed 

 as if it were to break out anew in the heart of 

 Asia. The Indian Government sent an em- 

 bassy to Shere Ali, the Ameer of Cabool, which 

 the latter refused to admit to his dominions, 

 tt was supposed by many that he was insti- 

 gated to take this course by the Russian Gov- 

 ernment, and it was therefore expected that, 

 if war should follow between Great Britain 

 and Afghanistan, Russia, if not actively en- 

 gaged on the side of the latter, would still be 

 her friend. Toward the close of the year, war 

 was actually begun, and the Afghan territory 

 invaded by a large English force. (See INDIA 

 and AFGHANISTAN.) 



An important act was passed in India, plac- 

 ing restrictions on the native press, which had 

 become very seditious in its utterances. The 

 famine which prevailed in India during 1877 

 continued during the early part of 1878, and 

 its effects were felt during the entire year. 

 (See INDIA,) 



News reached Europe of a new Russian ex- 

 pedition to Central Asia, which was said to 

 have been planned before the beginning of the 

 Russo-Turkish war. The expedition was re- 

 ported to aim at the occupation of the five 

 minor khanates between the southern course 

 of the Arnoo Darya and Hindoo Koosh Kara 

 Zin, Shugnal, Darvas, Sarikol, and Vakhan. 

 Of these khanates, the first three are inde- 

 pendent, Sarikol belongs to Kashgar, and the 

 Ameer of Vakhan is a feudatory of the Ameer 

 of Cabool. 



The famine in the north of China continued 

 during 1878 in all its horrors, abating slightly 

 toward the close of the year. Negotiations 

 were set on foot by China to obtain the terri- 

 tory of Kulja from Russia, which power had 

 occupied it for several years. (See CHINA.) 



The King of Burmah died on October 23d. 

 No disturbances took place, and his successor 

 the Crown Prince was quietly proclaimed 

 King. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND 

 PROGRESS. Total Eclipse of the Sun. The 

 solar eclipse of July 29th was successfully ob- 

 served not only by American astronomers but 

 also by parties from France and England. The 

 VOL. xviii. 3 A 



belt within which the eclipse was total passed 

 over Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, the south- 

 west corner of Kansas, the Indian Territory, 

 Texas, and Louisiana. Eminent observers 

 were sent out at the expense of the United 

 States Government to several stations along 

 the line of totality. A number of colleges and 

 universities were also represented by distin- 

 guished astronomers. Prof. Simon Newcomb, 

 Commander W. T. Sampson, and Lieut. C. G. 

 Bowman were at or near Separation, Wy- 

 oming Territory. Prof. William Harkness, 

 Lieut. E. W. Sturdy, A. M. Skinner, Prof. 

 O. H. Robinson, L. E. Wallace, and A. G. 

 Clark were in the same neighborhood ; as 

 were also Prof. James C. Watson of Ann Ar- 

 bor, and the celebrated spectroscopist M. Jans- 

 sen of France. Besides these, Dr. Draper of 

 New York, Prof. Barker of Philadelphia, Mr. 

 Trouvelot of Cambridge, and Mr. Edison, the 

 distinguished inventor, selected their points of 

 observation in Wyoming. Prof. Asaph Hall, 

 Prof. J. A. Rogers, A. W. Wright, H. F. Gor- 

 don, A. B. Wheeler, Prof. J. K. Eastman, Lewis 

 Bass, H. M. Paul, H. S. Pritchett, Prof. E. S. 

 Holden, Lieut. T. W. Very, Dr. C. S. Hastings, 

 Mr. G. W. Hill of the Nautical Almanac Office, 

 Gen. Myer, Prof. Cleveland Abbe, Prof. S. P. 

 Langley, Prof. C. A. Young, C. F. Brackett, 



C. J. Rockwood, W. Libbey, G. H. Calley, C. 



D. Bennett, W. McDonald, C. J. Young, H. S. 

 S. Smith, Prof. Maria Mitchell, Prof. Thorpe, 

 Dr. Schuster, Prof. Ormond Stone of Cincin- 

 nati, C. W. Upton, Prof. G. W. Hough, Prof. 



E. Colbert of the Chicago Astronomical So- 

 ciety, S. W. Burnham, Dr. Swazey, A. C. 

 Thomas, Prof. Easterday, Mr. Lewis Swift of 

 Rochester, and Mr. J. Norman Lockyer of Eng- 

 land, observed from stations selected in Colo- 

 rado. Messrs. L. Waldo and R. W. Wilson of 

 Harvard College, F. E. Seagrove of Providence, 

 J. K. Rees and W. H. Pulsifer of St. Louis, 

 with several assistants, observed at Fort Worth, 

 Texas ; and Prof. D. P. Todd of Washington, 

 D. C., was at Dallas in the same State. 



Results of Observation Discovery of Two 

 Intr a- Mercurial Planets. Since 1859, the date 

 of M. Lescarbault's observation of a supposed 

 transit, the existence of a planet, or more than 

 one, within Mercury's orbit, has been regarded 

 by several astronomers as highly probable. 

 Total eclipses of the sun afford the best oppor- 

 tunities for the detection of such bodies ; and 

 accordingly Prof. James C. Watson of Ann 

 Arbor, and Mr. Lewis Swift of Rochester, de- 

 cided to occupy themselves exclusively with 

 the search during the eclipse of July 29, 1878. 

 The details of their observations may be found 

 in the "American Journal of Science" for Sep- 

 tember and October, 1878. One intra-Mer- 

 curial planet was undoubtedly seen by each of 

 these observers at different stations, and Prof. 

 Watson is confident that he saw a second. He 

 says: 



Immediately after the commencement of totality 

 I began sweeps east and west extending about eight 



