ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS. 



51 



liu'i"!^ in point of territorial extension, is more 

 and moro stripped of all political power. (See 

 MOHAMMEDANISM.) The missionary efforts of 

 tin- Christian I'luirrlu-s, wliidi since the begin- 

 ning of tin- |>ivM-tit, <vntnry had not snm-edcd 

 in adding any lurgo numbers to the Christian 

 population, have begun to be attended with 

 marvelous success, especially in India and 

 China. (See CHINA and INDIA.) In India, 

 moreover, large numbers of the educated class- 

 es of natives are connecting themselves with 

 the Brahmo-Somaj, one of the most remark- 

 able reformatory movements of the age, to 

 the rise and pro^ivss of which we devote this 

 year a special article. (See BBAHMO-SOMAJ.) 

 The following table exhibits an estimate of the 

 total population connected with the Protestant, 

 Roman Catholic, and Eastern Churches and 

 missions : 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND 

 PROGRESS. Sun-spots. The dearth of sun- 

 spots in 1878 and 1879 has been very remark- 

 able. The minimum looked for about 1876 or 

 1877, and then thought to be at hand, was not 

 reached till 1879, making the last period no 

 less than twelve years. Dr. Schmidt, director 

 of the observatory at Athens, Greece, reports 

 that in 1878 the sun was entirely free from 

 spots on 298 days of observation. At Green- 

 wich, England, during the year ending May 1, 

 1879, sun-spots were visible but 27 days. It 

 has been remarked, moreover, that throughout 

 this period of quiescence the solar prominences 

 were few and inconsiderable. 



Minor Planets. The search for minor planets 

 during the past year was unusually successful, 

 nineteen having been discovered in about nine 

 months. Of these, eight were detected by Dr. 

 Peters of Hamilton College, New York, and 

 nine by Herr Palisa of Pola. The former has 

 now discovered forty members of the group ; 

 the latter, twenty-one. The following names 

 have been recently selected for those discov- 

 ered, but not named in 1877 and 1878 : No. 174, 

 Phaedra; 175, Andromache; 179, Clytemnes- 

 tra; 180, Garurana; 182, Elsbeth; and 183, 

 Istria. The names, together with the principal 

 facts in regard to the discovery, of those 

 detected in 1879 are given in the following 

 table : 



Comets. Brorsen's comet of short period, 

 first discovered in 1846, was detected on its 

 seventh return by M. Tempel of Florence on 

 the 14th of January. It passed its perihelion 

 on the 30th of March. On the 24th of April 

 the same observer found the second comet of 

 1867 on its third return its period being nearly 

 six years. Its orbit is the least eccentric known 

 in the cometary system, the perihelion being 

 exterior to the orbit of Mars, the aphelion in- 

 terior to that of Jupiter. In other words, it 

 is confined to the region of the asteroids. In 

 1882 it will approach very near to Jupiter, 

 when its orbit may be so changed as to render 

 it invisible on its future returns to perihelion. 

 The third comet of 1879 was discovered on 

 the 16th of June by Dr. Lewis Swift of Roch- 

 ester, New York. When discovered it was 

 about three minutes in diameter, had a bright 

 central nucleus, and appeared nearly equal to 

 a star of the ninth magnitude. The elements 

 of its orbit have no resemblance to those of 

 any former comet; its motion is retrograde; 

 and its perihelion was passed on the 27th of 

 April. The fourth comet of the year was dis- 

 covered by Herr Palisa of Pola, August 21st. 

 It had a circular disk nearly three minutes in 

 diameter; its motion was direct; and it passed 

 its perihelion October 4th. On the 24th of 

 August Dr. Hartwig of Strasburg discovered 

 a faint comet the fifth of 1879 in R. A. 12 h 

 19""-, and decl. N. 61 2'. Its elements have 

 no marked resemblance to those of any known 

 comet. 



Spots on Jupiter. Observations on Jupiter 

 during the latter part of 1878 and the whole 

 of 1879 have indicated changes of an extraor- 

 dinary character in the planet's atmosphere. 

 Some of the observers who have given close 

 attention to the phenomena are Dr. Swift of 

 Rochester, New York, Professor Pritchett of 

 Glasgow, Missouri, Dr. Lohse of Potsdam, Mr. 

 Dennett of Southampton, England, and Mr. 

 Gledhill of Halifax. A very large spot, some- 

 what variable in color, but generally described 

 as red or rose-colored, has been visible seven- 

 teen months. This spot when first seen was 

 nearly circular. Gradually, however, it has 

 assumed a more and more elliptical form, its 



