ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA. 



AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. 55 



prolonged discussion upon the relative advan- 

 tages of different systems of counting time. 

 The final conclusion was in favor of the civil 

 day at Greenwich as the universal day. The 

 conclusions of the Conference were finally for- 

 mulated as follows : 



I. That it is the opinion of this Congress that it is 

 desirable to adopt a single prime meridian for all na- 

 tions, in place 01 the multiplicity of initial meridians 

 which now exist. 



II. That the Conference proposes to the Govern- 

 ments here represented the adoption of the meridian 

 passing through the center of the transit instrument 

 at the Observatory of Greenwich as the initial me- 

 ridian for longitude. 



III. That from this meridian longitude shall be 

 counted in two directions up to 180, east longitude 

 being plus, and west longitude being minus. 



IV. That the Conference proposes the adoption of 

 a universal day for all purposes for which it may be 

 found convenient, and which shall not interfere with 

 the use of local or other standard time where desir- 

 able. 



V. That this universal day is to be a mean solar 

 day ; is to begin for all the world at the moment of 

 mean midnight of the initial meridian, coinciding 

 with the beginning of the civil day and date of that 

 meridian ; and is to be counted from zero up to twenty- 

 four hours. 



VI. That the Conference expresses the hope that as 

 soon as may be practical the astronomical and nautical 

 days will be arranged everywhere to begin at mean 

 midnight. 



VII. That the Conference expresses the hope that 

 the technical studies designed to regulate and extend 

 the application of the decimal system to the division 

 of angular space and of time shall be resumed, so as 

 to permit the extension of this application to all cases 

 in which it presents real advantages. 



It is expected that the main conclusions 

 which relate to a universal meridian and a 

 common system of time will meet with uni- 

 versal acceptance. The minor points on which 

 the Conference made its recommendations may 

 have to receive further consideration by those 

 specially concerned, as well as by the public at 

 large. The question of changing the astronomi- 

 cal day, which has always been counted from 

 midnight since the commencement of modern 

 astronomy, is now being considered by astron- 

 omers whose opinions are not yet in accord on 

 the subject. It was proposed at the Greenwich 

 and Washington Observatories to introduce the 

 change immediately ; a decision lias, however, 

 been postponed, to await a common agreement 

 among the astronomers of the world, which it 

 is expected will be reached during the present 

 year. 



International Communication of Astronomical Dis- 

 coveries. All important astronomical discov- 

 eries made in Europe or America are now 

 immediately communicated by telegraph to the 

 leading observatories of the world. The credit 

 for devising the system on which this is done 

 is largely due to two amateur astronomers of 

 Boston, Messrs. Ritchie and Chandler. It con- 

 sists in the use of a dictionary cipher. When 

 a number of degrees and minutes have to be 

 sent, the sender finds the page of Webster's 

 Dictionary corresponding to the number of 

 degrees, and then selects a word correspond- 



ing to the number of minutes, which he tele- 

 graphs. By this system the sending of seven 

 words gives the astronomer all necessary in- 

 formation respecting the observations and ele- 

 ments of a comet or planet, and at the same 

 time enables him to detect any accidental mis- 

 take in transmitting the message. The central 

 bureaus for receiving and transmitting the 

 messages are Cambridge, Mass., and Kiel, Ger- 

 many. 



Astronomical Prizes. Two important prizes 

 for astronomical research are hereafter to be 

 awarded by the National Academy of Sciences. 

 One of these prizes was founded by the bequest 

 of the late Prof. James 0. Watson, of Ann 

 Arbor, Mich., who died in 1880. Owing to 

 the long delay in settling his estate, and de- 

 signing the medal, the latter has not yet been 

 awarded. The provisions of the bequest per- 

 mit of the award of a medal biennially, and 

 allow the surplus income from the endowment 

 to be employed in astronomical research. The 

 other medal was founded by Mrs. Draper, wid- 

 ow of Prof. Henry Draper, of New York, in 

 honor of her husband, who was a distinguished 

 member of the Academy. This medal is to be 

 awarded for researches in physical astronomy, 

 the branch which Dr. Draper cultivated with 

 such success. 



AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. The Brit- 

 ish colonies of Australia, with New Zealand 

 and the Fiji Islands, have an area of 3,083,440 

 square miles, and a population of 3,063,686. 

 The area and the population at the end of 1881 

 are shown in the following table : 



COLONIES. 



New South Wales 



Victoria 



Queensland 



South Australia , 



Northern Territory 



Western Australia 



Tasmania 



New Zealand 



Fiji Islands 



Total . . 



87,884 

 668,224 

 379,805 

 523,620 

 975,920 



26,375 

 104,403 



Malei. 



429,278 

 464,222 

 132,904 

 156,445 



17,216 



274,986 

 71,323 



351,987 

 418,010 

 94.064 

 186,852 



12,797 



225,924 

 57,188 



Total 

 population 



781,265 



2,470 

 80,013 

 118,923 

 500,910 

 128,511 



The population, according to the census of 

 April 3d, of those colonies that have made re- 

 turns, was divided in respect of nativity as fol- 

 lows: 



The number of aborigines in New South 

 Wales was 1,643 ; in Victoria, 780. In Queens- 

 land the black population was estimated at 

 20,585. In South Australia the number in the 

 settled districts was 6,346. In Western Aus- 

 tralia there were 2,346 in the employ of colo 



