AUSTRALASIA. 



59 





xiv, was published in 1877; but tbe remain- 

 ing twenty hours (vol. xv) has, from want of 

 funds, remained unpublished until this year. 

 This latter is a large, heavy volume, and ap- 

 pears to be a useful work. A glance at the 

 two ponderous volumes (xiv and xv) shows the 

 vastness of the labor bestowed upon them. 

 An ephemeris of each of the 3,890 stars, from 

 1830 to 1890, is given, with critical remarks. 

 " The Annals of Harvard College Observa- 

 tory," vol. xv, Part I, published during the 

 current year, contains a catalogue of 1,213 

 stars. The Pulkova Observatory has just issued 

 a catalogue of 3,542 stars observed with the 

 meridian circle during the years 1840 to 1849. 

 It includes all the Bradley stars between the 

 pole and fifteen degrees south declination. 

 Though it has appeared late, it will no doubt 

 be much appreciated by the working astrono- 

 mer. The Argentine catalogue, giving the 

 mean positions of 32,448 southern stars deter- 

 mined at the Cordoba Observatory, has re- 

 cently been published by Dr. B. A. Gould. 



New Time-Reckoning. The new reckoning of 

 the astronomical day, 'recommended by the 

 Washington Conference, will be used at once 

 in the printed results of the meteorological and 

 spectroscopic departments at the Greenwich 

 Observatory ; but they advise a postponement 

 of its use, in publishing the astronomical re- 

 sults, and in the Nautical Almanac departments, 

 until 1891, when probably it will have been 

 adopted by most scientific countries. 



AUSTRALASIA. British Australasia comprises 

 the colonies in Australia of New South Wales, 

 Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland, all 

 self-governing, Tasmania, and New Zealand, 

 likewise possessing parliamentary institutions, 

 and Western Australia and Fiji, with the 

 islands of "Rotumah, which are crown colonies, 

 besides the British possessions in New Guinea. 

 Their combined area is 3,267,750 square miles, 

 their aggregate population 3,697,069. 



Australasian Federation. The British Parlia- 

 ment in 1885 passed a Federal Council Act of 

 Australasia, establishing a Federal Council for 

 the purpose of dealing with such matters of 

 common Australasian interest, in respect to 

 which united action is desirable, as can be 

 dealt with without unduly interfering with the 

 management of the internal affairs of the sev- 

 eral colonies by their respective legislatures. 

 A session of the Council shall be held at least 

 once every two years. The colonies possessed 

 of responsible government shall be represented 

 in the Council by two, and the crown colonies 

 by one member each. The Council is given 

 legislative authority in respect to (1) the rela- 

 tions of Australasia with the islands of the 

 Pacific; (2) prevention of the influx of crimi- 

 nals; (3) fisheries beyond territorial limits; 

 (4) the service of civil process outside the juris- 

 diction of the colony in which it is issued ; (6) 

 the enforcement of judgments by courts of 

 law beyond the limits of the colony ; (6) the 

 enforcement of criminal process in all the 



colonies, and the extradition of offenders, in- 

 cluding those who have abandoned their fami- 

 lies, and deserters from the military and naval 

 forces of the colonies, or from the imperial 

 forces ; (7) the custody of offenders on board 

 ships outside of territorial limits; (8) any 

 matter which the legislatures may refer to the 

 Council; (9) general defenses, quarantine, 

 patents, copyrights, bills of exchange, and 

 prommissory notes, uniformity of weights and 

 measures, recognition of marriage or divorce, 

 naturalization, status of joint-stock companies, 

 or any matter with respect to which the 

 legislatures of the several colonies can legis- 

 late within their own limits, except that in 

 such matters the acts of the Council shall have 

 force only in such of the colonies as have 

 applied to it for a common law and shall ratify 

 the same acts with respect to the first three 

 categories must receive the approval of the Im- 

 perial Government. The governors of any two 

 or more colonies may refer to the Council, on 

 an address from the legislatures, any questions 

 relating to those colonies or their relations 

 with one another. The approval or disap- 

 proval by the Imperial Government of any act 

 of the Federal Council shall be signified by the 

 Governor of the colony in which the Council 

 is sitting. 



The colonies of Victoria, Queensland, Tas- 

 mania, Western Australia, and Fiji only had 

 taken advantage of tbe act when the Federal 

 Council, representing those colonies, met in 

 Hobart on Jan. 25, 1886. The colonies of 

 New South Wales and New Zealand had taken 

 no steps to join the union, while in South 

 Australia the necessary measure had been de- 

 layed in its passage through the Legislature. 



The Australian Federal Council. The Federal 

 Council, which met in Hobart, recommended 

 the fortification of Torres Strait and King 

 George's Sound by combined imperial and 

 colonial action. It passed measures authoriz- 

 ing the service of civil process outside the 

 jurisdiction of the colony issuing it, and pro- 

 viding for the enforcement of judgments of 

 the Supreme Court within the Confederation. 

 It also passed an address to the Queen in rela- 

 tion to the convention with France in regard 

 to the South Sea. After appointing a stand- 

 ing committee to transact business during the 

 recess, the Council adjourned on Feb. 6. 



Na?al Defenses. Rear-Admiral Tryon, the 

 British commander-in-chief on the Australian 

 station, presented to a conference of the Pre- 

 miers of Victoria, New South Wales, and 

 Queensland, held at Sydney in April, 1886, a 

 scheme for a common naval force, in addition to 

 the existing local forces. He proposed that five 

 cruisers of the " Archer" class and some fast 

 sea-going torpedo-boats should be provided, at 

 a cost of 625,000, by the colonies ; that the 

 British Admiralty should man them, but that 

 the cost of maintenance, estimated at 150,- 

 000 a year, should be borne by the colonies. 

 The colonial governments were willing to un- 



