48 ASTRONOMY, PROGRESS OF. 



AUSTRALASIA. 



prised of 260 stars, 10 of which are of the Algol 

 type. So far as known, S. Antlia has the short- 

 est period, its light-oscillations being confined 

 within three and a half hours. It was dis- 

 covered by M. Paul, in 1888. 



Prof. S. W. Burnham's nineteenth catalogue of 

 double stars, given out in Nos. 3141 and 3142 of 

 Astronomische Nachrichten for Jan. 5, 1893, 

 is, he says, " the result of my micrometrical 

 measures of double stars at Mount Hamilton 

 from January, 1892, to June, when my connec- 

 tion with the Lick Observatory was permanently 

 ended." These measures were made with the 

 36-inch telescope, and the list embraces 182 stars, 

 the first 8 of which are new. Though not ex- 

 tensive, it is a valuable publication, since it de- 

 cides many doubtful points. 



His micrometrical observations of the new star 

 in Auriga, connecting it with the various com- 

 panion stars in the field, can be found in 

 " Monthly Notices, of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society "'for April, 1892. 



His eighteenth catalogue of double stars was 

 sent out in the latter part of the year 1892. The 

 grand total of those discovered bv this indefati- 

 gable observer, as given in all his catalogues, 

 is 1,274. The lists have been so numerous as to 

 be very inconvenient for reference, and he has 

 therefore brought them all together in one vol- 

 ume, now in press, arranged in the order of 

 right ascension, with a brief history of each pair. 

 Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra. In 

 Vol. XXVIII of the "Annals of the Astronom- 

 ical Observatory of Harvard College," Prof. E. C. 

 Pickering gives a catalogue of 3,300 photo- 

 graphic plates taken with the Bache telescope. 

 The attempt was made to determine the photo- 

 graphic magnitude of stars by a comparison of 

 the intensity of the photographic images for one 

 particular wave length, but an unexpected dif- 

 ficulty was met, for many stars of the Secchi 

 second type change their photographic intensity 

 at that very point of the spectrum chosen as the 

 standard wave length. A point of great im- 

 portance developed is the predominance of first- 

 type stars in the Milky Way. Prof. Pickering 

 has arrived at the conclusion that the Milky 

 Way is a distinct cluster of stars to which our 

 sun does not belong. No fewer than 19 stars 

 giving bright-line spectra were discovered in 

 the photographs, all within the Galaxy, and 

 close to the equator. He finds that, as a rule, 

 the photographs lend no support to the idea of 

 variation of stellar spectra, save in those of 

 spectroscopic doubles and of certain variables. 



In the " Astronomical Journal," No. 296, Mr. 

 Reed publishes a list of 6 stars proved by photog- 

 raphy to be variable ; and in No. 299 Mr. Paul 

 S. Yendell gives the maxima and minima of 10 

 variable stars. 



A photometric catalogue has just been issued 

 by Mr. Edwin F. Sawyer, of Cambridge, Mass., 

 which gives the magnitudes of 3,415 stars sit- 

 uated between the equator and 30 south. The 

 average number of observations to each star is 4. 

 During the progress of the work 8 new variables 

 were discovered, nearly all of which were of 

 short period. 



The " Astronomical Journal," No. 291, con- 

 tains a list of 47 variables by N. S. Duner, of 

 Upsala. It is a continuation and conclusion of 



the series begun in No. 254. A brief description 

 of each star is given, which adds to its value for" 

 those who make variables a specialty. 



No. 278 of the " Astronomical Journal " has 

 a record of 91 double stars remeasured by F. P. 

 Leaven worth at the suggestion of Mr. Burnham, 

 who furnished the list, the majority of which 

 were originally discovered by himself. They 

 are mostly interesting pairs. 



Prof. Porter, Director of the Cincinnati Ob- 

 servatory, has completed a valuable catalogue 

 of 1,340 stars reduced to the epoch 1900, with 

 the details of the determination of the proper 

 motion of them all. 



The Observatory of Glasgow has issued a sec- 

 ond catalogue of 2,156 stars, the result of the 

 labors of the late Prof. Robert Grant, for the 

 epoch of 1890. Of 122 of these the proper mo- 

 tion has been determined. 



AUSTRALASIA, one of the divisions of the 

 globe, containing the principal possessions of 

 Great Britain in the Pacific. The colonies of 

 New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South 

 Australia, and Western Australia occupy the 

 entire Australian Continent. Tasmania is an 

 island, 210 miles in length, with an extreme 

 width of 200 miles, lying southwest of Victoria 

 and separated from it by Bass's straits, 160 miles 

 in width. New Zealand, lying about 25 east of 

 Australia, comprises two large islands, known as 

 the North island and the Middle island, and a 

 number of outlying islands of various sizes, of 

 which the largest and most important is Stewart 

 island, sometimes called the South island. In 

 all these colonies the Executive is a Governor ap- 

 pointed by and representing the Crown ; and the 

 Governor is assisted in administration by an Ex- 

 ecutive Council of responsible ministers. Legis- 

 lation is accomplished by means of an elective 

 Parliament, consisting of two Houses, usually 

 called the Legislative Council and the Legisla- 

 tive Assembly. Fiji consists of a group of over 

 200 small islands situated about 30 east of the 

 Australian Continent, between 15 and 20 south 

 latitude. It is a Crown colony. 



Area and Population. The area of the 

 British Australasian colonies and the population 

 according to the final returns of the census of 

 1891 are given in the following table: 



* Exclusive of aborigines. 



The Fiji Islands are peopled by colored races, 

 the Europeans mimbering only 2,091, while there 

 are 1,092 half-castes, 8,089 East Indians, 2,461 

 Polynesians, 2,219 natives of Rotuma island, 

 108,971 Fijians, and 479 others. New South 

 Wales, in 1891, had 5,097 aborigines, besides 3,183 

 half-castes, making together 0'73 per cent, of 

 the total population, of which 64*03 per cent, 

 consisted of colonials native in New South 

 Wales, 7'52 per cent, of persons born in the 



