AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH OF. 



41 



photographs taken with the several telescopes 

 and available for use amounts to 28,608. The 

 annual production is about 5,000. In the exami- 

 nation of these plates Mrs. Fleming recently 

 discovered two new variables, three stars having 

 peculiar spectra, and the presence of bright lines 

 of hydrogen in the spectrum of U Andromeda. 

 By examination of the plates of the region of 

 the new temporary star in Perseus it was ascer- 

 tained that if the star existed two days before 

 its sudden outburst it must have been fainter 

 than the twelfth magnitude. 



One of the marvels of celestial photography 

 which transcends what we are accustomed to see 

 in astronomy is the rapid formation of the nebu- 

 lous ring surrounding the new temporary star 

 Nova Persei. Assuming its parallax to be 0.5" 

 and the radius of the ring as photographed at 

 the Yerkes Observatory to be 6', it results that 

 the radius must be (56,000,000,000 miles, and 

 formed at the rate of 6,000 miles a second. 



A Gift. Prof. Pickering, director of Harvard 

 Observatory, has received an anonymous. gift of 

 $20,000 for the benefit of the observatory. As 

 the donor has named no restrictions, the director 

 proposes to use half of it in erecting a wing to 

 accommodate the rapidly increasing stock of 

 negatives and astronomical books. The building 

 is to be fire-proof and of a size to hold the plates 

 that will accumulate in many years. 



Prizes. The gold medal annually given by 

 the Royal Astronomical Society of England has 

 been bestowed on Prof. J. C. Kapteyn, of Hol- 

 land, for his work connected with the Cape Cata- 

 logue, measurements of its celestial photographs 

 and researches in stellar parallax. The Mrs. 

 Jackson Gwilt bronze medal was awarded to 

 Rev. Dr. Anderson for his discovery of the two 

 Novae Auriga and Persei and many ordinary va- 

 riables. Each medalist will also receive a bronze 

 medal from the Astronomical Society of the Pa- 

 cific as heretofore, including Dr. W. R. Brooks 

 and Prof. C. D. Perrine, who will each be the re- 

 cipient of the latter medal. 



AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH OF, a 

 federal union of the British colonies of New 

 South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Aus- 

 tralia, Western Australia, and Tasmania, pro- 

 claimed at Sydney, New South Wales, Jan. 1, 

 1901, in accordance with the enabling act passed 

 by the British Parliament on July 9, 1900, after 

 New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South 

 Australia, and Tasmania by a popular referen- 

 dum had decided to federate. In August, 1900, 

 Western Australia also decided to enter the union 

 as van original state, for which provision was 

 made in the act of confederation. The legisla- 

 tive power is vested in a Federal Parliament, 

 consisting of a Senate of 36 members, 6 from 

 each state, and a House of Representatives. The 

 Senators are in each state elected for six years by 

 popular vote on a single ticket, except in Queens- 

 land, which is divided into 2 districts. One- 

 half of the Senate is renewed every three years, 

 but in case of a deadlock between the Senate 

 and the House of Representatives the Senate 

 must be dissolved and an entire new Senate elect- 

 ed. The number of members in the first House 

 of Representatives is 75, of whom New South 

 Wales elected 26; Victoria, 23; Queensland, 9; 

 South Australia, 7 ; Western Australia, 5 ; and 

 Tasmania, 5. The legislative period for the 

 House of Representatives is three years unless it 

 is previously dissolved. The electors qualified in 

 each state to vote for the popular branch of the 

 state Legislature may vote for Senators and 

 Representatives in the Federal Parliament, which 



has power to enlarge, but none to restrict, the 

 franchise so defined. To be elected a member of 

 either house of Parliament, one must be a natu- 

 ral-born British subject or naturalized for five 

 years, a qualified elector of his own sta.te, and a. 

 resident in the Commonwealth for three years. 

 The states reserve all legislative powers not spe- 

 cifically delegated in the Constitution to the Fed- 

 eral Parliament, 



which has power m^^^B^^HHBM^HHH 

 to legislate on com- 

 merce, railroads, 

 shipping, light- 

 houses, statistics, 

 marriage and di- 

 vorce, emigration 

 and immigration, 

 currency, banking, 

 weights and meas- 

 ures, conciliation 

 and arbitration in 

 industrial disputes, 

 and certain other 

 matters. The ex- 

 ecutive authority 

 vested in the King 

 is exercised by a 

 Governor - General 

 on the advice of a 

 Council of State. 

 The Governor-Gen- 

 eral is the Earl of Hopetoun. The Council of 

 Ministers appointed at the establishment of the 

 Commonwealth was composed as follows: Prime 

 Minister and Minister for External Affairs, E. 

 Barton; Attorney-General, A. Deakin; Minister 

 for Home Affairs, Sir W. J. Lyne; Treasurer, 

 Sir George Turner; Minister of Trade and Com- 

 merce, C. C. Kingston; Minister of Defense, Sir 

 John Forrest; Postmaster-General, J. G. Drake. 



Area and Population. The area of the states 

 forming the commonwealth and their population, 

 exclusive of aborigines, according to the census 

 of 1901 are given in the following table: 



LORD TENNYSON, 

 GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA. 



The total population of New South Wales was 

 1,359,537, comprising 713,794 males and 645.743 

 females. This includes the aborigines, of whom 

 there were 3,996 males and 3,244 females; total, 

 7,240. There were 9,750 Chinese and 1,151 half- 

 castes. The number of Chinese arriving in 1900 

 was 75, while 379 departed. The immigration 

 by sea in 1900 was 68,783, and the emigration 

 67,198, making the net immigration 1,585. Be- 

 tween 1891 and 1901 the increase of population 

 was 227,303, the natural increase from excess of 

 births over deaths being 226,752. The popula- 

 tion of Victoria, according to the census of 

 March 31, 1901, consisted of 603.903 males and 

 597,015 females. The annual rate of increase 

 since 1891 was only 0.43 per cent., compared with 

 2.83 per cent, in the preceding decennium. The 

 population is three times as thickly settled as in 

 New South Wales, averaging nearly 14 persons 

 to the square mile, and 56 of the population live 

 in towns, Melbourne having 493.956 inhabitants; 

 Ballarat, 46.410; Bendigo, or Sandhurst, 43.112; 

 Geelong, 23,440; Warmambool, 6,600; Castle- 



