88 



NA TURE 



{Dec. 2, 1875 



the twelfth magnitude. — From observations on Nov. 2 

 and 7 Herr Palisa has calculated circular elements of 

 No. 153, which place the ascending node in longitude 

 228° 31', with an inclination of 6° 57'. The mean diurnal 

 motion assigned on this hypothesis (447")) if it were 

 reliable, would make the period of this planet considerably 

 longer than that of any other member of the group, but 

 it will be necessary to wait till elliptical elements on a fair 

 extent of observation are in our hands, before attributing 

 to No. 153 a revolution so much in excess of the rest. 



Publications. — (i) P. A. Hansen. Ueber die Sio- 

 riingen der Grossen Planeten inbesondere des Jupiter. 

 A posthumous memoir published in vol. xi. of the 

 " Proceedings " of the Mathematical Class of the Royal 

 Saxon Society of Sciences. The analytical developments 

 forming the subject of the first part of this treatise are 

 applied especially to the case of the planet Jupiter ; the 

 perturbations of latitude by Saturn, and the perturbations 

 by Uranus, Neptune, Mars, the Earth, Venus, and Mer- 

 cury are exhibited numerically ; and from Herr v. Gla- 

 senapp, who wab engaged in this part of the work up to 

 the time of Prof. Hansen's decease, may, it is announced, 

 be expected the complete calculation of the perturbations 

 of longitude and radius-vector of Jupiter by Saturn. 



(2) J. N. Stockwell. Theory of the Mooti's Motion.— 

 This is a republication in an extended form of an inves- 

 tigation which appeared in the Astronoinische Nach- 

 richten, Nos. 2,024 — 2,026, wherein the mathematical 

 developments are given in greater detail, with the 

 addition of those applying to the formulae for latitude. 

 The author hopes to find time to continue his inves- 

 tigations in the same direction, so as to complete the 

 developments of the perturbations of the moon's mo- 

 tions by means of the differential equations given in this 

 first chapter. In the author's introductory remarks on 

 the labours of those eminent mathematicians who have 

 taken up the lunar theory, in referring to Prof. Hansen, 

 there is no mention of his " Fundamenta nova investi- 

 gationis orbitasver^ quam Luna perlustrat," Gotha, 1838; 

 or his " Darlegung der Theoretischen Berechnung der in 

 den Mondtafeln angewandten Storiingen," the first part 

 of which appeared in 1862, and the second in 1864. 



(3) Dr. Franz Melde. Theorie nnd Praxis der Astro- 

 nomischen Zeitbestitnnnmg, &c. (Tiibingen, 1875). — The 

 author. Professor in the University of Marburg, explains 

 that in the course of lectures on the determination of 

 time by astronomical observations, he had found the 

 want of a work in which the subject should be treated 

 both in a theoretical and practical point of view, and in 

 the present volume of 500 pages he has presented a 

 very detailed discussion of time-determinations after the 

 methods generally employed. The transit-instrument, 

 its arrangement, mounting, and errors, with the methods 

 of regulating it j the sextant, more particularly as regards 

 its use for ascertaining time by corresponding altitudes 

 of sun or stars, time by occultations, refraction, aberra- 

 tion, precession, &c., are explained at length. The 

 volume, it will be seen, is one of a special character, and 

 will be a desirable addition to an astronomical library. 



DR. R. VON WILLEMOES-SUHM 



IT is with the deepest regret that I have to intimate the 

 death of Dr. Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm, at sea, on 

 our passage from Hawaii to Tahiti. He had not been in 

 his usual robusthealth for somemonths, having suffered oc- 

 casionallyfromindolentboils on different parts of the body. 

 On Sept. 6 he applied to the surgeon for advice. He had 

 had a rather severe shivering fit the day before, and an 

 inflamed spot on the face began to show symptoms of 

 erysipelas. The swelling and inflammation of the face 

 increased during the next week ; it extended over the 

 forehead ; and the fever and delirium attending erysipelas 



became more pronounced. On the morning of Sept. 13 

 he sank into a state of collapse, and died at three o'clock 

 in the afternoon. 



This sad occurrence has of course thrown a heavy 

 gloom over our little party. From the commencement of 

 the voyage Dr. v. Willemoes-Suhm devoted himself with 

 unremitting industry and zeal, and in the best possible 

 spirit, to the objects of this expedition. He has already 

 published, in connection with our work, a paper in the 

 Annals and Magazine of Natural History, " On a terres- 

 trial Nemertine from Bermudas ; " a long paper in 

 Linnean Proceedings, on the deep-sea Crustacea of the 

 cruise ; " On the development of Umbellularia," in the 

 Annals and Magazine : " On the Development of Lepas 

 fascicularis" a. paper sent to the Royal Society from 

 Honolulu ; and the notes on Crustacea which have been 

 incorporated from time to time in my letters and reports. 

 He has also written some interesting letters to Prof, von 

 Siebold, describing the general zoological results of the 

 cruise, which have been published in the Zeitschriftl 

 fiir Wissenschaftliche Zoologie. He leaves a fine series ; 

 of drawings, with full descriptions, chiefly illustrating the 

 development of surface Crustacea. For example, the 

 development of species of the genera Euphausia, Ser- 

 gestes, and ^mphion is traced through all its stages. He 

 leaves also an ample official journal in two large volumes. 

 The loss of his valuable assistance in working up the 

 final results of the expedition must, I fear, seriously affect 

 their completeness. 



Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm was a native of Schleswig- 

 Holstein ; his family now reside in the neighbourhood of 

 Rendsburg, where his father holds a high official appoint- 

 ment. He was about twenty-eight years of age when he 

 died. He studied in the Universities of Gottingen and 

 Bonn; he showed very early a strong taste for natural) 

 history in all its branches, and when quite a boy he pub- 

 lished papers on the habits of European birds. Shortly] 

 after he left the University, he was appointed Privat- 

 Docent in Zoology in the University of Munich, where he 

 was associated with Prof, von Siebold, with whom he was 

 extremely intimate, and whose place he frequently took 

 in the lecture-room when the professor was prevented 

 from teaching by indisposition. In 1868 he visited Italy 

 and made zoological observations at Spezzia. In the 

 summer of 1870 he made a series of observations on 

 various marine animals, Halicryptus, Balanoglossus, &c., 

 which formed the subject of his thesis on being appointed 

 Privat-Docent in Munich. 



In the summer of 1872 he went to the Faeroe Islands. 

 He published some of the results of his investigations 

 there in Nature and elsewhere, but unfortunately a large 

 series of zoological drawings which represented the greater 

 part of his work was lost in transitu. It was from the 

 accident of his calling upon me in Edinburgh, on his 

 return from Faeroe, while there was still a vacancy on the 

 staff of the Challenger, that he joined the expedition. 



Among the more important of his publications are — , 



" Helminthologische Notizen," I. (Zeitschrift fur Wis- 

 senschaftliche Zoologie, Bd. xix., 3 Heft.) 



" Helminthologische Notizen," II. (Ibid. Bd. xx., i 

 Heft.) 



" Zur Entwickelung von Schistocephalus diviorphiis" 

 (Ibid. Bd, xix., 3 Heft.) 



" Biologische Beobachtungen iiber Niedere Thiere ' 

 (Leipzig, W. Engelmann, 1871) contains : " On a younjl 

 calcareous sponge ; " " On the development of an appen- 

 diculate Distoma ; " " On Balanoglossns kupferij " " Ot 

 Halicryptus spinulosjis ;" " On Priapulus caudatusf 

 " On the development of some Polycha^te Annelids,! 

 Etofie, Terebella, and Spirorbis ; " " On the natural| 

 history of Polystoma integerrittium and of P. ocellatun." 



Dr. von Willemoes-Suhm was a man of unusual ac- 

 quirements and culture ; besides having a wide and accu- 

 rate knowledge of the literature of natural science, he 



