86 



NA TURE 



[May 23, 1889 



Bulletin do not suppose that it will be in their power to provide 

 such a survey. They propose, however, to bring before their 

 readers some idea of the natural' history of Iowa, and of the 

 manner in which it may be studied ; hoping in this way to 

 stimulate an interest in such things sufficient to lead to greater 

 results in the future. 



An interesting note, by Mr. Arthur A. Rambaut, on sone 

 Japanese clocks lately purchased for the Dublin Science and Art 

 Museum, has been reprinted from the Proceedings of the Royal 

 Dublin Society. These clocks, though differing in other re- 

 spects, agree in this particular, that the time is recorded, not by 

 a hand rotating about an axis, but by a pointer attached to the 

 weight, which projects through a slit in the front of the clock- 

 case. This pointer travels down a scale attached to the front of 

 the clock, and thus points out the hour. Mr. Rambaut has con- 

 sulted several persons who have been resident for some time in 

 Japan, but none of them has ever seen clocks of like construction 

 in actual use. A young Japanese gentleman to whom the 

 specimens have been shown, says that he has heard of such 

 clocks being used in rural parts of Japan about twenty or thirty 

 years ago, but that they have been almost completely superseded 

 by clocks made on the European plan. 



The fact of intermittence in the intensity of some sensations 

 is known to physiologists. Thus, the tick of a watch withdrawn 

 gradually from the ear begins to be heard, by turns, distinctly 

 and indistinctly, then times of silence alternate with the sound. 

 M. Couetoux, in the Rcvtie Scicntifiqtte, calls attention to an 

 analogous experience he has had in the case of vision. Looking 

 at a distant windmill, with four vanes, he could not make up his 

 mind whether it was in slow motion (like a nearer one) ; for, of 

 the three vanes projected against the sky, he saw now one, now 

 another ; but the intermittent degradation of the sensorial im- 

 pression prevented his observing two successive positions. These 

 sensorial fluctuations seem to deserve careful study. 



At a recent meeting of the Manchester Section of Chemical 

 Industry, Mr. William Thompson read a paper on the heat- 

 producing powers of twelve samples of coal, determined by 

 burning in oxygen (in the apparatus devised by him), compared 

 with their theoretical values as calculated from their chem.ical 

 composition. The coal which he found to give the highest 

 results as regards heat-producing was anthracite, which gave 

 8340 Centigrade units of heat. Next came Pendleton coal, 

 with 7736 units ; then Wigan coal, 7552 ; and the lowest ot 

 the twelve came from near Atherton, with 6448 units. The 

 results obtained by experiment were higher in two coals than 

 the calculated results obtained by determining by heat units 

 given by the combustion of the carbon, hydrogen, and sulphur 

 found by analysis, but deducting the hydrogen, which appears 

 always to be in combination with the oxygen present, so that 

 its hydrogen does not produce heat on burning. In two coals 

 the heat found by calculation and that found by experiment were 

 the same, and in seven coals the heat found by calculation 

 was greater than that found by experiment. A short discussion 

 followed the reading of the paper. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Rough Fox {Cards rudis f, ) from Demerara, 

 presented by Mr. James Coombe ; a Derbian Wallaby {Halma- 

 turus derbiamcs i) from Australia, presented by Mr. Buckland, 

 s.s. Britannia; two Great Eagle Owls {Bubj iiiaxirmis), European, 

 presented by the Executors of the late Mr. W. J. Cookson ; two 

 Red-legged Partridges {Caccabis rufa) from the Canary Islands, 

 presented by Captain Augustus Kent, s.s. Fez ; six Barbary 

 Turtle Doves (Turtur risoritis) from North Africa, presented by 

 Major T. Erskine Baylis, F.Z. S. ; a Black-bellied Sand Grouse 

 {Plerocles arenirius i ) from InJia, presented by Mrs. Ayrton 



PuUan ; a • ■ Falcon {Falco sp. inc.) from 'Australia, pre- 

 sented by Baron F. von Mueller, C.M.Z. S. ; a Tuberculated 

 Iguana {Iguana tttbemilata) from Spanish Honduras, presented 

 by Mr. J. B. Johnson, s.s. Antilles ; a Grey- breasted Parrakeet 

 {Bolborhynclms nionachus) from Monte Video, presented by Mrs. 

 Macnab ; ten Common Vipers ( Vipera berus) from Surrey, pre- 

 sented by Mr. C. F. McNiven ; two Common Vipers ( Vipera 

 berus) from Gloucestershire, presented by Mr. Barry Burge ; 

 a Chimpanzee {Arithropopithecus troglodytes i ) from West 

 Africa, two Cormorants {Phalacrocorax carbo), British, de- 

 posited ; a Mountain Ka-ka {Nestor notabilis) from New Zea- 

 land, a Green-headed Tanager {Calliste tricolor) from South- 

 East Brazil, purchased ; five North African Jackals (Canis 

 anthus), a Japanese Deer {Ccrviis sika ? ) a Collared Fruit 

 Bat (Cynonycteris collaris), a Great Kangaroo {Macropui 

 giganteus i ), born in the Gardens. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1889 MA Y 26— JUNE i. 



/T7OR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^ ■*■ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 

 is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on May 26 



Sun rises. 3h. 56m. ; souths, ilh. 56m. 48 8s. ; daily increase of 

 southing, 6"5s. ; sets, igh. 58m. : right asc. on meridian, 

 4h. I3"8m. ; decl. 21° 13' N, Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 I2h. 1 6m. 

 ■Moon (New on May 29, I7h.) rises, 3h. 2m.; souths, 

 9h. 36m. ; sets, i6h. 24m. : right asc. on meridian, 

 decl. 6" 16' N. 



Right asc. and declinatioD 

 on meridian, 

 h. m. o / 



ih. 52 8m. 



Planet. Rises. 



h. m. 



Mercury.. 5 4 



Venus 2 41 



Mars 4 12 



Jupiter..., 22 18* 

 Saturn.... 9 16 

 Uranus ... 15 20 

 Neptune.. 3 58 



Souths, 

 h. m. 



13 34 

 9 47 



12 23 

 2 14 



16 53 



20 50 



II 45 



Sets, 

 h. m. 

 22 4 .. 



16 53 •■ 



20 34 ,. 



6 ID .. 



o 30*.. 



2 20*.. 

 19 32 .. 



5 51 '4 



2 3-9 



4 39 '9 

 18 29'6 



9 ii"i 

 13 8-3 



4 i-S 



25 12 N. 

 II 55 N. 



22 41 N. 



23 3 S^ 

 17 27 N, 



6 34 S. 

 19 2 N. 



* Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening and the 

 settirg that of the following morning. 



May. 

 26 



h. 

 16 



16 



Venus in conjunction with and 4° 30' north 



of the Moon. 

 Mercury in conjunction with and l° 53' north 



of the Moon. 



Variable Stars, 



Star. 

 U Cephei .. 



I R Crateris .. 

 i W Virginis .. 

 ! 5 Librae 



U Coronae .. 



U Ophiuchi.. 



S Lyrse 



U Aquilae .. 

 S Vulpeculae 

 S Sagittse .. 



5 Cephei 



R.A. 

 h. m. 



o 52-5 



10 55-1 ... 



13 20-3 ... 



14 55-1 •• 



15 137 - 



17 io'9 ... 



18 46'o .., 



19 23-4 •• 

 19 43'8 .. 

 19 510 ••• 



Decl. 



..8i 17 N. 



.. 17 44 S. 

 .. 2 48 s, 



... 85 s. 



.. 32 3 N. 

 .. I 20 N. 



7 16 S. 

 27 I N. 

 16 20 N. 



22 25-1 ... 57 51 N. 



May 26, 



„ 31. 

 ., 27, 

 June I, 

 May 27, 

 June I, 

 May 27, 

 and at intervals of 

 33 14 N. ... May 27, 



., 3i> 

 June I, 

 May 28, 



,, 29, 

 June I, 

 May 31, 



h. 

 o 

 o 9 w 



M 

 o M 



35 »* 

 o m 



42 m 

 8 



I 



20 



20 30 M 



2 o in 



3 oM 



M 



2 o m 



2 o M 



2X o M 



M signifies maximum ; m minimum. 



Meteor-Showers. 

 R.A. Decl. 



From Vulpecula 



,, Lacerta... 



Near ( Pegasi... 



290 



305 

 330 

 335 



60 N. 

 25 N. 

 48 N. 

 27 N. 



May 30. Short, slow 

 Swift. 

 Very swift. 

 Swift, streaks, 



■ 



