June 6, 1889] 



NATURE 



00 



London, 1888," by the Rev. A. Irving, D.Sc. lyond., Senior 

 Science Master at Wellington College. The same publishers 

 have in preparation seven new volumes of their " Elementary 

 Science Manuals." 



The Smithsonian Institution has published a new edition of 

 Mr. Frank Wigglesworth Clarke's "Tables of Specific Gravity 

 for Solids and Liquids." It is, in effect, a new edition of Part 

 I. of the work called " The Constants of Nature." The tables 

 in this "part" have been revised, rearranged, and as nearly as 

 possible brought up to date. The work is issued in England by 

 Messrs. Macmillan and Co. 



The Abbe Armand David, whose writings on the natural 

 history of China are well known in France, is contributing a 

 series of articles to Les Missions Cat/ioli(/ues of Lyons on the 

 fauna of China. In the last issue of that journal he completed 

 the papers on Carnivora. 



The PuhUshers' Circular slates that a work entitled "The 

 Ice Age of North America, and its Bearings on the Antiquity of 

 Man," by Prof. G. F. Wright, is announced for early pub- 

 lication by Messrs. Appleton and Co., of New York. It will 

 be amply illustrated from photographs taken by various members 

 of the "United States Geological Survey during the past ten 

 years. 



A WORK on the Island of Saghalin and its vertebrate fauna, 

 by Dr. Nikolsky, has just been published. The author, a native 

 of Astrakhan, is well acquainted with the fauna of the Altai and 

 West Turkestan, and is known as the writer of an interesting 

 work on the fauna of Lake Balkhash. In his new book he has 

 utilized, besides his own collections, the very rich collections 

 formed by the late M. Polakoff. 



Mr. W. p. Collins has issued a catalogue of works on 

 Cryptogamia. He claims to possess a more complete set of 

 books on Diatoms than have ever been advertised in a 

 bookseller's catalogue. 



We have received vol. iii., Part 4 (second series), of the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. It contains 

 the following papers : — Revision of the genus Hetcronyx, with 

 descriptions of new species. Part i, by the Rev. T. Black- 

 burn ; Diptera of Australia— Part 4, the Simulidse and Bibion- 

 idas, by Frederick A. A. Skuse (Plate xxxix.) ; further notes 

 on Australian Coleoptera, with dercriptions of new genera and 

 species, by the Rev. T. Blackburn ; contributions towards a 

 knowledge of the Coleoptera of Australia — No. 5, on certain 

 species belonging to unrecorded genera, by A. Sidney Olliff; 

 descriptions of hitherto undescribed Australian Lepidoptera 

 (Rhopalocera), by W. H. Miskin ; notes on Australian earth- 

 worms. Part 5, by J. J. Fletcher; descriptions of Australian 

 Micro- Lepidoptera — Part 15, GEcophoridse (continued), by E. 

 Meyrick ; on simple striated muscular fibres, by W. A. Has- 

 well ; jottings from the Biological Laboratory of Sydney Uni- 

 versity, by W. A. Haswell ; Diptera of Australia — Part 5, the 

 Culicidae, by Frederick A. A. Skuse (Plate xl.) ; list of the Aus- 

 tralian Palacichthyes, with notes on their synonymy and distri- 

 bution, Part I, by J. Douglas Ogilby ; a list of the birds found 

 in the county of Cumberland, N.S. W., by A. J. North. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Grey Ichneumon {H^rpestes griscns) 

 from India, presented by Mrs. Walter Boden ; a S&r\s.\ {Felis 

 servai 6 ) from Zambesi, presented by Mr. John Walker; an 

 Ocelet {Felis pardalis i ) from America, a Red Brocket {Cariacus 

 rujus), two White-eared Conures {Comints laicotis) from Brazil, 

 an Acouchy {Dasyproda acouchy) from British Guiana, a Bra- 

 zilian Tree-Porcupine {Sphingurus prehensilis), a Blue fronted 

 Amazon {Chrysalis astiva), a Yellow Ilangnest [Cassictis per- 



sicus) from South America, a Hairy Armadillo [Dasyptit vil- 

 losus), a Pileated Jay {Cyanocorax pilcatus) from La Plata, pre- 

 sented by Mrs. Wolfe; a Diana "^oViVty {Cercopithectis diana, 

 var. ignita 9 ), a Campbell's Monkey {Cercopithccus cainpbdli 6 ) 

 from West Africa, a Musanga Paradoxure [Paradoxttrus musattga) 

 from the Indian Archipelago, presented by Colonel Wethered ; 

 a Nightingale {Daulias luscinia), British, presented by Mr. John 

 Young ; a Bar-tailed Pheasant {Phisianus rceves'>) from North 

 China, presented by Mr. Charles J. Lucas ; a Yellow-headed 

 Conure {Couiirc jiiidaya) from South-East Brazil, a Blue-and- 

 Yellow Macaw {Ara aiarauna), a Blue-fronted Amazon (Chiy- 

 so/is (cstiva) from South America, deposited ; an American 

 Jabiru {Mycteria americaiia) from Para, an American Tantalus 

 {Tantalus loculator) from America, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 New Minor Planet. — A new minor planet, No. 284, was 

 discovered by M. Charlois, of the Nice Observatory, on 

 May 29. 



The Spectrum ofxCygni.— At the Wolsingham Observa- 

 tory, bright lines were seen in the spectrum of x Cygni on May 

 19 and 21 ; D3 very plain. Confirmed by Mr. Taylor at 

 Ealing. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK \%Z^ JUNE 9-15. 



(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 Jtine 9 



Sun risfs, 3h. 46m. ; souths, ilh. 59m. o*6s. ; daily increase of 

 southing, 1 1 •6s. ; sets, 20h. 12m. : right asc. on meridian, 

 5h. II •2m. ; decl. 22° 59' N. Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 ijh. 26ni. 

 Moon (Full on June 13, I4h.^ rises. I4h. 48m. ; soutlis, 

 2oh. 35m. ; sets, 2h. 9m.* : right asc. on meridian, 

 I3h. 48 •4m. ; decl. 5° 45 S. 



Right asc. and declination 

 Planet. R!ses. Souths. Sets. on meridian. 



h. m. h. m, h. m. h. m. ^ , 



Mercury.. 4 52 ... 12 59 ... 21 6 ... 6 ii^6 ... 22 6 N. 



Venus 2 9 ... 9 14 ... 16 19 ... 2 26"i ... 11 53 N. 



Mars 3 50 ... 12 9 ... 20 28 ... 5 2i'3 ... 23 47 N. 



Jupiter.... 21 18*... I 13 ... 5 8 ... 18 23*3 ... 23 9 S. 

 Saturn.... 8 28 ... 16 3 ... 23 38 ... 9 15-5 ... 17 7 N. 

 Uranus... 14 23 ... 19 54 ... 1 25*... 13 7-3 ... 6 28 S. 

 Neptune.. 3 4 ... 10 52 .. 18 40 ... 4 3^7 ... 19 8 N. 

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

 settirg that of the following morning. 



June. h. 



14 ... 9 ... Jupiter in conjunction with and 0° 29' south 



of the Moon. 

 14 ... 20 ... Mercury at greatest distance from the Sun. 



Variable Stars, 

 Star. R.A. Decl. 



h. m. o / h. m. 



T Cassiopeioe ... o 17 "2 ... 55 11 N. ... June 9, M 



U Cephei o 52*5 ... »i 17 N. ... ,, 9, 2^ 28 ms-> 



,, 14, 23 8 »J 



R Geminorum ... 7 0*7 ... 22 53 N , 14, iM 



S Hydra: 8 47-8 ... 3 29 N. ... ,, 12, M 



U Hydrae 10 32-1 ... 12 48 S. ... ,, 9, m 



W Virginis 13 20-3 ... 2 48 S. ... ,, 10, 3 o m 



S Libras 15 i5^o ... 19 59 S. ... ,, 14, m 



U Ophiuchi 17 icg ... i 20 N. ... ,, 12, o "j m 



X Sagittarii 17 40-6 .. 27 47 S. ... ,, 14, I o m 



V Sagittarii 18 I4'9 ... 18 55 S , 14, 2 oM 



R Sagittarii 19 10^2 ... 19 30 S. ... ,. 13, M 



8 Lyrse 18 46^0 ... 33 14 M. ... ,, 13, o o M 



77 Aquilre 19 468 ... o 43 N. ... ,, 13, 22 o M 



T Vulpeculae ... 20 46'8 ... 27 50 N. ... ,, 12, r o m 



5 Cephei 22 25*1 ... 57 51 N. ... ,, 10, 2 o m 



M signifies maximum ; m minimum. 



