July 25, 1878] 



NATURE 



ZZS 



logue:— 3860, 3966, 41 19, 4281, 4538, 4667, and 4770. 

 Probably Mr. Ellery at Melbourne, or Mr. Todd at 

 Adelaide — both of whom are understood to be partially 

 occupied with measures of the southern double-stars — 

 may eventually clear up the uncertainties which charac- 

 terise the results published by Giliiss. 



While referring to the catalogue of stars observed at 

 Santiago, it may be remarked that the majority of the 

 large proper motions shown by comparison with Lacaille 

 are proved to arise from errors of observation on his 

 part, when we examine the particular cases with the aid 

 of the valuable volumes which Mr. Stone is so regularly 

 issuing from the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope. 

 When the volumes containing the observations made in 

 i876(N.P.D. I35°-I45°) and in 1877 (N.P.D. i25°-i35°) 

 are published, Mr. Stone will have placed in the hands 

 of astronomers the means of investigating the proper 

 motions of a large number of southern stars, which can 

 hardly fail to lead to conclusions of much interest and 

 importance. We are not justified in supposing that in 

 Groombridge 1830 we have the case of largest proper 

 motion in the northern hemisphere, and as to the proper 

 motions of southern stars our knowledge is yet but very 

 limited, and very conspicuous instances of rapid transla- 

 tion may remain to be detected amongst the telescopic 

 stars of the southern heavens. 



The New Comet.— The telegram notifying the dis- 

 covery of a new comet, and forwarded by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution to M. Mouchez, Director of the 

 Observatory at Paris, is in these terms : — " Discovery, 

 by Lewis Swift, of Rochester, of a large and faint comet, 

 July 7, 1878, at 2h., in I7h. 40m. right ascension and 18° 

 north declination, Avith slow motion towards the south- 

 west ; neither tail nor nucleus, but a central condensa- 

 tion. Query, is it the Tempel comet?" In communi- 

 cating this telegram to the Academy of Sciences, on 

 July 15, it was stated that the sky had been overcast at 

 Paris, and therefore no opportunity had been afforded 

 for verifying the discovery, and further that, notwith- 

 standing an immediate intimation was given to the prin- 

 cipal European observatories on receipt of the telegram 

 at Paris on July 9, M. Mouchez had not heard of any 

 observation elsewhere. 



In this country several practised observers have failed 

 to detect the comet, though the skies have been at times 

 very favourable. The query in the American telegram, 

 referring to Temper s comet, might suggest that the de- 

 clination of the comet was south, but, upon submitting 

 the point to calculation, it does not appear that this 

 change will afford an explanation of the want of success. 

 If Temper s comet were in perihelion about noon on 

 August II, its right ascension, at the time of Mr. Lewis 

 Swift' s discovery, would have been as he estimated it, 

 but the declination would not be more than 7^° south. A 

 large, faint, diffused nebulosity, however, is easily over- 

 looked— the best chance of detection, when the position 

 is not precisely known, being probably afforded with the 

 "comet-seeker," by which we mean such an instrument 

 as is (or was formerly) constructed byPistorand Martins, 

 of Berlin. Mr. Lewis Swift was already the independent 

 discoverer of a comet, and is not likely to have been 

 mistaken or misled by any optical illusion on this 

 occasion. 



[Since the above was written we learn that Prof. 

 Winnecke re-observed the periodical comet of Tempel at 

 Strasburg on July 20, the position obtained that evening 

 indicating that the perihelion passage will not take place 

 until September 6, or between five and six days later than 

 the date fixed by M. Schulhofs calculations, which is, 

 perhaps, as close an agreement as was to be expected, 

 since the observations in 1873 did not suffice for the very 

 accurate determination of the mean diurnal motion. The 

 comet was from 2'— 3' in diameter, with nuclear conden- 

 sation. When the mean anomaly is so corrected that 



the observed and computed longitudes for July 20 are 

 made to agree, the latitudes differ only one minute, 

 proving that M. Schulhofs other elements are very near 

 the true ones. The following places for midnight at 

 Greenwich may facilitate observations : — 



Log. Distance 

 from 



Sun- 



0-1518 

 0-1476 

 0*1438 

 0*1402 

 0-1371 



o"i343 



The intensity of light does not sensibly vary during the 

 above interval.] 



METEOROLOGICAL NOTES 



To the meteorologist the recent discussions in Par- 

 liament and out of it regarding the salubriousness 

 or insalubriousness of the climate of Cyprus have 

 been, if not instructive, at least amusing, the amuse- 

 ment arising from the circumstance that positive infor- 

 mation was not forthcoming in support of the strong 

 statements made on both sides. Thanks, however, 

 to the Scottish Meteorological Society, we have trust- 

 worthy information on the subject, that Society having 

 established there one of its foreign climatological 

 stations in 1866, where, for about four years, observa- 

 tions were made by Mr. J. B. Sandwith, H.M. Vice- 

 Consul, and the results regularly published in the 

 Society's Jowmal. Summarising these results, we learn 

 that the annual rainfall is about 14 inches, nearly the 

 whole of which falls from November to April, notably 

 in November and December, that no rain falls in June, 

 July, and August, and only trifling amounts, but occurring 

 rarely, in May and September. There is thus practi- 

 cally five rainless months in the year in Cyprus, 

 the rainless summers being a feature in its climate 

 common, as we have recently had occasion to remark, 

 to the climates of the Mediterranean regions south of 

 latitude 43° (Nature, vol. xviii. p. 287). Comparing it 

 with the coasts of Syria opposite, its winters are milder 

 and its summers cooler; and the decidedly insular 

 character of its climate is further apparent from the fact 

 that the coldest month is February, with a mean 

 temperature of 52^*8, being about equal to that of 

 London in the middle of May, and that the mean 

 temperature of August is nearly as high as that 

 of July, both being about 8i°*o, which is approximately 

 the summer temperature of Algiers, Alexandria, Athens, 

 and Constantinople. During these four years the highest 

 recorded temperature in the shade during any of the 

 months was 96°*o, except June, 1869, when, from the 21st 

 to the 25th, the mean temperature at Alethriko, 3J miles 

 inland from Lamaka, reached 95°*5, being about the 

 average summer temperature of the Punjab, rising on 

 the 24th to a maximum of ios°*o. On the same day the 

 temperature rose to ioo°'o at Larnaka, and to io3°-5 at 

 Jerusalem, 2,500 feet above the sea, the period being 

 characterised as one of unprecedented heat and drought 

 over the whole of the regions bordering the Levant. It 

 is obvious to remark that much may be done in mitigation 

 of the effects of the summer heat, just as has been done 

 in countries similarly circumstanced, by the establish- 

 ment of sanataria among the mountains, and by carrying 

 through agricultural improvements and engineering works, 

 which would at the same time contribute to the material 

 prosperity of the island. 



Prof. Loomis, in a ninth Contribution to Meteo- 

 rology, handles admrably a question of first importance in 



