434 



NATURE 



\_Au^USt 2 2, 1878 



Prof. Watson's planet with that of which Leverrier has 

 indicated the track, he believes he has shown that 

 there is no incompatibility between the observed and 

 hypothetical objects. If only one such planet exist 

 between Mercury and the sun M. Gaillot points out that, 

 in order to account for the accelerated motion in the peri- 

 helion of Mercury, its mass must be nearly equal to that 

 of the latter — an mference drawn from Leverrier's table 

 in vol. V. of the Paris Annales. An ephemeris extending 

 to September i is appended to M. Gaillot's com- 

 munication in the Coviptes Reitdus of August 5. Re- 

 marking that the assumed sidereal period of Prof. 

 Watson's planet is 24'25 days, the synodical period 

 is nearly twenty-six days, and accordingly we find by the 

 ephemeris that the body should pass nearly at the same 

 distance in longitude and latitude from the sun on 

 August 24. But considering that this must hold during 

 the next revolution whatever the period of any possible 

 intra-Mercurial planet may be, it may be suggested that 

 the most effectual plan of search will be to watch daily 

 the vicinity so indicated with our larger instruments 

 beyond the period at which the hypothetical planet 

 should pass according to M. Gaillot's ephemeris. To 

 set the equatorial it will be sufficient to subtract 9m. 50s. 

 from the sun's right ascension at the proposed time of 

 search, and to add to the sun's N.P.D. a quantity varying 

 from 23' on August 22, to 17' on September 10, 



A Companion of a Lyr^e. — On several occasions 

 during the last ten years, to our knowledge, attention has 

 been directed to a star near a Lyras in the n.f. quadrant, 

 and suspicion of variability entertained, from the observer 

 not having distinctly remarked it previously. An inquiry 

 on the same point was lately addressed by a correspon- 

 dent to Prof. Winnecke. The star is on an angle of about 

 42°, distance 139". In October, 1870, it was a full mag- 

 nitude fainter than the well-known Herschelian com- 

 panion. Possibly some reader interested in the variable 

 stars may be able to say if there is any reason to include 

 the more distant star in this class of objects. In due 

 course the direction of the proper motion of the large 

 star will bring it immediately upon this co7nes, supposing 

 there be no physical connection. 



Schmidt's " Charte der Gebirge des Mondes." — 

 We hope next week to give some account of this most 

 laborious and valuable work, which has been produced, 

 through the liberality and scientific spirit of the Prussian 

 government, in a style and with a perfection of arrange- 

 ment that reflect the highest credit on all concerned. 

 Probably no astronomical work could possess a greater 

 degree of interest for amateurs generally, and — consider- 

 ing the attention paid to the examination of the moon's 

 surface in this country — to British amateurs especially. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



The Arctic exploring ship Alert is being again fitted 

 out for active duty, under the command of her old 

 captain. Sir George Nares. She is intended for a voyage 

 of surveying service principally in the South Pacific. 

 Her first work will be an examination of the inner water 

 leading from the Straits of Magellan to the Gulf of Peiias, 

 along the seaboard of Chili ; from this she will stretch 

 across the South Pacific Ocean towards Fiji adding {en 

 route) as far as practicable to our knowledge of the hydro- 

 graphy of the Low Archipelago, Society and Friendly 

 Islands. After a few months spent in the neighbourhood 

 of Fiji and in an examination of dangers lying in the 

 track of navigation between that group and the Colony 

 of New Zealand, she will, for the latter part of her voyage, 

 be employed off the North Western Coast of Australia, 

 principally in ascertaining the positions of, and as far as 

 necessary charting, the various reefs and islets lying off 

 the Australian continent, and between it and the ports 

 of the Dutch Indies, at many of which reefs, &c., 



traffic has been for some time increasing in the search 

 for trepang, pearls, and guano. 



The Mittheiluiigen of the Vienna Geographical Society, 

 Nos. 6 and 7, contains a valuable "Culture-Map" of 

 Asia Minor, exhibiting in a satisfactory manner the 

 various zones of vegetation which mark that region 

 recently brought into such intimate relations with this 

 country. The map is by A. v, Schweiger-Lerchenfeld, 

 who contributes also the explanatory text. Dr. Ziegler 

 describes the important works carried on during 1877-8 

 by the Swiss correspondents of the Society, and Prof. 

 Schmick contributes a paper on Ocean Currents. 



From America we have No. 2, 1878, of the always 

 interesting Bulletin of the American Geographical 

 Society. A paper on "Japan, Geographical and Social," 

 by the Rev. W. E. Griffis, contains the results of much 

 research, as well as of personal observation, and is an 

 important contribution to our knowledge of that country. 

 Dr. Wright Hawkes discusses in an able and unpre- 

 judiced manner " The So-called Celtic Monuments of 

 Britanny," his conclusion being that the evidence as to 

 their origin is very conflicting. Mr. Jess Young, who 

 was astronomer to Giles's trans-Australian expedition, 

 gives an account of the results of his observations while 

 crossing the great Australian desert. 



The Geographical Society of St. Petersburg intends to 

 publish Karl Ritter's works in Russian in celebration of 

 his jubilee. 



We learn that a new branch of the Russian Geographi- 

 cal Society, independent of those of Orenburg and 

 Western Siberia, will shortly be opened at Tashkent. 



We have received from Williams and Norgate a neat 

 and well-executed map of Cyprus, by Kiepert of Berlin, 

 upon a sufficiently large scale to show distinctly the chief 

 features of the island. 



NOTES 

 Prof. Mendkleeff is to be absent from his post in the St. 

 Petersburg University for a year for the purpose of visiting 

 Western Europe, where he will devote his time to the prepara- 

 tion of a large work on aeronautics. The work will contain a 

 historical sketch of the subject, and expound its present condi- 

 tion from a scientific point of view. 



The appearance is announced of a biography of the late 

 Prof, von Baer, by Dr. Stida, Professor in the Dorpat Uni- 

 versity. 1 he autobiography of Baer appeared some years before 

 his death, but embraced only his childhood and youth. The 

 work of Dr. Stida is chiefly devoted to the scientific life of 

 Baer, and contains a complete review of his works. 



We are glad to see that the Times is beginning to recognise 

 the national importance of science-teaching in schools, and 

 the necessity for our legislators being able to estimate the 

 bearings of the various problems in physical science which 

 are involved in the measures that come before them, in which 

 the national welfare is involved. In a leading article on 

 the meeting of the British Association the limes says that 

 " We are living in a time when legislation is busy with physical 

 matters, and is likely to become more so. The tendency of 

 unscientific persons, -especially when they are politicians, is to 

 ignore the certainties which physical science furnishes, and hence 

 to suppose that legislation about physical matters may properly 

 be conducted upon a basis of compromise, like legislation about 

 matters of opinion. It is very important that people who are 

 not scientific themselves, and who never will be, should yet pos- 

 sess enough scientific knowledge to understand the difference 

 which separates questions on which compromise is proper or 

 expedient from those in which it would be fatal to the attain- 

 ment of the desked result." The Times seems to us in- 



