June 14, 1888] 



NATURE 



161 



journal devoted to experimental psychology was started at the 

 Johns Hopkins University, last November, by Prof. Stanley 

 Hall. The work of James at Harvard was also referred to. 

 Allusion was further made to Russia, which might be expected 

 to take a good place in the psychology of the future. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include five Pea-fowls (Pavocristatus, 2 <J , 3 Q ) from 

 India, presented by Her Majesty the Queen ; a Pagoda Owl 

 {Syrnium sinense), a Horsfield's Scops Owl {Scops lempiji) from 

 Penang, presented by Mr. C. B. Ricketts ; three Grey-breasted 

 Parrakeets {Bolborhynchus monachus) from Monte Video, pre- 

 sented by Mrs. Macnab ; a Gull (Larus ) from 



Massowah, presented by Mr. D. Wilson-Barker ; a Chilian 

 Skunk (Conepatus mapurito) from Chili, a Black-necked Swan 

 (Cygnus nigricollis) from Australia, a White-throated Monitor 

 (Varanus albogularis) from South Africa, purchased ; a West 

 Australian Great Kangaroo (Macropus ocydromus <J ) from West 

 Australia, two Wandering Tree Pies (Dendrocitta vagabunda) 

 from India, received in exchange ; a Japaneese Deer {Cervus 

 sika 9 ), a Burrhel Wild Sheep (Ovis burrhel 9), born in the 

 Gardens. 



THE 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR 

 WEEK 1888 JUNE 17-23. 



/■pOR. the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

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

 is here employed. ) 



At Greenwich on June 17 

 Sun rises, 3h. 44m.; souths, I2h. om. 437s. ; sets, 2oh. 17m. : 



right asc. on meridian, sh. 45 '4m. ; decl. 23 25' N. 



Sidereal Time at Sunset, 14b.. 3m. 

 Moon (at First Quarter June 17, 7h.) rises, I2h. im. ; souths, 



i8h. 33m.; sets, oh. 52m.*: right asc. on meridian, 

 i9 - 2m. ; decl. 2° 56' N. 



I2h. 



Planet. 



Mercury.. 

 Venus ... 

 Mars 

 Jupiter .., 

 Saturn ... 

 Uranus... 

 Neptune- 



Rises. 



h. m. 



5 37 

 3 19 



13 43 

 17 36 



6 52 

 13 23 



2 27 



Souths, 

 h. m. 



13 43 

 II 32 



19 13 

 21 59 



14 43 

 19 3 

 10 12 



Sets. 

 h. in. 



21 49 



19 45 

 o 43* 

 2 22* 



22 34 

 o 43* 



17 57 



Right asc. and declination 

 on meridian, 

 h. m 



7 27-5 

 5 i°'3 



12 58-5 



15 45'3 



8 28 o 



12 49-3 

 3 56 -o 



21 58 N. 



22 57 N. 

 6 38 S. 



18 54 S. 



19 45 N. 

 A 35 S. 



18 44 N. 



Indicates that the setting is that of the following morning. 



June. 

 18 



20 

 21 



h. 

 13 



15 

 o 



Mars in conjunction with and 5 48' south 



of the Moon. 

 Uranus stationary. 

 Sun at greatest declination north ; longest 



day in northern latitudes. 

 Jupiter in conjunction with and 3° 51' south 



of the Moon. 



Swift. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The paper read at Monday's meeting of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society was on Hudson's Bay and Hudson's Strait as 

 a navigable channel, by Commander Markham. It was really a 

 brief sketch of a much larger memoir on Hudson's Bay which 

 Commander Markham has prepared, and which will ultimately 

 be published by the Society. For some years investigations 

 have been carried on with a view to discover whether the naviga- 

 tion of Hudson's Bay could be so depended on- as to justify its 

 acceptance as a regular trade route, in conjunction with a railway, 

 to the more northerly parts of Canada. Commander Markham 

 briefly sketches the history of navigation in Hudson's Bay, and 

 concludes with the results of his own visit in the summer of 1886 

 on board the Alert. The result, he states, of all the experience 

 gathered from voyages during two centuries, and from observa- 

 tions at the stations, is that Hudson's Strait is perfectly navigable 

 and free from ice in August and later in the season. It must be 

 remembered that this passage has been successfully accomplished 

 nearly every year for the last two centuries, while the vessels 

 that have been employed on the service have been ordinary 

 sailing-ships, dependent entirely on wind and weather. It is 

 very rare indeed that they have failed to get through, and still 

 more rare that any of them have been destroyed by the ice. It 

 appears from the official records of the Hudson's Bay Company 

 that Moose Factory, on the southern shore of the bay, has been 

 visited annually by a ship since 1735, with but one exception, 

 namely in 1779, when the vessel for once failed to achieve the 

 passage of the strait. The percentage of losses by shipwreck 

 among these vessels employed in Hudson's Bay is far less than 

 would have to be recorded in a like number of ships engaged in 

 general ocean traffic. Commander Markham pointed out that 

 until quite recently only sailing-vessels attempted to navigate 

 Hudson's Bay, and maintained that with a properly constructed 

 steam-vessel, there need be neither difficulty nor danger. The 

 establishment of new routes for commerce, Commander Mark- 

 ham concluded, is always a gain to the science of geography. In 

 come cases new regions have to be discovered and explored. In 

 others the physical aspects of an already known region must be 

 more carefully studied, and many points of interest relating to 

 the action of climates, or of winds and currents, may be ascer- 

 tained. The proposed Winnipeg and Hudson's Bay Railroad is 

 a striking instance. The objections of opponents to the route 

 have had to be carefully examined. All former experience had 

 to be collected, maturely considered, and passed in review. 

 Observatories had to be established at several points, to make 

 certain whether the historical records actually coincided with 

 physical facts as they now exist. The route itself had to be 

 sailed over and explored. All these various researches have 

 been as great a gain to geography as to commerce. They have 

 enriched our science with a fresh stock of information, have 

 revised previous conceptions, and confirmed or rejected, as the 

 case may be, the theories and views which may have been put 

 forward. From this point of view, and from this point of view 

 alone, can commercial or political questions receive consideration 

 here. The study of the Hudson's Bay route involves a problem 

 for which physical geography alone can furnish a solution. 



Dr. F. H. H. Guillemard has been recommended, by 

 the joint Committee of the Royal Geographical Society and the 

 University, as Lecturer on Geography at Cambridge. 



The Bollettino of the Italian Geographical Society for May 

 publishes the map of the Massawa district (Massawa to Saati) 

 prepared to the scale of I : 80,000, by Prof. P. Durazzo, with the 

 materials which have been supplied by the Italian Staff officers 

 during the recent military operations in that region. Prof. 

 Durazzo has also now completed his large map in two sheets, 

 scale 1 : 800,000, of all the Italian possessions and protectorates 

 in East Africa. These cartographic works embody the results 

 of all the latest surveys, and contain several new features, as well 

 as some important corrections of existing maps. 



OUR ELECTRICAL COLUMN. 



The beautiful illustrations of stress in a dielectric in 

 an electric field, due to Dr. Kerr, have been modified 

 and amplified by Messrs. Riicker and Boys, and were shown 

 to a large audience at the Institution of Electrical Engin- 

 eers on March 22, and again at the soirh of the Royal 



