i86 



NA TURE 



\ J line 21, 



Comet 1888 a (Sawerthal). — The following ephemeris for 

 Berlin midnight is by Herr Berberich (Astr. Nack., No. 2838), 

 from elliptic elements which he has found for it, and which 

 closely resemble those of Prof. Boss given in Nature of 

 May 24 (p. 88) :— 



1888. R.A. Decl. 



h. m. s. o / 



.. 46 11-5 N. 

 •• 46 40'S 



.. 47 8-9 



• • 47 36-6 

 -48 37 

 .. 48 3o-2 

 .. 48 56-0 

 .. 4921-2 

 .. 49 457 



• • 50 9'<5 

 .. 50 32-8 N. 



The brightness at discovery is taken as unit}'. 



The Kazan Observatory has celebrated its "Jubilee" by 

 publishing an interesting report about its activity since it was 

 founded by Littrow fifty years ago. The mapping of the stars 

 between 75 and 80°, which was begun by Prof. Kovalsky, was 

 continued and extended by his successor, Prof. Dubyago. 



The Tashkend Observatory has just issued the second volume 

 of its "Works." 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1888 JUNE 24-30. 



/"C*OR 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 24 



Sunrises, 3I1. 46m. ; souths, I2h. 2m. 137s. ; sets, 2oh. 19m. : 

 right asc. on meridian, 6h. I4'5m. ; decl. 23 25' N. 

 Sidereal Time at Sunset, 14b. 33m. 



Moon (Full, June 23, 2ih.) rises, I9h. 57m.* ; souths, oh. 9m. ; 

 sets, 4I1. 20m. : right asc. on meridian, i8h. i9 - 6m. ; decl. 



21° 5' S. 



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

 that of the following morning. 



June. 

 24 

 28 



Comet Sawerthal. 



Right Ascension, 

 h. m. 



o 55-2 

 • • o 587 . 



Declination. 

 1 



46 12 N. 



47 9 



Ocatltations of Stars by the Moon (visible at Greenwich). 



June. 



24 .. 



28 .. 

 June. 



25 



27 



Star. 



Mag. 



Disap. 



Reap. 



h. m. 



22 6 



2 28 



h. m. 

 23 16 



2 59 



Corresponding 

 angles from ver- 

 tex to right for 

 inverted image. 



65 250 

 163 215 



50 Sagittarii ... 6 

 50 Aquarii ... 6 



h. 



9 ... Mercury stationary. 

 .. 23 ... Mercury at greatest distance from the Sun. 



Meteor- Showers. 

 R.A. Decl. 



Near 52 Herculis 

 ,, 5 Cygni 

 ,, e Delphini 



253 

 295 

 305 



47 N. 



40 N. 



9N. 



June 25-30. Swift. 



Slow. 

 June 28. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

 Lieutenants Kund and Tappenbeck have been conduct- 

 ing an expedition into the Cameroons interior during the latter 

 part of 1887 and the beginning of the present year. Starting 

 from Batanga they succeeded in penetrating as far as 12 30' W. 

 long., when, being attacked by Soudan Negro traders they were 

 forced to retreat; both of them seriously wounded. They suc- 

 ceeded in tracing the course of the Beundo or Njong River far 

 into the interior, and brought back much information concerning 

 the people and the products of the country. With regard to 

 general results, they found that the water-parting between the 

 rivers that discharge in the Cameroons region and those that flow 

 into the Congo Basin lies not near the coast as has hitherto been 

 supposed, and therefore it is hoped that a navigable route may be 

 discovered that will lead well into the interior. The water- 

 parting between the left tributaries of the Binue and the rivers 

 in the German Cameroons also lies far in the interior. The 

 division between the Soudan Negroes and the Bantus is not to 

 be looked for in the direction of Adamawa, but southwards is 

 formed by the Zannaga River and eastwards lies at a distance of 

 150 miles from the coast. Lieutenants Kund and Tappenbeck 

 assert that the area of Mohammedan influence extends much 

 farther south than has hitherto been thought. No signs of 

 volcanic action have been met with as far as the Zannaga River 

 or in the mountains to the north. The profile which accompanies 

 the report shows a coast plain about 70 feet high, succeeded by a 

 sharp slope rising to a height of from 3000 to 4000 feet, beyond 

 which the country slopes gradually to the inner African plateau, 

 about 2500 feet above the sea. 



The June number of Petermann's Mittcilungen is mostly 

 occupied with a memoir by Dr. Supan on "A Century of 

 African Exploration," written in commemoration of the 

 centenary of the British African Association, founded in June 

 1788. Dr. Supan traces the gradual opening up of the 

 continent and its various regions, the text being illustrated by 

 a series of most instructive maps. In indicating what yet 

 remains to be done, Dr. Supan maintains that it is a mistake 

 to assert that the days of pioneer exploration are over. He 

 shows that while a few patches have been surveyed with some 

 care, while of others we have a general knowledge, and while 

 in other regions lines of travel have been run through, there are 

 great regions that stiil remain absolutely blank. In the north, 

 in the region of the Sahara, which has been so long known to 

 Europe, the blaijks are almost greater than elsewhere, leaving 

 ample room for pioneer work, which may very well be carried 

 on alongside of more minute exploration. 



TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION} 



TN celebrating as we are now doing the fifty first annual 

 ■*■ meeting of the Yorkshire Union of Institutes, one's thoughts 

 naturally revert to the foundation of that Union and to the edu- 

 cational progress which our country has made since the earlier 

 years of the century ; and round these thoughts will gravitate 

 recollections of the life and labours of your revered President, 



1 Address delivered by Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P., F.R.S., at Castleford, 

 on Wednesday, June 20, on the occasion of the fifty-first annual meeting of 

 the Yorkshire Union of Mechanics' Institutes. 



