July 5, 1888] 



NA TURE 



'3' 



Snake (Coronella Icevis), European, presented by Mr. Walter C. 

 Blaker ; a Dark-Green Snake {Zamenis atrovirens) from Dal- 

 matia, an ^Esculapian Snake {Coluber atsculapii), European, 

 purchased ; two Triangular-spotted Pigeons {Columba guinea), 

 bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



American Observatories. — The Trustees of the Lick 

 bequest formally made over the Lick Observatory to the Univer- 

 sity of California on June 1. The staff of the Observatory 

 consists of Prof. Holden, Director ; Messrs. Barnard, Burnham, 

 Keeler, and Schaeberle, astronomers ; and Mr. Chas. B. Hill, 

 librarian and assistant-astronomer. 



The Lick Observatory is not to be the most elevated of 

 American Observatories. Mr. H. B. Chamberlin, of Denver, 

 Colorado, is providing the University of that city with a new 

 equatorial refractor of 20 inches aperture. The site chosen for 

 the erection of this telescope is 5000 feet above sea-level, some 

 800 feet higher than the Lick Observatory. 



Mr. W. R. Brooks, so well known for his cometary discoveries, 

 has removed to the Observatory provided for him by the generosity 

 of Mr. William Smith, of Geneva, New York. His present 

 address is therefore " Smith Observatory, Geneva, N.Y." 



The instruments of the Dearborn Observatory, Chicago, have 

 been dismounted, and the old site abandoned, and a new build- 

 ing is to be erected at Evanston, about 16 miles north and 3 

 miles west of the old site, and some 250 feet from the shore of 

 Lake Michigan, on grounds belonging to the North- Western 

 University, with which institution the Observatory is in future to 

 be connected, but without affecting its relationship to the Chicago 

 Astronomical Society. The new building, which is to cost about 

 ^5000, and which will include a dome and tower for the i8i-inch 

 refractor, a transit-room, library, and about eight other rooms, is 

 the gift of Mr. James Hobbs. 



Rochester, New York, has no fewer than seven Observatories, 

 of which the Warner Observatory is the most important. 



Minor Planets. — The object discovered by M. Borelly on 

 May 12 has proved to be Sironia, No. 116; the difference 

 between the ob.-erved and predicted places being due to the 

 omission of perturbations in the computation of the ephemeris. 

 Herr Palisa's discovery of May 16 thus remains No. 278 as 

 given in Nature, vol. xxxviii. p. 89, at first. No. 272 has 

 been named Antonia ; No. 274 Philagoria. 



The Rings of Saturn. — Dom M. Lamey, Director of the 

 Observatory of the Priory of St. John, Grignon, claims to have 

 discovered four new rings around Saturn, outside those pre- 

 viously known. The first of these rings is said to commence 

 at the extreme ed^e of that now known as the outer ring ; the 

 next reaches to the orbit of Enceladus ; the third, which is the 

 brightest, touches the orbit of Tethys ; whilst the fourth and 

 faintest lies between Dione and Rhea. 



The distances from Saturn of the known rings have been 

 measured by M. Perrotin, at Nice, with the following results : — 



Cassinian Dark ring. 



Outer limit. division. Outer limit. Inner limit. 



F. Ansa 

 W. Ansa 



1 1 22 

 1112 



8-50 

 8-43 



4-08 

 4-07 



1-46 

 1-41 



with an average probable error for each determination of 

 ± o""02. These results agree well with those of Profs. O. 

 Struve and Meyer, except in the case of those in the last column. 

 The distances in the E. ansa appeared almost always greater 

 than those in the W. ansa for the two outer points measured, 

 but the measures of the dark ring are sometimes greater on one 

 side, sometimes on the other. This is probably due to the 

 revolution of the perisaturnium of the dark ring, which would 

 appear to revolve round the planet in an elliptic orbit. The dark 

 line known as Encke's division has not been seen in 1888, 

 though seen in previous years ; but on the other hand the inner 

 part of the ring B has shown three faint divisions separating it 

 into three nearly equal parts. The dark ring has appeared of 

 a uniform tint, and no division has been detected in it. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1888 JULY 8-14. 



/"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 July 8 



Sunrises, 3I1. 56m. ; souths, I2h. 4m. Ji'is. ; sets, 2oh. 14m. : 



right asc. on meridian, 7I1. I2 , 3m. ; decl. 22° 25' N. 



Sidereal Time at Sunset, I5h. 23m. 

 Moon (New on July 9, 6h.) rises, 3h. 16m. ; souths, uh. 25m. ; 



sets, 19I1. 36m. : right asc. on meridian, 6h. 32 - 5m. ; decl. 



21° 11' N. 



Planet. Rises. 



h. m. 



Mercury.. 4 30 



Venus 3 46 



Mars 



Jupiter 



Saturn .... 

 Uranus ... 

 Neptune.. 



13 5 

 16 6 



5 42 



12 1 



1 6 



Souths. 

 h. m. 

 12 7 



12 I 

 18 18 

 20 30 



13 30 

 17 41 



8 52 



Sets, 

 h. m. 



19 44 



20 l6 

 23 31 



o 54* 



21 18 

 23 21 

 16 38 



Right asc. and declination 

 on meridian, 

 h. m. o / 



7 147 



7 8-8 

 13 26-5 

 15 39"o 



8 38 2 

 12 49-8 



3 587 



17 35 N. 

 23 12 N. 



9 58 S. 



18 38 S. 



19 9 N. 

 4 39 S. 



18 51 N. 



July. 

 9 



* Indicates that the setting is that of the following morning. 

 Comet Sawerthal. 



Right Ascension. Declination. 



July. h. h. m. » / 



8 ... o ... i 52 ... 49 22 N. 



12 ... O ... I 67 ... 50 IO 



19 



Star. 



U Cephei ... 



Algol 



U Monocerotis 



R Crateris ... 



5 Librae 



U Coronse ... 



U Ophiuchi... 



Z Sagittarii... 



R Scuti 



S Sagittae ... 



X Cygni ... 



T Vulpeculse 



W Cygni ... 

 S Cephei 



Mercury in conjunction with and 3 34' south 



of the Moon. 

 Venus in conjunction with and i° 57' north 



of the Moon. 

 Mercury in inferior conjunction with the Sun. 

 Mercury in conjunction with and 5 32' south 



of Venus. 

 Partial eclipse of the Sun : not visible in 



Europe. 

 Saturn in conjunction with and o° 1' north 



of the Moon. 

 Venus in superior conjunction with the Sun. 



Variable Stars. 



R.A. 



h. m. 



o 52-4 



3 0-9 



7 25-5 



10 551 



14 55 "o 



15 13-6 



17 10-9 



18 14-8 . 



18 41-5 



19 5o'9 



20 39-0 



Decl. 



8l 16 N. 



40 31 N. 



9 33 S. 



17 43 S. 

 8 4S. 



32 3 N - 

 1 20 N. 



18 55 S. 

 5 5o S. 



16 20 N. 

 35 " N. 



July 



... 20 467 ... 27 50 N. ... ,, 



... 21 31-8 ... 44 53 N. ... „ 

 ... 22 25-0 ... 57 51 N. ... „ 

 M signifies maximum ; m minimum. 



h. 



10, 21 



11, O 

 13. 

 II, 



13, 1 

 9, o 



14, 1 



12, 1 



10, 



9, 1 

 10, 23 



10, 22 



11, 23 



52 m 



42 m 



m 



M 



10 m 



I m 



18 m 



o M 



M 



o M 



oM 



o M 



o m 



m 



o m 



Near 102 Herculis 

 „ it Cygni .. 



Very slow. 



»> 

 Swift. Red streaks. 

 Swift. 



ELECTRICAL NOTES. 

 Prof. Nichols, of the Cornell University, has suggested 

 the use of carbon and copper combined to form a compensated 

 resistance standard. The resistance of metals increases with 

 temperature, but that of carbon diminishes. The movement of 

 copper is + C384, that of carbon — 00235 P er cent - P er degree 

 Centigrade. For every ohm of carbon, 1 1 544 ohms of copper 

 are needed to secure complete compensation for temperature. 



