August 30, 1888] 



NA TURE 



423 



r.ulpimti) from North America, deposited ; two Great White 

 Herons (.-Infra alba), European, purchased ; a Moor Monkey 

 (Sent nop i thee its niaitrus) from Java, a Malabar Squirrel (Sriwus 

 maximus) from Tndia, a Red-bellied Squirrel (Sciimts variegatus) 

 from Vera Cruz, a Sclater's Curassow (Cra.v sclatcri Q ) from 

 South America, a River Jack Viper {Vipcra rhinoceros^ from 

 West Africa, received in exchange ; a Wapiti Deer {Cervits 

 canadensis 6 ), five Brazilian Teal (Qucrqitcdula brasi/iens/s), two 

 Chilian Pintails {Dafila spini-auda), two Triangular Spotted 

 Pigeons {Columba guinea), three Chinese Blue Magpies 

 {Cyanopolius ryanus) bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 The SrECTKUM ok R Cygni.— The Rev. T. E. Espin, in 

 Circular No. 21 of the Wolsingham Observatory, reports that 

 he observed a remarkably bright line (apparently F) in the 

 spectrum of this star on August 13. The observation was con- 

 firmed on August 22, on which night Dr. Copeland also 

 observed the bright line and determined its position. Duner's 

 observations of this star in 1879, 1880, and 1882 showed it as 

 possessing a feebly-marked spectrum of the third (Secchi's) type. 

 A change would therefore seem to have taken place in this star. 

 Place for 18870, R.A. 19I1. 33m. 49s., Deck 49 57''o N. 



Milan Double-Star Observations. — Prof. Schiaparelli 

 has recently published, in No. xxxiii. of the Publications of the 

 Royal Observatory of Brera, the results of his measures of 465 

 systems of double stars made with the fine 8-inch Merz refractor 

 of that Observatory in the eleven years 1875-85. The observa- 

 tions are nearly 4000 in number, and are for the most part 

 of stars of small distances, i.e. less than 5", apart, the binaries 

 in rapid motion receiving especial attention. 'I he measures 

 nre grouped together into four parts, the stars of the Dorpat and 

 Pulkowa catalogues forming the first two, then follow stars dis- 

 covered by Burnham, and those of other discoverers are grouped 

 together in the last. Besides these detailed results of the 

 measures made with the old 8- inch, with which Prof. Schia- 

 parelli has done so much excellent work in the east, there are 

 given in an appendix mean results for a number of the closest 

 pairs as measured with the new 18-inch refractor. Prof. Schia- 

 parelli seems well satisfied with the performance of this new 

 instrument, and records the discovery that the principal star of 

 2 1273, e Hydrse, is itself a very close double, a fact that had 

 hitherto escaped notice, notwithstanding the number of obser- 

 vations which have been made with vari ms telescopes upon the 

 star. The magnitudes of the two components of the new 

 double are 4 and 5 "5, and the distance is o" - 2 or o"*25. 

 The earlier part of the volume contains a detailed description of 

 the optical performance of the 8-inch refractor, a discussion of 

 the errors of the micrometer and of the accidental errors of 

 observation, a determination of the systematic errors of observa- 

 tion, and a very full comparison with Dembowski's measures. 

 The differences in the determination of position-angle due to 

 the varying inclination of the line joining the two stars to the 

 line of the observer's eyes are also investigated, but the reversion 

 prism was not used. Prof. Schiaparelli finds that on the whole 

 his measures of distance are free from systematic errors due 

 to personality, but his position-angles have a tendency to be 

 small as compared with those of other observers. 



Amongst the notes to some of the more interesting stars is one 

 on OS 285 in which a correction of 180° is suggested to the 

 angles of Englemann and Perrotin in 1883 and 18S5, the star 

 being supposed to have passed rapidly through periastron in the 

 long period from 1865 to 1883, in which it was unobserved. All 

 the observations would then be satisfied by an ellipse of 100 

 years of revolution. 2 2367 and 2 2525 are noted as appearing 

 as single stars with the 18-inch refractor in 1887. 



Excke's Comet. — Mr. John Tebbutt, Windsor, New South 

 Wales, informs us that he picked up this object on the evening 

 of July 8. Its place as observed closely accorded with that 

 given in Dr. Backlund's ephemeris. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1888 SEPTEMBER 2-8. 

 (T^ 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 September 2 

 Sun rises, 5h. 17m. ; souths, uh. 59 n. 2f6s. ; sets. i8h. 42T1 : 



right asc. on meridian, ioh. 47 *6m. ; deck 7 40' N. 



Sidereal Time at Sunset. I7h. 31m. 

 Moon (New on September 6, 5k.) rises, oh. 39m. : souths, 8h. 49m.; 



sets, i6h. 55m. : right asc. on meridian, 7I1. 37"2m. ; deck 



20 54' N. 



Right asc. and declination 

 Planet. Rtses. Souths. Sets. on meridian. 



h. m. h. m. h. m. h. tn. n , 



Mercury.. 6 2 ... 12 33 ... 19 4 ... n 21*6 ... 5 28 N. 



Venus 6 9$ ... 12 55 ... 19 15 ... n 43'3 ••• 3 I2 N - 



Mars 12 26 ... 16 39 ... 20 52 ... 15 278 ... 20 24 S. 



Jupiter. ... 12 38 ... 16 58 ... 21 18 ... 15 47'5 ... 19 19 S. 



Saturn.... 2 43 ... 10 19 ... 17 55 ... 9 6-9 ... 17 19 N. 



Uranus... 8 33 ... -14 9 ... 19 45 •■• I2 57*5 ••• 5 2 9 S. 



Neptune.. 21 28*... 5 15 .. 13 2 ... 4 2-4 ... 18 59 N. 



* Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening. 



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



Corresponding 



angles from ver- 



Sept. Star. Mag. Disap. Reap. tex to ric;ht for 



inverted image, 

 h. m. h. m. o 



2 ... 61 Geminorum .. 6 ... o 4 .. o 50 ... 84 216 



3 ... B.A.C. 2854 ... 6 ... 4 54 nearapproach 135 — 



Sept. h. . o - 



4 ... 1 ... Saturn in conjunction with and o 34 south 



of the Moon. 

 7 ... O ... Mercury in conjunction with and 3 46': south 



of the Moon. 

 7 ... 7 ... Venus in conjunction with and 3 32' south 



of the Moon. 



Variable Stars. 

 Star. RA. Decl. 



h. m. „ h. m. 



A Tauri 3 54'5 ••• * 2 IO N - ••• Sept. 4, 20 26 m 



C Geminorum ... 6 57-5 ... .20 44 N. ... ,, 8,21 ow 

 5 Librae 14 550... 8 4S 6,21 42 tn 



V Ophiuchi 16 20-5 ... 12 10 S. ... ,, 6, M 



U Ophiuchi 17 10-9 ... I 20 N , 4, 1 15 m 



„ 21 22 m 



W Sagittarii ... 17 57'9 ••• 2 9 35 &• ■•• » 8, 1 o m 



B Lyra? 18 46^0 ... 33 14 P*. ••• „ 7> 2 3 ° 1H i 



RLyrs 18 51-9 ... 43 48 N. ... „ 2, M 



S Vulpecuke ... 19 43'8 ... 27 1 N. ... ,, 2, M 



V Aquilse 19 46-8 ... o 43 N. ... ,, 7, o o M 



R Sagittce 20 90 ... 16 23 N. ... ,, 6, in 



X Cygni ... ... 20 39-0 ... 35 1 1 N. ... ,, 5, 3 o M 



T Vulpecuke ... 20 467 ... 27 50 N. ... ,, 2, 3 o M 



5 Cephei 22 25-0 ... 57 51 N 4, 1 o m 



^/signifies maximum ; m minimum ; >n 2 secondary minimum. 



Meteor- Showt rs. 

 R.A. Decl. 



Near Algol ... 

 ,, e Lyrae ... 

 ,, # Piscium 



43 

 282 



345 



39 N. 

 42 \~. 



1 N. 



Swift ; streaks. 

 Swift ; bright. 

 Slow ; bright. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The current number of the Proceedings of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society contains the report of his first year's work by 

 Mr. Mackinder, the Reader in Geographv to the University of 

 Oxford, whose appointment is due to the Society. He describes 

 the year as one of reconnoitre and preparation ; neverthele-s he 

 delivered forty-two ordinary lectures in the University, and one 

 public lecture ; in each of the three terms he lectured for seven 

 weeks twice a week, having two courses going on side by side 

 on different days, to one of which he imparted a scientific, to 

 the other an historical bias. The notices were, by permission of 

 the Board of Faculties, published in the lists of two separate 

 Faculties— Natural Science and Modern History. On the scientific 

 side the lectures have been on the principles of geography— "a 

 review of the subject not m-rely physical, yet taking the feature, 

 and not the region, as the basis of classification." This course 

 has not been so well attended as the other, but Mr. Mackinder 

 congratulates himself that he has never been wholly without an 

 audience, "a fate not altogether unknown just now to Oxford 

 Professors and Readers." On the historical side the lectures were 

 on the geography of Central Europe, and the influence of physi- 

 cal features on man's movements and settlements. " My aim is 



