Oct. 1 8, 1888] 



NATURE 



601 



the photographs, cannot be regarded as final, since, amongst 

 other reasons, the reduction of the position angles of Venus is 

 yet unfinished. 



The Markings on Mars. — Observations of Mars more 

 recently published tend to throw doubt upon the " inundation 

 of Libya," which M. Perrotin reported some four or five months 

 ago. Not only were Prof. Schiaparelli and Dr. Terby unable 

 to confirm his statement, but M. Niesten at Brussels, and Prof. 

 Holden at the Lick Observatory, failed to remark this change. 

 The observations of Prof. Holden and his assistants did not 

 begin until July 16, and were continued until August 10. The 

 planet was therefore very unfavourably situated when they 

 were made, since the diameter of the planet was always less 

 than 9", and its zenith distance about 6o°. Several of the 

 more important canals were seen, but they were not seen 

 double, but appeared rather " as broad bands covering 

 the spaces on M. Schiaparelli's map which are occupied by 

 pairs of canals, and by the space separating the members of 

 each pair." M. Niesten also seems to have failed to see the 

 gemination of the canals, but, in common with other observers, 

 was much struck by the whiteness and brilliancy of some portions 

 of the planet, particularly of Elysium or Fontana Land, as it is 

 called by Mr. Green. The brightness of Fontana Land has 

 been commented on both by M. Perrotin and Prof. Schiaparelli, 

 and the former observer has recently delineated an intricate 

 network of canals between that district and the north pole, and 

 another yet more complicated on the Madler Continent. Prof. 

 Schiaparelli has had to chronicle still stranger changes in this 

 last-named district, which he observed on May 20 under spe- 

 cially favourable circumstances, having been able to distinguish 

 the two banks of some of the canals, the one from the other, 

 and to detect very small undulations in them. He speaks also 

 of the ordinary markings, of gulfs, canals, &c, as disappearing 

 at a given moment, for their places to be taken by grotesque 

 polygons and geminations "which evidently approximately 

 represent the earlier state ; but it is a gross, and, I should 

 say, an almost ridiculous mask." 



ASTRONOMICAL 

 WEEK 18 



PHENOMENA FOR 

 58 OCTOBER 21-27. 



THE 



/"pOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

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



is here employed. ) 



At Greenzvich on October 21 



Sun rises, 6h. 37m. ; souths, nh. 44m. 35 "2s. ; sets, i6h. 52m. : 

 right asc. on meridian, I3h. 460m. ; deck io° 57' S. 

 Sidereal Time at Sunset, i8h. 54m. 



Moon (Full on October 19, 2 ih.) rises, I7h. 43m.*; souths, 



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



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



Corresponding 



Star. 



U Cephei ... . 



Algol 



S Aurigae ... 

 R Canis Majoris. 

 S Hydrae 

 U Ophiuchi... 



R Scuti ... . 



r) Aquilae 



S Sagittae ... . 



S Delphini ... 

 T Vulpeculse 

 Y Cygni 



R Vulpeculoe 

 T Cephei 

 5 Cephei 



Variable Stars. 

 R.A. Decl. 



h. m. 



o 52-4 



81 16 N. 



Oct. 



3 0-9 ... 40 31 N. 



5 197 •• 



7 14*5 •• 



8 477 .. 



17 io - 9 .. 



18 41-5 .. 



19 46*8 .. 



19 509 .. 



20 37-9 .. 

 20 467 .. 

 20 47-6 .. 



20 59-4 .. 



21 81 .. 



22 25*0 



3N. 

 12 S. 

 30 N. 

 20 N. 



5 5o S. 



o 43 N - 

 16 20 N. 



16 41 N. 

 27 50 N. 

 34 14 N. 



23 23 N. 

 68 2 N. 

 57 5*N. 



M signifies maximum ; m minimum. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



To the October number of Petennann's Mitteilnngen, Dr. J. 

 Hann contributes an important paper, containing a resume of 

 data on the temperature and rainfall of the Japanese islands, 

 and Dr. F. Boas a paper of a similar character on the ice 

 conditions of the south-west of Baffin's Bay. 



Captain Wiggins has failed to accomplish the voyage to 

 the Yenissei along the north coast of Europe and Asia — mainly, 

 it would seem, on account of the delay caused by his having to 

 wait for another vessel from Europe. Dr. Torell, the well- 

 known Swedish Arctic explorer, who is well acquainted with 

 these seas, maintains that there should be no difficulty in 

 establishing a regular communication between Europe and 

 Siberia along the northeast passage, though he admits that it 

 would be liable to interruption about once in five years. But in 

 order to insure success he states that vessels should be built 

 specially for the work, and that they should go out early in 

 summer and take up their post on the west side of Matotshkin 

 Scharr, in Novaya Zemlya, to be ready to enter the Kara Sea as 

 soon as ever it begins to clear of ice. A railway across Siberia, 

 however, should serve to render any such hazardous trade-route 

 unnecessary, and such a railway is sure to be constructed soon. 



A CENSUS of the illiterates in the various countries of the 

 world recently published in the Statistische Monatschrift, places 

 the three Sclavic States of Roumania, Servia, and Russia, at the 

 head of the list, with about 80 per cent, of the population 

 unable to read and write. Of the Latin-speaking races, Spain 

 heads the list with 63 per cent., followed by Italy with 48 per 

 cent., France and Belgium having about 15 per cent. The 

 illiterates in Hungary number 43 per cent., in Austria 39, and in 

 Ireland 21. In England we find 13 per cent., Holland 10 per 

 cent., United States (white population) 8 percent., and Scotland 

 7 per cent, unable to read and wriie. When we come to the 

 purely Teutonic States, we find a marked reduction in the 

 percentage of illiterates. The highest is in Switzerland, 2*5 ; 

 in the whole German Empire it is 1 per cent. ; in Sweden, 

 Denmark, Bavaria, Baden, and Wiirtemberg, there is practically 

 no one who cannot read and write. 



In the October number of the Proceedings of the Royal 

 Geographical Society, the Shah of Persia appears as a geo- 

 grapher. In a paper, annotated by General Houtum-Schindler, 

 His Majesty describes simply, but clearly, the results of his own 

 observations on a new lake, between Kom and Teheran, or 

 rather the reappearance of an old lake, which is said to have 

 dried up in 1357. Whatever may be the history of the lake, 

 there seems little doubt that at one time a large part of Central 

 Persia was covered with water. Mr. H. H. Johnston con- 

 tributes a short study, from his own observations, of what he 

 calls the Bantu Borderland in West Africa, which is accompanied 

 by a map showing the boundaries of the Bantu and Semi-Bantu 

 races, and also the coutses of migration of the two. Another 

 important paper, accompanied by a map, is a translation, by 

 Miss Hay, of Tashkent, of a description of the destructive earth- 

 quakes of May and June 1887, in the Vernoe district of Russian 

 Turkestan. Captain Wharton's paper on Christmas Island is 

 given at length. 



