Jan. 19, 1 888] 



NATURE 



285 



OLiiERs' Comet. — The following ephemeris for Berlin mid- 

 night is in continuation of that given in Nature, vol. xxxvii. 

 P- 234:- 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



HEEK 1888 JANUARY 22-28. 



/"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 fanuary 22 

 Sun rises, 7h. 5Sm. ; souths, I2h. iim. 46-35. ; sets, i6h. 28m. : 



right asc. on meridian, 2oh. 1 6 -9m. ; decl. 19° 44' S. 



Sidereal Time at Sunset, oh. 34m. 

 Moon (Full on January 28, 23h.) rises, ilh. 58m. ; souths, 



igh. 8m.; sets, 2h. 29m.*: right asc. on meridian, 



3h. i4-6m. ; decl. 12° 39' N. 



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

 I hat of the following morning. 



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



Corresponding 

 angles from yer- 

 Star. Mag. Disap. Reap. tex to right for 



inverted image. 



h. m. h. m. o o 



I 19 near approach 51 — 



... o 36 ... I 20 ... 178 258 



... 4 57 near approach 215 — 



... 5 10 near approach 209 — 



Jan. 



23 •• 

 26 .. 

 26 .. 

 28 . 



Jan. 

 22 



23 

 24 



28 



/"Tauri 

 X'* Orionis 

 68 Orionis 

 . B.A.C. 2683 



h. 



I 

 14 

 23 



14 



Uranus stationary. 



Saturn in opposition to the Sun. 



Jupiter in conjunction with and o^ 8' south 



of /3^ Scorpii. 

 Saturn in conjunction with and 1° 10' north 



of the Moon. 



Variable Stars. 



Star. 



U Cephei 



Algol 



S Aurigse 



[\. Canis Majoris.., 



S Cancri 



W Virginis 



R Camelopardalis., 

 5 Librae 



U Ophiuchi , 



ti Lyrae 



V Cygni 



S Delphini 



V Cygni 



R.A. 



h. m. 



o 52-4 



3 0-9 



5 197 



7 I4'5 



8 37-6 



13 20-3 



14 261 

 14 55"o 



17 10-9 



18 46-0 

 20 37-7 

 20 37-9 

 20 47-6 



Jan. 



Decl. 



81 16 N. 



40 31 N. 



34 3N. 



16 12 S. 



19 26 N. 



2 48 S. 

 84 20 N. 



8 4S. 



I 20 N. ... ,, 

 and at intervals 



33 14 N. ... Jan. 

 47 45 N. ... „ 

 16 41 N. ... ,, 



34 14 N. ... ,, 



S Cephei 



... 22 25-0 ... 57 SI N. ... ,, 

 M signifies maximum ; m minimum. 



h. 



25. 21 



23, 20 

 28, 



27, 20 



28, 23 

 28, 22 



26, 5 



25, 

 22, 19 



25, 3 



24, 3 

 of 20 



25. 23 



22, 



24, 

 22, 20 



25, 20 

 28, O 



20 w 



37 m 



M 



36 m 



52 w 



28 m 



o m 



M 



51 m 



42 in 



4 VI 



8 



o m 



M 



M 



40 m 



33 m 



o tn 



Meteor- Showers. 

 R.A. Decl. 



Near i Ursoe Majoris ... 133 



„ <r Leonis 167 



,, a Coronoe Borealis 236 



48 N. 



5 N. ... Very swift. 

 25 N. ... January 28. 

 swift. 



Ver 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



Dr. Meyer has been giving an account of his ascent of 

 Kilimanjaro to the Berlin Geographical Society, and from the 

 brief abstract which has appeared his statements are not 

 quite consistent with those made in his letter already referred 

 to. For one thing, Alpinists are doubtful if Dr. Meyer got so 

 close to the summit by a thousand feet as he himself thinks 

 he did ; and moreover, from his own statements, his aneroid 

 was quite untrustworthy. 



A SPECIAL meeting of the Paris Geographical Society was 

 held on Saturday, to welcome MM. Bonvalot, Capus, and 

 Pepin, who have been journeying in Central Asia. We have 

 already on several occasions referred to this journey, during 

 which the travellers crossed the Pamir, but not for the first 

 time, as they themselves seem to believe. So far it would 

 appear as if the original results of this expedition were of no 

 great value. 



The paper at Monday's meeting of the Royal Geographical 

 Society was by a young engineer, Mr. VV. J. Steains, on an ex- 

 ploration of the Rio Doce and its northern tributaries (Brazil). 

 The Rio Doce has been in past years a classical region for 

 research in natural history, but for many years it has been 

 neglected. It flows through a region that has scarcely been 

 touched by the influences of civilization, a region which is the 

 home of the Botocudos, one of the most primitive |)eopIe on 

 the face of the earth. The Rio Doce lies between parallels 

 l9°-2i'' S. latitude, and is formed by several small streams 

 springing from the eastern slope of an important range of moun- 

 tains known by the name of the Serra da Mantiqueira. This 

 range, running in a north-easterly direction, forms a portion of 

 the irregular "coast-range" of Brazil, and forms, so to speak, 

 the "retaining wall " of the series of elevated, undulating table- 

 lands composing the greater portion of Central and Southern 

 Brazil. The total length of the Rio Doce is a little over 450 

 miles. That portion of the Rio Doce basin lying east of the 

 Serra dos Aymores is a densely wooded lowland, sloping gradu- 

 ally towards the coast from an elevation of about 900 feet. 

 Near the coast this plain resolves itself into a long stretch of 

 low alluvial groitnd, studded for the most part with small shallow 

 lakes that communicate with each other by means of long, 

 narrow, winding streams, called "valloes." The largest of 

 these lakes is the Lagoa Juparana, which communicates with 

 the Doce some 30 miles above its mouth by means of a narrow, 

 tortuous, deep channel 7 miles long. The lake is 18 miles 

 long, and about 2^ miles broad at its southern extremity. It is 

 very deep, and with the exception of some low alluvial ground 

 at its northern and southern ends, is surrounded by high wooded 

 bluffs, composed for the most part of reddish clay overlying a 

 stratum of coarse red sandstone. At the head of the lake is a 

 river— the S. Jose, which rises in the Serra dos Aymores, and 

 flows through an unexplored district, inhabited by wandering 

 hordes of wild Botocudo Indians. Throughout the whole of 

 its course, the S. Jose flows through dense forest abounding in 

 the much .sought-after " Jacaranda," or rosewood tree {Bignonia 

 cceruka, Will. ) The Botocudos number about 7000 people, and 

 among some of the more savage tribes cannibalism still prevails. 

 Mr. Steains stayed several weeks among these people, and is 

 therefore able to add something to our knowledge of them. In 

 appearance Mr. Steains states, the Botocudos can scarcely be 

 called prepossessing. The average height is 5 feet 4 inches. 

 Their chests are very broad, and this accounts for the facility 

 with which they can bend their bows, which are exceedmgly 

 strong, being made out of the tough springy wood of the Ayn 

 or Brijauba palm {Astrocaryuin Ayri, Mart.). The feet and 

 hands of the Botocudos are small rather than delicate, and these 

 are in fair proportion to their legs and arms, which are lean but 

 muscular. Concerning the colour of their skin, these Indians 

 are of all shades, some being of a dark reddish-brown, whilst 

 others, and especially the women, are quite light. With regard 

 to features, the Bjtocudos struck Mr. Steains, as they have done 



