April 19, 1888] 



NATURE 



597 



year. This consisted of the funds provided by Mrs. Henry 

 Draper for carrying on the photographic study of stellar spectra 

 as a memorial to her late husband ; the fund left by the late 

 Uriah A. Boyden for the establishment of a mountain Observa- 

 tory ; and the large bequest of the late Robert Treat Paine. 

 Prof. Pickering points out, however, that the Observatory still 

 stands in need of further endowment, as its new resources are 

 necessarily largely absorbed in those new lines of research for 

 which they were specially designed, and considerable improve- 

 ments are required in the principal building ; and he adds that it 

 is probable that there has never been a time in the history of the 

 institution when so large a return could be obtained from a given 

 expenditure as at present. The most striking results obtained 

 during the year have been those secured by the use of the Henry 

 Draper Memorial Fund in the photographic study of stellar 

 spectra, and which have been already referred to in these 

 columns. Under the Boyden Fund several instruments have 

 been devised and constructed for the automatic registration of 

 the meteorological conditions and general fitness for observing 

 of sites for Observatories, and these have been carefully tested at 

 various elevated stations. The usual observations have also been 

 kept up, including the observation with the meridian photo- 

 meter of the magnitudes of stars in zones at intervals of 5° 

 in the region covered by the Southern D. M. This work was 

 about half finished, and would, it was expected, be entirely 

 completed within the present year. The east equatorial had 

 been used in the observation of eclipses of Jupiter's satellites 

 and of comparison- stars for variables. A wedge photometer, 

 arranged in a somewhat modified manner, is employed with this 

 telescope, and is to be used in the investigation of the phases of 

 asteroids and in the observation of zones of D.M, stars. The 

 meridian circle is to be engaged in the observation of one of the 

 zones required in the proposed revision of the Southern D.M. 



Comet 1888 a (Sawerthai,). — Dr. L. Becker has computed 

 the following elements and ephemeris from observations made 

 on Febrnarv 18 nt.the Cape, March 13 at Palermo, and March 27 

 at Sauj..>iug. From the outstanding deviation of the middle 

 place it may be inferred that unless there be some considerable 

 error in the observations the true orbit will prove to be 

 elliptical, 



T = 1888 March 16-96412 G.M.T. 



'^- 9>= 359 49 45"i 

 ft = 245 30 40*2 

 J = 42 17 47-4 

 log^ = 9-844562 



Error of middle place (6> - C). 



Aa cos 5 = - 2-6is. 



Mean Eq. 1 88o-o. 



A5 = -f 7"-i. 



Ephemeris for Greenwich, Midnight. 



i833 



April 20 

 22 



R.A. 



Decl. 



May 



22 57 31 ... 20 22*7 N. 



23 2 48 ... 21 44-3 



23 7 58 ... 23 2-3 



23 13 3 ... 24 16-9 

 28 ... 23 18 2 ... 25 28-3 

 30 ... 23 22 55 .. 26 36-7 



2 ... 23 2741 ... 27 42-2 N. 



24 . 

 26 . 



Bright- 

 ness. 



... 03 

 ... 0-3 



0*1835 ••• o'0369 ... 02 

 0-1980 ... 0-0588 ... 0-2: 



The brightness at discovery is taken as unity. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1888 APRIL 22-28. 



/T7OR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^ ■*• Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 

 is here employed. ) 



At Greenwich on April 22 



Sun rises, 4h. 50m. ; souths, iih. 58m. 21 -is. ; sets, I9h. 6m. 



right asc. on meridian, 2h. 2 -2m. ; decl. 12° 26' N. 



Sidereal Time at Sunset, gh. iim. 

 Moon (Full on April 26, 6h.) rises, i4h. 3m.; souths, 



2ih. 7m.; sets, 3h. 56m.*: right asc. on meridiar, 



iih. i2-3m. ; decl. 8° 39' N. : 



Planet. 



-Mercury. 

 Venus .. 

 Mars 

 Jupiter .. 

 Saturn .., 

 Uranus.. 

 Neptune. 



Rises, 

 h. m. 



4 31 

 4 21 

 17 24 

 21 56* 

 10 7 

 17 II 

 6 I 



Souths, 

 h. m. 

 10 52 

 ID 40 



23 I 

 2 10 



18 5 

 22 49 



13 43 



Right asc. and declination 

 on meridian, 

 h. m. , 



Sets, 

 h. m. 



17 13 • 



16 59 



4 38». 



6 24 . 



2 3*. 



4 27». 

 21 25 . 



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

 that of the following morning. 



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



Corresponding 



o 55-3 

 o 44-1 



13 70 



16 12-7 

 8 95 



12 54'3 

 3 47-6 



3 21 N. 



3 2N. 



5 12 S. 

 20 8S. 

 20 44 N. 



5 4S. 

 18 18 N. 



April. 



22 .. 



25 •• 

 28 .. 



April. 

 24 



28 



Star. 



Mag. 



Disap. 



Reap. 



h. m. h. 



8 9 •• 19 32 ... 



4 19 near approach 



5 46 ... 6 44 ... 



angles from ver- 

 tex to right for 

 inverted image. 



90 173 

 17 — 

 96 316 



B.A.C. 3837 ... 6 

 65 Virginis ... 6 

 X Ophiuchi ... 6 



h. 

 ... 22 ... Mars in conjunction with and 3° 16' south 

 of the Moon. 

 I ... Jupiter in conjunction with and 3° 26' south 

 of the Moon. 



Variable Stars. 



Star. 



U Cephei .. 



U Virginis .., 

 V Bootis 

 5 Librae 



U Coronae .;, 



5 Coronse ... 

 U Ophiuchi... 



6 Lyrse , 



U Capricorni 

 T Vulpeculae 

 5 Cephei 

 S Aquarii ... 



R.A. 



h. m. 



o 52-4 .. 

 12 454 ... 

 14 25-3 ... 



14 550 ... 



15 I3'6 ... 

 15 16-8 ... 



17 10-9 ... 



18 460 ... 

 20 41-9 ... 

 20 46-7 .. 

 22 25-0 ... 

 22 51-1 ... 



Decl. 



81 16 N. .. 



6 10 N. .. 



39 22 N. .. 



8 4S. .. 



32 3 N. .. 

 31 46 N. .. 



I 20 N. .. 



33 14 N. .. 

 15 12 S. .. 



27 50 N. .. 



57 51 N. .. 



20 56 S. .. 



Apr, 



h. 

 22, 3 

 23. 

 27, 



24, 22 

 24, I 



25. 



22, o 

 27, I 



22, 3 

 26, 



23. 2 

 22, 21 

 23. 



21 m 



ni 



M 



4 m 



14 m 



M 



38 m 



24 m 



oM 



M 



o m 



O tn 



M 



M signifies maximum ; tit minimum. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The death is announced of Nicholas von Miklucho-Maclay, 

 at the age of forty-two years. M. Maclay's name must be 

 familiar to our readers in connection with New Guinea explora- 

 tions. He was the son of a Russian nobleman, and studied 

 medicine and natural science at St. Petersburg and at several 

 Dutch Universities. In 1866 he accompanied Prof. Haeckel to 

 Madeira ; in 1867 he visited the Canary Islands, and, in 1869, 

 Morocco. He then made preparations for an extended explora- 

 tion among the Pacific Islands, and especially in New Guinea. 

 He went by South America, Tahiti, and Samoa to New Guinea, 

 and remained for over a year, 1871-72, on its north-west coast, 

 afterwards exploring the south-west coast to the south of Geel- 

 vink Bay. In 1874-75 ^^ visited Further India, and especially 

 Malacca, where he explored several districts in the interior, 

 and obtained important results. After visiting the Pelew, Ad- 

 miralty, and other island groups, Maclay again went to New 

 Guinea (1876-78), devoting himself to the north coast, where 

 he was now well known, and was on friendly terms with several 

 Papuan tribes. Maclay then went to Singapore and Sydney to 

 restore his shattered health, but was in New Guinea again in 

 1879, afterwards visiting several Pacific islands and going on to 

 Sydney once more. He returned to Russia in 1882, bringing 

 with him rich collections in ethnography and in natural history. 

 M. Maclay afterwards resided for some time in Sydney, where 

 he founded a biological station. He recently returned to Russia, 

 and at the time of his death, we understand, was preparing for 

 publication a complete account of his many years' work. At 

 present the records of his travels, with their rich anthropological 

 results, are to be found mainly in the Proceedings of the Batavia 

 Society and the Russian Geographical Society. 



We also learn of the death of Herr Anton Stecker, who has 

 done some good exploring work in Africa. In 1878 he accom- 

 panied Rohlfs to Kufra, and in i88o he went out at the expense 



