June 5, 1879] 



NATURE 



131 



"Gulielmus Solerij civis Maioricarum me fecit anno a 

 Nat. Domini Mccclxxxv." 



As considerable difficulty is often found in fixing the 

 position of places in the interior of Australia, the following 

 note of the distance in miles from Adelaide of each 

 station on the overland telegraph line which terminates at 

 Port Darwin on the northern coast, will be found useful : — 

 Beltana, 355 ; Strangway Springs, 565 ; Peake, 636 ; 

 Charlotte Waters, 804; Alice Springs, 1,036; Barrow's 

 Creek, 1,207; Tennant's Creek, 1,354 ; Powell's Creek, 

 1,467 ; Daly Waters, 1,605 ; River Katherine, 1,771 ; Pine 

 Creek, 1,825 ; Yam Creek, 1,854 ; Southport, 1,934 ; Port 

 Darwin, i,973- Considerable progress is being made 

 with the trigonometrical survey of South Australia. We 

 alf^o learn that an exploring expedition from Queensland 

 has just completed a flying survey across the northern 

 portion of both colonies, large tracts of which are still 

 practically unknown. 



Excellent news from Abbd Debaise has arrived in 

 Marseilles. 



The Inter-Oceanic Congress has adopted, by 98 votes 

 against 8, the proposal in favour of cutting the canal 

 through the Isthmus of Panama, by the Bay of Limon, 

 to Panama. 



Dr. Miclucho Maclay, the Russian explorer, with 

 an Italian, Chevalier Bruno, and Capt. Leeman, have 

 sailed from Sydney for New Guinea, in the American 

 schooner Laddie, F. Caller, chartered for a twelvemonth's 

 cruise. 2,500/. has been spent on the equipment. The 

 expedition is intended to be both scientific and com- 

 mercial. New Caledonia, New Britain, and other islands 

 are to be visited. 



The first part of Dr. Nachtigal's new work : "Reisen 

 in Afrika," comprising his journey across the desert to 

 Bomu, is about to be published by Messrs. Wiegandt, 

 Hempel, and Parey, Berlin. 



A telegram from Gordon Pasha to the Italian Geo- 

 graphical Society, announces that Capt. Martini, the 

 leader of the Italian expedition which is going to assist 

 the Marchese Antinori, has obtained permission to enter 

 Abyssinia, that he had left CEdowa, and had landed at 

 Massanah. 



THE FIRST OBSERVATIONS OF SUN-SPOTS 



AT p. 284 of Nature, voL i., the following paragraph 

 •^*- occurs : — 



" Dr. Kirkwood commences by reminding us that the 

 most ancient observations of sun-spots of which we 

 have any record, are those of the Chinese in the year 

 321 AD.; the first notice of their detection by Europeans 

 being found in the Annals of the Frankish Kings. A 

 black spot, according to Adelmus, was seen on the sun's 

 disk March 15, 807, and continued visible eight days. 

 Similar phenomena were again observed from May 28 to 

 August 26, A.D. 840. The year 1096 was also signalised 

 by the appearance of spots so large as to be visible to the 

 naked eye. The next date, in chronological order, is that 

 of 1 161, when a spot was seen by Averroes. Finally, on 

 December 7, 8, and 16, 1590, 'a great blacke spot on the 

 sunne ' was observed at sea by those on board the ship 

 Richard of Arundell. The foregoing are, we believe, the 

 only undoubted instances in which these phenomena were 

 observed previous to the invention of the telescope." 



During the winter of 1877-78 the late Mr. Mayers, 

 Chinese Secretary of the British Legation in Peking, 

 purchased on behalf of the British Museum a large 

 Chinese Encyclopaedia, comprising 5,020 volumes, and 

 containing the most valuable information, historical, 

 literary, and scientific. Unfortunately, however, its re- 

 cords end with the Ming dynasty, A.D. 1628. Whilst 

 preparations were being made for its shipment to London, 



a sub-section of this immense work, entitled " Natural 

 Phenomena," was placed at my disposal for purposes of 

 research. I resolved to confine my attention to obtaining 

 records (i) of the droughts and famines that had visited 

 China, and (2) of the sun-spots observed by the Chinese. 



The records of the droughts and famines are most 

 rninute. The years, months, and districts affected are 

 given in detail. 



With regard to sun-spots ' [black spots on the sun '] I 

 found that from B.C. 28 to A.D. 1617 fifty-six observations 

 were recorded, and that ten other observations of what I 

 have translated sim-shadows,' four of them prior to the 

 first sun-spot observation, were mentioned. These obser- 

 vations are exhibited in the annexed table, from which it 

 will be seen that undoubted sun-spots were visible in 

 China on three occasions previous to the year A.D. 321 — 

 the date given by P^re Mailla in his "Annales de la 

 Chine" — namely, in the years A.D. 301, 302, and 307. 

 The solar phenomena observed in 807 and 840 are ako 

 mentioned in the Chinese record. 



The remarks regarding the apparent sides of the sun- 

 spots, &c., are literal translations of the Chinese text. 



Year. Moon. Remarks. 



B.C. 28 ... 3 \ 



A.D. 



^ See the Joitrnal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 

 for 1878: " Droughts in China, a.d. 620-1643," and " Sun-Sp^ts and Sun- 

 Shadows Observed in China, B.C. 28-A.D. 1617." 



2 This is a literal translation of the Chinese text. 



3 The Chinese character translated "shadows" may also be translated 

 "breath,*" " vapour," &c. j 



