32« 



NATURE 



{Jan. 31, 1889 



much on account of these floods. It has been calculated that 

 in one year alone the amount of soil carried down by the two 

 rivers, the Loup and the Paillon, was sufficient to have covered 

 the whole department to a depth of 6 centimetres. The 

 Consul adds that, though something has been done to encourage 

 replanting, a more serious effort than has yet been made is 

 •needed to reafforest the country. 



From a recent British Consular Report on the trade of 

 Maranham, it appears that a large number of india-rubber pro- 

 ducing trees were discovered last year in the district of Pinheiro. 

 The principal traders, who were suffering severely from the 

 depression in the sugar and cotton industries, formed themselves 

 into a company to work up the new discovery, but up to the 

 present the trees have produced little. 



The Ceylon Observer, commenting on the destruction wrought 

 by the scaly insect on the cocoa-nut palm in the West Indies, says 

 that it is most remarkable that in Ceylon the palm has been 

 absolutely free from this and other such pests. This fact perhaps 

 is due to the absence of those long-continued droughts which 

 have so grievously affected Jamaica and its neighbouring islands. 

 While the palm, however, has flourished so well in Ceylon, the 

 coffee-plant is almost extinct in the island, a few isolated fields 

 in each district being all that have survived the ravages of 

 the green scale insect. Frequently the finest coffee-trees, with 

 fresh and vigorous-looking bushes, and with stems as thick as a 

 man's thigh, are so completely under the influence of the pest 

 that no crop is produced. Experiments with soap, lime, 

 kerosene oil, &c., have up to the present produced no satisfactory 

 results. Tea seems to flourish where the coffee-plant dies, and 

 even where the tea plantations are attacked by fungoid or insect 

 pests, the plants can be pruned down till not a leaf is left ; or, if 

 the attack is a very severe cne, the tea-garden can be burnt to 

 the ground without suffering any permanent injury, for the roots 

 and stems in a very few months again display their luxuriance 

 as richly as before. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Green yiorikty {Cercopithccus callitrichus <J ) 

 from West Africa, presented by Mr. Lishman ; a Serval {Felis 

 serval) from Malindi, East Africa, presented by Mr. H. C. 

 Hunter ; a Common Fox {Canisvulpes 6 ), British, presented by 

 Mr. E. Baldwin Cashel ; a Common Fox {Canis vulpes $ ), 

 British, presented by Lieutenant H. F. Sparrow, " The Buffs" ; 

 a Chough {Pyrrhocorax graculus) from Ireland, presented by 

 Mr. A. Madge ; a Gold Pheasant ( Thaumalea picta ,5 ), a Silver 

 Pheasant {Euplocamus nycthemcrus i) from China, presented by 

 Mrs. Theodore Lloyd ; a Sharp-nosed Crocodile {Crocodilus 

 acutus) from the West Indies, received in exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



RousDON Observatory,*Lyme Regis. — The observations 

 at Mr. Peek's private observatory have been carried on during 

 the past year. 163 nights were available for observations, as 

 compared with 165 in 1887. As last year, the attention of the 

 observers has been chiefly directed to transit-observations for 

 time, and to observations of variables of long period. The 

 object of the observations of variables is to determine the exact 

 dates of maxima and minima, and, as far as possible, the light- 

 curve of each star. The list of stars under examination is 

 gradually being revised, circumpolar stars being substituted for 

 those withdrawn, in order that uninterrupted observations may 

 be made throughout the year. Owing to the lengths of the 

 periods of the stars taken, the complete observations are not 

 yet ready for publication. The importance of these light-curves 

 cannot be over-esiimated, as they will undoubtedly throw much 

 light on the origin of the variability. 



A sidereal clock, by Grubb, has been added to the equipment 

 of the observatory. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK 1889 FEBRUARY 3-9. 

 ^IpOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

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

 is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on February 3 

 Sun rises, 7h. 36m. ; souths, I2h. 14m. 7 •4s. : sets, i6h. 52m. : 

 right asc. on meridian, 2ih. 9"6m. ; decl. 16° 22' S. Sidereal 

 Time at Sunset, (h. 48m. 

 Moon (at First Quarter February 7, 2ih.) rises, gh. 25m. ; 

 souths, I4h. 58m. ; sets, 2oh. 43m. : right asc. on meridian, 

 23h. 54-3m. ; decl. 5° 49' S. 



Right asc. and declination 

 Planet. Rises. Souths. Sets. on meridian. 



h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. o > 

 Mercury.. 8 3 ... 13 19 ... 18 35 ... 22 14-9 ... 9 24 S. 



Venus 9 o ... 15 7 ... 21 14 ... o 3*3 ... o 40 N. 



Mars 8 47 ... 14 26 ... 20 5 ... 23 22-3 ... 4 51 S. 



Jupiter.... 5 8 ... 9 3 ... 12 58 ... 17 57*8 ... 23 6 S. 

 Saturn.... 16 53*... o 26 ... 7 59 ... 9 197 ... 16 48 N. 

 Uranus... 23 5*... 4 28 ... 9 51 ... 13 22-1 ... 7 58 S. 

 Neptune.. 11 11 ... 18 54 .. 2 37*... 3 50"8 ... 18 25 N. 

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

 that of the following morning. 



Feb h. 



3 ... 20 ... Venus in conjunction with and 5° 37' north 



of the Moon. 

 5 ... 12 ... Saturn in opposition to the Sun, southing at 



midnight. 

 5 ... 12 ... Mercury stationary. 

 8 ... 16 ... Neptune stationary. 



Variable Stars. 

 Star. R.A. Decl. 



h. m. . , h. m. 



U Cephei o 52-5 ... 81 17 N. ... Feb. 7, 19 50 m 



Algol 3 I'D ... 40 32 N. ... ,, 8, 4 10 w 



A.Tauri 3 54-6 ... 12 II N. ... ,, 5, 21 55 ni 



R Canis Maj oris... 7 I4"S ... 16 11 N. ... ,, 6, 21 16 m 

 and at intervals of 27 16 



W Virginis 13 20-3 ... 2 48 S. ... Feb. 9, 5 o »» 



S Virginis 13 27-2... 6 38 S..... ,, 9, M 



U Coronse 15 137 ... 32 3 N. ... „ 7, 22 52 m 



R Draconis 16 32*4 ... 66 59 N. ... ,, 5, ni 



T Vulpeculae ... 20 46*8 ... 27 50 N. ... ,, 7, 19 o m 



„ 8,21 oM 



Y Cygni 20 47-6 ... 34 14 N. ... ,, 3, 17 4° »» 



and at intervals of 36 o 

 M signifies maximum ; in minimum. 

 Meteor-Shotvers. 

 R.A. Decl. 



Near rj Aurigae 

 ,, A Draconis 

 ,, d Draconis 



74 - 42 N. 

 168 ... 71 N. 

 240 ... 61 N. 



February 6. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

 The paper read at Monday's meeting of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society was on the Gran Chaco of the Argentine 

 Republic and its rivers, by Captain John Page, of the Argentine 

 Navy. The Gran Chaco, Captain Page said, is a vast cenj;ral 

 tract of country lying between the southern tropic and 29° S. 

 lat., bounded on the north by Brazil and Bolivia, on the south 

 by the Argentine province of Santa Fe, on the east by the 

 Parana and Paraguay Rivers, and on the west by Santiago del 

 Estero and Salta. It contains about 180,000 square miles, or 

 considerably more than the superficies of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land. About one-third part of this vast area belongs to Para- 

 guay. The Gran Chaco has been called, particularly in allusion 

 to the low-lying Paraguay section, the oceano firine, or solid 

 ocean. This section and the central section of the Argentine 

 rise from the Paraguay River towards Bolivia almost imper- 

 ceptibly, having numerous and very extensive marshes and 

 jungle, which are drained by many small streams likely to 

 become, as the country progresses, important local waterways. 

 The monotonous level of these sections is relieved by various 

 prominent points of great beauty along the Paraguay River. 

 Both are well wooded, although the predominating woodland 



