April 1 8, 1889] 



NA TURE 



593 



Ephemeris for Berlin Midnight. 



1889. 



R.A. 



h. m. s. 



April 18 ... 5 10 18 



22 ... 5 8 57 



26 .. 5 7 53 



30 ... 5 7 4 



15 30-6 N. 

 15 229 

 15 152 

 15 7*5 N. 



Brightness. 



092 

 0-91 

 0-91 

 0*90 



The brightness at discovery i> taken as unity. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1S89 APR/L 21-27. 



/"p*OR the recltoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

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

 [is here employed. ) 



A( Greenwich on April 21 

 "^San rises, 4h. 53m. ; souths, iih. 580. 35'o->. ; sets. 19*1. 50. : 

 right asc. on meridian, ih. 57"6ji. ; decl. 12° i' N. Sidereal 

 Time at Sunsat, 9h. 5m. 

 Moon (at Last Quarter on April 22, I4.h.) rises, ih. om. ; 

 souths. 5h. OiTi. ; sets, 9S. on. : right asc. on meridian, 

 i8h. 581m. ; decl. 22° 38' S. 



Right asc. and declination 

 Planet. Rises. Souths. Sets. on mendiail. 



h. m. h. m. h. m h. m. . , 



4 50 



4 37 



5 25 

 o 42 



II 25 



Mercurj' 

 Venus . 

 Mars . 

 Jupiter . 

 Saturn . 



Uranus... 1 7 44 

 Neptune.. 6 11 



April. 

 24 

 25 



18 36 

 20 59 



20 33 

 834 

 2 45* 

 4 40* 



21 42 



11 43 



12 48 , 



12 59 , 



4 38 

 19 5 

 23 12 ., 



13 57 •• 



Indicatis that the setting 

 h. 



23 ... Jupiter stationary. 

 7 ... Mercury in superior conjunction with the Sun. 



Variable Stars. 



1 42-5 



2 477 



2 577 

 18 35-9 



9 5-2 

 13 12-8 



3 56-3 



9 35 N. 

 22 45 N 

 17 4N 

 22 55 S. 



17 54 N 

 7 OS. 



18 46 N. 



th.at of the following morning. 



R.A. 

 h. m. 

 o 525 



Decl. 



81 17 N. 



U Cephei ... 



R Canis Majoris ... 7 I4'5 ... 16 il S. .. 



5 Librae 14 551 ... 8 5 S. .. 



U Coronae 15 137 ... 32 3 N. .. 



S Herculis 16 46-8 ... 15 8 N. .. 



U Ophiuchi 17 10*9... i 20 N. ... ,, ^ 



and at intervals of 20 8 



U Aquilae 19 23*4 ... 7 16 S. ... Apr. 26, 23 o M 



R Vulpeculae ... 20 59*5 ... 23 23 N. ... ,, 26, M 



S Cephei 21 366 ... 78 7 N , 28, M 



M signifies maximum ; m minimum. 



Apr. 21, 2 53 W 



,, 26, 2 2,1 m 



„ 22, 20 46 m 



,, 23, o 23 »» 



„ 24, 21 37 m 



». 24, m 



21, 20 19 rn 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

 To the current number of the Proceedings of the Royal Geo - 

 graphical Society, Mr. George Taylor contributes a valuable 

 paper on Formosa and its aborigines. Mr. Taylor, while resi- 

 dent on the south coast of Formosa, had good opportunities 

 of studying the natives, and the information which he has other- 

 wise collected renders his paper the best summary of our know- 

 ledge of Formosa which we have at present. Mr. Taylor thus 

 summarizes the geography of Formosa. On the western side, 

 the land is composed of low level plains, extending from the 

 sea-shore to some distance into the interior, the country appear- 

 ing flat up to the more pronounced elevations which precede the 

 steeper mountain slopes. The splendid watershed from the 

 central mountains shows in the numerous rivulets which sprea I 

 like a network over the plains, and renders them especially suit- 

 able for the cultivation of rice and sugar-cane. The western 



sea-board partakes of the nature of the land, the coast being 

 lined with mud and sand-sanks intersected by channels, this 

 formation extending some distance out to sea. Within, For- 

 mosa is comparatively hilly, hut large areas are covered with 

 tea plantations, which form the principal industry. The east 

 coast is rugged, precipitous, and exposed to the full fury of the 

 north-east monsoon, which blows hard throughout eight months 

 of the year ; therefore, except in the Pilam plain and a few 

 small valleys, little attempt is made at cultivation. To the 

 south, the land terminates in huge masses of coral limestone^ 

 and coral branches may be traced in peaks elevated 2000 feet 

 above sea-level. The sea-shore is lined with a semi-vitrified 

 conglomeration of clay, sand, and coral, which presents a ser- 

 rated surface so sharp and ragged as to be impassable to all 

 beasts ; and the natives, when fishing, are obliged to protect their 

 feet with sandals composed of many folds of boar-skin. Mr. 

 Taylor's account of the aborigines is specially valuable. While 

 the pure aborigines from the interior are of an essentially Malayan 

 type, still there is extraordinary diversity of features, indicating 

 a considerable mixture of types. Among the Paiwang, prob- 

 ably the earliest settlers, head-hunting prevails. The Tipuns, 

 again, seem to be of northern origin. To the naturalist — 

 whether geologist, botanist, or zoologist — the interior of 

 Formosa offers an almost virgin paradise. 



AccouNrs are to hand of M. W. Delcommune's recent 

 exploration of the Lomami, one of the most important southern 

 tributaries of the Congo. Both Cameron and Wissmann met 

 with the Lomami far to the south, and the latter connected it 

 with the Sankuru. M. Delcommiine, however, navigated the 

 river from its mouth in the Congo, about lOO miles below 

 Stanley Falls, for a distance of 580 miles, to a point only three 

 days' journey from Nyangwe in the Laalaba. Tde river is 

 reporled to traverse a magnificent country, to be free from 

 all obstructions and to all appearance it continues to be 

 navigable for some distance beyond M. Delcommune's farthest 

 point. 



Messrs. W. and A. K. Joii.Nsro.v have sent us a copy of 

 the third edition of their small map of Central Africa, in which 

 Mr. Stanley's recent route is laid down in red. The next 

 edition ought to have the 'Lomami delineated in accordance 

 with M. Delcommune's recent exploration. „, 



Africa fills a large place in the new number oi Petennanns 

 Mitteiluui^cn. Dr. K. W. Schmidt has an article which 

 deserves serious attention on the surface or soil conditions of 

 German East Africa. Dr. Schmidt writes from careful personal 

 observation, and his estimate of the capabilities of the German 

 sphere is not very encouraging. Freiherr von Steinacher con- 

 tributes some useful notes on German South- West Africa, with 

 a map of Herreo Land and neighbouring regions. Dr. R. 

 Liiddecke describes at some length the features of the new 

 map of Africa, in six sheets, which has been prepared for the 

 new edition of Stieler's " Hand-Atlas." 



In an interesting account in Lcs Missions Catholiques of a 

 missionary's journey through Ecuador, it is stated that of the 

 many towns and village , as Archidona, Canelos, &c., the 

 names of which appear on maps of the country, scarcely one 

 exists. The natives do not live in villages, and even where there 

 is a church, they live miles away in the forest in small solitary 

 communities. Hitherto the missionaries have failed in inducing 

 the natives to take to communal or social life. 



M. RoGOZiNSKi, who has been in Europe for some time, has 

 returned to Fernando Po, and intends to resume his explorations 

 in the Cameroons region, and especially to endeavour to ascer- 

 tain the existence or non-existence of the Lake Liba, which 

 still figures mysteriously in maps of Africa. 



The death is announced of M. V. A. Malte-Brun, son of the 

 great geographer of that name, and who himself for the last forty 

 years had been a student of and writer on geography. 



AFFORESTATION IN CHINA. 



"yHE question of afforestation in China is at the present time 

 ■*■ attracting a great deal of attention. China is a treeless 

 country, and to this, perhaps, are due the devastating floods 

 which work such ruin there, and the fearful seasons of drought, 

 which are almost as destructive as the floods. The timber used 



