i86 



NA TURE 



\y line 23, 1067 



The observations on which this orbit depends differ widely froir 

 the estimates of position at Cordoba and Windsor, which Mr. 

 Chandler had used in his previous computations ; and the ele- 

 ments now found are in fair agreement with those deduced by 

 Mr. Finlay from the Cape observations of January 22, 25, and 

 28 alone, which are published in the above-mentioned number 

 of the Monthly Notices. 



The Companion of. Sirius.— Prof. A. Hall gives, as the 

 mean results of his observations during the present year {Astro- 

 nomical Journal, No. 157): Epoch 1887-238; position-angle, 

 24°"i8 ; and distance, 6""5o8. 



A Short Method of computing Refractions for all 

 Zenith Distances. — In continuation of his paper in Astronom- 

 ische Nachrichten, No. 2768 (Nature, vol. xxxv. p. 329), the 

 application of which was limited to zenith distances less than 

 45°, Mr. Schaeberle, of Ann Arbor, U.S.A., in No. 2788 of the 

 same publication, gives his method for the computation of 

 refractions, with Bessel's constants, for 45° to 77° of zenith 

 distance, and for zenith distances greater than 77°, with an 

 accuracy sufficient for practical purposes. Starting from 

 Bessel's expression r — ayS^Y^' tan 0, Mr. Schaeberle finds that 

 Ar (the quantity to be added to the mean refraction r^ can be 



represented only by A;- = r^F -^ e — , between the limits z = 45° 



7 



A^ ^ A7 



/3 7 

 than 77' 



77- 

 For 



F = 



and € 



", the 



and 



fi y 



(\ - i). For zenith distances greater than 77°, the final 

 equation becomes Ar — r^ -f € [F — j, where tr = 0*9 — _ 



The requisite quantities can evidently be easily tabulated, and 

 the computer is thus provided with a very convenient method 

 for calculating refractions which will not materially differ from 

 those deduced directly from Bessel's Tables. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1887 JUNE 26— JULY 2. 



/"CpOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 



is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on June 26. 

 Sunrises, 3h. 46m. ; souths, I2h. 2m. 297s. ; sets, 2oh. i8m. ; 



decl. on meridian, 23° 22' N. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



I4h. 36m. 

 Moon (at First Quarter on June 28) rises, 9h. 35m. ; souths, 



l6h. 38m. ; sets, 23h. 29m. ; decl. on meridian, 8° 53' N. 



South?, 

 h. m. 



13 51 

 15 II 



10 55 

 19 20 

 13 23 



* Indicates that the setting is that of the following morning. 

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



Corresponding 



■rj angles from ver- 



'^^^P' tex to right for 



inverted image. 



h. m. h. m. no 



!3 36 near approach 199 — 



June, 



Star. 



Mag. Disap. 



27 •• 

 July. 



I .. 



I .. 



June. 

 29 



July. 

 I 



10 Virginis 



^ Librae ... 

 7j Librae ... 



h. 

 .. 17 



h. 

 ... 10 



o 52 near approach 201 — 

 21 23 ... 22 4 ... 19 320 



Jupiter in conjunction with and 3° 40' south 

 of the Moon. 



i^.Iercury at greatest elongation from the Sun, 



26° east. 

 Sun at greatest distance from the Earth. 



Meteor-Showers . 

 R.A. Decl. 



Near a Herculis 253 



8 Cygni 294 



6 Delphini 305 



Between ^8 and 7 Cephei. 330 



47 N. Swift meteors. 

 39 N. Slow meteors. 



9 N. 

 77 N. 



THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, 



A 



GENERAL meeting of the Zoological Society of London 

 took place on the afternoon of Thursday, the i6th irist. 

 In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Her Majesty's reign 

 the meeting was held on the lawn of the Society's Gardens, 

 which was reserved for the occasion. A very large number of 

 the members and their friends were present. 



After the meeting there was a garden party, the visitors being 

 received by the President, Prof. Flower, F.R.S., and the 

 Secretary, Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. Among those present 

 during the afternoon were the following : — The Queen of Hawaii 

 and Princess Liliuokalani, His Highness the Thakore Sahib of 

 Limbdi, His Highness the Prince Devawongse, the Maharajah 

 of Bhurtpore, the Earl of Buckinghamshire, the Earl of Cawdor, 

 Lord Wantage, the Earl of Lauderdale, the Earl of Kilmorey, 

 the Earl of NVharncliffe, Lord Coleridge, Lord Walsingham, 

 the Dowager Marchione s of Tweeddale, Lord and Lady Thring, 

 Sir James Paget, Sir Harry Lumsden, Sir Richard Pollock, Sir 

 Joseph Hooker, Prof. Huxley, Capt. Gouglas Dalton, and 

 the following members of the Council of the Zoological Society : — 

 Lord Abinger, Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., Mr. H. E. 

 Dresser, F.R.S., Mr. C. Drummond, F.R.S., Colonel f. A 

 Grant, F.R.S., Dr. A. C. L. Giinther, F.R.S., Dr. E. Hamilton, 

 F.R.S., Mr. E. W. H. Holdsworth, Dr. St. George Mivart, 

 F.R.S., Prof. A. Newton, F.R.S., Mr. Henry Pollock, Mr. 

 H. Saunders, F.L.S., Mr. J. Travers Smith, and Surgeon- 

 General L. C, Stewart. 



At the general meeting the President presented the silver 

 medal of the Society to the Maharajah of Kuch-Behar. In 

 doing so he said that His Highness had been good enough 

 to present to the Society a fine specimen of an Indian rhino- 

 ceros. 



The Maharajah of Kuch-Behar, in reply, said that he would 

 be happy to supply spe.imens of such animals as the Society 

 might desire to possess, so far as it was in his power to do so. 



Prof. Flower then delivered the following address : — 



Nowhere has the progress which the world has made during 

 the fifty years of Her Majesty's reign, the completion of which 

 we are now happily celebrating, been more strikingly mani- 

 fested than in the advance of that so-called " natural know- 

 ledge" for the improvement of which our Royal Society 

 was instituted more than two centuries ago. Although theie 

 have been, without doubt, immense strides in other directions — 

 in moraL, in art, in historical and literary criticism — I venture 

 to say that none of these can be compared with the marvellous 

 progress that has been made in scientific knowledge and scientific 

 methods. 



The tangible results that have followed the practical applica- 

 tions of mechanics, physics, and chemistry have so deeply affected 

 the material interests of mankind, that the progress of these 

 branches of knowledge may seem to put into the shade the 

 wonderful changes that have taken place in the kindred sciences. 

 Nevertheless, I think we may safely say that zoology, in a 

 certain sense one of the oldest of human studies, has in the e 

 latter times undergone a new birth, which has not only changed 

 the standpoint from which we view the special objects of our 

 studies, but has also spread its influence far and wide, and pro- 

 foundly modified our conceptions on many questions at first 



