Sept. 15, 1887] 



NA TURE 



477 



with Stipa, the Artemisia steppe, and the deserts. The 

 (inimal inhabitants of these different sub-regions — mammals and 

 l)ii;ds^-are described and tabulated, and very interesting con- 

 clusions are arrived at. It appears that when most of Russia 

 was covered with the immense Scandinavian and Finnish ice- 

 jap, and the Aral-Caspian Sea covered the steppes, the 

 Southern Urals — as already pointed out by M. Menzbier in 

 Ills " Geographic Ornithologique " — remained a refuge for many 

 vnimal species. Owing to the greater moisture, the vegetation of 

 he region was much richer than now, and thus it provided plenty 

 jf food for many animals, some of which were immigrants from 

 he north, while others came from the south. It is for this 

 •eason that the fauna of the Southern Urals offers now such a 

 ;reat variety of forms. Many species have abandoned the region 

 •ecently. In the last cantury the Equus onager and the wild 

 lorse were numerous in the Southern Urals, while the castor was 

 ;ommon in the land of the Bashkirs, bears and Cervus alces 

 jvere frequent in the steppe, and tigers reached Turgai. The 

 ;orsac fox went as far as the 51st degree of latitude, and the sub- 

 polar Arctomys bobac was widely spread in the forest region, 

 kvhile the reindeer, now found only beyond the 53rd degree, 

 •cached the southern parts of the Urals. Immense herds 

 jf antelopes abandoned the region only about thirty years 

 xgo. Notwithst?.nding this notable diminution of species in- 

 liabiting the Kirghiz Steppe, its fauna is still remarkably varied. 

 A.S a whole the paper of M. Nazaroff, revised by M. Menzbier, 

 will be most welcome to zoo-geographers. It is one of those 

 partial, but not narrowly conceived descriptions of a limited 

 region which are most needed now, when materials are so 

 rapidly accumulating. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 l>ast week include a Larger Hill Mynah {Gracula religiosa) from 

 India, presented by Mr. P. Wilmot Bennitt, F.Z.S.; a Peaceful 

 Dove {Geopelia tranjtdlla) from Australia, presented by Mr. 

 R. O. Law Ogilby ; a Green Bittern {Butorides v irescens) from 

 the West Indies, presented by Miss Mayrick ; a Mexican 

 Crocodile {Crocodilus rhombifcr) from the West Indies, presented 

 by Capt. J. Smith, s.s. Godiva ; seven Angulated Tortoises 

 [Chersina angiilata), two Hoary Snakes {Coronella cana) from 

 South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S. ; 

 ten Short-nosed Sea-horses {Hippocampus antiquorum) from 

 European coasts, presented by Prof W. H. Flower, C.B., 



F. R.S. ; a Flying Squirrel {Pteromys ) from 



Szechuen, China, presented by Mr. Percy Montgomery ; a 



Frog [Discoglossus pictus) from Sardinia, presented by 



Mr. Alban Doran, F.R.C.S. ; an Oyster-catcher i^Hamatopus 

 ostralegus) British, nine Smaller Rattleinakes (Crotalus mili- 

 ai-ius), four Testaceous Snakes {Piyas testacea), two Alleghany 

 Snakes {Coluber alleghaniensis), seven Milk Snakes {Coluber 

 exiyjiius), a Seven-banded 'i>n3ke.{Tropidonotus leberis), aSixi^QA 

 Snake ( Tropidonotus sirtalis) from North America, deposited ; 

 two Common Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) British, a White- 

 eyebrowed Guan {Penelope supcrciliaris) from North-East Brazil, 

 two Smaller Rattlesnakes {Croialus miliarius), a Testaceous 

 Snake {Plyas testacea), two Milk Snakes {Coluber eximius), a 

 Copper-bellied Snake {Tropidonotus erythrogaste}-) irom North 

 America, purchased. 



O UR ASTRONOMICAL COL UMN. 



The Neuchatel Observatory.— Dr. Ilirsch, the Director 

 of the Neuchatel Observatory, has published his Annual Report 

 for the year 1886, dated June 21, 1887. On the whole. Dr. 

 Hirsch reports that, as far as his Observatory is concerned, the 

 year i886 was somewhat more favourable for astronomical 

 observations than was 1885. In 1886 there were 154 nights on 

 which observations were made, and 124 days on which no 

 observations were possible, the longest interval without observa- 

 tions having been 7 days ; whilst in 1885 the number of^observing 



nights was 150, the number of days without observations 135, 

 and the longest interval without observations 20 days. The 

 meridian observations made during the year comprise 192 obser- 

 vations of the sun, 16 of planets, 1401 of fundamental stars, and 

 909 of stars contained in M. Lcewy's Catalogue of Moon- 

 Culminating and Longitude Stars. The equatorial telescope has 

 been employed in the observation of planets and comets with the 

 ring micrometer, the position micrometer not being available 

 until the small incandescent lamps, which are to be provided for 

 purposes of illumination, have been supplied. Dr. Hirsch gives 

 some interesting particulars with regard to the azimuthal move- 

 ments of the meridian circle, as well as of the distant marks 

 used for determination of azimuth error. The maximum easterly 

 azimuth (-f- 303s.) of the meridian circle during the year was 

 observed on March 11, whilst the maximum westerly azimuth 

 ( - I •02s. ) was observed on September i ; the total range 

 throughout the year 1886 was therefore 4'05s., the correspond- 

 ing mean value for 22 years being 5*20s. It appears, however, 

 that the three meridian marks (two to the north and one to the 

 south) do not participate in this movement. The azimuth of one of 

 the north marks, situated at a distance of 100 m. from the 

 Observatory, varied during 1886 between -f- o'24s. on May 19 

 and - o"25s. on August 29, thus showing a total range of only 

 0*495. The other more distant north mark showed a range of 

 o*42s., the extremes being -f o'iSs. on April 16 and - o'24s. 

 on August 7 ; whilst the south mark at about 10 km. distance 

 varied from -^ 0'40s. on May 14 to - 0"Ois. on July 3, the 

 range being therefore o*4is. The marks are consequently well 

 adapted for determining the azimuth of the meridian circle, the 

 mean of the three giving this element, according to Dr. Hirsch's 

 estimation, to ± 0*01 2s. nearly. 



The Wedge Photometer. — Prof. Pickering has recently 

 published two papers relating to the wedge photometer em- 

 ployed by Prof. Pritchard in the formation of his Oxford 

 Uranometria. The first of these, forming No. 2 of the papers 

 comprising vol. xviii. of the Annals of the Harvard College 

 Observatory, consists in a detailed comparison of the Oxford 

 magnitudes with those of Wolff's second Catalogue, and of the 

 Harvard Photometry. The latter comparison appears to show 

 the existence of some real, though small, systematic error, since 

 the mean difference of magnitude between the two catalogues 

 changes with the brightness of the star ; the Oxford magnitude 

 being on the average less than the Harvard magnitude for stars 

 down to the third magnitude, but greater for the fourth and fifth, 

 and less again for stars below the sixth magnitude. If stars 

 below the sixth magnitude be put aside as influenced by some 

 special cause not yet ascertained, the results would seem to 

 suggest the use of a different constant in the reduction of the 

 observations made by means of the wedge from that actually 

 employed. The comparison of the three catalogues gives the 

 following result : mean deviation of Wolff's catalogue from that 

 of the Harvard College, 0*140; Oxford from Harvard, 0"I46 ; 

 Oxford from Wolff's, o'igi. On the whole, therefore, the mean 

 outstanding differences are but small, but will evidently repay 

 further and detailed investigation. 



The second paper, which was presented to the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences last November, is an investiga- 

 tion into the behaviour of a wedge photometer similar to those 

 used by Prof. Pritchard. Its first portion contains some trial 

 observations made by Prof Young with a wedge photometer 

 attached to the great Princeton refractor on the stars in the 

 "region following 7 Pegasi " of the American Association star 

 magnitude charts. The result was decidedly favourable to the 

 wedge, as, though all the stars observed were faint, the magni- 

 tudes ranging from 10 to 13, the probable error of the magnitude 

 determined from four nights' observations was ± 0*04. The 

 second portion of the paper contains a very full and interesting 

 examination by Prof. Langley, by means of his bolometer, of 

 the coefficients of transmission of the wedge. Here again the 

 result of the examination is, on the whole, favourable to the 

 wedge within the limits that Prof. Pritchard employed it ; but 

 it appears that there is a remarkable variation in the coeflicient 

 of transmission for the different rays of the spectrum. Speak- 

 ing broadly, the transmissibility always increases from the violet 

 towards the red, increasing very greatly in the infra-red. Within 

 the visible portion of the spectrum the change in the trans- 

 missibility only becomes great as the red is approached, and as 

 Prof. Pritchard had always recognized the inapplicability of 

 the wedge photometer to deeply -coloured stars, this selective 



