Vol. XXrV. No. 12.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
189 
books de' oted to agriculture and horticulture, 
of which wo are out: one on rivers, the other on 
butchery. The price is low, and the books are 
good. 
Another good book is M. Proust's lectures on 
hygiene, a series of twelve lectures for students on 
the elements of hygiene. It is clear, and full 
of information on the way we ought to live — but 
do not. H. 
Paris, October 24, 1890. 
[Specially Observed for Popular Science Keujs.] 
METEOROLOGY FOR OCTOBER, 1890. 
TEMl-ERATURE. 
Average Thermometer. 
At 7 A. M 4S''0' 
At 2 I'. M 5S-'o* 
At 9 r. M 46.97' 
Whole Month .... 49.05° 
Second Average . . . 48.53' 
Last 20 Octobers 
.Second Average 
50-55 
49.9?° 
Lowest. 
Highest. 
3>- 
62' 
45* 
K 
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32' 
7'° 
( 46.60' 
56.16' ) 
j in iSSS. 
in 1879. i 
46.01' 
55-38° 
30- 
26' 
30' 
39' 
39 
9.56° 
9.37' 
The last month has been just one degree and a 
half below the average for October in twenty years. 
The lowest point reached by the mercury at the 
hours of observation was 32°, on the 22d, and this 
was the coldest day, with an average of 38 66^^. The 
highest point was 71"^, on the 2d. The 3d and 4th 
were the warmest days, each averaging 62.66°. The 
first week was warm for October, and for the most 
part pleasant, with an average of 57-50°. The 
second frost of the season was on the 13th, with a 
third and fourth on the 22d and 23d. No severe 
cold during the month- 
SKY. 
The face of the sky, in 93 observations, gave 36 
fair, 20 cloudy, 22 overcast, and 15 rainy, — a percent- 
age of only 3S.7 fair. The average fair the last 
twenty Octobers was 51 5, with extremes of 38 7 in 
1890, and 73 I in 1S74. The last three months have 
each been remarkably cloudy, with an average 
of only 43 8 per cent, fair, while the average for 
these months in twenty years has been 56-9, — a 
difTerence of over 13 per cent. 
PRECIPITATION. 
The amount of rainfall the last month was 9 70 
inches. On the 20th and 24th 2 38 inches fell each 
storm- The average the last twenty-two Octobers 
has been 4 26 inches, with extremes of .75 inch in 
1S74, and 13 20 inches in 1869 (the only instance 
when the amount has exceeded that of the present 
October). The amount since January i has been 
45 57 inches, while the average for these ten months 
has been only 39 30, — showing an e.\cess thus far 
this year of 6.27 inches. 
PRESSURE. 
The average pressure the past month was 29 S63 
inches, with extremes of 29 38 on the 27th, and 
3030 on the 22d and 23d, — a range of .92 inch. 
The average pressure for the last seventeen Octobers 
has been 29 986 inches, with extremes of 29826 in 
1875, and 30 109 in 1886, — a range of .283 inch. 
The prestnt was the lowest pressure in October, 
with one exception, in seventeen years. The sum 
of the daily variations was 6.21 inches, giving an 
average drily movement of .200 inch. This average 
in seventeen Octobers has been .165 inch, with 
extremes of -113 and .211. The largest movements 
were -84 on the 17th, and -40 on the 24th and 30th- 
WI-NDS. 
The average direction of the wind the last month 
was W. 69^ 27' N. (or nearly N. N. W.), while the 
average for the last twenty-one Octobers has been 
only W. 17" 6' N., with extremes of W. 35° 15' S. 
in 1880, and W. 82° 25' N. in 1883,— a range of 117° 
40', or nearly ten and a half points of the compass. 
The storms on the 17th and 24th were noted as 
specially windy. 
From the above survey it appears that the last 
month was one of much lower temperature, far 
more clouds and rainfall than usual, with very low 
barometric pressure, and more northerly winds than 
are common in October. 
COMPARATIVE METEOROLOGY OF NEW ENGLAND FOR 
SEPTEMBER, 189O. 
The table below is gathered from the valuable 
Bulletins of the New England Meteorological Society 
for September, and exhibits the mean temperature 
and precipitation. State by State, and that of New 
England combined; also, that of the extreme local- 
ities, range, and number of reports contained in 
each division. 
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The lowest space in the above table gives the 
average temperature and rainfall in New England 
from records kept over ten years, with those at 
Natick over twenty year.-.. The extremes of temper- 
ature in New England for September were 65" at 
Newport, R. I-, and 536° at MayBeld, Me. The 
extremes of rainfall were 11. 14 inches at Chicopee, 
Mass., and 2 69 at Block Island, R- I. The amount 
at Natick was 506 inches; at Springfield, 11. 12 
inches, — quite a difference. U. W. 
Natick, November 6, 1890. 
[Specially Computed for Popular Science News.\ 
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR 
DECEMBER, 1890. 
There will be an eclipse of the sun on December 
11-12, invisible in the United States. The path 
of the central eclipse begins just north of the island 
of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, goes eastward, then 
southeast, then northeast, and ends east of New 
Zealand and south of the Marquesas Islands. The 
eclipse will be annular at the beginning and end 
of the central line and total in the middle. The 
sun is at the solstice and begins to move northward 
on December 21 at about 3 P. M. - The earth is in 
perihelion on the afternoon of December 31- 
Mercury is in fair position for observation during 
the latter part of the month. It is an evening star, 
and comes to greatest eastern elongation on De- 
cember 28, when it sets about an hour and twenty 
minutes after the sun. For ten days before and 
several days after, it sets at least an hour after 
the sun, -and may be seen on a very clear evening, 
just after sunset, in the western twilight near the 
horizon. Venus comes to inferior conjunction with 
the sun and changes from an evening to a morning 
star on the night of December 3. It moves rapidly 
away from the sun, and toward the end of the 
month becomes easily visible, rising two hours and 
more before the sun. Mars sets at a little before 10 
P. M- during the month- It is moving eastward 
and northward among the stars. Its distance in 
miles from us will be about three times what it 
was in June, when it was nearest to us, and will be 
about once and a half the earth's distance from the 
sun. Jupiter is still quite prominent in the western 
sky in the evening — the brightest object there after 
Venus has passed conjunction. It sets at about 9 
P. M. on December i, and at. about 7h. 30m- P. M. 
on December 31. It moves eastward among the 
stars about 6° during the month- The following 
eclipses of his satellites will be visible at one part 
or another of the United States during the month. 
The phenomena all take place off the right-hand 
limb of the planet, as seen in an inverting telescope. 
D. denotes disappearance; R., reappearance. Times 
are Eastern Standard. 
II. R. December 3, 511- 37m. P. M. 
I. R. December 3, bh- 54m- P. M. 
HI. R. December 8, 8h. 7m. P. M. 
II. R. December 10, 8h. i6m. P. M. 
I. R. December 10, loh- 50m- P. M. 
I. R. December 12, 5h. i8m. P. M. 
in. D. December 15, Sh 35m. P- M. 
IV. D. December 17, 5h. 33m. P. M. 
IV. R. December 17, loh. 17m- P. M. 
II. R. December 17, loh. 54m. P. M. 
I. R. December 19, 7h- 13m. P. M. 
I. R- December 26, 9h- Sm. P. M. 
Saturn rises about midnight on December i, and 
at about 10 P. M. on Decem'oer 31- It is in quadra- 
ture with the sun on December 8 at 7 P. M. It is in 
the constellation Leo, and moves slowly eastward 
during the month until December 2S, when it 
begins to retrograde, t. e^, move westward. The 
earth is not far from the plane of the rings, and, as 
seen in a small telescope, the rings will appear 
almost like a straight line. During the coming 
year the rings will disappear, except for the most 
powerful telescopes. Uranus rises a little before 4 
A. M- on December i, and at a little before 2 A. M. 
on December 31. It is in the constellation Virgo. 
Neptune has just passed quadrature with the sun, 
and is on the meridian at midnight at the beginning 
of the month, and about two hours earlier at the end. 
The Constellations. — The positions given hold 
good for latitudes differing not much from 40° 
north, and for 10, 9, and 8 P. M. for the beginning, 
middle, and end of the month, respectively. The 
head of Perseus is nearly in the zenith, the rest 
of the constellation being mainly to the east. Aries 
is high up on the meridian, south of the zenith, and 
Cetus is lower down. Taurus is to the left of Aries, 
high up on the southeast. Below Taurus is Orion, 
and before Orion is Canis Major, just rising in the 
southeast. Canis Minor has just risen in the east. 
Below Perseus (in the zenith) are first Auriga, then 
Gemini, then Cancer; the last just above the hori- 
zon, a little north of east. Leo is just rising- Ursa 
Minor is mainly below the pole star. Draco is 
partly below and partly to the left. Cassiopeia has 
just passed the meridian between the zenith and the 
pole, and Cepheus is below Cassiopeia- Cygnus and 
Lyra are low down in the northwest- Andromeda 
is high up, just west of the zenith, and Pegasus is 
below it. Aquarius is just setting in the southwest, 
and Pisces lies between it and Aries. M. 
Lake Forest, III., November 4, 1890. 
To make a clear, almost odorless, and permanent 
mucilage, neutralize the free acid present in the gum 
with lime water. Instead of water use a mixture 20 
per cent, lime water and So per cent, distilled water. 
