178 



NATURE 



[December 22, 1892 



nn the west. Moreover, Saturn is not an especially bright 

 planet, and consequently no one of these three con- 

 junctions could have been very conspicuous in the 

 heavens. The first conjunction was the only one that 

 was visible in the east, but it occurred nearly three years 

 before the death of Herod ; it could hardly be said to 

 satisfy the conditions required by the narrative. No other 

 conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn could possibly occur 

 till about twenty years later, so that we may conclude 

 with a light degree of probability that the phenomenon 

 alluded to in the Bible was not occasioned by a con- 

 junction of Jupiter and Saturn. Since the planet Mars 

 is a conspicuous object when near its opposition with the 

 sun, it may be well to inquire whether a conjunction of 

 Mars and Jupiter might not occasion the phenomenon 

 referred to. But since Mars is conspicuous only near 

 its opposition with the sun, it is evident that any con- 

 junction when in that direction would appear as a star 

 in the west as much as in the east, and consequently it 

 would not fulfil the required conditions. There was, 

 however, a conjunction of Mars and Jupiter on March 5, 

 B.C. 6 ; but at that the planet's elongation was only 18' 

 to the eastward of the sun, and consequently could have 

 been visible only in the west. But Mars was then so far 

 from the earth, and so nearly in conjunction with the 

 sun, that the conjunction would be wholly invisible At 

 the same time Saturn was not very far from Jupiter, and 

 hence it was said there was a triple conjunction of the 

 planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in the spring of B.C. 6. 



" It is evident without calculation there could be no 

 ■conspicuous conjunction of Venus and Mars at any time ; 

 because Mars is not a conspicuous planet unless its 

 elongation from the sun be greater than the greatest 

 elongation ever attained by Venus, so that it would lie a 

 waste of time and labour to enter into the computations 

 of any such conjunctions. 



" It now remains to inquire whether the two brightest 

 planets of the solar system, Venus and Jupiter, might not 

 have been in conjunction within a short time before the 

 death of Herod, and constitute the phenomenon alluded 

 to in the biblical narrative ; for it was the beautiful phe- 

 nomenon presented by these two planets when in con- 

 junction last February that suggested this investigation. 

 Now the conjunctions of Venus with the sun occur with 

 great regularity at intervals of about 584 days, while those 

 of Jupiter at intervals of 399 days. Moreover, it may 

 easily be shown that all geocentric conjunctions of Venus 

 and Jupiter must take place within about 60 days before 

 or after Jupiter's conjunction with the sun. Therefore, by 

 tabulating the times of Jupiter's conjunction with the sun, 

 we have only to investigate the longitude of Venus for a 

 period of 60 days before or after that event in order to 

 determine whether a conjunction of those planets will 

 then take place. Now I find Jupiter was in near con- 

 junction with the sun B.C. 6, March 29, while Venus was 

 in conjunction on the preceding November 5, or 144 

 days earlier than Jupiter. Venus was therefore past her 

 greatest western elongation, and was moving towards her 

 superior conjunction, and she would overtake Jupiter on 

 May 8, when their mutual elongations from the sun 

 would be 27" 44' to the west. At that time the heliocentric 

 latitude of Venus and Jupiter were 3" 21' and 1° 20' south, 

 while their geocentric latitudes were i°4o' and v 8' south 

 respectively. It therefore follows that at the time of their 

 geocentric conjunction Jupiter was only 32', or about the 

 angular breadth of the moon to the northward of Venus ; 

 and as they were then to the westward of the sun, they 

 V ould be visible only as a star in the east a couple of 

 hours before sunrise. These two brightest planets in the 

 sky would therefore at the time of conjunction, B.C. 6, 

 May 8, be apparently very close together and produce 

 a striking and beautiful appearance. The date also at 

 which it took place being about 50 days less than two 

 years before the death of Herod, harmonizes well with 



NO. 1208, VOL. 47] 



the spirit and other conditions of the narrative ; for it 

 is probable that the mandate for the slaughter of the 

 children of two years old and under was issued some 

 months before his decease, and the limit of two years 

 would leave an ample margin for any uncertainty as to 

 the time of the appearance of the star as related by the 

 Magi. 



" There were no other conjunctions of Venus and Jupiter 

 until the year B.C. 2, or nearly two years after the death 

 of Herod, when there were two conjunctions, one of which 

 occurred on August 31 and the other on October 4. The 

 first of these was invisible on account of being too near 

 the sun ; but the second took place when Venus was 

 nearly at her largest elongation to the westward of the 

 sun. 



" If the preceding calculations, and the references based 

 on them, are correct, it fbllows that Christ was born as 

 early as May in the year B c. 6 ; and if He was crucified 

 at the time of the paschal full moon, which occurred on 

 a Friday, it must have taken place on April 3, in the 

 year A.D. 33. And since any given phase of the moon is 

 repeated on the same day of the week, and also within 

 two days of the same time of the year, at intervals of 

 334 lunations, or 27 years, it follows there was no paschal 

 full moon on a Friday between the years A.D. 6 and A.D. 

 60, except the one on April 3, A.D. 33; whence it would 

 seem to follow that Christ was thirty-eight years old at 

 the time of His crucifixion and death, and this would 

 vindicate the sagacity of the Jewish doctors, who had 

 recently affirmed that He (Jesus) was not then fifty (forty) 

 years old." 



FUJISAN} 



ALL who remember the beautiful plates illustrating the 

 volume on " The Great Earthquake of Japan, 1891," 

 which was issued by the same authors a few months ago, 

 will welcome the first instalment of a work which 

 promises to illustrate, in a manner worthy of the 

 subject, the magnificent volcanic phenomena of Japan. 

 The present part contains ten plates, and is devoted to 

 the illustration of the most famous and beautiful of all 

 the Japanese volcanoes— Fujisan. The number of parts 

 that the authors will publish will depend partly, we are 

 told, on the encouragement they receive, and partly on 

 the number of photographs that they have been able to 

 secure during the past summer. 



The photographs in the present part, which are all re- 

 produced as permanent collotypes, ii inches by 8 inches 

 in size, are exquisite examples of what can be accom- 

 plished by this method of illustration, and show that Japan 

 is certainly not behind any country in the world so far as 

 the resources of the publisher go. Where all are so ex- 

 cellent, it is difficult to select any particular plate for 

 especial praise, but one of the most remarkable is cer- 

 tainly Plate II., which gives a view over the great cloud- 

 banks as seen from the summit of Fuji. Nothing can be 

 more striking than the manner in which the effect of the 

 great fleecy masses of vapour are reproduced, and here 

 nothing whatever is lost from want of colour. The plate 

 of greatest scientific interest is perhaps the last, which 

 shows the interior of the crater of Fuji— a great pit 600 

 to 700 feet deep, with perpendicular walls. The sides are 

 built up of rings of variously-coloured rocks, while snow 

 rests in the sheltered hollows. The remaining pictures 

 illustrate the sacred mountain as seen from different 

 points of view, the graceful curves of its outline, the varia- 

 tion in the distribution of snow on its flanks, and the 



I "The Volcanoes of Japan. Part 1. Fujisan." By John Milne, F.R.S., 

 Professor of Mining and Geology, Imperial University of Japan ; and W. 

 K. Burton, C.E., Professor of Sanitary Engineering, Imperial University 

 of Japan. Plates by K. Ogawa. (Yokohama, Shanghai, Hongkong, and 

 Singapore : Kelly and Walsh, Limited, 1892.) 



