452 



NATURE 



[March 9, 1893 



for the recession of the node a little over 4°, the inclination 

 <iecreasinc about o°'6. 



The Wolsingham Observatory. — In the Report of this 

 observatory for the year 1892 Mr. T. E. Espin tells us that 

 although the zone work was interrupted by attention being 

 given to Nova AurigcC, yet one hundred and sixteen new Third- 

 Type Stars were detected in zones + 55° and 56°. In the autumn, 

 as the telescope was going to be devoted to the revision of 

 double stars in connection with the new edition of "Celestial 

 Objects for the Common Telescope," the driving clock was 

 taken out and cleaned, and a new arrangement for letting the 

 clock run for one and a half hours without rewinding was also 

 added. Notwithstanding the pressure of work in this direction, 

 as many as eight hundred and forty-seven measures were made in 

 the autumn, " observing being carried on sometimes for twelve 

 hours, and once for thirteen and a half at a stretch." With re- 

 spect to the new edition of the work mentioned above, Mr. 

 Espin gives a short description of the general scheme. The 

 portions devoted to the planets and the sun (vol. i.) will have 

 several foot-notes added to them, Mr. Denning will write a 

 short chapter on comets and meteors, and chapters on celestial 

 photography and spectroscopic work will also be inserted. The 

 second volume will deal with double stars, &c., and will be 

 entirely rewritten ; the objects will be arranged in order of 

 Right Ascension, and all double stars whose primaries are above 

 6-5 magnitude, and whose distance is less than 20", will be in- 

 cluded. The work of bringing the places up to 1900 was at 

 the end of the year completed for the first twelve hours, and 

 considerable progress has already been made in the next eight 

 hours of Right Ascension. Mr. Espin refers to the death of 

 Miss Compton, who took great interest in the work done at the 

 Observatory, and who left a legacy for the purchase of a photo- 

 graphic telescope. This telescope is already in working order, 

 its aperture being eight clear inches, and focal length forty-two 

 inches, and will be devoted to the photography of the zones 

 observed with the spectroscope for detecting variation in light. 

 The Meteorological Department has also been increased by a 

 hygroscope and solar radiation thermometer, the gifts of Miss 

 Brooke. 



United States Naval Observatory.— From the report of 

 the superintendent (Capt. F. C. McNair) of this observatory for the 

 year ending June 30, 1892, we gather the following few notes. 

 In October, 1891, owing to the retirement of Prof. Asaph Hall, 

 the use of the 26-inch refractor was tendered to Mr. Asaph 

 Hall, junior, the latter observing the satellite of Neptune, satel- 

 lites of Saturn, and the two outer satellites of Uranus. During 

 the period of opposition of Mars, in August, 1892, the instru- 

 ment was employed by Prof. Hall for the purpose of securing 

 measures of the satellites, as the superintendent thought that " it 

 seemed fitting that Prof. Hall, the discoverer of these satellites, 

 should have the privilege of observing them once more under 

 such exceptionally favourable circumstances." With the transit 

 circle practically no observations were made, as the iiistrument 

 was under repairs previous to being set up in the new observing 

 houses ; the Meridian transit, on the other hand, was in constant 

 use, chiefly in connection with the time service. The 9*6 inch 

 equatorial was as usual employed in observing asteroids, occul- 

 tations, &c., while two nights a week were set apart for the 

 accommodation of visitors. The number of visitors at night is 

 about 2500 per annum, the majority of whom are women. In 

 the estimates of appropriations required for the service for the 

 year ending June 30, 1894, we see that the superintendent asks 

 for an expert elevator conductor, which is essential to prevent 

 accident. Among the estimates for the new observatory is a 

 request for three dwellings for observers, and this is accom 

 panied by a note which we print here, and the truth of which 

 every astronomer will endorse :— "In order that the work of a 

 large observatory may be properly and economically done, it is 

 absolutely necessary that the observers be within prompt call to 

 their instruments throughout day and night. Very important 

 observations can often be secured from the clearing of the sky 

 for a few hours, or even in some cases for a few minutes, if the 

 observer be within easy call by the watchman. This can only 

 be accomplished, in the isolated situation of the new Observa- 

 tory, by having dwellings upon the grounds for the observers. 

 The Government erects dwellings at all its navy-yards, arsenals, 

 forts, and schools for the officers on duty there. But no service 

 requires such unremitting attention and constant presence at all 

 hour.'; as that of the astronomer, and no observatory can be regarded 

 NO. I 2 19, VOL. 47] 



as. economically managed which does not furnish dwellings for 

 all its observers close by their instruments. It is estimated that 

 with the observers living on the grounds of the new Observatory, 

 not only will two or three times as much work be done as it will 

 be possible to do otherwi.se, but the quality of this delicate work 

 will be materially improved on account of the observers being in 

 a proper physical condition to begin their labours, instead of 

 with nerves unstrung from hurrying some miles from their 

 homes immediately after meals, or at unreasonable hours of 

 the night." 



Yale Astronomical Observatory.— Vol. i. Parts 3 and 

 4 of the publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Yale 

 Univers ity contains (i) "A Triangulation of Stars in the Vicinity 

 of the North Pole," by Prof. William L. Elkin ; and (2) 

 " Determination of the Orbit of the Comet 1847 VI.," by Miss 

 Margaretta Palmer. With regard to the former paper, this was 

 undertaken to determine the relative positions of some north 

 polar stars to serve as fundamental points for a photographic 

 survey of that region. Twenty-four stars, covering a consider- 

 able area, were selected for this work, and all the distances 

 measured were large — that is, above 1000". Out of 276 pos- 

 sible combinations of measuring the intermutual distances 

 within the range of the heliometer, Prof. Elkin managed to 

 employ 146, each combination undergoing three separate 

 measurements. In the reduction of the measurements he gives 

 full information as to the methods employed, showing the means 

 of eliminating the systematic errors, &c., concluding with tables 

 of the final ^results in Right Ascension and Declination and pre- 

 cessional tables. Miss Palmer prefaces her determination of 

 the orbit of comet 1847 VI. with a short reference to its dis- 

 covery and history, remarking that it is probably the only comet 

 ever discovered independently by two women. Riimkerin 1857 

 found the orbit to be of a distinctly hyperbolic nature, and the 

 result of the present determination, by employing modern places 

 for the sun and allowing for perturbations, &c. , show that the 

 observations can be best explained on the hypothesis of the 

 hyperolic orbit, the new value for the elements differing slightly 

 from the old ones. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



A colony only accessible through foreign territory is naturally 

 unsatisfactory to its holders, and since the development of 

 German South-west Africa, the inconvenience of having Walfish 

 Bay as the only landing place for the interior has gradually 

 increased. It is now announced that a new harbour has been 

 found on German territory in the mouth of the Swartkop river. 

 The stream is so small that it is marked on few general maps of 

 Africa, and it may even turn out to be in the British sphere. 



A paper for the next German Geographentag has been 

 published in advance, by Prof. W. Koppen, under the title 

 " Die Schreibung geographischer Namen." It deals in a very 

 thorough manner with the principles which ought to regulate 

 the orthography of place-names, and treats the whole matter of 

 authoritatively published rules in a historical way from the first 

 formulation of the Royal Geographical Society's Rules in 1885 

 to the new German rules (see Nature, p. 89) adopted in 

 1892. Prof. Koppen has fully mastered his subject, and, from 

 a thorough study of the phonetics of language, he has been able 

 to formulate a scheme by which the Roman alphabet may be 

 employed, with the aid of diacritical signs and groups of con- 

 sonants, to represent almost every possible sound. The methods 

 adopted in the official systems of the Royal Geographical Society 

 and the German Colonial Office appear to the author of the 

 pamphlet to be incom'plete and unsatisfactory. The subject is 

 one eminently adapted for full international discussion, and we 

 hope that Prof Koppen will not fail to bring the matter before 

 the next international Geographical Congress. 



Polar exploration seems to have received a fresh stimulus, 

 and we note with satisfaction the announcement in the American 

 newspapers of Mr. Peary's new programme. He sails for 

 Greenland in June, and will spend the winter not far from the 

 site of his last w inter's camp. A novelty in transport on the 

 inland ice is to be the use of ponies shod with snow-shoes of a 

 special pattern, experience in Alaska and Norway appearing to 

 establish the practicability of the idea. The main object of the 

 expedition is to survey the Arctic Archipelago immediately 

 north of Greenland, and to determine the whole north coast of 



