June 8, 1S93] 



NATURE 



135 



{Limosa cegocephala) four Flamingoes (Phanicopierus anti- 

 quorum) European, purchased ; a Barbary Wild Sheep (Owi 

 tragclaphns, S), an Angora Goat (Capra hirciis, 9 var.), a 

 Japanese Deer (C^^z-a^ ^(K 9 ), a Great Kangaroo (Macropus 

 gtganteus), born in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 TheTotal Solar Eclipse (April, 1893).— M. N. Coculesco, 

 in the current number of the Camples Rendus (No. 22) gives a 

 brief account of his observations made during the last toUl solar 

 eclipse. The station he occupied was at Fundium. The in- 

 struments which he took with him consisted of a telescope of 

 0'l6 IT., aperture, with a wooden mounting, a fine comet seeker, 

 a mean lime chronometer, and a thermometer. An ordinary 

 photographic camera fixed to the telescope was also employed, 

 five fine negatives of the corona being obtained with it. The 

 plates employed were the ordinary dry plates of gelatine-bromide 

 of silver, and the developer that of ferrous-oxlate. The 

 exposures were of 2, 4, 6, 7, and 5 seconds duration, but the 

 second- plale seems to have given the most details. The obser- 

 vation of contacts gave the following results : — 

 Observation. 



Paris M. T. 

 h. m. s. 



2 20 21 



3 42 SI 

 3 47 2 

 5 3 36 



1st contact 



2nd ,, 



3rd ,, 



4lh ,, 



thus giving 4m. us. as the duration of totality. The thermo- 

 metiical observations s-howtd that en the day of the eclipse ihe 

 temperature was -f 28' C, at the commencement of totality 

 26°'6, middle of totality 24°o, and at the end of the eclipse 

 26'"5. A fall of from 3i° to 4° was thus noticed from the com- 

 mencement cf the eclipse to Ihe middle of totality. 



Meteor OiiSERVAriONS. — Mr. Denning, in the Observatory 

 forjune, has a note on the large meteor of April 15, 1893, and 

 also notes on observations of fireballs. With reference to 

 the latter he points out those observations are made by a number 

 of casual observers, and are commonly found to be conflicting 

 and incomplete, the accounts being based on " rough hurried im- 

 pressions often vitiated by serious errors." In attempting to 

 reduce such observations it is generally found impossible to 

 accommodate the descriptions unless we assume that the 

 several large meteors appeared simultaneously in different paths. 

 These bodies, he says, deserve closer attention than is usually 

 given to them, and accurate observations should be made with 

 regard to their positions, directions, and durations of their 

 flights among the stars. That meteoric astronomy would advance 

 by rapid strides, and that many " moot points in the visible 

 behaviour of meteor-streams would soon receive settlement" 

 cannot for a moment be doubled. 



The study of brilliant meteors is one that requires no instru- 

 ment but simply a good star atlas, and we hope that many of 

 our readers may lake Mr. Dennir.g's words to heait and try to 

 elevate this important branch of astronomy so that it can no 

 longer be said that "they come and go, and their transient 

 glories serve no more important end than that of affording 

 startling spectacles to those who are fortunate enough to witness 

 them." 



Washburn Observations. — In vol. vi. part 3 of the 

 Publications of the Washburn Observatory are the results of 

 the observations made by Mr. Sidney Dean Townley of tele- 

 scopic variable stars of long period. The method employed 

 was to select two stars for comparison, one slightly brighter 

 and the other slightly fainter than the one to be measured, the 

 diflference "between these two comparison stars in brightness 

 being less than a magnitude. By this means a very accurate 

 estimation can be made of the brightness of the star in tenths 

 of the interval between those laken for comparison. In esti- 

 mating the magnitudes of (he comparison stars he has ismployed 

 the limit of visibility of the finder and large telescope (apertures 

 8'9 cm. and 39*5 cm. respectively), commencing with the 

 former, and going down the numerical scale. The method of 

 recording the values obtained is similar to the notation used by 

 Argelander and Herschel Thus of two comparison stars a 

 and b, a \ h shows that the star observed is very nearly as 

 blight as a, while a 9 /' shows that it is very nearly equal in 



NO. 1232, VOL. 4SJ 



brightness to b, the number i representing one-tenth of the 

 difference of brightness between the two comparison star-^. In 

 the tables, the number of the stars, together with their R.A. s 

 and declinations, are taken from Chandler's "Catalogue of 

 Variable Stars." About 36 variables are included in this woik, 

 the observations extending over the period 1889-1892. 



Finlay's Comet (1886 VII.).— Comet Finlay is described as 

 circular, l' in diameter, nth magnitude, very diffuse, aid with 

 no tail. As it rises just before the morning twilight in this , 

 country, it is by no means in a good position for ol>servalior. 

 The following ephemeris is taken from a continuation cf M. 

 Schulhol's computations, made by M. Coniel, the difference 

 between the computed and observed places being approxi- 

 mately— im. 43s. in K.A. and -1- 12' N.P.D. 

 M.T. Paris. 

 1893. R-A. app. Decl. app. 



h. m. s. / 



June 8 ... I 12 56 ... 4-4 406 



9 ••• 17 35 ••• 5 99 



10 ... 22 IS ... S 39'i 



11 ... 26 56 ... 6 8-2 



12 ... 31 38 - 6 37-1 



13 ... 36 20 ■•• 7 S'9 



14 ... 41 3 ••• 7 34"S 



15 ... I 4S 47 ••• +8 29 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



At the last meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, Dr. 

 Joseph A. Moloney, medical officer to Capt. Stairs' expedition to 

 Katanga, read a paper descriptive of the journey. The expf di 

 tion ot over 300 men landed at Bagamoyo on June 27, 1891, 

 and marched to Lake Tanganyika through the German territory, 

 following the well-known caravan-track through Tabora. On 

 the way proofs were not wanting that the slave traders were kept 

 well supplied with gunpowder, in spite of the strict regulations 

 which are made much of in Europe. On October 9 they 

 reached Lake Tanganyika near its southern end, ar.d from 

 conversations with the missionaries and natives obtained some 

 interesting information as to the variations in the level of the 

 water. It appears that the outlet of the lake by the Lukuga 

 becomes periodically choked ly sand and vegetation, thus form- 

 ing a natural dam, which causes the level of the lake to rise. 

 After a time the barrier is carried away and the river issues with 

 great force, flowing strongly for a number of years. The extreme 

 difference in level must be about 18 feet, and the rise and fall 

 probably occupy about fifteen years. On October 31 the caravan 

 started from the west side of the lake. The Kaomba country 

 first passed through was found to abound in minerals, iron and 

 copper being extensively worked by the natives who show much 

 skill in the manufacture of weapons and implements. Bunkeia, 

 the capital of Msiri's territory, was reached on December 14, 

 the journey having been of extraordinary rapidity considering 

 the route taken. Much of the country was swampy, and there 

 were tracts of dense tropical forests reminding Captain Stairs of 

 the Aruwimi basin. Near Bunkeia a famine was raging, and 

 this, together with the tragedies consequent on the conquest of 

 Msiri, brought the expedition into a very bad stale. All the 

 Europeans except Dr. Moloney suffered severely, and Captain 

 Stairs never fully recovered. On February 4, 1892, the survivois 

 of the expedition set out on the return journey, and travelling 

 by Lake Nyasa and the Shire reached the Chinde mouth of the 

 Zambesi on June 4. 



Judge Daly, President of the American Geographical Society, 

 devoted his anniversary addreSs, which has just been published, 

 to a critical study of the portraits of Columbus. He believei 

 that several of those popularly held to he authentic are really 

 original paintings from ihe life, but the Lotto portrait which has 

 been multiplied indefinitely by the United States Government 

 on commemoration coins and postage stamps he looks on as of 

 very doubtful value. 



Mr. Carl Lumholtz publishes a letter from North Mexico 

 in the last number of the Bulletin of the American Geo- 

 graphical Society, in which he gives some account of his studies 

 of the Tarahumare Indians, who are cave-dwellers although not 

 apparently connected with the ancient cave and cliff-dwellers of 

 the United States. Mr. Lumholtz was engaged in taking down 

 the language, and in making anthropometric measurements of this 

 little-known tribe. 



