276 



NA TURE 



[July 20, 1893 



iatus and Sp/iarodorum peripatus, the Isopod Apseudes La- 

 treillii, the Schizopoda Mysidopsis gibbosa and Hemimysis 

 Lamorna, specimens of the Brachyuran Hyas coarctatics decked 

 with weeds and compound Ascidians, the Lamellibranch Area 

 ielragona, and the Ascidian Perophora Listcri. In the floating 

 fauna little change has been observed, but numbers of the 

 Leptomedasan Laodice cruciata have been taken on the beds of 

 Zostera. The following animals are now breeding : — The 

 Hydroid Coryne vaginata, the Polychtete Polycirrus atiran- 

 iiacus, the Amphipod Corophium BonelUi, the Decapod 

 Pahvnon squilla and the Limellibranch Area tetragona. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque iMonkey [Macacus cynomolgus, 9 ) 

 from India, presented by Capt. R. D. Arnold ; a Leopard 

 ■(/<;/« /3>-a'«j), a Striped Hytena (//)'(?«« striata) from India, 

 presented by Capt. Currie ; a Malayan Bear ( Ursus malayanus) 

 from Malacca, presented by Mr. M. O. N. Rees-Webbe ; four 

 Prairie Marmots [Cynomys ludovicianus) from Texas, four 

 Orbicular Horned Lizards {Phrynosoma orbicitlare) from Cali- 

 fornia, presented by Mr. G. B. Coleman ; a Harnessed Ante- 

 lope (Trageiaphus scriptus, i ) from West Africa, presented by 

 Mr. A. L. Jones ; four Galapagan Doves (Zcnaida galapagensis) 

 from the Galapagos Islands, an Auriculated Dove {Zenaida 

 jzuriailata) from Chili, presented by Cape. Hedworth Lamb- 

 ton, R. N. ; a Giiilding's Amazon (Ckrysotis giiildingi) from 

 St. Vincent, W.I., three Boddaert's Snakes (C<7/?(/''tT iJoi/i/a«r/!)> 

 three Carinated Snakes {//etpctodryas carinatus) from Grenada, 

 W.I., presented by the Hon. Sir Walter F. Hely-Hutchinson, 

 K.C.M.G. ; two Red-taile.i Buzzards (Buteo borealis) from 

 Jamaica, presented by Mr. Charles B. Taylor ; a Crested 

 Porcupine (Hystrix cristatus) from Africa, an Australian Casso- 

 wary (Camarius australis) from Australia, two Blyth's Trago- 

 pans (Ccriornis blythi, i 9 ) from Upper Assam, deposited ; 

 two African Tantalus (Pseudolantahis ibis) from W^est Africa, 

 two Demoiselle Cranes (Cms virgo), six Moorish Tortoises 

 {Testudo mauritanica) from North Africa, a Secretary Vulture 

 (Serpeiitarius reptilivirus) from South Africa, two Common 

 Rheas {lihea americam, i 9 ) from South America, two Cabot's 

 Tragopans {Ccriornis caboti, I, =) from China, four Crested 

 Pigeons ( Ocyphaps lophotes) from Australia, purchased ; a Mule 

 Deer {Cariacus macrotis, i), a. Martineta Tinamou (Calodromas 

 elegans), seven Summer Ducks (CEx sponsa), seven Mandarin 

 Ducks ( CEx galericulata), three Australian Wild Ducks {Anas 

 superciliosa), six Magellanic Geese {Bernicla magellanica), 

 three Peacock Pheasants {PolypUctron chimjuis), three Cheer 

 Pheasants ( Phasianus wallichii), six Gold Pheasants { Tkaumalea 

 picta) bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Ephemeris of the New Comet. — Prof. E. Lamp gives 

 the following elements for Quenisset's comet in Astr. Nach., 

 No. 3173 :— 



T = 1893 July 7 '3 140, Berlin Mean Time. 



m = 47° 672 1 



•ft -= 337 2o"93 ■ 1893 'o 

 i = 160 1-88) 

 log (/ = 9-82948 



From these elements the following ephemeris has been 

 ■computed by Dr. Kreutz : — 



1893 R.A. app. Decl. app. 



h. III. s. o 



July 21 ... II 27 28 ... -(-25 191 



22 ... II 32 44 ... 24 10 



23 II 37 19 ... 22 49 8 

 27 ... II so 50 ... 18 59-8 

 31 ... II 59 24 ... 16 12-8 



Aug. 4 ... 12 5 18 ... 14 6-2 



The comet is decreasing in brightness. 

 NO. 1258. VOL. 48] 



The following communication has been received from Soatbj 

 Kensington : — 



"The comet was observed by Mr. Shackleton as early ar^ 

 July II, before any notice of it had been received, but owing 

 to the unfavourable state of the sky he was unable to perfectly 

 satisfy himself that it was a new object. Although the sky was 

 partially clear on July 14, the comet could not be seen from the 

 Observatory as it was unfortunately very low in the north-west, 

 and fell within the glare of the illuminations of the Imperial 

 Institute. On Sunday, July 16, the sky was much cleare.', and 

 the comet was easily picked up with a small telescope. Observa- 

 tions with the equatorial, however, were impossible. Its posi- 

 tion was roughly estimated as R.A. loh. 41m., Decl. 33°N., and 

 it was about equal in brightness to a fourth magnitude star. On 

 July 17 the sky was clear, and the comet was observed by Mr. 

 Shackleton with a 6-inch telescope temporarily erected in an 

 elevated position ; a faint tail was then observed, extending 

 further on the southern than on the northern side of the axis. 

 Owing to the absence of an equatorial mounting to the telescope 

 employed, spectroscopic observations were very difficult, but three 

 bright bands — probably the well-known bands of carbon which 

 so frequently appear in cometary spectra — were recognised. 

 There was only a very feeble continuous spectrum." 



Comet Fi.NLAY (1886 vii.).— The ephemeris of this comet 

 for the ensuing week is as follows : — 



tions of this planet were specially undertaken in 1889 to deter- 

 mine the mean horizontal parallax of the sun, and afterwards to 

 compare the calculated with the observed places of the planet 

 with the object of proving the existence of a short periodic per- 

 turbation, as would occur if, for example, an erroneous value 

 for the lunar equation had been adopted. The observations 

 {Bulletin Astronomique, tome x. , June 1893) were of '.hree 

 kinds, as Dr. Gill in this note informs us — (l) meridian observa- 

 tions of the planet and comparison stars, made at twenty-one 

 observatories during the opposition in 1889 ; (2) helionetric 

 triangulation of comparison stars, consisting of measures of the 

 distances of the stars less than 2° apart and measures of the 

 angles of position (these observations were made at the observa- 

 tories of Yale College, Gottingen, Bamberg, and at the Cape 

 during the year 1890); and (3) heliometric observations of the 

 angular distance of the planet from two comparison stars, one 

 above and the other below the apparent position of the planet 

 in the sky. This work was accomplished by the same observa- 

 tories with the addition of that at Leipzig. 



In this preliminary note. Dr. Gill refers only to the general 

 results of the discussion. The following table shows the values 

 for the mean horizontal parallax of the sun as deduced from 

 the discussion of the observations in groups : — 



Limit of M.S. Rel. ia A4 



groups. parallax, weight. C-0. C-0. 



Group. 



