U2 



KNO^WLEDGE ♦ 



[April 2, 1888. 



morality or even decency, and numbers of poor children 

 grow up in the midst of surroundings which will surely 

 bring them to join the crowded ranks of the criminal 

 classes. The School Board does not reach these children, 

 and a lodger in one of the houses told Mr. Goldsniid that 

 there was not a School Board officer in the metropolis who 

 would "dare to show 'is ugly mug 'ere." The police 

 inspectors whose duty it is to regulate these houses, visit 

 them only during the daytime, when the lodgers have 

 departed, order has been to a certain extent restored, and 

 the fearful odours of the night have gone off; hence they 

 gain no adequate ideas of the real state of afldiirs, and legis- 

 late for what they do not understand. Mr. Goldsmid 

 holds that the administration of the Lodging-houses' Act 

 should be taken out of the hands of the Commissioners of 

 Police, and that a company should be formed to supply 

 clean and decent accommodation for poor lodgers. He 

 suggests that blocks of the artisans' model dwellings, 

 now being erected in all parts of London, should be 

 arranged so that the rent could be paid nightly instead of 

 weekly, that bithing conveniences should be provided, and 

 that plain, wholesome food should be sold ready cooked on the 

 premises at similar prices to those charged in coflee-houses. 

 He believes that such a company should pay a dividend of 

 10 to 12 per cent., even if giving the best value for the 

 money. The present common lodgingdiouse keepers, he 

 calculates, make about 125 per cent, profit, wrung from 

 their poorer brethren, whom they keep in a horrible condi- 

 tion of filth, squalor, and degradation. Wo consider Mr. 

 Goldsmid's suggestion a wise one, and recommend it to 

 practical philanthropists. " Dottings of a Dosser " should 

 be very widely circulated. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR APRIL. 



By F.R.A.S. 



HE sun may be watched for the infrequent and 

 insignificant spots whicli appear on his surface. 

 The zodiacal light may still be seen in the west 

 after sunset at the beginning o£ the month. Tlie 

 aspect of the night fky is sliown on map iv. of 

 "The Stars in tlieir Seasons." Minima of Algol 

 (" The Stars in their Seasons," map xii.) will 

 occur 1.5 minutes after midnight on the 15th, 

 and at 9h. im. P.M. on the 18th, all other minima 

 happening in daylight during April. Mercury is a morning star 

 throughout the month, but rises such a little while before the sun 

 that he is but indifferently placed for the observer — a remark 

 which, )iiultitis mntandis, appHes equally to Venus. Mars will be in 

 opposition to the sun on the Gth, and but for the fact that 

 he has South Declination, would be well placed for observation. 

 As at this time his disc subtends an angle of some 18", a consider- 

 able amount of areographical detail may be made out with com- 

 paratively moderate optical means. He is situated to the north-cast 

 of Spisa Viiginis ("The Stars in their Seasons," map v.) Jupiter 

 does not soutli until the early morning, but towards the end of 

 April may be seen before midnight, though he is too close to the 

 horizon to be at all fairly observable. Moreover, his South Declina- 

 tion is so considerable that even when on the meridian liis altitude is 

 too small to admit of the employment of a high power in viewing 

 him. By the end of April his angular equatorial diameter will 

 amount to 41-5". He is travelling from the south-west corner of 

 Ophiuchus towards ^ Scorpii ("The Stars in their Seasons," 

 map vii). As scarcely any certainl}' observable phenomena of his 

 satellites will occur before midnight, we need not occupy space 

 with them here. Saturn is travelling rapidly towards the west, 

 and must be looked at as soon as ever it is dark enough. It will 

 be noted that his rings have closed up to an extent such that his 

 north pole is now visible. He is moving towards •>) Cancri and the 

 Prsesepe ("The Stars in their Seasons," map iii.). Uranus will 

 come into opposition to the sun on the 4th, .so that he is now in a 

 fairly good position for the observer. He will be found about tliree 

 diameters of the moon to the west of B Virgiuis ("The Stars in 

 their Seasons," map v.), and may be at once distinguished from the 

 surrounding stars by his bluisli unmistakable planetary disc, 



when viewed with adequate power. Neptune has disappeared for 

 the season. The moon enters her last quarter at 4r3m. past 

 noon on the 3rd, and is new at 9h. 7'7m. o'clock in the morning 

 on the 11th. She enters lier first quarter 7'8m. before noon 

 on the 19th, and is full at Oh. 221m. A.M. on the 26th. High 

 tides may be expected about the last-named date. Three occultations 

 only of fixed stars by the moon will occur at convenient hours 

 during the present montli. The first will hai^peu on April 16, when 

 X'- Orionis, a star of the Cth magnitude, will disappear at the moon's 

 dark limb at 9h. 27m. P.M., at an angle from her vertex of 139°. 

 It will reappear at her bright limb at lOh. 2Gm. p.m., at an angle 

 of 300° from her vertex. Then on the 19th, 9 Cancri, of the 6th 

 magnitude, will disappear at tlie dark limb of the moon at 7h. 34m. 

 P-M., at an angle from her vertex of 70°; reappearing at her bright 

 limb at 8h. 45m. P.M , at a vertical an,gle of 308°. Lastly, on the 

 22nd, B.A.C. 3837 (also a 6th magnitude star) will disajjpear at the 

 dark limb at 6h. Um. P.M., at an angle of 90° from the moon's 

 vertex. The star will reappear at the bright limb of the moon 

 at 7h. 32ra. P.M., at an angle from her vertex of 173°. At noon 

 to-day the moon is in Ophiuchus, through which she is travelling 

 until 8h. A.M. on the 2nd, at which hour she passes into Sa.gittarius. 

 Slie leaves S.agittarius for Capricornus (" The Seasons Pictured," 

 plate xxi.) at 3h. P.M. on the 4th, and Capricornus in turn 

 for Aquarius at 4h. P.M. on the 6th. Her journey across 

 Aquarius is completed by 9h. P.M. on the 8th, when she enters 

 Pisces ('• The Seasons Pictured," plate xxii.). It is llh. 

 P.M. on the 11th when, in her passage over this great 

 straggling constellation she reaches the northerly prolongation of 

 Cetus, and an hour or two afterwards she has crossed it and 

 emerged in Aries (" The Seasons Pictured," plate xxiii.). By 

 7h. 30m. P.M. on the 13th she has traversed the constellation 

 last named and passed into Taurus. As she travels through Taurus 

 she arrives ,at 7h. P.M. on the 16th on the western edge of the 

 nortliernmost portion of Orion. E.xactly twelve hours later (i.e. at 

 7h. A.M. on the 17th), she crosses its eastern boundary and emerges 

 in Gemini. Here she remains until 4h. A.M. on the 19th, when she 

 crosses into Cancer (" Tlie Seasons Pictured," plate xxiv.). She is 

 in Cancer until 6h. P.M. on the 20th, when she enters Leo. Her 

 passage through Leo termin.ites at 7h. A.M. on the 23rd, at which 

 hour she quits it for Virgo ("The Seasons Pictured," plate xxv.). 

 At 3h. 30m. A.M. on the 26ch, her journey over the constellation last 

 n.amed finishes, and she passes into Libra (" The Seasons Pictured," 

 plate xxvi.). As she travels tlirough Libra, she arrives at 8h. P.M. 

 on the 27th at the western boundary of the narrow northern spike 

 of Scorpio, and when she has crossed this by 4 o'clock the next 

 morning, it is to come out in Ophiuchus. She remains in Ophiu- 

 chus until 3h. P.M. on the 29th, when, for the second time this 

 month, she enters Sagittarius. There we leave her. 



By "Five of Clubs." 



MATHEWS ON WHIST. 



The Tenaoe. 

 {Continued from page 96.) 

 Hg^^^^HOUGH "tenace," or tlie advantage of position,* 

 1"""' "^'^ ; cannot be reduced to a certainty, as at piquet, and 

 it is often necessary to relinquish it for more cer- 

 tain advantages; stil), no man can be a whist- 

 player who does not fully understand it. The 

 principle is simple, but the combinations are 

 various. 



If A has ace, queen, and a small card of a 

 suit, of which li has king, knave, and another ; if 

 A leads the small card, he letains tenace, and wins two tricks; 

 whereas, if he plays the ace, he gives it up and makes but one. But 

 if B is to lead, he has no tenace ; and lead which card he will, he 



* The word " tenace " has no connection, as many imagine, with the 

 cards ten and ace in a suit, though it very often happens that the major 

 tenace is actually constituted of these two cards. The word is a 

 substautival form of the French adjective "tenace," tenacious, 

 AoWi»r/, and implies the "hold "which the tenace gives over the 

 suit. "Major tenace," or the first and third cards, gives the 

 stronger hold ; but minor tenace gives a good hold too, in each case, 

 though only if the holder of either tenace is led up to — when, with 

 major tenace, two tricks are made, the second best card being held 

 safe, while w-ith minor tenace, one trick is made, the third best 

 card being held safe, wherever it may lie. The second best guarded, 

 if led up to, is as good as the minor tenace. 



