•PT. 11, 1885.] 



♦ KNO^VLEDGE ♦ 



our author proceeds to develop his own system, which is 

 apparently composed of diagrams of sea-gulls in flight, 

 fly-dirt on windows, and worms which have been trodden 

 on, similar to those which characterise most modern 

 works on stenography. As " Digamma " attacks phono- 

 graphers as a class, they will doubtless possess themselves 

 of his book and answer him. 



We have also on our table T' T -' /" fhf Soriety 



of Arts, The Child's Pictuni' i 11, Mtdical 



Press and Circular, The Trmi II l.mdstieet's. 



The Sanitary Netv<<, Li- Franl ' I I \' «-s Letter, 



The Northern Whiy, md, fi i tl \1, is f issell, 

 GasselVs Household (,< I < .' J , I,, (,, I ,a,uj, 

 Our Own Country, r in /,, I , ih ,, I V •! Th,- 

 Book of Health, Th, I il nu,j ,/ ] ni/li^l l.il , U, , , and 

 The Countries of tht Winld. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY. 



From Sept. 11 to Sept. 25. 

 By F.R.A.S. 



THE usual examination of the sun will be made for .spots and 

 facula;. The aspect of the night sky is shown on Map IX. of 

 " The Stars in their Seasons." There will be a minimum of Algol on 

 Sept. 12 at 6h. ."Sim. p.m. Mercury is a morning star, and attains 

 his greatest elongation west of the sun (17° 51') at 7 p.m. on the 

 18th. He may be seen with the naked eye about this time, glitter- 

 ing close to the eastern horizon before sunrise, by any one who will 

 get up (or sit up) for that purpose. He exhibits a very pretty 

 little crescent in the telescope. Venus is indifferently placed for 

 the observer, and, moreover, her position steadily deteriorates. She 

 \s an evening star, and as a telescopic object is seen as a small 

 gibbous disc. Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune continue in- 

 visible. Saturn, though, is nightly improving in position for 

 the observer's purpose, continuing to form a triangle with /i and 

 «' Geminorum. He rises before llh. p.m., when our notes begin, 

 and just after 10 o'clock at night, when they terminate. The moon 

 enters her first quarter at 6h. 14-8m. on the morning of the 16th, and 

 is full at 7h. 54-7m. a.m. on the 2tth. At this time she will be 

 partially eclipsed. The first contact of her limb with the penumbra, 

 though, will occur at 5h. 2-lm. a.m., and she will set (at Greenwich) 

 at 5h. 45m., so that beyond a very slight darkening of her following 

 limb nothing of the eclipse will be visible here. The occultations 

 of fixed stars observable during the next fortnight are fairly 

 numerous. To begin with, on Sept. 19, 13 Capricorni, a star of the 

 0th magnitude, will disappear at the moon's dark limb at 8h. 4m. 

 p.m., at an angle from her vertex of 122°, and reappear at her bright 

 limb at 9h. 23m. p.m., at a vertical angle of 272". Later, at 9h. 33m. 

 p.m., 14 Capricorni, a 5th mag. star, will disappear at the dark limb 

 at an angle of 151° from the Moon's vertex, to reappear at her 

 blight limb at lOh. 41m. p.m., at an angle from her vertex of 273°. 

 On the 20th, 18 Aquarii, a star of the 6th magnitude, will disappear 

 at the dark limb at 6h. 47m. p.m., at a vertical angle of 49'. It 

 will reappear from behind the bright limb at 7h. 55m. p.m., at an 

 angle of 30.5° from the vertex of the Moon. On the 21st, li.A.C. 

 7774, a 6th magnitude star, will disappear at the dark limb at 

 1 Oh. 8m. p.m. at an angle from the Moon's vertex of 136'; reappearing 

 at her bright limb at llh. 22m. p.m., at a vertical angle of 283°. 

 Lastly, on the 25th, n Piscium, a star of the 5th magnitude, will 

 disappear at the bright limb at 8h. 12m. p.m. at a vertical angle of 

 94" ; and will reappear at the dark limb at 'Jh. Um. p.m., at an angle 

 of 233° from the vertex of the Moon. When our notes begin the 

 Moon is in Virgo ; but at 9h. 30m. to-morrow morning she crosses 

 into Libra. Passing through Libra, she arrives, at 8 a.m on tlie 

 14th, on the confines of the narrow northern .-trip of Scorpio. This 

 .she takes 10 hours to cross, and at 6 o'clock the same afternoon 

 enters Ophiuchus; whence at 4 p.m. on the 16th, she passes inii 

 Sagittarius. At Ti.SO a.m. on the 19th she quits Sagittarius foi 

 Oapricornus, and Capricornus in turn for Aquarius at 3 a.m. on the 

 •JOth. She is travelling through Aquarius until 7 a.m. on the 23rd, 

 when she enters Pisces. She has not completed her journey through 

 this huge constellation when our n ' ' ' 



0\xx finfafiUors' Column. 



STATE-ROOM LADDKR. 



[Patent No. 14,005. 1884.]— This invention, by Mr. Thomas 

 James, of 25, Earle-street, Liverpool, is intended to meet the 

 " upper berth " difficulty in passenger vessels, the difficulty and 

 danger of reaching or leaving the upper berth in rough weather 

 forming one of the most serious discomforts which sea-travellers 

 have to undergo. In its simpler form, the invention consists of u 

 wooden step-ladder 6 or 7 ft. high, joined to the bulkhead or 

 partition forming the head or foot of the berths by a support about 

 3 or 3i ft. long. The support is connected to the ladder and to the 

 Lulkhead by hinge arrangements, so that the ladder can be drawn 

 out for use, and, when not required, closed up against the bulk- 

 head out of the way. To add to its security, strong hooks are 

 attached to the side to clamp the edges of the bunks. When 

 drawn out, the foot of the ladder will be about 4^ ft. and its head 

 about 2 ft. from the bulkhead, the foot being kept in position by a 

 cord, and the ladder kept closed by a clip, catch, or similar 

 arrangement. 



By means of this ladder, the upper berth passenger can roach 

 his berth without danger or annoyance to the lower passenger. It 

 will be much easier and safer to use than ladders hung to or 

 leaning against the upper berth, which slip and fall with the least 

 motion, while, after using it, the ladder ceases to be an obstruction 

 in the state-room, as with ordinary ladders. 



PUBLIC TELEPHONE CHECKING MACHINE. 



[Patent, No. 13,543. 1884.]— This machine, by Mr. Mann, of Man- 

 chester, consists of a clock train and a rocking lever, fixed in a box 

 containing upper and lower compartments. The upper compart- 

 ment contains the connections to battery, line- wire, and transmitter, 

 and mechanism in connection with the clockwork for regulating 

 the time during which the connections are made for speaking. The 

 lower compartment is a receptacle for metal tokens or coins, which 

 are used to set the mechanism in motion. 



The tokens or coins are placed into a hole in a brass segment, 

 and are passed on to the rocking lever by turning a handle ; the lever 

 is thereby canted over until the coins shde off and drop on to a 

 tray, allowing the lever to return to its original position ; simul- 

 taneously, electrical contact is made, which transmits the "ring- 

 up" signal to the central-office, and a bar is raised opposite to the 



"return-ring" from the central-office a button is pressed, thereby 

 raising levers, which complete the transmitter primary circuit, 

 changing the signal from off to o.v, and liberating time disc. The 

 necessary connections with the central-office are now complete 

 until a notch in the disc comes opposite the end of one of the 

 levers, and the contact pin against the spring, when further move- 

 ment is arrested. On the receipt of the "reply-ring" from the 

 subscriber, the button ia again pressed, completing the transmitter 

 circuit for a definite period of time, during which the disc travels 

 round until the above-mentioned lever drops into the deep end of a 

 slot and transmits the " ring-off " signal ; simultaneously, the appa- 

 ratus is restored to its original position, and the signal is changed 

 from ON to OFF, when the cycle of operations is complete. By means 

 of a releasing arrangement the tray is allowed to fall every time 

 the instrument is used, thereby allowing the coin of the previous 

 operator to drop into a drawer beneath. 



SAMPHIRE SOAP. 

 When the mountain declined to come to M.ihomet, Mahomet, with 

 a fine sense of the fitness of things, w.-nt to tho niomitain. Those 

 whose inclination and means enable tiw m i ■ --;" ;r!i u the sea-side, 

 areof course able to indulge in tlir 1^ r,'ii_ ,,: 

 bathing To those prevented by cii. im »i i: - ! 



r so, the 



Mcssr 



Fie 



off.-r 



. The death is announce<l of a 



French railway man. 



s with other important public undertakings. 



