August 1, 1890.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



199 



selection where favourable to life, would form the first term 

 of a series ending in developed sense-organs and a developed 

 nervous system." 



How serious are the issues involved is pointed out in 

 Mr. Spencer's preface, as the following extracts show : — 



If functionally-produced modifications are inheritable, then the 

 mental associations habitually produced in individuals by experiences 

 of the relations between actions and their consequences, pleasurable 

 or painful, m.ay, in the successions of individuals, generate innate 

 tendencies to like or dislike such actions. But if not, the genesis of 

 such tendencies is, as we shall see, not satisfactorily explicable. 



That our sociological beliefs must also be profoundly affected by 

 the conclusions we draw on this point, is obvious. If a nation is 

 modified en mags'? by transmission of the effects produced on the 

 matures of its members by those modes of daily activity which its 

 institutions and circumstances involve, then we must infer that such 

 institutions and circumstances mould its members f.ir more rapidly 

 and comprehensively than they can do if the sole cause of adaptation 

 to them is the more frequent survival of individuals who happen to 

 have varied in favourable ways. 



I will add only that, considering the width and depth of the 

 effects which acceptance of one or other of these hypotheses must 

 have on our views of Life, Mind, Morals, and Politics, the question — 

 Which of them is true ? demands, beyond all other qneotions what- 

 ever, the attention of scientiiic men. 



For this reason. Professor Weismann merits the thanks of 

 his opponents in stimulating their inquiry into the sound- 

 ness of the foundations on which their belief in the trans- 

 mission of individually-acquired characters rests. Each 

 has the iiict of the continuity of generations to work upon ; 

 the rest is a question of evidence wliich has only recently 

 been collected with any pretence to accuracy of record, or 

 with any true appreciation of its XKofound signiiicance. 

 So that we have scarcely emerged from the empirical 

 stage, and have long to wait before our material can be of 

 sufticicut volume to be of value. 



Much remains to be added to give this paper any pre- 

 tence to completeness of exposition, but we must supple- 

 ment its shortcomings by commending to the careful 

 perusal of our readers Sir William Turner's Address, 

 already referred to, which is given in full in y<itun', 26th 

 September 1889, as also Mr. Cunningham's masterly pre- 

 face to his translation of Professor Elmer's book for a series 

 of arguments, drawn from liis own researches, in support 

 of variations through functional activity and external con- 

 ditions. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR AUGUST. 



By Hebuert Sadler, F.E.A.S. 



THE remarkable sunspot minimum still contuuics, 

 the sun's disc for days together being entirely free 

 from a trace of spots. Conveniently observable 

 minima of Algol occur at lOh. 51ni. p.m. on the 

 ()th ; 7h. 10m. p.m. on the 9th ; and 9h. 2iim. 

 P.M. on the 29th. Mercury is an evening star, but is not 

 suitably placed for observations by the amateur, as during 

 the whole month he sets less than three-quarters of an 

 hour after the sun. Venus is an evening star, setting on 

 the 1st at 9h. 11m. p.m., Ih. 21m. after the sun, with a 

 northern declination of S' 2' and an apparent diameter of 

 15i". (hi the 31st she sets at 71i. 22in., Oh. 34m. alter 

 the sun, with a soutliern declinaliou of 10° 4', and an 

 apparent diameter of 19i". At the beginning of the 

 month she appears as a little moon between twenty and 

 twenty-one days old, and is then in Leo, but she enters 

 Virgo on the .5th, and remains in that constellation till 

 the end of the month. She does not approach any con- 

 spicuous star very closely. Mars is an evening star, 

 though owing to his Lucreasing southern declination and 

 decreasing apparent diameter he will be found rather a 



disappointing object for the amateur. He sets on the 1st 

 at lib. 13m. p.m. with a southern declination of 23° 54' 

 and an apparent diameter of 14". On the 31st he sets at 

 9h. .58m. P.M., with a southern declination of 25° 42' and 

 an a^Dpirent diameter of 11:|^". On the latter date his 

 brightnc:;3 is only one-third of what it was at opposition. 

 About the middle of the month Jyij of the disc will be 

 hidden from view. During August he passes through 

 portions of Scorpio and Ophiuchus. At transit on the 

 5th he will be about 2' due south of the 6| magnitude 

 star Lacaille 6761 ; at lib. p.m. on the 14th he will be 

 about 71' n.p. the 54 magnitude star 22 Scorpii ; and at 

 transit on the 30th he will be about 7i' due south of the 

 6f magnitude star 28 Ophiuchi. Jupiter is an evening 

 star, rising on the 1st at 71i. 36m. p.m., with a southern 

 declination of 19° 17', and an apparent equatorial dia- 

 meter of 48". On the 31st he rises at 5h. .30m. p.m., 

 with a southern declination of 20'^ 9', and an apparent 

 equatorial diameter of 46i". The following phenomena 

 of the satellites occur while the planet is more than 8° 

 above, and the sun 8° below, the horizon. An occultation 

 disappearance of the third satellite at 8h. 55in. p.m. on 

 1st. An eclipse reappearance of the same satellite at 

 Oh. 45m. 54s. on the '2nd ; an occultation disappearance of 

 the first satellite at Hi. 56m. a.m. ; a transit ingress of the 

 first satellite at lib. 4in. p.m., and of its shadow at 

 lib. 9m. P.M. (see " Face of the Sky" for July). On the 

 3rd a transit egress of the first satellite at Hi. 24m. a.m., 

 and of its shadow at Hi. 30m. a.m. ; an eclipse reajipear- 

 auce of the first satellite at lOh. 46m. 44s. p.m. An 

 occultation disappearance of the second satellite at 

 lOli. 56m. P.M. on the 4th. An eclipse reappearance of 

 the second satellite at 2h. 4m. Is. a.m. on the 5th. An 

 eclipse reappearance of the fourth satellite at lb. 46m. 29s. 

 A.M. on the 6th ; a transit egress of the second satellite ai 

 8h. 48m. P.M., and a transit egress of its shadow at 

 9I1. 9ni. P.M. ; an occultation disappearance of the third 

 satellite at Oh. 12m. a.m. on the 9th. A transit ingress of 

 the first satellite at Oh. 48ai. a.m. on the lOtli, and of its 

 shadow at Ih. 4m. a.m. ; an occultation disappearance of 

 the first satellite at lOh. 6m. p.m. An eclipse reappear- 

 ance of the first satellite at Oh. 41m. 37s. a.m. on the 11th ; 

 a transit egress of the first satellite at 9h. 34m. p.m., and 

 of its shadow at 9h. 53m. p.m. ; an occultation disappear- 

 ance of the second satellite at lb. 10m. a.m. on the 12th ; 

 a transit ingress of the shadow of the second satellite at 

 8I1. 52m. P.M. ; a transit egress of the second satellite 

 itself at lib. 4ni. p. jr., and of its shadow at llh. 47m. 

 P.M. An occultation disappearance of the first satellite at 

 llh. 51m. P.M. on the 17th. A transit ingress of the first 

 satellite at 8h. 58m. p.m. on the 18tli, and of its shadow 

 at 9h. 27iii. P.M. ; a transit egress of the same satellite at 

 llh. 18m. P.M., and of its shadow at llh. 47m. p.m. A 

 transit egress of the shadow of the third satellite at 

 8h. 45m. P.M. on the 19th ; an eclipse reappearance of the 

 first satellite at 9h. 5ni. 19s. p.m. ; u transit egress of the 

 shadow of the third satellite at lOh. 47m. p. jr. A transit 

 ingress of the second satellite at lOh. 26m. p.m. on the 

 20th, and of its shadow at llh. 29m. p.m. A transit 

 egress of the second satellite at Ih. 21ni. a.m. on the 21st. 

 An eclipse reappearance of the second satellite at 8h. 33m. 

 28s. p.Ji. on the 22nd. A transit ingress of the first 

 satellite at lOh. 43in. p..m. on the 25th, a transit ingress of 

 its shadow at llh. 22m. p.ji. A transit egress of the first 

 satellite at lb. 4m. a.m. on the 26th ; an occultation dis- 

 appearance of the first satellite at 8h. 3m. p.m. ; a transit 

 ingress of the third satellite at 8h. 27ni. p..m. ; an eclipse 

 reappearance of the first satellite at llh. Oin. 24s. p.m. ; a 

 transit ingress of the shadow of the third satellite at 



