436 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[May, 1906. 



on August 15. She is then represented on the diagram 

 by the open" circle which falls n little behind that of 

 January 3, and is thereafter represented in a similrr 

 manner with tiie new d;ite attached. 



The earth and Mars are also shown at eight-day 

 intervals after January 3. Jupiter's position on 

 January 3 is on the line drawn from S. (the sun); and 

 this planet reaches the positions indicated on April 1, 

 lune 28, September 24, and December 21. Similarly 

 Saturn's position is shown for January 3, June 28, and 

 December 21; and the directions of Uranus and Xep- 

 tuno are indicated for January 3 and December 21. 



In order to determine the planets which rise before 

 the sun, the reader must bear in mind that the earth 

 revolves on its axis in the direction represented by the 

 arrow (shown at the date September 24). At sunrise 

 the observer emerges from the shadow area. If the 

 drawing be held in such a position that the earth is 

 between the reader and the sun, and he can read the 

 date without turning his head, he will have a correct 

 exhibit of the relative positions of the sun and planets 

 at that date. In this position, if a planet is on the 

 right of the sun, it evidently rises before him. Should 

 the planet be exactly in line with the earth and sun, as, 

 e.g., in the case of Mercury or \'enus, if the planet is on 

 the near side, it is in inferior conjunction; if it is on the 

 far side, it is in superior conjunction. If it is at or 

 near conjunction, it will be lost in the sun's rays. At 

 sunset the obser^-er is entering the shadow area. When 

 the drawing is held for a given date in the position 

 above described, if the planet is on the left of the sun, 

 it will set after him. In order to familiarise himself 

 with the use of the plot, the reader is recommended to 

 confine his attention to one planet at a time, and trace 

 its movements relative to the earth and sun throughout 

 the year. For example, if he will revolve the drawing 

 until the earth is between him and the sun for the date 

 January 3, he will read the same date attached to 

 Mercury. Being on the right of the sun, he rises be- 

 fore him. If the drawing be revolved until the date 

 February 20 is reached, Mercury will then be on the 

 far side of the sun, i.e., in superior conjunction. For 

 some time prior to and after this date, the planet will be 

 lost in the sun's rays. After this he will be on the left 

 side of the sun, and will, therefore, set after him. He 

 will be in conjunction — alternately superior and inferior 

 — six times during the year on the following days : — 

 February 20, April 5, June 8, August 12, September 24, 

 and November 30. If the earth were stationary there 

 would be twice as many conjunctions as revolutions, 

 i.e., eight; but this number is reduced bv two on account 

 of the revolutions of the earth around the sun. 



Mercury will be seen to good advantage after May 3, 

 before sunrise when near aphelion. He will also be 

 seen advantageously in the early evening after June 28, 

 when approaching aphelion. The last position in- 

 dicated is December 29, when Mercury will rise before 

 the sun. 



^'enus rises a short time before the sun on January 3, 

 and thereafter. She will very slowly approach superior 

 conjunction, which she will reach on February 14. 

 She will be seen satisfactorily in the evening about 

 the middle of June. \"enus will then approach nearer 

 the earth until November 30, when she will be in 

 inferior conjunction. Her dark side will be presented 

 to the earth, and she will be lost in the sun's rays. She 

 will then rise before the sun until the end of the year. 



Mars will be visible in the evening before July 15, 

 when he will reach conjunction; and will then rise be- 

 fore the sun for the remainder of the year. 



A New Edition of 

 White's Selborne. 



By Edward .\. Martix, I-.G.S., author of "A Biblio- 

 graphy of Ciilbcrt White." 



GiLnERT \VniTi;'s book, of which a new edition is before 

 us, was published in 17S9. Shortly after publication 

 the following remark was made to a nephew of W'hite 

 by Dr. Scrope Beardmore, the Warden of Merton 

 College: " Your uncle has sent into the world a pub- 

 lication with nothing to call attention to it but an ad- 

 vertisement or two in the newspapers, but depend upon 

 it the time will come when very few who buy books 

 will be without it." This prediction has been wonder- 

 fully fulfilled, and in the hundred and seventeen years 

 which have since elapsed there has been an average of 

 one new edition in nearly every year. 



The new edition which Mr. Charles Morlev has 



Selborne: View frdin tlie U.inijL 

 roof of Gilbert White's t 



arranged is called a " naturalist's edition," and from 

 the point of \ievy of the modern systematic naturalist 

 the new arrangement which he has adopted is un- 

 doubtedly justified. The whole of White's book has 

 been cut up and classified under headings such as 

 " Meteorology," " Insects," " Birds," &c. Perhaps 

 I may be pardoned remarking that the idea occurred to 

 me some years ago, but I abandoned it as likely to 

 result in a book quite out of keeping with the spirit of 

 White's work. One cannot deny that ^\'hitc was here 

 and there guilty of inaccuracy, or that his conclusions 

 were sometimes at fault, and for these very reasons 

 each succeeding naturalist who edited the book found 

 it necessary to add annotations correcting where it was 

 necessary. Yet in spite of the fact that editors found 

 this necessary, even in some cases adding notes which, 

 in extent, were at greater length than White's own rc- 



The Natural History of Selborne. by Gilbert White. Naturalist's 

 Edition, classified by Charles Mcrley. Pages 259, and Index. 

 Cs. net. Elliot Stock. 



