382 



KNOWLEDGE 



[March 3, 1882. 



Dno Wet aftornwin I lin<l cliiiinnl Jacko np in the Cii|>o Corps 

 Hlnl>li< Tor hIicIIit, ami wIlcm (In' iiirii lind litiJHhod ifrouiiiiii); tlicir 

 lionn'O, I lii'urd itii iiiiiikiiiiI liiililiiil) in lliitt iliircliun, niirl on K<ji'>K 

 ■ lt>wn tfi UHcrrtiiiii llif oiiiitic, 1 futiiul that Muster Jnokti hud iiioiuf- 

 poliiii'il II jiu'krt b('lc>iii;inK to olio of tlio men, uikI liiid ruvorod 

 iiiiiiiu'lf hiiukIv with it, poHitivoly ri-fnsin^ to give it up, and nobixly 

 dnrvd to luki- it fi-oiii liim nnlil I c-uniu to ri'tiirn it to ito owner. 



.laeko'a polo nan, of roiii-Hc, tlio i-ciitro of attraction to nil the 

 Kolilii'm. Tlioy wero alwuyii feeding him, er playing him trickti, 

 whirli InHt ho repaid with a will. 



He Wiiuld catch anything that was thrown at him, thoroughly 

 iuvpKtigating the natui-e of the article ho had caught, lie was very 

 partial to eggH, whether boiled or riiW, and it was most uiiiUKing to 

 SCO him tossing n hot egg from hand to hand, scrcaniiog the while, 

 hnt never letting it go. 



He was fond of his grog, weak wine and water, which was given to 

 him occasionally in a buttU*. tightly corked, and it was one of the pet 

 amusements to sec him pick out the cork, bit by bit, with his very 

 strong nail ; but to show how perfectly well he understood the use 

 of the cork, when he had jiicked away as much as he could reach 

 with his fingers, and still found himself unable to get at the con- 

 tents, he would take up the bottle and crack the neck off against 

 his pole. 



To give one instance of Jocko's deep cunning, my coin])aiiy was 

 on the lino of march to an outpost. My wife and I were riding a few 

 hundred yards in rear of the men, Jacko, as usual, loose and follow- 

 ing us like a dog. We observed a Fingoe sitting on an ant-heap, 

 about thirty yards from the roadside, witli his wife standing within 

 a few feet of him, holding in her hand a tine cob of Indian corn. All 

 at once wo saw Jacko walk ii|) to the Fingoo and make friends with 

 him (a most unusual thing, as he never look to the natives), and even 

 sitting on the Fingoe's knee. Then we saw him make a sjn'ing, and, 

 in the jump seize the Indian corn, and, running for his life, he 

 caught hold of my stirrup and was on the pommel of my saddle like 

 lightning. The Fingoe was much enraged, and threw his " knob- 

 kerie " at him, so I pacified the man, much to liis delight, by giving 

 him a bit of tobacco. 



I have already said that the soldiers were very fond of Jacko, 

 and, in the evening especially, they would surround his pole, 

 playing with him ; but if he suddenly caught sight of me coming 

 into the barrack square, ho would immediately go round the circle, 

 biting every one of the men, dash up on liis perch, and scream 

 frantically, as if trying to persuade mo that he was the injured 

 party appealing to my protection. 



Although brought up by hand, his intuitive perception of danger 

 and recognition of liis enemies were remarkable. If I wished to 

 keep him up on his pole, I had only to coil a dead snake at the 

 bottom of it, and no dainty would induce him to come down ; and 

 when I was absent from my post, and the alarm cry of "Jacko is 

 loose " sounded, my wife had only to put a leopard's skin, with the 

 bead stuffed, in the doorway, and the quarters were perfectly safe 

 from Master Jacko's intrusion. 



On my being ordered home from the Cape, I left poor Jacko in 

 charge of the men of my company, who said : " Never fear, yoiu- 

 honour, we 'II take the best of care of Jacko ; he 'II be our captain 

 now." But soon after I left for England, the Kaffir War broke out, 

 and in the confusion of war preparations Jacko's further fate was 

 buried in oblivion. LiEt;T.-CoLONEL T. Percival Toczei,. 



CHANGES ON THE SURFACE OF JUPITER. 

 By Pkof. C. W. Pkitchett, Gl.^sgow, Mo., U.S.A. 



THE changes which liave taken place, within the last three years, 

 on the apjiarcnt surface of the planet Jujiiter, are really 

 wonderful. To one who has seen the giant jilanet but a few times 

 in his life, and even to an astronomer, who has not noted from week 

 to week the markings on his surface, a detailed account of their 

 changes would be almost incredible. Perhaps the phenomenon of 

 the great red spot, which became so conspicuous in July, 1878, and 

 which still persistently holds its jilace, has awakened an unusual 

 interest in the study of his surface; but certain it is, that never 

 before has his disc been so closely watched, and never have so many 

 phenomena been noted in so short a time as within the last three 

 and a-half years. 



In this note, my object is not to describe these changes, but 

 specially to mention an instance observed here on the night of 

 December 23. It chanced to be one of the finest nights of the 

 whole year. The surface of the great jilanct was rarely ever seen 

 under better conditions of altitude and atmosphere. Kvcry line 

 and marking came out with a distinctness which was a wonder even 

 to an experienced observer. I'ho great red spot, by the Jovian 

 rotation, woa approaching tho central meridian of the disc ; and I 

 had begun my usual observation of the transit of the preceding eud, 



when my attention was called to a condensed white nucleus situated 

 in the north margin of the most iioiithem of the equatorial bell*. 

 The threads of thi- Kihir Micrometer, had been adju8tj;d to the 

 rotatiim axis of the planet, by the ephomeris of Mr. A. Marth. 

 (Month. Not. K.A.S., vol. tl, No. 7.) One fixed thread 



wiis [ihiced on one extremity of major axis of spot, and tho 

 movable thread was placed on the other extremity of that axia, 

 and the.Hc threads were kept to this position by tho driving clock 

 and an adjusting screw. At 7 h. 7 m. of local mean lime, the 

 following end of red spot and the bright nucleus were on the same 

 thread, or the bright spot wa.i on tlie same Jovian mcridion directly 

 north of tho following end of red spot. As it re<iuireg more than 

 one hour for the Jovian rotation to carry tho major axis of spot 

 across the central meridiun, and all changes of relative position 

 must take place between my micrometer threads, 1 had a very rare 

 opportunity . to compare changes, however slight. Not twenty 

 minutes had pas8c<l till I could sec, independently of the threads, 

 that the white spot had a rapid motion relatively to the red spot. 

 It was so marked and proceeded so uniformly with the time that 1 

 resolved to measure it minutely. My observation of the transit 

 closed at 8h. 10m. and then I estimated by the eye that the bright 

 nucleus had gained on the following end of the red spot, in one hour, 

 three-eights of the interval between my threads. The mean of a 

 number of careful measures proved it to be three hundred and 

 sixty-one one-thousandths of the interval, or 4'33" of the Jovian disc. 



Now, the question comes up, was this a motion of translation ? 

 If so, we shall have to believe that a motion can take place in the 

 Jovian atmosphere at the rate of nearly seven thousand miles per 

 hour. As this seems scarcely credible, I prefer to think that this 

 angular displacement is the index of a progressing transmission of 

 light through a lower stratum of atmosphere, or else a part of an 

 auroral display. I am the more inclined to consider the phenomenon 

 as the result of a progressive transmission of light from the body of 

 the planet through changing media, since tho size and consistency 

 of the nucleus changed considerably during the hour. I decline, 

 however, to speculate on the subject, and give the fact and measure 

 for what they may be worth. 



Within the last few years many of these bright spots have been 

 observed. That they seem to have a rapid motion has been shown 

 over and over again. Some of them have been followed entirely 

 around the planet. 



I will add, that for the last two years the colour of the equatorial 

 belts has remained grey or brown ; for some time previously they 

 had borne a ruddy hue. Occasionally the margins of the main belts 

 have been tinged with red, and sometimes with a very fine blue. 

 Within the last two years two very marked changes have occurred : 

 1. There are now three distinct broad equatorial belts in place of 

 two. 2. A very conspicuous belt now stretches entirely across the 

 Southern Hemisphere of the planet, and in apparent contact with 

 the red spot. Its northern margin, on the finest nights, is almost 

 blue. It has been forming for months past, but has taken its 

 distinct outline within the last six months. It is now a prominent 

 feature of the great disc immediately south of red spot. It would 

 be highly instructive could all these successive changes be pre- 

 sented to the eye by such di*awings as would show not only the 

 correct shape and outline through successive weeks, but also the 

 changes in consistency, continuity, and colour. 



Note. — On January 22nd, at 7,h. 30 m., an entirely new belt was 

 observed in the Equatorial Zone of Jupiter, situated between the 

 middle and .southern equatorial belts. It was continuous and very 

 fine and sharp. I have nevdr before seen a belt in this position, 

 though I have carefully examined the planet many hundreds of 

 times within the last few years. The space between the broad 

 equatorial belts is usually more or less filled "(vith irregular clond 

 masses. On this occasion it was entirely free from them. The 

 middle and northern equatorial belts were very fine and even, and 

 assumed their usual ruddy hue, while the southern equatorial belt 

 was nearly three times broader than the other two, and was quit» 

 dark. Tho atmosphere was the finest I ever had for distinct and 

 stcadv images. 



A Collie's Sexse oe Dcty. — A touching story of sheep-gathering 

 was recently told me on good authority. A shepherd lost his lalrge 

 flock on the Scotch mountains in a fog. After fruitless. search he 

 returned to his cottage, bidding his collio find the sheep if she 

 could. The collie, who was near giving birth to her young, under- 

 stood his orders and disappeared in the mist, not returning for 

 many houi-s. .-Vt last she came home in miserable plight, driving 

 before her tho last stray sheep, and carrying in her month a puppy 

 of her own ! She had of necessity left tho rest of her litter to 

 perish on the hills, and in tho intervals of their birth the poor beast 

 had performed her task and driven home the sheep. Her last puppy 

 only she had contrived to save. — Frances Power Cobbe, in the 

 Cornliill ilagazinc. 



